• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.

    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Spitfire New Spitfire Owner

CaptDon01

Senior Member
Offline
Well, the TR-3B is gone and I'm a Triumph owner once again. Got a nice 80 Spitfire with 53K miles. Extremely sound body and frame. No rust through anywhere, only a couple spots with some surface rust. Came with a fiberglass hardtop also. The hardtop and roll-bar will probably go on Ebay. Engine runs very smooth, even with the carb running on the rich side. Looks like the carb will need a re-build. Was sitting for years and probably gunked up by old gas. Very pleased with her, and what a joy to jump on the freeway and drop her into over-drive!!!
 

Attachments

  • 277829-SPITFIRE.JPG
    277829-SPITFIRE.JPG
    129.3 KB · Views: 180
Not sure the name of the color.....kind of a dark red. It wasn't my favorite color, but it's growing on me now that she's cleaned up.

Don
 
[ QUOTE ]
Congratulations!! What color?

[/ QUOTE ]

Check the attachment in his first post /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 
damask red? sorry, but why sell roll bar? overdrive is great, like the use of it, however it does waste power,will be looking to changing mine next year (maybe) to rover 5 speed. please more photos! is the boot rack meant to go that way round? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
You'll have a lot of fun with the spit, she looks great!
Dennis

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 
Looks great. I think that's Carmine Red. If so, it will be paint code CAA on the door sticker.

These things are fun, aren't they?
 
I've been enjoying how easy it is to service the Spitfire. I worked on her this weekend and changed the engine oil and filter, flushed the brake system, (found a rear cylinder leaking so I replaced it), flushed and drained the cooling system also. I replaced all the radiator and heater hoses, and installed a 160 degree thermostate while I was at it. I checked the rear differential and transmission fluid level, both were only slightly low. Installed a new battery and cables also. We installed the soft top. Took a while to re-installed the hood-sticks, but we got it done. The top is a bit dry from sitting folded and hanging on the barn wall for several years. The plugs are looking better. They were VERY black from running rich. I put 2 cans of "Sea-Foam" in the gas tank and filler it with the "Good Stuff". If you have never tried "Sea-Foam", this stuff ain't no snake oil! Wonderfully magical stuff!!! The plugs now are a light brown color. I guess it's cleaning out the carb. I also installed a K&N filter. Sure looks nicer than that stock filter. I ordered some POR-15 to take care of the surface rust on the floor board under the drivers feet, and to take care of some surface rust under the spare tire.

I checked the plate on the drivers door pillar and the paint code is: 82, and the trim indicates C74. She was built Sept 1979, commission number: FM111061U0C

Don
 
I think the UOC suffix in your commission number indicates this was an overdrive-equipped 'California' car, although by that time the emissions equipment for all US production was probably the same so the California designation may not mean much.

Your paint code 82 is Carmine Red. But by 1980, it should have had a three letter paint code (CAA), since they switched over from numbers to letters in 1977-78. Go figure. The C74 interior indicates Tan, with cloth inserts.
 
Back
Top