1964 Spitfire $2013 Challenger

Bought this on the way home tonight. Aghhhhh! I really just wanted to look and the seller really wanted some silly cash offer. I do like the look better than the later Spitfires. A bit of vintage appeal. Car is mostly in boxes and boxes of parts, chrome, grills, lights, gauges etc. Missing the torque converter. Has a hardtop and a title! Supposed to be rebuilt motor and transmission. Bad metal in the battery area and floor underneath. Rest looks pretty solid. Not sure of the build direction? Ecotec? LS? I do have a L33 sitting around.

Is there a resident Spitfire expert that can tell me if any spare parts are worth selling or junk?

Wish me luck.

Here is the ad. Not sure when he will pull it.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/cto/3211091049.html

1964 Triumph Spitfire4 - $800 (Stone Mountain)

Car has been disassembled all parts are original except the seats. Engine and tranmission, but no torque converter. Floor pan will need replacing. Can be completed or great parts car. I have the title for this car. 404-542-zero ###. $800 OBO.

Torque converter in a 64 Spitfire? What engine and trans does it have?

Congrats, I really like the earlier models, they clean up nice with the chrome bumpers.

The ad is deleted.

The parts are likely worth something to somebody, depending on condition. You might be able to make back most of your $800 while still keeping the basic car for a Challenge base.

IMHO: Spinning triangles with forced induction. Weight is the enemy of a Spit chassis.

This car never had a torque converter. Do you mean overdrive?

The car looks a bit roached, but the hardtop has some value. Do you have the rear glass for it? If not, the value drops a lot. The fiddley bits for hard tops is either unobtanium or expensive. The engine and trans have some value, depending on which motor it actually is and whether its stuck or even running. The engine should be an 1147, but few things are original on these old cars.

Its not an "easy" car to do a transplant, but anything is possible given enough steel and a welder. The rear end and transmission are like butter.

That would be an excellent chassis for a really light challenge car. I would do a bike engine and try to get the car as light as possible.

spitfirebill wrote: This car never had a torque converter. Do you mean overdrive?

Seller said it in his ad that it was missing the "torque converter" and when I was looking it over, he said it again several times??? I'm guessing he ment to say "flywheel" or "clutch"?, but I did not correct him. It does have a manual transmission. He mentioned Austin Healey and Sprite also.....

I gave $450.00 for it. Seeing the mystery boxes of spare parts helped sway me. Felt like one of those TV shows "Storage Wars" or the "Price is Right". I will take the boxes for $450.00. We will see what is in them and how I really did.

He said it had glass somewhere, I did nor see it? I should have looked at it. I did see a front lower valance, 2 front bumpers, and another rear corner bumper.

I agree, It is on the rough side, but that is what I need to help direct me towards a cheap Challenge build. I might have paid too much?, but it should be a pretty good Challenge starting point (I think). I sure won't have any remorse about cutting it up. I hate that remorse.

Bill, thanks for replying. If you could be my question "Go To Guy!" I would be grateful.

I will say it is pretty amazing that it still has a title to go with it. That is something you do not see in Georgia.

Another crummy picture from his ad.

Hardtop is probably worth a good chunk of what you payed for it. The rear end won't survive any extra power and the rear suspension sucks so I would be prepared to redo the whole rear end.

Bike engines are getting pricey. Seems like you could find a few non-turbo rotary engines for the pricey a decently powerful 4 cylinder motorcycle engine.

PHeller wrote: Bike engines are getting pricey. Seems like you could find a few non-turbo rotary engines for the pricey a decently powerful 4 cylinder motorcycle engine.

Without bargain shopping $600-1000 for a complete running carbed 1000cc setup putting down 140-150hp. Similar power to a carbed rotary in a package that is less than 1/2 the weight. Shopping with a challenge mindset can lower that price significantly.

When you get ready to start selling off parts let me know, I have a 64 Spit in need of some stuff.

Ro-Spit with a well located RX7 live axle will work great.

A local guy did one, and it was SUPER fast as an autocrosser.

93EXCivic wrote: Hardtop is probably worth a good chunk of what you payed for it. The rear end won't survive any extra power and the rear suspension sucks so I would be prepared to redo the whole rear end.

I was very suprised it is a metal hardtop, I thought it would be fiberglass....

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: When you get ready to start selling off parts let me know, I have a 64 Spit in need of some stuff.

