• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Hornswaggling 101

Share this page

roofman

roofman

Jedi Knight
Offline
Well as promised a picture of what I ended up with. To refresh, sold the Mini before Christmas, found a 75 Spitfire which I bought in Tennesse. The stinkin day I got back, had a response back from an inquiry made while searching, for a 1980 Spitfire. Vermillion red ( orange to me ) 57K original miles, spotless paint, dang close to perfect overall cosmetics,new top, weber carb, overdrive, headers, very nice. So I bought both cars, took the minilites off the 75 ( new ) as well as a couple bits and bobs for the 80. Sold the 75 for a few $$ profit and ended up with this 1980 Spitfire ( for now).
https://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/roofmeister/?action=view&current=015.jpg
 
Looks outstanding, the rubber bumpers don't detract much, if at all and I'll bet with the Webers it runs well.
 
Looks like a great little car. How do you like the Spitfire compared with your previous TRs?
 
In the bit I have driven it, it is not as solid as the TR6, but more nimble. Not as nimble as the Mini though. Overdrive is cool and will not own another car without that feature. The car is remarkably similar to the way the Tr6 is built. I DO NOT like the rubber bumpers, but I stole this car at $2200 and seeing I needed some marketing cash for my business, I sold the Mini high, and bought the Spit low and it is a can't lose car. It needs seat foams, a oil pan gasket, an exhaust soon, and it looks like the radiator fan switch is disconnected. So not perfect, but original dash near perfect, paint has 2 stone chips, tires and wheels new, has pertronics ignitor, new clutch and slave, a backup facet fuel pump set up, and lots of parts came with it including new front rotors, pads and brake hoses as well as rear brake shoes.
THERE ARE LOTS OF MOTIVATED SELLERS RIGHT NOW IF YOU ARE IN A POSITION TO BUY !
 
Um, as I am finding out first hand,

Rebuilding seats in a Spitfire can set you back some serious cash,

If you need the covers too, upwards of 600 A SEAT!

I think I will be doing the modified Miata seats.

Lower the front springs to get the nose back down where it belongs, and you are well on your way.

BL raised the nose to comply with headlight height regs by stuffing really long springs in the front, which screwed up the geometry.

Find some early springs from a MKIII and put them in there.

They are really sweet cars, not the fastest or the nimblist, but they do make you smile.
 
Steve,
Good advice. Here's some more....knock out the windows with a hammer, cut down the doors, loosten a few bolts (for the rattle) and you'll be moving in the right direction....
 
Those seat foams are outragous $$$$$. Try Park lane in England now that the pound is cheaper.
 
roofman said:
I DO NOT like the rubber bumpers...
Click to expand...
They're not the most stylish part of the car; I'll give you that. But price a brand-new "Heritage" bonnet for a Spitfire, and you'll begin to see how beautiful the rubber bumpers really are, especially in parking lots and on-street parallel parking environments! :yesnod:
 
Back
Top