Hello and welcome,

To the 1978 Triumph Spitfire, Maggie.

She was bought as a little toy to take up some of my time and most of my money in August of 2009. As of now, I'm an IU student living in Bloomington and the car is much less fortunate, living in my parents' garage in far-away Muncie. The separation anxiety is already setting in, so lets move on to the plan.

THE PLAN

-Create a fun to drive, reliable 3-season sports car

-Keep the car running and usuable most of the year

-Do the big fun things during the winter when she won't be on the road (after all that body work, road salt is a big no-no)

THE BIG FUN THINGS

-Update the brake system, possibly using a whole donor system... Or I could be lazy and brave (stupid) and keep the 4 x 3 3/4" hubs plus GT6 front discs

-Updated suspension, also possibly from a donor vehicle... I heard of some guy using Yamaha R1 coilovers on the front to make a touring car style pushrod setup

-Spiffy new (old) engine... leaning towards a 4AGE, either a 20v of some sorts (love those itb's at 8200 rpm) or a 16v with twin DCOE Webers mated to a t50

-All the other junk that goes with the heart transplant (driveshaft, rear-end fiddling, radiator, exhaust, oil pan, etc.)

LITTLE THINGS(annoyances)

-Old, worn out points system replaced with electronic ignition

-All electrical connections torn apart and di-electrificated (technical term)

-Steering column ignition switch opened up and thoroughly cleaned out after it was caught smoking

-Gorgeous weber DGAV tuned (This has probably started a lifelong love of Weber carbeuration)

TO BE DONE

-Reupholster the seats, burn the sheepskins

-Re-carpet the interior floors and the boot

-Fix the hole in the 165mm tire that matches the other three... using a 175 is a bit annoying because it rubs whenever I try to take advantage of the ridiculous 24 foot turning radius (Suck it, Smart Car)

I'll keep updating as I get more things checked off the list.

Enjoy!

In its new home

                                                                    Cruise in the park   

Top up, and yes thats a normal size parking spot

                                                                     Spitfire flybys

All photo credit goes to my brother, Mark in Ft. Wayne, IN. If you're interested in contacting him, just send a message my way and I'll put you in touch.