Spitfire 1978 Spitfire 1500

[JodyFKerr]

Hey Folks,

My mum has found a '78 Spitfire in the local newspaper and has decided that she would really like to own a British car again (she drove a Healey in the late 60's early 70's). She and I are going to look at the vehicle tomorrow.

Short of the standard things to look for on any car, ar there any Spitfire specific issues I should be aware of whn I look at the car? Rust areas?

Thanks for the Tips! If the car is as advertised, it should need a new hood (top) and it'll be good to go.

Plus it comes with a parts car, so I may wind up with another project.

Thanks!
Jody

 

[sail]

https://www.vtr.org/Spitfire/Spitfire-buying.shtml

Check this site out.

 

[JodyFKerr]

Great! Thanks for the link.


Jody

 

[MDCanaday]

I like Spitfires so dont take this wrong,but buy the best one you can find and if you find one in need of work dont buy it!!!All old cars can be money pits,but some cars sell for more money when done.4 to 6 thou will get you a fine example that you could never build for that amount.Be very afraid of the 600$ fixer-upper,since you will soon have 8k in it.
MD(mad dog)

 

[JodyFKerr]

Oh no worries. I've restored myself, worked on or assisted with the restoration of more cars than I can count. The car my mum would want would be one that's done and doesn't need to be torn apart. So, if it needs anything other than minor stuff I'm not going to recommend her buying it (as I have 3 projects in flight right now).

Now, I may get some dumb ideas with the parts car. We'll see what sort of shape that's in. I don't restore cars for money value, I do it as "therapy."

Thanks!
Jody

 

[myspitfire]

Three things to take along>A magnifying glass,a strong magnet,& and lotsa,lotsa questions.Oh! and a strong credit card rating.
D?

 

[JodyFKerr]

So, I figured I'd follow up the post with th results of viewing the car today.

As of this afternoon, between my mum and I, we now one 1.8 Triumph Spitfires. The driver isn't what I would call restored, but it is certainly in great shape, with nothing mechanically wrong short of needing new shock absorbers, a bushing or two in the steering, and a thorough going over of the brakes (they weren't terribly responsive and I couldn't tell if it was just me bcause I've not driven anything without a brake booster in a while).

I looked for 1/2 an hour and couldn't find any rust on the car. It's been recently resprayed,and has fresh tires. All the electrics work, it stays cool and it immediately fires up. It also has a really nice proper canvas tonneau cover.

The downsides on the car are that it doesn't have a hood(top) installed, which isn't a huge deal in Arizona, the dash should be refaced, and the interior carpet is starting to look a little tired. The interior door skins look recent, and it does have the hood hardware as well as the canvas/vinyl hood cover. The other piece is that there's no carpet in the trunk (I'm assuming it came with carpet in the trunk in almost the same configuration as my Jensen Healey). Finally, the part of the turn signal indicator that auto-shuts off (i.e. turns it off once you turn) is broken.

And the parts car, from what I can determine, is 95% complete (if you don't count an interior) and appears, at first glance, to be as rust free as the other car. When we get it back to my shop we'll go over that one and make a final determination as to it's status.

Thanks for the tips folks, as we've now got some Triumph's in the fold I'll be posting in this forum more frequently.

I'll put pics online tomorrow night.

Jody

 

[Brosky]

Throw in a pic of the Studebaker as well. I loved those cars,

Oh yeah, good luck with the new Spitfire!

 

[JodyFKerr]

So it was dark when w got home, so I'll take pictures in the morning.

All went well on the ride home. Stopped to put gas in the car and noted that modern gas pumps do not lik the fuel fill opening. Am I missing something (me, not the car)? Then took the car out to Autozone (in an attempt to find an oil filter, this one doesn't have the screw on modification... and failed in said attempt). Had a run in with old man lucas on the way home, lost the gauges (but not the lighting). A quick review of the wiring diagram, a few cleaned terminals, and all was well again.

Any Phoenix area afficianados care to stare over my shoulder and point out any ignorance on my part as I go over the car?

Cheers!
Jody

 

[billspit]

Sounds like a good buy. Glad to hear you know your way around cars though. You may be able to order a standard oil filter from any of the mailorder suppliers like TRF, VB or BPNW. But, you may want to throw in the towel and get the adapter.

 

[JodyFKerr]

I was actually just on the MOSS site looking at the oil filter adaptor. They listed it in the Spitfire section, but noted the application was for GT6. Now, I know the cars are very similar, so is that the one to get?

I'll be making a list over the next couple days. I also noted that it needs a new speedo cable and a few other little bits, but nothing terrible so far.

Jody

 

[Andrew Mace]

I was actually just on the MOSS site looking at the oil filter adaptor. They listed it in the Spitfire section, but noted the application was for GT6. Now, I know the cars are very similar, so is that the one to get?

Something's amiss there. Normal configuration for the GT6 was a cannister-type filter, NON a spin-on as used on the Spitfire.

The adapters for Spitfire filters are fairly easy to come by. For example, the 5/8" to 3/4" adapter that allows all sorts of off-the-shelf filters to be used can be seen on this page at the Spitbits web site; it's a whopping $4.31 plus shipping (less than the cost of one typical filter)!

 

[JodyFKerr]

Andrew,

Thanks! That's exactly why I'm posting here. I knew that A) I'd probably be wrong, and B) someone would point me in the right direction. I shall go spend some more time on this SpitBits site.

Thanks!
Jody

 

[JodyFKerr]

Here's some photos I took this morning:

Full Photogallery (41 pictures)

 

[roofman]

Purdy.

 

[Mark Jones]

Nice looking car.

 

[71MKIV]

'oly cow man, just jump in and drive! All the pieces are headed in more or less the same direction at least. Wish mine was at that point.

Nigel at Spitbits, Ted at TSimports are your best bets, I've gotten some dumb looks out of the folks at the Roadster Factory, but if you know what you are looking for, sign up for the sales, those are the main ones, with several overseas, and some smaller ones here in the US. There are several Spits here at BCF, and of course poke around at the North American Spitfire Squadron, those guys are hard core.

Ask questions, there are lots of us who think we know everything in order to annoy those who do

PS hey Roofman, did you ever sort out your idle issue?

 

[roofman]

No, haven't touched the car in a week or 2. I have been chasing my son's team ( he plays college baseball) and have been to Alabama, Tennesse, and North Carolina the past 10-12 days. I hope to mess with it this weekend.

 

[spit71]

Gotta love the Bright red Spitfire. Coolness.

 

[JodyFKerr]

Hey all,

Went through the suspension and came up with a question.

The image below is of the rear suspension where it meets up with the leaf spring. There seems to be no bushing/padding in this area. If this correct? It seems a little baffling to me.

I would think that there would be some sort of bushing that would fill (and continuously connect) to the leaf spring.

Jody