Now I find myself two years later and I finally found a tub and frame (that I can actually do something with). My new best friend in the world of Triumph Spitfires has become the Totally Triumph Network. What a great site. I have been a daily reader of the forum since I bought the engine in 2005 but rarely posted. Here is my post after I acquired my 1970 MKIII "car", which will be the base of my restore.
After two years on the board, I have finally put together enough pieces to start my restoration project. Here is a quick look back:
About 1 1/2 years ago, I saw an Ebay auction for an almost rolling MKIV frame. It was missing the differential and drums. I thought it would be a good starting point in learning about the engine, suspension, etc. Turns out, the seller was located about 2 miles from me and I made a deal to buy it for $85. It then sat in my garage since then. The frame is in poor shape (bent in numerous spots) so I would need a new donor before I could do anything. I decided to keep my eye out for any local ( I live just outside Dallas) car for sale and tried to be patient.
I got lucky a few weeks ago when I saw an ad on Craiglist for a 1970 Spitfire for free! This was a restoration that was started and was given up on. Incredibly (in my mind) I was the first person to respond. Thanks to a friend who happened to be moving the same weekend I was picking up the car (or pieces of car) I was able to get everything home without having to rent a trailer.
Among the items I got were:
- Body tub (normal rusted floorpans but the majority of the rust is only surface rust)
- Bonnet (much better shape than I expected)
- Engine (included engine stand
- Has already been magnafluxed and dipped, needs pistons)- Engine parts (including cylinder head that has already been rebuilt)
- Frame with differential (sandblasted and painted)
- Driveshaft- 1/2 of the front suspension (sandblasted and painted)
- A few boxes of misc parts
All and all, I think it was an excellent find. I am in hurry and intend to take my time and learn as I go. First step is to get my home shop ready (already have parts washer, tumbler, etc.) Need to purchase an air compressor. After that, I will slowly clean and move the part from the old frame to the new frame. Once it is a rolling chassis, I will turn my attention to the tub.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Where it all started...
The post below was written by me in 2005. I had just begun my fascination with restoring a Spitfire and was ready to get started. In fact, I wanted to build a LeMans Spitfire replica (which I why I bought the 1147 engine).
I have an engine. Now what?
One of the best sites on the internet for Spitfire information is www.triumphspitfire.com (Isn't it amazing how that works?) Not only is there a wealth of information, but they have a great classifieds section. While looking at the classifieds one day, I found a gentleman in Oklahoma City who was selling a 1964 1147 engine. The price was right and since I live just north of Dallas, it didn't seem too far away. I quickly closed the deal and that weekend I drove to Oklahoma City to pickup my engine. The deal was even better when the previous owner threw in the transmission (too much of a pain to take it off). He also had a chassis that he was looking to get rid of but I didn't have a trailer so I would have to pass.
So you may be asking yourself, why buy an engine when you don't have a car? Good question. While I have a good paying job, I also have three young, active kids so must of my "disposable" income goes to them. I figured I would work on an engine rebuild first and add the car later.
Once I got home, I took off the transmission and put the engine on my newly purchased engine stand. Now what? Perhaps a bit of additional background on me will help. I am NOT a home mechanic. I always figured it was easier to go to the quicky lube than change my own oil. However, from that I read and was told, if you want to learn about car engines then the Spitfire engine is a great place to start. So, here I go.
I spent the next few months meticulously disassembling the engine. Photo's were taken of each step and everything was carefully bagged and marked. During this process, a few new tools had to be purchased (getting that flywheel off is tough!) and a few observations were made (I don't think that water pump bracket is supposed to be in two pieces). I began making a wish list of items to buy for the rebuild.
Some of you Triumph experts might be wondering why I am spending
so much time on an 1147 engine? Why not get a 1300 or 1500? You can get much more power out of them and performance parts are more readily available. I guess you can call me stubborn but I wanted to keep the 1147 engine since that is what the Le Mans cars had. Unless I luck out into an 8 port head, I won't have the same power and configuration but at least the base will be the same.
Once I had the engine disassembled, I ran into a showstopper. Where can I find a somewhat local machine shop to have the work done. Numerous message boards warned about taking my little spit engine to a "normal" machine shop. Unfortunately, I am having trouble finding a shop near Dallas so the engine sits and waits. In the meantime, how about a body and/or chassis to put the engine in?
I have an engine. Now what?
One of the best sites on the internet for Spitfire information is www.triumphspitfire.com (Isn't it amazing how that works?) Not only is there a wealth of information, but they have a great classifieds section. While looking at the classifieds one day, I found a gentleman in Oklahoma City who was selling a 1964 1147 engine. The price was right and since I live just north of Dallas, it didn't seem too far away. I quickly closed the deal and that weekend I drove to Oklahoma City to pickup my engine. The deal was even better when the previous owner threw in the transmission (too much of a pain to take it off). He also had a chassis that he was looking to get rid of but I didn't have a trailer so I would have to pass.
So you may be asking yourself, why buy an engine when you don't have a car? Good question. While I have a good paying job, I also have three young, active kids so must of my "disposable" income goes to them. I figured I would work on an engine rebuild first and add the car later.
Once I got home, I took off the transmission and put the engine on my newly purchased engine stand. Now what? Perhaps a bit of additional background on me will help. I am NOT a home mechanic. I always figured it was easier to go to the quicky lube than change my own oil. However, from that I read and was told, if you want to learn about car engines then the Spitfire engine is a great place to start. So, here I go.
I spent the next few months meticulously disassembling the engine. Photo's were taken of each step and everything was carefully bagged and marked. During this process, a few new tools had to be purchased (getting that flywheel off is tough!) and a few observations were made (I don't think that water pump bracket is supposed to be in two pieces). I began making a wish list of items to buy for the rebuild.
Some of you Triumph experts might be wondering why I am spending
so much time on an 1147 engine? Why not get a 1300 or 1500? You can get much more power out of them and performance parts are more readily available. I guess you can call me stubborn but I wanted to keep the 1147 engine since that is what the Le Mans cars had. Unless I luck out into an 8 port head, I won't have the same power and configuration but at least the base will be the same.
Once I had the engine disassembled, I ran into a showstopper. Where can I find a somewhat local machine shop to have the work done. Numerous message boards warned about taking my little spit engine to a "normal" machine shop. Unfortunately, I am having trouble finding a shop near Dallas so the engine sits and waits. In the meantime, how about a body and/or chassis to put the engine in?
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