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PostPosted: November 14, 2013, 12:50 pm 
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This is restoration to being useful of a 1978 Triumph Spitfire destined for the recycler. I’ve included it here because the front suspension and driveline being used are common to traditional Locosts, as well as some of the other non-original parts being used since a great deal of the original bits are missing.
I bought the car a couple years ago at Road Atlanta during the Walter Mitty weekend. I didn’t want another project, so it felt good to make what I considered to be a low offer of $400 on Saturday, delivered it to my house a couple hours out of the way at the end of the weekend if nobody else bought it. Said they were from Jacksonville and associated with the GRM folk in some way.
The car was cut for a ford smallblock and T5 with a crossmember and trans mount welded in.
A previous owner made wood door panels, instrument panel (1 inch thick pine), and dash top (right over the rusty original dash top).
The middle portion of the metal cap over the windscreen was cut away and the frame was bent down so there was a large gap between the hard top and the screen frame.
The seat frames were mostly there, but the foam, upholstery, and some hardware was missing. Someone used the foam from late model bucket seats sectioned down the middle to be of similar width, then put cheap seat covers over the foam.
No hand brake but the tunnel for mounting it was cut away and in the trunk. A hand brake from some other late model car was in the car.
No spare, jack, radiator support, driveshaft, heater, heater controls, etc…..
Might as well be a locost.
I work on this off and on, like everything else.


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Last edited by Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F on June 9, 2016, 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: November 14, 2013, 1:10 pm 
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Received a 2.8l v6-60 with 2 barrel and T5 out of a 1985 s10 for free from a fellow converting to sbc and 700r4.

Picked up a used screen cap, removed the windscreen, hooked a tie down strap around each corner, then with my back against the floor and my feet in the frame, proceeded to push the frame back into shape a little at a time, checking as I went against the cap.

Crossmember added for the v8 was in the way of the oil pan for the 2.8, which fits much lower and behind the rack.


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PostPosted: November 14, 2013, 3:33 pm 
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Location: worcester county, Massachsetts
MStr, thanks for hooking us up!

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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.


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PostPosted: November 15, 2013, 8:09 pm 
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My pleasure! I'll have to get organized.

About the driveshaft, I bought a TR7 shaft off ebay so I could cut the rear half off to bolt to the spit diff.
I used a new Spicer slip yoke (pn 2-3-10391x, $60), weld yoke (pn 2-28-357, $17), a 1310 front joint, and 2" x 0.83" tubing. I think the driveshaft shop had to turn a few thou off the triumph weld yoke for a proper press fit for the tube. It was real close. I would have just pressed it together. I still need to source grade 8 bolts for the pinion flange.

Specs are approx 1700 lb curb weight with 115 hp (86 kW) @ 4800 RPM, 150 lb·ft (203 N·m) @ 2100 RPM, 3.89 final drive, T5 ratios 4.00/2.37/1.49/1/.76 for 3,000 rpm at 68 mph. There is a 3.27 ring and pinion for this diff that would drop the rpms to 2500 at 68 mph. Curb weight of the s10 is about 3200 lbs and it was adequate power for that, unladen.


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PostPosted: November 16, 2013, 10:32 am 
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I meant to say 2.0" x .083" wall tubing for the driveshaft.

Tis the season to be thinking about heat and defrost.

Bought a GT6 heater. My understanding is the only difference is the floor vent tubes. I assume these go to something that can be shut off on the GT6, because without a way to block them, the defrost and heat wouldn't work very well, imho. I'll be blocking them for now.

I found the inlet hole doesn't line up with the firewall and will be moving that and the motor eventually.

An early 80s ford ranger blower has the same overall thickness as the triumph blower but with a much larger od and deeper cage. The cage clears the triumph heater core but the resistor would need to be moved and the inlet would be offcenter. The heater core is still available for about $100 new. I expect these would be fairly easy to repair with soldering if necessary. My lines were bit and slightly kinked, but a gently pull to straighten while lightly squeezing the kink brought them back to where they should be.

The control doors allow for adjustment between defrost only or defrost and floor heat. When fully closed, the defrost path is about by about 1/3.

Temperature is controlled by a cable controlled coolant valve. These cars had either a pipe thread mounting on the engine or a bolt on nipple and a bracket to mount it to the firewall, which is what I'm using.