Me too...

This:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/mazda-13b-rotary-engine-mostly-complete-wwiring-harness-100/55585/page1/

I'll be glad to help whatever I can. You will see there are others here too with knowledge.

I paid $400 for my car many years ago and that was too much. The car was in a lttle better shape than yours and I wavered about restoring it or building a race car. $8k later and its still not finished and I did all the work myself.

My best advice is to KISS. Clean up or paint stuff you can instead of replacing. I wouldn't worry about any boo birds telling you it's a sin to cut that car up. Its yours now.

In reply to spitfirebill:

Cool. I have cut them up before.

On my bucket list I want to be able to utter these words...."Well; I do have the worlds fastest "........". In 1990, I took a pristine 1896 SVO and cut it up, V8 swap, welded rollcaged, it into a race car with the intentions of finding those words. I raced it in the SE and got it into the mid 9's.

"Animal Jim" (was the driver) and his owner/friend squashed that dream of mine with this SVO. I hear my name is still cussed on the SVO pursuitist boards.

alfadriver wrote: Ro-Spit with a well located RX7 live axle will work great. A local guy did one, and it was SUPER fast as an autocrosser.

This. My main reasoning behind going with a rotory is for the car's post-Challenge life. If built properly, you could be well on your way to a nice, reasonably competitive E-Mod car.

So go to the GRM link above, and snag that 13B!
C'mon, $100!
Kentucky isn't that far from Atlanta.

erohslc wrote: So go to the GRM link above, and snag that 13B! C'mon, $100! Kentucky isn't that far from Atlanta.

I have a rotary friend that has spares under his bench. I will pick his brain tonight. That is a maybe.

Remember, lots of good buys coming up with the cold and those needing Christmas money. Moultrie swap meet in in November also.....

First thought was; I have this free aluminum 5.3l L33 (325 horse) under my bench looking for a home. I can pick it up and walk around with the complete shortblock. That kinda makes me giggley.

You're in for a metric ton of work to make a V8 fit, and even then you might not be happy with the result. I'd suggest a rotary or inline 4. I'm not the only one who has come to that conclusion with the Spitfire.

I started here:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/well-i-bought-this-little-lbc-with-a-sbf/41182/page1/

And so far have made it here:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/1976-triumph-spitfire-50-v8-miata-18/54640/page1/

I've made it a little further, actually. I need to update my build thread.

Hauled off the "Old Gray Mare" and this $2013 build is coming together! (I like it when things seem to design themselves).

I have been struggling with a "Game Plan" for this $2013 Spitfire. I have parts from the sold Jimmy, but what motor? V8? 4 Cyl? V6? Rotary?, 5.0l Ford?, Ecotec?, Transmission? Automatic? 5 Speed? Decisions? etc. etc.

So, I was at the Pull-A-Part at 8:00 am Saturday when it opened. I was hauling off a rusty Skylark. In the line to get the junk car weighed, a guy walked up and offered me $80.00 for the rally wheels/tires on the Skylark. I said no, too much trouble. He said how about a trade for a Monte Carlo 4 speed? Now, mildly interested, I said, tell me more. He said that he had a '72 Monte Carlo he bought for the 12 bolt rearend and was scrapping the rest. I pulled out of line and drove about 5 miles away.

Sure enough, in the trunk of a bucket seat Monte Carlo is a Muncie 4 speed, Hurst shifter, PP, bellhousing clutch, pedals etc. The front input bearing retainer is cracked, but I think I have one somewhere. This is the 3rd time I have been sitting in line at the PAP and ended up trading my junk for I think is pretty good stuff. The other 2 times were for another Muncie, and a A-body 12 bolt rearend. Kinda strange.

I had wanted to use the L33 aluminum LS motor I have and with the rule allowance I will order a Quick Time bellhousing to mate the LS motor to the Muncie. Cool. Now its noon on Saturday and I have a decent transmission for the Spitfire and a plan of what motor to use.

Back at the PAP, spent the next hour walking and thinking and then got busy. The next few hours I pulled some pretty cool parts off of a Lincoln, 2 Fords, a Mercury, and a Chevy. This is going to be a Johnny Cash "One Piece At a Time"mobile. I'm feeling pretty good.

Yep, when I squint me eyes real hard I see this frame fitting the Spitfire.