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  #1  
Old 06-21-2005, 10:50 AM
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Smile Bought a '72 Spitfire (treasure-hunting during the F1 race weekend)

Well, the F1 race in Indy was a total bust, but I came back with some cool race-weekend souvenirs. On the drive over my buddy and I ran across a little town that was having a city-wide rummage sale. Found a Crafstman chainsaw for $25, a Yamaha turntable for $5, and a Ryne Sandberg posable figure for $.25 (GO CUBS!). My buddy scored two boxes of that thin brick facade to replace some broken pieces in his house for a quarter, too. I left a hydraulic hoist at one garage sale... it was $75, though. Wish it had been more affordable.

My big "race souvenir" was a 1972 Triumph Spitfire, though. I have had a '67 MGB GT and a '76 TR6, and miss them both something fierce. This Spit had a great body and frame, and the p.o. said it was parked with an engine "tick" 11 years ago. It was garaged since. New top, tires, interior, etc... not bad looking for the $. He even offered the use of a tow dolly to get it home, so I took a gamble.

Got it home, got it started, and found it was spitting oil underneath. Hmmm... dropped the pan and found what was left of one cylinder and rod in the bottom of the pan. Yee-haw! Rebuild or replacement time!

These are such neat little cars. I'd like to get it running reliably enough for the g/f to tool around in it. Such simple little buggers... now if I can just find and engine and figure out why the coil only gets 12 volts when the key is in the "Start" position...

Chris

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Old 06-21-2005, 12:06 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulC
Can the GT6 engine be adapted to the Spitfire? I always wondered about that. I'm also curious how much heavier the GT6 shortblock is than the Spit engine. Does this year Spit share it's engine with the MG Midget?
You can make a "Spittin '6" with a GT6 engine, but you need the front suspension, hood, rear end (I think), etc... I have forgotten what all is involved, but I do have a call out to a TR-mechanic friend about what he has laying around. Last I remember, he has two GT6's, one being a parts car, essentially. That would be pretty sweet! Those Triumph 6 cyl engines are TOUGH. I drove my TR6 all over creation.

I think the MG engine was a different beast. The Spit has three different engine over the years as I recall: 15xx, 1296, and an 11xx... I think.
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  #3  
Old 06-21-2005, 01:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulC
Can the GT6 engine be adapted to the Spitfire? I always wondered about that. I'm also curious how much heavier the GT6 shortblock is than the Spit engine. Does this year Spit share it's engine with the MG Midget?

No so simple....You need the GT6 bonnet (the Spitfires won't fit) you need the GT6 transmission too.

The Stock GT6 transmission is barely able to support that motor and the spitfires really won't at all...if it fit which I am not sure.

THe spitfire rear gears are too low also for the GT6 engine.....

You are better off putting a spitfire body tub on a GT6 rolling cahssis...the GT6 has bigger brakes and beefier suspension.

I know the GT6 intimately...I owned a 1970 GT6+ MKII for ten years.
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Old 06-21-2005, 01:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulC
Can the GT6 engine be adapted to the Spitfire? I always wondered about that. I'm also curious how much heavier the GT6 shortblock is than the Spit engine. Does this year Spit share it's engine with the MG Midget?
I think the '72 had a 1275 cc engine...not sure how much it shared.
The 1500 was crap however.....

The GT6 was way different than the TR6 engine....

It was a short stroke version of the very early TR6 engine with a unique cylinder head.

The GT6 was a 2.0 and the TR6 was a 2.5 liter,
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  #5  
Old 06-21-2005, 02:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

It was a short stroke version of the very early TR6 engine with a unique cylinder head.

The GT6 was a 2.0 and the TR6 was a 2.5 liter,
I know they're different, but they're both much better than most any of Triumph's 4 cylinder engines. They make the car roadworthy on modern highways. I would drive my old TR6 or one of my friend's many GT6's anywhere. Now add an overdive (which neither of my cars had, sadly) and you're really cookin'!
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  #6  
Old 06-21-2005, 02:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cscmc1
I know they're different, but they're both much better than most any of Triumph's 4 cylinder engines. They make the car roadworthy on modern highways. I would drive my old TR6 or one of my friend's many GT6's anywhere. Now add an overdive (which neither of my cars had, sadly) and you're really cookin'!
True....I wish I had an overdrive for mine....but working ones were real rare and nobody rebuilt them at the time either....you were piecing together used parts to make a gearbox...

NEVER coast a GT6 in first gear and mash the gas..........

You will shear the mainshaft off in front of the driveshaft flange....then try finding a replacement mainshaft...,...

Ask me how I found this tidbit out.

Racers machine the input shaft to spitfire specs to use when racing the 4 cylinder spitfires...overkill for a 4 cylinder...but barely up to the task for a GT6, totally different transmission than the TR6 had...(that one was decent).

Do a search on Grassroots Motorsports...a couple years ago the put a RX7 engine in a Spitfire...the RoStpit project...major work but I would have loved to have driven that car.
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Last edited by boneheaddoctor; 06-21-2005 at 02:20 PM.
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  #7  
Old 06-21-2005, 02:17 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor
NEVER coast a GT6 in first gear and mash the gas..........

You will shear the mainshaft off in front of the driveshaft flange....then try finding a replacement mainshaft...,...

