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Spit6 project


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In an unexpected turn of events, i've just put down a deposit on a Spit6. As advertised on the CT forum, it's been owned by the same bloke since 1972. Mixture of parts. Seems like a late mk3 Spit body tub with mk1 or 2 dash and steering wheel, then GT6 mk2 bonnet and engine (KC5539E, if that means anything to anyone).

Apparently a damaged mk1 or 2 Spitfire was rescued from a scrap yard, then a "new" chassis was sourced from a Triumph dealership in Wimbledon, plus some new body parts. Matey then had it inspected and registered in August 1972. Some while later he swapped the 1147cc engine for the six pot lump, along with "loads" of other bits from the donor GT6. Not sure exactly what.

Anyway, apart from being brown it looks in great shape. Paint is blistering but it's really solid everywhere I could investigate.

Not sure what plan is but I now need to get shot of a very rusty mk2 Spitfire shell to make space!

Some pics here. Please note I paid more than the advertised price! https://www.clubtriumph.co.uk/forums/topic/13019-gitfire-for-sale/

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12 minutes ago, Escadrille Ecosse said:

Just exactly what you need Pete to stop you from getting bored :laugh:

Well, I haven't known what to do with my evenings since finishing the Spitfire engine & box rebuild! 

Steel bonnet, steel hardtop, even steel bootlid! Seemed good panel fit everywhere, better than my mk3. It's not rotoflex rear end but couldn't tell if it was swing axle or spring - wouldn't be surprised if it was a swing axle, assuming the GT6 donor was a mk1. 

The owner was quite proud of the Sienna brown, saying it was a proper Triumph colour at the time (although never for this roundtail body style I don't think). It does look nicer in real life than the photos, but I'm thinking conifer green would be more to my taste.

42 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

Good catch Pete - I think!
 

I saw that and thought it had to be worth more than a grand…

Yeah me too, and indeed his starting price was quite a lot higher but still cheap. 

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Pete, how honourable of you to pay a higher price, very underpriced at £1,000.00.

Small chassis cars were painted Sienna from what 69 onwards, so could be original. Would look different, and always nice when polished. But it has got to be Royal Blue to match your other Spitfire.

Good luck with the restoration. I am sure it will be a great thread on here.

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On 9/13/2021 at 6:43 AM, TimBancroft said:

Pete, how honourable of you to pay a higher price, very underpriced at £1,000.00.

Small chassis cars were painted Sienna from what 69 onwards, so could be original. Would look different, and always nice when polished. But it has got to be Royal Blue to match your other Spitfire.

Thanks Tim, I would make a rubbish businessman. I told the seller "this is how much I can afford, I think it's probably worth more so maybe see what other offers you get". He mulled it over for a while, made me promise that I wouldn't break it for parts and that I'd take him for a ride in it when back on the road, then accepted my offer. 

You're right, sienna brown was an option for the 69/70 models apparently - this is the only roundtail I've seen in it though. Royal blue does suit these cars perfectly but variety is the spice of life! So it'll be something else, some sort of racing green I think. 

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Don't flog the "very rusty Spit" yet, EE.      You might want to take parts off it!

I like the swing spring very much, but especially with the big lump up front, you could do with a spacer under it to lower the back.        You don't know yet if it has GT6 front uprights and brakes?  Worth it for the extra engine weight.    But a Spitfire anti-roll bar!    The Rotaflex had a thinner one (11/16") than the later Spits' 7/8".

John

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  • 2 weeks later...

Voila. Now I'm completely broke...

Had a right game wheeling it into the garage, as the trailer man had to dump it kerbside and run to his next job. So I had to jack it up and free all the stuck brakes, which was slowed down by the fancy locking wheel nuts. Took me some time to figure out how they worked.

Panel fit isn't quite as great as I thought from the initial inspection, which was in a cramped garage so couldn't stand back and see it properly. Bodywork is good and solid though.

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_20210925_134321.JPG

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I do like it, even though it is very brown indeed.

Panel fit not too bad from the pics. Seen MUCH worse - on supposedly good cars. Still looks remarkably rot free too

The wheels are very period! I'd plump for some slightly lower profile tyres. Those ones are also very period. Although holding air very well.

