1974 Triumph Spitfire

1500 Convertible

4 - Cyl.

Manual

FM19941U

Gasoline

This is my project car, a 1974 Triumph Spitfire 1500. It has 60251 miles. I bought it from a couple who drove it until 1984 and parked it in their garage until I dragged it home in 2007. The husband decided to rebuild the motor. He also started a restoration, which consisted of taking every piece he could find off the car and putting them in the trunk. The motor was on a stand in the garage, the transmission was in a baby buggy in a shed. You get the idea. I got the car and was promptly laid off, which was both good and bad for the car. I had lots of time to work on it, but very little money to spend. The car had very little rust. None in the fender wells or in the boot as was common. There was lots of surface rust under the bonnet, and the bonnet itself has surface rust on the underside and some holes just starting on the very leading edge. I cleaned everything first off. I then sandblasted, sanded, primed and painted the front frame rails, firewall, underhood area, cowl and windscreen frame. Then I removed the three wooden dash pieces and re-veneered and stained them. I cleaned the gauges and reinstalled. I removed and recovered the dash pad. I took off the old warped and rotted door panels and rear panels and made new hardboard panels, installed foam and changed from French Blue to black vinyl. While this was all off I primed and painted the dash and inner door panels along with the door jambs. I reinstalled the dash panels, but have not put the door panels, rear panels, or dash pad on yet. The previous owner told me the motor had been rebuilt. I took her at her word, but it had been 20 years, so I bought a gasket kit and resealed and painted the engine, transmission and all attached parts. It has a Weber 40DCOE carb on it which is not original. I rebuilt it as well. I had the car running, but very poorly. It usually needed carb spray to stay running. I bought a new fuel pump with no effect. The distributor shaft had a lot of play so I sent it in to Advanced Distributors and Jeff rebuilt and recurved it for me. Then I installed a new Pertronix electronic ignition conversion kit and a new flamethrower coil. I have not tried to start it since. The trunk was very dirty and oily and the thought of all the sanding to paint it nicely made me cringe, so I made back and side panel templates and then hardboard pieces that I carpeted. Then I carpeted the floor and installed the panels. I even made a carpeted spare tire cover. It turned out absolutely beautiful. I bought a new carpet kit. I insulated the floors and installed it. The seats were good so I removed the rails and sanded and painted them, then I dyed the seats black. It turned out very well. It was missing the brake and clutch masters. I bought them used and rebuilt them both. The brake master was the wrong one, as I found out when I tried to install it. I have not bought a new one yet. I have a new ABS transmission tunnel and a new clutch slave cylinder that have not been installed yet. I bought new left and right glove boxes that are not installed. I have a few new cables and parts I have not installed yet. The seats are ready for install but are not in yet. I have done a lot of work on this vehicle. My mother died suddenly two years ago and I haven't spent more than ten minutes on it since then. I lost the heart for the job and now it it time to sell it. I have many more parts for it. Most are boxed up and ready to go. There is some exhaust and an electric fan new in a box that came with the car. One glaring piece that is missing is the convertible top and frame. It was not with the vehicle and I searched her outbuildings. I have found the frames over the years on Craigslist and eBay but never bought one. I am a big guy and I would only be able to drive with the top down anyway. It needs a little more engine work to get running well, it needs a brake master and I personally would rebuild the brake calipers and wheel cylinders. It needs the slave cylinder installed and a bunch of misc. parts installed, and then the exterior body work. The outer body is solid. There is some bondo behind the drivers door that I wanted to grind out and repair better. There is also a spot of bondo on the right side, but the work was done very well. I didn't know it was there until I saw the inner quarter panel and saw the bondo there. I am no body man, but if I had three weeks uninterrupted I would have the body work done and painted. I know there is more I am missing. Please ask any questions before bidding, I will be happy to answer anything you want to know. This is local pick up only. It will need a trailer or a dolly and I will be happy to help load it. I hope someone can put a little more work into this car and finish it. It is a nice car, but when I lost my mom, I lost the will to work on it anymore. It will be a great car for someone. Good luck and good bidding. *** Added 11-30-11: I forgot to mention that there is a fiberglass hard top that comes with this vehicle. It need a little work, mostly the headliner, and the plexiglass rear window is yellowed.