Spitfire Anti-Roll Bar

Hi, everybody! I got my 1980 Spitfire (Federal, 1500) running, and now I'm realizing just how squirrelly the front end is. The bracket where the Link Ends hook onto the Lower Wishbone appears to be broken on each side. It's obviously broken on the LH, and the Link End is loose on the RH. Those brackets appear to have been reinforced on both sides. As it is, I don't think welding them again is going to do much good, so I'm probably looking at replacing both Wishbones and the Link Ends while I'm there. So here's my question: Are those brackets where the Link Ends bolt onto the Wishbone just inherently prone to breaking? If they are, would it do any good to just go ahead and reinforce the new one before I put it on the car? Any ideas?



Ignore that my pictures always come in any way but right. The left one is obviously broken, and I'm pretty sure there shouldn't be any play in that bolt on the right if it were functioning correctly, but then, I truly don't know.

Thanks already!

I have seen problems in that area, but not all that frequently. (For example, in well over a dozen Heralds, along with Spitfires and GT6s, I've never had it happen.) Meanwhile, someone certainly has already tried to make some sort of "repair" on the RH link.

If the car were mine, I'd be looking for better lower A-arms. Period.

I'm with you on getting better Wishbones. I haven't really looked yet, but hopefully that's something that won't be too terribly hard to find. Thanks!

A quick scan of eBay under "Triumph Spitfire A-arm" or "Triumph Spitfire control arm" should bring up several from which to choose. Also, check your local Craigslist and such, try contacting local Triumph clubs, Facebook marketplace...all sorts of options. Shouldn't be difficult to find a good pair!

That's what I thought about the radiator bracket... but I ended up needing to get it fabricated... which ain't cheap. But, yeah. I will find them, and they don't appear that difficult to put on the car. I wanted a project when I got this car, and it hasn't let me down. Thanks!

Glad to hear the flying cat is air born; I remember how you stayed after it--- good job; these cars have a therapeutic valve or as my stepfather would you say,” would you rather have her sitting on a bar stool?” He actual owned a bar. Anyways, I am with Andy there are Spitfires all over the Seattle Craigslist. I would look around and buy a whole car. You are going to need body and suspension stuff you never thought you would. So find a good body and suspension; do not worry about the running gear too much that stuff will be around. Sheet metal goes first then suspension.

Luckily I'm not in Seattle, as far as corrison goes. I'm in Portland, not that it's much of an improvement. However, my car spent most of its non-running life in La Grande, Oregon, which is on the high desert side of the state, so the body is good. There's only a little rust in the trunk, which will be an easy fix... and that's it. Even the underside is in good shape. At this point, I'm looking to replace the wishbones on both sides, and stop there... for now. Truly, the suspension looks fine, aside from anything with rubber on it, and I've already replaced most of that.