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Jack74spitfire

Jack74spitfire

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Tomorrow afternoon I will be picking up a 74 Triumph Spitfire, which is my first British vehicle. I helped a friend restore a 68 Jaguar and an Alfa Romeo Graduate, he and a few other foreign sports cars that I thought were fun to cruise around.

Last fall the Saratoga Auto Museum had a British car show and I said that will be bringing one home someday to share garage space with my 65 Mustang. Tomorrow is the pick up, and I will take it to my shop where I will probably say “what the heck did you get yourself into”.

The Spitfire has been in a garage since 1996. No rust through or holes. Body looks straight, motor spins, everything looks dusty, dirty, but solid. Has a new top that has never seen daylight. The car was a platform for seat cushions for all their outside furniture. I’m sure all that sitting will cause anything with a seal to need replacing.

I will post pictures as I work on the car and I’m sure questions will also be coming.
 
sounds like a great project and a great stablemate! welcome and yes, pics please
 
Hello Jack74spitfire

Welcome to the forum.

The Triumph section is very active so you are sure to get plenty of tips and advice there for your Spitfire if you have any issues. It will need new tires having sat that long. Tires age out even if they look good. Possible brake and clutch runner components. There are several sources of parts for our LBCs The Roadster Factory and Moss are two that I use with good success.

Picking it up on a trailer?

David
 
Welcome, Jack!

You have a great car to restore and it will give you lots of grins once back on the road. As stated above, there's plenty of support in the Triumph section, and if your Spitfire has its original engine, it's shared with the MG Midget so there might be some help in the Spridget section.

For "waking it up", here's a checklist created by one of our own who died a while back, Tony Barnhill. It's specific to the MGB, but in truth it applies to just about every car of its time. Let us know how you progress!


:cheers:
Mickey
 
DavidApp said:
Hello Jack74spitfire

Welcome to the forum.

The Triumph section is very active so you are sure to get plenty of tips and advice there for your Spitfire if you have any issues. It will need new tires having sat that long. Tires age out even if they look good. Possible brake and clutch runner components. There are several sources of parts for our LBCs The Roadster Factory and Moss are two that I use with good success.

Picking it up on a trailer?

David
Click to expand...
Hi David, Thanks for the info. Yes it will be on a trailer.
 
Mickey Richaud said:
Welcome, Jack!

You have a great car to restore and it will give you lots of grins once back on the road. As stated above, there's plenty of support in the Triumph section, and if your Spitfire has its original engine, it's shared with the MG Midget so there might be some help in the Spridget section.

For "waking it up", here's a checklist created by one of our own who died a while back, Tony Barnhill. It's specific to the MGB, but in truth it applies to just about every car of its time. Let us know how you progress!


:cheers:
Mickey
Click to expand...
Thanks Mickey, it's printed and will be a good guide for when it gets to the shop.
 
Spitfire is mine. Bought it unseen from a former coworker. I think it's a fairly solid car. Odometer says 11K, maybe flipped or maybe broke. Last registered 1994. My buddy purchased it in 1996 and he garaged it since. Motor turns over, but doesn't run.
Tomorrow I will start going through the checklist that Mickey sent. Can't wait!
IMG_20220402_151433680~2.jpg
 
Appears to be a great candidate - nice find!
 
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