Melnic's Triumph Spitfire

[Melnic]

Well, this winter instead of a Motorcycle project, I stumbled onto a 1979 Triumph Spitfire 1500.
Got this off of Facebook Market Place mid December.
When I checked it out, it had a whine in the read end that I thought was as simple as bearings in the wheels but turned out to be a differential whine.
More to come on what I found out about that later.
Drove it 40 miles home the day I purchased it.
When I test rode it and the owner showed me the things he KNEW was needing to be fixed I made a list. Just like any project, there is 2x more things you don't see that you will see later and it will take 2-3 time longer than you think.
At least with this project, the engine ran and the car rolled under its own power.
It was repainted at some point, I could tell right away with the orange peal(ish) finish but since its white, you have to get right up on it to tell.
Some small dents and a few rust spots here and there but most notably dime sized spots or smaller on the hood.
one of the first things I did was take some armor all and test cleaned a small corner of the rag top to see how well it will look once applied.

 

[Jim]

Been keeping an eye out for a Spit-MGB-TR to play with myself. Looks like a good score!!

Following.

 

[Melnic]

The Good:
The engine was reportedly rebuild about 20K miles ago (has 86K now).
Rust is nearly non existent. It looks like it was covered or garage kept all its life.
It was repainted at some point and most of the paint in good shape with a few rust spots and some small dents.
Car was road worthy when I purchased it. Good reliable idle once warmed up.
Essential electronics was working with some misc stuff that needed work when I got it
Picked it up for $3800. In my state, I got Historic tags so no inspection or emissions required and lower tag fees.

The Bad:
It had a rear and "whine" that I thought would be a simple wheel bearing. Turns out its the differential. The noise is loud at highway speeds. experts on the Triumph forum say rebuilding myself is VERY hard and if I just fix the leaking Pinion seal, I'm good for tens of thousands of miles.
When purchased, it had a leak in the heater valve that switches water to the heater core. Valve leaked but core did not. Valve was $45 and I already fixed that.
Tires are 13 years old but I inspected all of them both sides and no signs of dry rot. replacing them is not that expensive on this car. Small tires.
No key to the trunk, need to get one made.
Interior door lights did not work when I got it (already fixed that).
Radio was pretty sad, not original radio so I was happy to put in a new one w/ bluetooth (Already did that , $45 radio).
Quite a number of misc "here and there" that needs to be repaired/fixed/redone. Reverse light does not work but already tracked down the issue. I'll be making a list of all that I have done so far and what is left.

The Ugly
Not really much ugly about this one. Maybe the way that the windows seal on the rag top. Not really well sealed and I'd hate to drive this in the rain. I'm sure I'd be getting wet. This is not a daily driver and I'll right now only drive in good weather.

 

[Jim]

No rust and drove it home for $3800. I'd call that a good deal.

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

Good luck with the Spit. They are almost as fun as riding a motorcycle and nearly as invisible. Consider joining your local Triumph club. Cheap as chips and you'll get access to decades of experience with these little wonders.

 

[Mailman]

How fun! I love British sports cars. Keep us updated as you go along, I’m interested!

 

[Melnic]

So, the first thing I did in December when I got it was clean things up. Nothing special but since it was freezing temps outside and it had no wax on it, I just used 409 and paper towels.
I felt that it was not warming up very well and questioned if a previous owner pulled the thermostat out. Since when I purchased it, owner showed me that the heater valve was leaking when turned on (mechanical valve that you activate with a lever in the cabin), I decided to pull the thermostat while changing the valve. Sure enough, someone had put in a 160F thermostat and all the people on the spit forum suggested I put in a 180F thermostat easily available at local parts. I also found that the Radiator cap (which is really mounted at the engine), had a small leak. caps are cheap so replaced that but the brass casting had some corrosion so flat sanded it down to take care of the leak. I also did a few heat cycles driving the car to see how the radiator fluid was expelling through the cap to the overflow tank, then sucking back in as it was cooling down verifying my seal was good and the cap was performing as it should.
this is a function I would take for granted on a newer vehicle but when it does not work properly, bad things can happen. This is the oldest water cooled vehicle I have ever owned as its 47 years old. Also, the thermostat gasket was leaking the first time I put it back together and had to file that down and flat sand it. A previous owner had used and ungodly amount of silicone sealant to deal with it and I wanted to clean that up. Local Auto parts actually had a gasket that fit and then used some permitex water pump gasket sealant top and bottom following the directions to let it set up for an hour at light tightness befor final torque down.

