Slick as Spit

Update by Tim Suddard to the Triumph Spitfire project car
Feb 9, 2010

While it’s a nice, low-mileage car—it had 41,000 miles when be bought it—our Spitfire does have some rust issues. Specifically, the outer rockers and lower rear quarter panels need some repair.

With our carbs and exhaust up to speed, it became time to address the rocker panels on our Spitfire. While it’s a nice, low-mileage car—it had 41,000 miles when be bought it—our Spitfire does have some rust issues. Specifically, the outer rockers and lower rear quarter panels need some repair.

We ordered new outer rocker panels from Victoria British (part No. 9-952 and No. 9-953, which are currently on sale as for $79.95 each). They also supplied us with nicely made patch panels for the lower quarter panels in front of the rear wheels. (Part No. 11-329 and No. 11-330 are on sale right now for $39.95 each.)

We have also decided to replace the bonnet as well as the deck lid. We found a nice used deck lid when we were at Import Carlisle last year for about $150, and we’re currently searching for a good hood. Ours is repairable, but we would rather start with a nicer piece.

Here’s what we’re obviously leading up to: We’re going to take the plunge and properly restore our Spitfire. We have decided that we love this car, and though it’s not very valuable, it is an underrated sports car that we want to keep—probably forever.

Financially, it makes no sense to take a Spitfire we originally bought for $200 and spend another $3500 on it to make it perfect. It may not make sense to invest a lot of time and more than $6000 in a $200 Spitfire. However, you could do a lot worse than have this kind of money tied up a car as great as a nicely sorted 1500 Spitfire.

Comments

Displaying 1-1 of 1 commentsView all comments on the CMS forums

You'll need to log in to post.

Sponsored by