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Welcome
to my 1978 Triumph Spitfire WebPage. I bought the Spitfire
in August 1998 at which time it started going through a complete "body off"
restoration. It took twelve and a half months to complete this great little
car. Actually I'm not done yet...I'm in the process of restoring the crash pad and
wood dash board and dismantling the gauges. The previous owner had the engine
rebuilt and runs perfectly with only 58,000 miles on it (2000+/- miles since
rebuild). The original Zenith Stromberg carburetor was in poor shape so I upgraded
to a Weber DGV carburetor with a K&N air filter. All the interior has been
replaced including a complete restoration of the seats. The seats have been
stripped, frames sand blasted, two coats of rust proof primer and two coats of black
Tremclad paint. I replaced the seat covers with the original black hounds tooth seat
covers. I didn't like the hounds tooth cloth so I had it cut out and replaced with
matching black vinyl...looks much nicer and more durable than the cloth houndstooth. The
convertible top is a new Amco top...It's not bad but I'm sure there is a better top out
there some where. All the chrome was re-chromed to show quality. The body ,
when stripped of paint, had some unexpected battle scars but rust was at very
minimum. I was surprised at how little rust this car had. All the dents where
hammered out except for the left side skirt of the bonnet was badly damaged so a new one
was fitted. The body tub was completely redone...inside and out. The inside
was sand blasted in spots that needed it, metal was repaired where it needed it followed
by a couple of coats of rust sealer. The underside of the car is just as good as the
top side of the car too. The paint is the original orange but with a clear coat
applied. The frame was sand blasted, straightened and repaired followed by 3 coats
of rust sealer and 6 coats of orange paint and 3 coats of clear coat.... looks just as
nice as the body paint. All mechanical parts including suspension, main drive axle,
differential, half shafts have been sand blasted and painted with Tremclad satin black
rust paint (2 coats). The differential seals also have been replaced with new seals. Brake
lines have been completely replaced and master cylinder reconditioned. Clutch slave
cylinder reconditioned and master clutch cylinder has been replaced with a new one.
I have just touched on the extent of this restoration...I hope you will enjoy the pictures
that I have provided. The spitfire is a great little car and so much fun to drive
...not to mention all the great people who helped me with this restoration. CLICK BELOW TO SEE MORE RESTORATION PICS |
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Acknowledgments: Tozer Autobody (London, Ontario) |