Heater Valve with top hose from cooling system removed:

Thermostat all sealed in

Radiator cap housing (brass) sanded down (took pick before I finished but you can see the line at the lower right where it was leaking.

 

[Wagner73]

Love it! Have a soft spot for old Spitfires, MGB's, etc. Never owned either, but did have a TR-6, which was awesome...not fast per se, but fun. And my first hydraulic clutch rebuild!

1st wife took it with her

 

[Jim]

Love it! Have a soft spot for old Spitfires, MGB's, etc. Never owned either, but did have a TR-6, which was awesome...not fast per se, but fun. And my first hydraulic clutch rebuild!

1st wife took it with her

I've owned (2) MGB's, a Midget and a TR-4A. I'd take any one of 'em back. Well... maybe not the Midget...

 

[Wagner73]

I've owned (2) MGB's, a Midget and a TR-4A.

The 4A was the upgrade to IRS?

 

[Jim]

The 4A was the upgrade to IRS?

Correct.

 

[Melnic]

TR models IMO are more classic looking (and better looking).
At the end of the spitfire where mine is, IMO the classic original look faded quite a bit.

yes, this is like driving a Go Cart, but when your in it, it does not feel as small as I look driving it.
I parked next to an Acura RDX and top of my roof came to the bottom of its window.
On the way to work, a county truck passed me up and I was below the top of its tires.
One of my Engineers asked if I felt it was a death trap, I responded that I ride motorcycles and I don't feel its worse as far as protection.
I told him if I was to get into a collision, I'd rather hit another car than go off the road and flip.

 

[Jim]

TR models IMO are more classic looking (and better looking).

Not mine, but my TR4A looked just like this one... BRG
Had it when I was stationed in England, so the steering wheel was on the right. I agree, the 4's and 6's were very classy looking.
And in England, they weren't the smallest cars on the road. More a mid-size over there.

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

The power bulge on that TR4
The Italians know how to make sexy cars.

 

[jetmechmarty]

The power bulge on that TR4
The Italians know how to make sexy cars.

How many Triumphs had Italian bodies? I didn't know any of them did. Was it the TR7 that got beat together with an ugly stick?

 

[Jim]

How many Triumphs had Italian bodies? I didn't know any of them did. Was it the TR7 that got beat together with an ugly stick?

Giovanni Michelotti was a prolific car designer with dozens of cars to his credit. The last Triumph sports car he designed was the TR5... which was basically a TR4 with a straight six crammed under the hood. It also went by the TR250 here in the States. The TR6 was an offshoot of that. He had nothing to do with the butt ugly TR7

 

[jetmechmarty]

Giovanni Michelotti was a prolific car designer with dozens of cars to his credit. The last Triumph sports car he designed was the TR5... which was basically a TR4 with a straight six crammed under the hood. It also went by the TR250 here in the States. The TR6 was an offshoot of that. He had nothing to do with the butt ugly TR7

That was enlightening. Thanks!

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

Giovanni Michelotti was a prolific car designer with dozens of cars to his credit. The last Triumph sports car he designed was the TR5... which was basically a TR4 with a straight six crammed under the hood. It also went by the TR250 here in the States. The TR6 was an offshoot of that. He had nothing to do with the butt ugly TR7

He also designed the Triumph Stag in 1970. Some of the Stag design elements were used on the "square-tail" Spitfires (1971-1980).
Fun fact: Triumph sold more butt ugly TR7's than any others. The TR8 was a game changer but was too late to save Triumph or British Leyland.

 

[RC4MAN]

First car I ever drove was an MG Midget, growing up knew lots of folks with various Brit cars and looks wise my fav was always the Healy 3000, knew a guy that had a 289 wedged in.
Left a soft spot for Brit spots cars and thought I'd get my wife a Miata. Biggest thorn in my side.
What ruined the look of the later Spits were the 5 mph rubber bumpers.

 

[Melnic]

Simple armor all on the top brings it back just fine.
Fuses on this beast is simple but in the engine compartment on the bulkhead.
I just designed and 3D printed a cover for it cause the original one was missing.