Rat Rod - 1972 MK4 Triumph Spitfire project

Stopped by the shop last week for an update. First of all, was a little concerned when his sign was gone from the street. Turns out he is in a zoning dispute, but still working on finishing my car among a few others. Looks like a mobile permit will let him stay in business. Car is running and driving now with 20% reduction in the fuel map, hotter plugs and now has a 4 wheel alignment . Looks like I'll get back the week after the 4th, so excited to see how it performs.

Meanwhile, been working the last month on my neighbor's MGB project. I should do a build thread on this car, but short story is he purchased a 74 MGB with a powerglide and 307 SBC. Body, paint and ford 9 inch rear are excellent. But the engine/transmisson installation was really bad. Pulled it all out, cut out all the firewall "modifications", and we welded in a 67 MGB transmission tunnel and built the new firewall, floor pan around  the LT1 and t56 we are installing to replace it. Thanks to Keith Tanner's build for some ideas from his MGB GT build, the car is progressing nicely and once the steering is completed, we will get the engine back in the car and I'll post some pictures on a separate build.

Sweet! Can't wait to see the tweaked & tuned final product...

Any news? Getting a bit concerned on the radio silance after shop weirdness...

Just back from our vacation. I stopped by before we left at the end of the month, still the same situation but now that I am back, will find out if he will be able to complete the work or I'll get the car back and find another tuner.  More to report shortly!

Always happy to see this on page 1

Any news?

Done or not, picking it up at the end of the month!

Hopefully that will give you a little drive time during fall color before it goes into hibernation.

Have you gottn the car back yet?

So went to visit my Spitfire last week...... I know that sounds crazy but I know it was stored indoors and safe and basically that has been free storage for almost a year since I am out of garage space at the moment. Basically the car has been moved to his new shop and he is about to throw in the towel, can't get it to run correctly on the Hydra Nemesis and with the issues with getting any support on Hydra now they have been sold, he is pretty sure that there is something wrong with it. So I need to rework the car and switch out to a Megasquirt, which he can deal with. I really should have gone down that path the first time, as this will cost me twice what I paid or more. 

So which Megasquirt do you all think I should use? At this point I don't want to be cheap, but need a stable ECU. Spec is low boost (less than 10) as thing is too fast as it is currently.

MS3Pro PnP or the MSPNP Gen2? I don't want to rewire the car, so I want to plug into the Miata harness, and rewire or replace the engine harness to make sure it works with the Megasquirt. So what does the hive recommend?

My MSM has been running a MS3Pro PNP for around 6 years with no issues.  It's supported boost control and other modifications.  No complaints really except for some idle stability issues when hot.  It uses the stock harness, so I can swap back to stock easily.  Not cheap, but it works.

Thanks Joe, that is probably the path I will take. I am way past cheap now, just need it to work!

If VVT MS3, if not MS2 according to my MS guru buddy that has a dyno at his house.  I tried to read the whole threa but ended up skipping to the end, sorry!

Dave, sorry to read about the Hydra; was hoping to learn more about that system as well.

I'm not yet at the boost stage, but trying to accumulate data and thought that maybe a cheaper version of MS might work on my 1.6 but not sure about the 1.8.  I was looking quickly at Micro Squirt....

https://www.diyautotune.com/product/microsquirt-engine-management-system-w-30-wiring-harness/

Pretty sure it's not a stand alone ECU, but I suspect would wire in okay. I've no idea of the possible shortcomings of that system; perhaps someone else does?

Also with a little extra work an "open source" system was posted a short while ago on the Triumph Experience, the Speeduino...  I love the idea of open source, just not sure I'm up to it.

https://speeduino.com/home/

Looking forward to hearing more from some smarter people.

Good luck.

Yes, I ended up throwing in the towel and ordered a Megasquirt MS3 PNP. Dropped it off last Friday, should have the car back by the end of the month! Basically it is running and driving but with intermittent coil firing, fuel pump cutting out , all kinds of issues so it looks like it was just not worth any more time or effort. The MS3 PNP has everything I need and plugs into the harness, they claim you should be up and running in an hour. Fingers crossed but I am way past wanting to do anything else with the computer.......

So my free storage facility (aka the tuner shop), called me and they are finally finishing the Spitfire. Turns out there was still an issue with getting it to run right and he did not want to put it on the dyno until it was running decently. He went through it and triple checked everything. He set it to TDC and noticed that while the timing marks were correct, the intake lobe on the cam was not right. Turns out the pin has sheared on the timing gear and jammed  out of phase. He pulled the gear, replaced the pin and now it runs sweet on the base tune for the Megasquirt. So now he will get it tuned correctly and I should have this car back soon. Not that I have any room for it, but it will be good to get it back.

Awesome!

I keep checking for updates!  Great news, can't wait to hear how it goes.

Exciting indeed! Can't wait to see it together & running properly. 

Not my turbo D. Different Spitfire, but a nice side diversion. We found a restored 1979 Spitfire that was done in the early 2000's and completely frame up restored, but had been sitting for many years. Needed brakes, clutch hydraulics and suspension bushings, but other than that, it was really too nice (read cheap) not to buy.  Also needed tires and it begged for a chrome bumper conversion. Will be for sale soon.

dherr (Forum Supporter) said:

Not my turbo D. Different Spitfire, but a nice side diversion. We found a restored 1979 Spitfire that was done in the early 2000's and completely frame up restored, but had been sitting for many years. Needed brakes, clutch hydraulics and suspension bushings, but other than that, it was really too nice (read cheap) not to buy.  Also needed tires and it begged for a chrome bumper conversion. Will be for sale soon.

 

Nicholas is interested. He really likes the idea of a Spitfire. Though this is way to nice to put in the hands of a novice driver.

In reply to dherr (Forum Supporter) :

ballpark $$$?

This car has been completely restored but sitting for a while, but after going through it and having spend a couple of thousand on new tires, brakes, hydrallcs, suspension, it is now good as it can be. We will be selling it in the early spring, I'll talk with my partner on what he is thinking.

Well something important happened today! Got the call from the shop that has been "storing" my turbo Spitfire for a while now and he has finally resolved his shop zoning issue where the dyno is located and has completed the tuning. I picked it up today, crazy difference in how it drives now. Turbo spools immediately and the shove in the back feels like my MSM except in a vintage wrapper. I still have to finish the interior and mess around with a few things, but it was good to have it back and it will be my daily for the spring/summer.  

So what do you do when a project is done? Start another one, except this one is a Ecoboost for a customer.