I've included various valves used on many cars. Some completely shut off water flow and some don't. Some are electric, vacuum or cable controlled. Some bypass for lack of a parallel path on the engine to allow some coolant to circulate when the thermostat is closed.

This heater doesn't fit a completely flat firewall. There needs to be a bend forward where the lines enter the firewall. The linkage also protrudes forward of the inlet surface.

Blower on/off and speed control is through the contacts built into the cable control. Two choke cables and a 3 position switch would work well as a replacement for temp, door, and fan control.


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PostPosted: November 16, 2013, 10:39 am 
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See previous text.
Also a pic of what the firewall is supposed to look like.


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PostPosted: November 16, 2013, 10:45 am 
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More valves. There are lots more, but these are fairly common.


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PostPosted: November 16, 2013, 11:19 am 
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Driveshaft, defroster vents and steel bezels with tonneau snap studs. Previous owner made plastic spacers as shown when fitting wood dash cover. Don't think I'll be needing those but will keep them for now.

Vents use 1-3/4 hose. original hose is very brittle. I'm using scat hose from aircraft spruce with heavy zips to attach it.

Heater controls showing electrical connections for fan.

triumph blower versus ford ranger blower.

Here is something I drew up for making your own defroster vents.


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PostPosted: November 16, 2013, 12:35 pm 
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Since the seats were going to cost about $750 to replace missing hardware, foam, and recover, I found these original seats for about $150. I considered using other seats, but found the best fitting seat for a spit is a spit for max head room.

Picked up a head light switch for an early 90s explorer. New style head light switches look cool but need more dash space for the separate rheostat to control the instrument brightness. Button of the bottom releases the center shaft if it is rotated into the right position.

This is a ford inertia safety switch. It is wired in series with the fuel relay control side. It shuts off the fuel pump if the car is in an accident to help prevent a fountain/mist of fuel from spraying down the wrecked, arcing car and its occupants. Otherwise, it may spray until someone is capable and thinks to cut off the key. Of course, there may be a short from another circuit, created during the accident that supplies power to the pump control so the key won't shut off the pump.

Push the button to reset. Very reliable, simple, light weight, cheap safety device. It should be oriented the same way it was on the donor. You can test it by bumping it in your hand and the button will pop up to break the contact. One of the easiest vehicles to remove it from is a mid90s tbird.

Have you ever noticed that spitfires imported to the US sit high in the front? It is to meet minimum head light height requirements.


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PostPosted: November 16, 2013, 1:35 pm 
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Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F wrote:
...Here is something I drew up for making your own defroster vents.


Thanks for posting all this. I know it will be helpful when I get to the much needed heater/defrost bit in my build. For instance, the picture of the vent reminded me that I have some old shop vac parts that look like they would be just the ticket. Now, did I or did I not throw them out during my most recent garage-cleaning event??? :?

Image

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PostPosted: November 17, 2013, 7:30 am 
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Thank you for the feedback. I think I got the corners of the long side flanges wrong for lining up with no gap to the end flanges, but all you really need are the side flanges.

The scat hose is orange silicone over spiral support wire and fabric, so it is made to last. I thought, great, the defroster ducting is present, but then I tried to flex it a little and it snapped in half. I figure I need about 3 feet of scat hose, which should be less than $20.


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PostPosted: November 17, 2013, 12:30 pm 
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Location: worcester county, Massachsetts
mstr, I assume you're keeping the Spit rear end correct?

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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.


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PostPosted: November 17, 2013, 1:58 pm 
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Yes, for now until it's driveable and I find the ratio and or jacking to be a issue. I found this for a few improvements to the irs:

http://auskellian.com/paul/links_files/ ... s.htm#rear


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PostPosted: May 13, 2014, 1:25 pm 
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Any updates or additional photos on this one? How did the S10 engine and tranny fit? Does the engine clear the stock hood and shifter come out somewhere decent? I've acquired a '78 Spitfire that I'm thinking needs an engine upgrade. Thanks!


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PostPosted: May 13, 2014, 5:39 pm 
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Here are a few pics I didn't post. The shifter was taken apart and the shaft heated to get the knob away from the dash.
The stock air fliter clears but the air cleaner required a lot of work. Frame rails were doubled then nearly removed. Slave cylinder is tight. The shock tower ribs need removal to clear the lower radiator hose elbow.

If you use a shorter fwd motor and efi with the motor further forward, it should be a lot easier. This car was already butchered.


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