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Hi The attached article has been prepared to compare the suspension setup of the Spitfire Mk IV and that of the GT6 Mk2 to the suspension setup of the Lotus Elan that has been regarded as one of the best handing small sports cars ever produced. The similarities of the front suspension will be highlighted as well as the compromised solutions at the rear. Finally modifications are presented to bring a triumph small chassis suspension to perform remarkably close to that of the Lotus Elan. I hope you find this interesting & useful. Nicky Triumph small chassis suspension optimisation..pdf

I've been concerned about the quality of some of the unbranded bearings being sold for diff and gearbox rebuilds, so I tracked down equivalent part numbers and sourced mine from reputable bearing factors. These are based on the Triumph part numbers for my Spitfire 1500 with 3.63:1 ratio. BTB440 - pinion outer. (Listed as an alternative to 134070) Timken Part Number M84548 - M84510 1”x2.25 (2 ¼)x0.765 (49/64”) 134065 - pinion inner Timken Part Number M88040 - M88010 1.1250” (1 ⅛”) x 2.6875 (2 11/16) x 0.8750” (7/8) 28.575mm x 68.263mm x 22.225 Diff Carrier GHB105 - diff carrier (to commission number FH106101 equiv. to UKC169?) LM67048 - LM67010 (TBC!) (31.75x59.13x15.88mm) UKC4805 - diff carrier (from commission number FH106102) Timken Part Number L68149 - L68110 (TIMKEN set-13? might be the same, it has the same dimensions?) 1.3775“ x 2.3280” x 0.6250” (34.99x59.13x15.88mm) Not as hard to find, but included for reference: 533360A/128572 Inner axle shaft (output shaft) bearing bearing part number 6205 C3 clearance 25 x 52 x 15mm Please treat with caution! I'm in the middle of rebuilding my Spit diff with the bearings listed above, everything seems to fit just fine, but there's a chance I made a mistake! Updated again based on some more research - I'll try and confirm more ASAP

Hi I'm building a close ratio gearbox for my spitfire Mk3 using a Spitfire MkIV casing and a gear set from from a Dolomite 1850. I have instructed my machinist to shorten the 1850 shaft to the length of that of a Spitfire shaft, however he pointed out that the 1850 shaft tapers and is narrower at the root. He said that at the desired length, the daimeter will be too small for the 1500 clutch disk and wont work. He said that he can cut the 1850 shaft and remachine the splines to the narrow type 10 spine of the spitfire Mk3. On the other hand i have read on this and other fora that the 1850 input shaft can be made to fit the spifire1500 clutch disk. I must be missing something and I wish to keep the 20 spine setup so as to use a the larger 1500 clutch disk. Does anyone have any info on this? Thank you so much Nicky

Interesting how much contradictory information is on the web regards fixing Spit/GT-6 bump-steer! I've combed through post until my eyes bleed. Hoping folk on this site have it sorted properly. Found exactly ONE link that seemed to go into real detail, then lost it. As I recall the gist of it was to; A. Shorten the rack, THE key to success. B. Move the rack back and up. C. Lower the suspension. Since I have a spare rack I can do "A" but would like to know how much to shorten it. Which may be complicated by my fitting a Buick V6 engine and T5 trans which requires moving the rack if I can. "B" creates a problem as I need all the space I can get for crank pulley clearance. In fact I need to be able to move the rack FORWARD if possible. I will be using 14" rims so have a little extra room around the spindle area. I have seen post recommending bending the steering arms for better geometry. They are BOLTED on! I have metal working equipment, it seems better to me to just create new arms of the proper length and height. I'm thinking a tad longer and set the ball-joint height and off-set correctly. Have to wonder why this has not been done already by some performance parts company? It seems I should be able to make a set to work with a relocated rack, just need some help with the geometry. "C", I wish the rest were so simple! A prior owner fit inordinately long 13" springs, my car sat on the lower bump stop at all times, nose in the air even with extra weight. So just fitting a set of Spitfire springs will be a big temporary improvement until I can figure the correct rate for new springs. Even with the springs out to be able to move the suspension through it's vertical range I see undesirable positive camber at the planned ride height. So it looks like modified upper arms will be mandatory unless the lower can be spaced out? No limitations beyond my being ¢heap, as I'm not entering any races with any sort of rules on suspension. Would like to do the local Virginia City hill climb and maybe the Silver State Challenge open road event. It will mostly just be my personal rapid transit GT car. Solid thinking suggestions or links please.

