Triumph Spitfire Mk1 - A quick introduction
Last Updated on Sunday, 04 July 2010 14:20 Written by Nige Sunday, 06 June 2010 09:24
This is my pride and joy, possibly the hardest fought restoration I could have ever hoped for, a money pit, my oldest memory and a huge lesson learned.
When she first arrived, she was red, rusty and pretty well broken. It hadn't been anywhere since the very early 1970's. This section of the site will detail her revival over the course of the last three years. This will be accompanied by the hundreds, possibly thousands of photographs that went with it.
My first memory of this spitfire was from when I was a very young sprog of just a few years old. At the time my uncle Bill kept it in a garage around the back of where my Gran lived in Cheylesmore in Coventry. I have been dreaming of owning this car since then and scheming about how to wrench it from my uncles grip for many, many years. It didn't happen until I was in my late 30's, so you can imagine the excitement when I finally got my mitts on it. When the car arrived at my house it came with lots of bits of paper that detailed race routes and courses, club mailings and news, etc. I have this image of Bill and me in the car when I'd have been around 12-18 months old (1968) and will scan some of the documents that came with it as I write up further articles.
Through the restoration of this Triumph Spitfire mk1, I've learned many lessons including, how to spray paint a car and inversely, how not to spray a car. How to panel beat, fill, shape a body, how to weld (correctly), and a huge amount more.
There will always be bits to do that will be documented here as she will always need servicing, repairs and improvements. They will be documented here along with the last three years restoration.
So, a quick non-exhaustive overview of what's been done.
- Everything!
Yes that's the non-exhaustive list. This was a last nut and bolt restoration. There wasn't anything untouched by this, but the bigger stories are the improvements that were made all over. The goal was an ultra reliable early (February) 1963 Spitfire that is able to keep up with modern motoring without switching out the original engine. I am nearly there and hope to be at the ultra reliable stage within the next week. A bit cryptic eh? I am currently getting the head gasket to seal correctly due to the increase in compression ratio to 10.1:1. I've been experiencing oil seeping under the exhaust header, but more of that when the time comes.
Check back later when I'll be starting at the beginning and working through to the end. I'll also be listing the professionals that helped and even those that hindered the restoration. This will be interspersed with the current ongoing work.
Nige
