| Issue #2 - January 1999 |
In this issue |
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| Page 1 |
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The lastest rantings from the editor. [more]
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| Modifying the Spitfire |
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This issue it's the Spitfires turn. A beginners guide to extracting some performance from the Spitfire's engine. It's not as simple as "let's whack some Weber's on it"... [more]
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| Peter Allott's Spit 6 Restoration |
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Peter Allott (based in Waterdown, Ontario, Canada) is in the middle of a frame up restoration on his Spitfire Mk4 with GT6 running gear. Well, actually the car is for his wife Lynn. [more]
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| Steve Smith's Racing GT6 |
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Steve Smith (based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) has been racing his MkII GT6 in Vintage races since 1990. The car is extensively modified, and really looks the biz. [more]
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| Your Stuff |
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Reader contributions - letters, photos, etc.[more]
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- [back to new format] -
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| Triumph GT6 Ezine |
Restoration - Peter Allott's Spit 6 |
Author: Peter Allot Editor: Todd Wilson
This one is a Mark 4 Spitfire with the GT6 drive train. I am doing a total restoration from the frame up, and am presently rebuilding the GT6 engine. I am in Waterdown, Ontario, Canada. Just outside of Hamilton. Glad I found your site. I'll drive you nuts with questions. This is my first rebuild of a British Sports car so it should be fun. I have been keeping a photo history of the rebuild so I will send them in order. Right now I have the body, floor, suspension, brakes and dash rebuilt. The engine is now all over the place. I just finished the head and reground the valves. I shaved the head and ports for a bit more power. Looks like I need a cam. Looking for a "road fast" cam right now. (Editor's Note: If anyone knows of a good source for Peter to get a cam in his area, drop me a mail and I'll pass the info on.)
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These first pictures are from when I brought the car home before I started work on it. It did run well enough that I could drive it home but the compression tests and lack of guts convinced me real quick that I would have to strip it right down. I didn't intend to do a show car but since it's being restored from the frame up its turning out that way.
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You can see on the deck were the paint has come off from the leaking brake and clutch cylinders. The Chrome has got surface rust on it and it's filthy. The interior is pretty good but the dash top is cracked and the finish on the dash is washed out.
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This is in the garage with the hood (bonnet for the Australian's out there) off, radiator out and the valve cover off, getting ready to pull the engine out. That's my wife Lynn standing by the engine. By the way it's her car. I bought it for her as a gift, as she always wanted a British sports car. I pulled out all of the interior next. I have since discovered that the sponge in the back of one of the seats is rotted out and has to be replaced. As well as all of the seals and most of the carpeting of course.
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If you look closely you can see that the floor under the pedals is totally rusted through. The channel in the floor for the rear light wiring is a perfect water trap. There were also some other smaller holes - the camera does not give the rust justice.
I cut the floor out from under the pedals and left a gaping hole. I also stripped the rest of the floor down to the steel to repair the smaller holes. It took about a week with a high speed air grinder to get it down to basics.
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This be me in the garage. I have stripped the deck and am sanding down the finishing putty taking out any imperfections. Tedious job. Took weeks. The drivers side rear wheel well, towards the front, was totally rotted out and when I grabbed it, the whole corner and part of the floor broke away. This is the section rebuilt with metal, by hand with the plastic skim coat and primer started.
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We'll hopefully see more of this car as the restoration progresses, and I wish Peter all the best with the remaining work.
Do you have a GT6, Spitfire or Hybrid that you have restored, or are in the process of restoring? Send me some photos and a little blurb on the restoration and I'll put it up here.
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