Spitfire/GT6 front hub drawings? I may just make new hubs in a 4x108MM pattern for my "Trick-6" project which I am trying to get active on again. Probably use 7075 aluminum since Ti would be too expensive. My CNC lathe and mill have to be good for more than just the day job. Seems like these have been in use long enough that drawings should be fairly readily available. I will have to redraw them anyway in my CAD but still simpler than having to reverse engineer them. Anyone have drawings or a link? Yes I do know I could just buy them in the UK, at an exorbitant price, particularly after the exchange rate and shipping are added in. My own time and tools are the "Free" for me. I'm also after drawings for Merkur XR4Ti rear hubs and mounts if possible. Need them for my rear suspension redesign.

Got a set of OSI or perhaps CSI 13" X 6" Minilite copies on the cheap from a scrap TR7. Before going to a lot of effort to refinish them, buy new nuts and tires, I would like to confirm that they will work well on my Spitfire 1500? Mounting face to inside edge of the rim is 3.75". Anyone able to confrim the brand for me, cast into the rim, difficult to read.

Local breakers yard sold me a 1979 single rail J type OD box for $100.00, but I note that there were some small metal bits that came out with the gear oil. So I expect it needs some repair despite the odometer only showing 41K miles (141K miles?). I did know to grab the original prop shaft while I was there. Trans is very clean externally, with evidence of having been worked over in some manner since I see red silicone sealant here and there. Clutch assembly appeared virtually new but had a damaged disk as whoever worked on the car last put it in backward! I expect that driving the car even a short distance with the disc fouling the flywheel bolts would have made for problems. The car looked like someone put money into and then let it sit out, a shame as it was very strait and rust free. I can see the owner being frustrated by this simple error. To the question, how hard is the single rail J type OD box to rebuild? Parts availability? Parts interchange from single rail non-OD box? I've already seen threads here warning about the new synchroes being junk. Also wonder if I should go back for the OD cars rear diff? Not sure what ratio it would be, same as I already have or not? Was going to sell the '79 (Oct-78) Spitfire 1500 since the engine has low oil pressure. But with an OD box it will be much better suited to our U.S. freeways so I think worth rebuilding the engine and keeping it. Fuel prices are on the rise again so I need something more thrifty than an XJ6 and hot-rod El Camino. Car came already fitted with a 40 DCOE and headers so I wonder how much more may be worth doing to the engine? I already have new flat-top pistons.

Hello all. I just registered and wanted to say hello. My first car was a clapped out Triumph Spitfire (painted a hideous shade of purple) and, I didn't know it then but, it defined how I wanted a car to make me feel when I drove it. I was a lot dumber then and much more interested in thrashing the car than using it as a canvas to create something special. That was 22 years ago. I had less money, less brains, less wife and less kids. I've come full circle though and am looking to fall (literally...low seats ya know) back into another Spitfire and I imagine I'll be stopping in a lot in the future once I acquire a solid car. This seems like the place to be for Spitfires so I'm looking forward to it. James

Hi all, Here is my Spitfire 1500 from 1978. It's been my daily car for over a year now, restored it between june 2011 and Sept 2013. Done 15.000 miles in a year (sept 2013 to Sept 2014 ) ! Done a lot of oldtimer drives & meetings with other classics and Triumphs I'm also a member of Club Triumph , i'm in the fb group of spitfire & on young guns classics (so some will know this car a bit ! ) Front chassis beam was rotten, so replaced that. has gas struts on the bonnet, revolution wheels, new interior, extra volt & oil pressure gauge.... and many more little mods Here are some before, during the resto and after pics !

So, what are the best ways to secure my Spitfire a little better? I'm thinking of getting a battery isolator switch, and a steering wheel lock for peace of mind. Is there anything out there that's specifically recocomended, or even anything I've not thought of? Similarly, anyone know if these thigns will affect insurance much?

Hello all! I'm Sam, and as you might have guessed I'm a Spitfire 1500 owner: I bought it a year ago and I've loved every minute of it. I really love the feeling classics give you when driving, how well connected they are to the driver. I also run Unlimited Mileage, a car and classic car website, with my brother.