I've replaced
every bushing and bearing on the car. I had originally installed a 69 gt6 engine in
the car a year ago, after replacing the bottom end. After 15K miles the oil consumption was quite high (1
quart per 150 miles). some of the oil was leaking from the front so only part was
going through the engine. The current 2.0 liter engine was rebuilt over this last
winter. The engine and tranny looked like a piece of junk on the outside.
But, It turns out that the 72 GT6 donor
car (a rust bucket) only had 28K miles on it. It looked like the donor GT6 had spent the
last 20 years outside in Ohio somewhere. The car was too far gone for me to restore but I
gave the rolling chassis to another spitfire list member. Both the tranny and rear
end are original and all I've done was install a new speedo gear on the tranny output
shaft. The engine had seized after being stored so long. After soaking for a few
weeks with liquid wench, I was able to free the engine up. I did a complete
disassemble on the engine and head and was surprised to find everything well within
tolerance. (That's when I realized that the speedo had 28K miles and not 128K miles on it)
I ending up installing new rings, bearing and seals (just because I was there),
lapped the valves, and reassembled it. The new engine has about 9-10k miles on it
since it was installed back in March. It is one of those rare triumph engines that
does not leak oil.
I fabricated a hood bump from a left and
right rear valance patch panels that I had lying around. The donor car did not come
with a hood, the PO said that it had rusted to pieces.
I put about 20K miles a year on my
spitfire. It's a blast to drive and parts are cheap enough that I can afford to
repair/replace parts when I need to.
Ben Bacon
79 Spit6 (Daily Driver)
Paola, Kansas