Ask me how I found this tidbit out.
LOL! Also, never nail the gas from a stopsign when making a hard left turn. Ask *ME* how *I* know this! 8^)
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  #8  
Old 06-21-2005, 02:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cscmc1
LOL! Also, never nail the gas from a stopsign when making a hard left turn. Ask *ME* how *I* know this! 8^)
That would have done scarey things on a spitfire with the swing axel....the MK2 GT6 had rotoflex couplings maing for a double jointed axel...no more rear end jacking in a hard corner the Corvair was made infamous over.
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  #9  
Old 06-21-2005, 02:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cscmc1
I know they're different, but they're both much better than most any of Triumph's 4 cylinder engines...
I can't speak to the reliability of the different Triumph engines, but, IMHO, the TR4 was a better running car than either the TR6 or the GT6. I believe the TR4 and the TR6 have the same displacement, but the TR4 only has 4 cylinders instead of 6. The result, I seem to recall, is that the TR4 has better torque and generally more get up and go than does the TR6.
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  #10  
Old 06-21-2005, 02:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dculkin
I can't speak to the reliability of the different Triumph engines, but, IMHO, the TR4 was a better running car than either the TR6 or the GT6. I believe the TR4 and the TR6 have the same displacement, but the TR4 only has 4 cylinders instead of 6. The result, I seem to recall, is that the TR4 has better torque and generally more get up and go than does the TR6.
The GT6 had more performance potential thanthe TR6 ...the GT6 was Homoginated (sp) for racing....THe GT6 I had with its original overdrive had seen 150 mph....not unimpressive considering it was late 1960s british technology in an inexpensive car...I knew 2 of the first three owners..I was #4. With 205/50-13 tires on 7" aftermarket alluminum rims it was without a doubt the hardest cornering car I have ever been in..on dry pavement you literally could not make it slide in a corner more than a teeny tiny bit...no matter how hard you threw it into the corner...unless you hit sand or gravel...

The Tr6 had more style and a convertible top.....but to me they were two different catagories of cars....each amazing in their caagory.
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  #11  
Old 06-22-2005, 08:46 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dculkin
I can't speak to the reliability of the different Triumph engines, but, IMHO, the TR4 was a better running car than either the TR6 or the GT6. I believe the TR4 and the TR6 have the same displacement, but the TR4 only has 4 cylinders instead of 6. The result, I seem to recall, is that the TR4 has better torque and generally more get up and go than does the TR6.
TR4 was 2138cc, TR6 was 2498. I have only driven a TR4 a handful of times... a gorgeous car, to be sure, but I'd much rather have a TR250 (with the 6 cylinder). Beautiful, AND with the bigger engine!
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  #12  
Old 06-22-2005, 10:06 AM
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150 MPH in a GT6! That would be a hell of a ride.

I didn't know why I thought that TR4s had the same displacement as the TR6. My guess is that the TR4 that I drove years ago was in better shape than the TR6s I drove. That TR4 probably was faster, but not for the reason I thought.

I got hooked on MGs before I was allowed to drive, so I never paid much attention to Triumphs. I'm not a big horsepower guy, so give me a 1970-74 MGB and I'm happy. That's my favorite car of all time.
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Old 06-22-2005, 11:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dculkin
150 MPH in a GT6! That would be a hell of a ride.

I didn't know why I thought that TR4s had the same displacement as the TR6. My guess is that the TR4 that I drove years ago was in better shape than the TR6s I drove. That TR4 probably was faster, but not for the reason I thought.

I got hooked on MGs before I was allowed to drive, so I never paid much attention to Triumphs. I'm not a big horsepower guy, so give me a 1970-74 MGB and I'm happy. That's my favorite car of all time.
The OD was MIA by the time I got it..unfortunately...the second owner grenaded the tranny and it ended up with a Non-od unit...he is the one who actually had it to 150....the most I ever had it was closer to 120 on the Italian Autostrada before Photocameras went into use in Italy. (I took the car overseas with me.)

I sold it to a soldier who was rotating back to the USA and he took it to Arizona with him....I bet its still on the road there....Sorry I sold it....but at the time it seemed like a good idea. My wife and I both love the TR6...If I survive the upcoming Verizon merger and overtime picks up I will buy one. Always wanted one....never had one.

Either that or I will find a chrome bumper MGB in need of a heart transplant and put in a SR20 DTE from a Japanese Silvia coupe....
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  #14  
Old 06-22-2005, 03:30 PM
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Both the Triumphs in my sig have O/Ds . I rebuilt them myself- to the extent I could. The TR4a was my first restoration project and both it and the Spit have been sidelined due to the new family. I expect it will become a major "retirement" project in a few years. At one time I had a 70 TR-6 to go along with the pair but it was too much of a project. And I really was looking for a TR-250, but after having the TR-4a, I have come to appreciate the old wet-sleeve design as being tougher.

I cut my teeth on a '68 MGB when I was a lad. I like those too, but the separate frame of the Triumphs is easier to restore than the unibody
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Old 06-22-2005, 03:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rs899
Both the Triumphs in my sig have O/Ds . I rebuilt them myself- to the extent I could. The TR4a was my first restoration project and both it and the Spit have been sidelined due to the new family. I expect it will become a major "retirement" project in a few years. At one time I had a 70 TR-6 to go along with the pair but it was too much of a project. And I really was looking for a TR-250, but after having the TR-4a, I have come to appreciate the old wet-sleeve design as being tougher.

I cut my teeth on a '68 MGB when I was a lad. I like those too, but the separate frame of the Triumphs is easier to restore than the unibody
Nice! I had a '67 MGB GT. Neat car, but I like the TR's much better. They seem more reliable to me.

You don't know anyone with a 1296 engine to get rid of, do you? Or a twin carb (SU) setup for a 1296 or 1500? I dopped the pan on my engine the other night and the carnage that was evident suggests it's time to start looking for a replacement. What was left of one piston and rod was scary!

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