I take it the giant hubcaps are to cover the James Bond style extending tyre slashers just in case there's any trouble from Ford Mustangs. Although they may have been disabled when the wire wheels were swapped out.

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You've all made me self-conscious about the size of the centre caps on those wheels, hadn't noticed them before. They're Wolfrace Turbo VEC alloys, as far as I can tell from googling. Definitely give it more of a 70's flavour. 

A good haul of paperwork came with it. Excellent collection of original manuals + handbooks which tells you something about the origin of the car!

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It's mostly late Spitfire mk3 bodywork apart from the GT6 mk2 bonnet. Windscreen capping is different to mine so could be mk2 Spit. The interior is mk2 Spit with a big dollop of home-made additions on the dash. Wiring looks a nightmare but he's stuck letraset labels all over the place which should help working it out. 

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The door cards seem to be homemade out of plywood then covered with vinyl, which makes the doors noticeably heavy and gives them a deceptively solid feeling. Seats are nicely original. Might swap them for my mk3 Spit ones, which have been amateurishly recovered. 

Comp-8566.thumb.jpg.9f6e611a39784d09f24836afdaa75615.jpg

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19 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

Apprentice looks cheerful - start ‘em young :smile:

He was good as gold all morning, putting up with a 45-min drive each way to get the car then a couple of hours messing about in the street and garage. He's at the blissful age where he's happy just piling spanners up or waving them around. Long may it continue...!

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Like it a lot. My first Triumph was a brown mk3 Spitfire, ended up signal red a few years later. Sold my Cortina mk3 2000 GXL to buy it. 

I was 18 and asked the vendor what the extra switch was on the steering column behind the indicator, he didnt know. I found out a few weeks later driving along in third and it suddenly changed gear. Couldn't believe it, great supprise, a friends uncle explained it was overdrive.

Being 18 at the time that, overdrive took some abuse, but never failed.

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11 hours ago, sparky_spit said:

"He's at the blissful age where he's happy just piling spanners up or waving them around"... that sounds a bit like me :biggrin: 

:laugh: good point, it probably applies to everyone on this forum!

Full disclosure on the bargain: I paid £2500 for it, so more than the suggested £1000 but still a reasonable deal in these days of silly asking prices.

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8 hours ago, Mark said:

 asked the vendor what the extra switch was on the steering column behind the indicator, he didnt know. I found out a few weeks later driving along in third and it suddenly changed gear. Couldn't believe it, great supprise, a friends uncle explained it was overdrive.

Haha result! 

I've noticed a few new brown cars lately, it might be rolling back into fashion... or perhaps that's wishful thinking.

Topical piece of memorabilia found amongst the paperwork today: _20210926_231714.thumb.JPG.ccbc7cb32836e13d133243e44698bceb.JPG

Ration book from the 1973 oil crisis. Never knew these things were issued.

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12 hours ago, sparky_spit said:

That really does look like a proper bargain you have there Pete.  I'm not jealous at all. 

I can hear the gritting of teeth here in the Black Sea :tongue:

Me on the other hand, no qualms. I'm f***ing jealous, even though I simply don't have space or time for any additional projects.

Phil

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Great catch for sure. Nothing wrong with being lucky :smile:

I can manage not to be too jealous as I also got very lucky with my GT6.

Though yours was a bigger investment (still an absolute bargain), it also looks like it won’t take much more than a set of tyres and a good service to get it working…… which is a lot more than could be said about mine!

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14 hours ago, PeteStupps said:

Haha result! 

I've noticed a few new brown cars lately, it might be rolling back into fashion... or perhaps that's wishful thinking.

Topical piece of memorabilia found amongst the paperwork today: _20210926_231714.thumb.JPG.ccbc7cb32836e13d133243e44698bceb.JPG

Ration book from the 1973 oil crisis. Never knew these things were issued.

I remember them getting issued. Dad had just come out of the RAF and we'd moved back to Scotland and he got one for the Saab 96 he had at the time I'm sure it was.

Never actually used them but remember having to sit in the queue outside the local garage in Bonnybridge. That and the 3 day week and electricity cuts. :laugh:

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