1979 TRIUMPH SPITFIRE FOR SALE. WORK DONE AND PARTS INCLUDED

1979 Triumph Spitfire

I really, really do not want to part with this car, especially since I have so much already invested in it.

But I have three other British cars to finish and no room or time for any of them.

My big loss will be your big gain.

These are such great little cars I don’t want to see this one just sit around. 

I have a blog site (see below) where you can see more details on the car including descriptions and photos of the work already done and the parts included. 

I have so many parts for the car so they aren’t all listed.

55,000 miles on odometer.  Original owner says that it is correct but no way to be certain.  It was a weekend car for most of it’s life so the odometer reading may be accurate.

Car in mid-restoration. Much done so far but no time or space to finish it.

Most of the parts needed to complete the restoration have already been purchased but not installed.

Very little rust on the car and the electrical system is in good shape. All lights, gauges, etc work.

The car ran when the restoration began in 2010. There were carb issues and it last ran in 2012.  It ran very smoothly before the carbs were removed for rebuilding.

The car includes pretty much the entire interior with restored seats and door panels.

Sound and thermal insulation has been added to the entire cockpit.

Interior box sections of the body have been cleaned out and rust treated with rust encapsulation products and painted afterwards.

All hydraulics and brake rebuild parts are included.

All major rust issues have been addressed by cutting out the rusted metal and replacing it with new metal.

All the glass is good

Parts are readily available for these cars and surprisingly inexpensive.

What you will need:

The soft top has a split in the plastic window so you’ll need a new top. The frame is fine.

Tires are old so will need replaced.

There is not battery in the car.

The carb may or may not need rebuilt again.  I know people who can do that in their sleep but I don’t know enough about the Zenith Stromberg carbs to do it myself.

PARTS INCLUDED

INTERIOR:

Seats: Refinished, restored and repainted seat frames with new foam, seats recovered with black vinyl

Wood dash sanded and clear coated.

Door and side panels recovered with black/charcoal carbon fiber pattern material, new door backings.

Roll of automotive carpet, needs cut

New ABS plastic transmission tunnel to replace the factory cardboard ones that always rot out.

 (New transmission tunnel has sound deadening insulation already applied.)

Complete Dynamat-type sound-deadening insulation applied throughout entire cockpit along with thermal insulation.

HYDRAULICS:

All brake pads, shoes, rebuild kits. Clutch, slave cylinder and brake master rebuild kits plus just aboutall other miscellaneous brake related parts

SUSPENSION:

Rear end air shock absorber conversion kit complete

Other:

Door waist seals

Motor mounts

Oil and air filters

Fan belt

Distributor cap

Ignition wire set

Top and bottom radiator hoses

Door tonnaeu snaps

Brake and clutch clevis pins

Thermostat and gasket

New carb needle

Clutch master cylinder

Clutch slave rebuild kit

Brake master rebuild kit

Front brake hoses

Brake kits front and rear

Rocker cover gasket

WORK DONE

Cockpit/floorboards

Bad metal cut out on driver’s floor and new metal welded in place, sealed and painted

All other rust cut out and replaced and sealed

Floors covered in two layers of fiberglass cloth and resin.

Cockpit stripped to metal, three layers of truck-bed coating applied. Then painted and sealed

Dynamat-type sound deadening insulation applied to all cockpit surfaces including ABS transmission tunnel and side walls. Thermal insulation added over top of sound insulation. (if you’ve ever had a small British sports car you know that sound and thermal insulation make a huge difference in the enjoyment of driving the car)

Wood dash sanded and clear coated. Vinyl dash still in good shape.

Interior panels rebuilt with new foam and black/charcoal carbon-fiber-pattern material including back bulkhead panel.

New backer board on rebuilt door panels.

Seat frames stripped and refinished, new seat foam and black vinyl cover installed. Not original pattern but seats are ready to be bolted in.

New foam in headrests and re-covered.

Carpet included but it is raw black carpet and needs to be cut and installed.

Body:

Remarkably rust-free.  Main rust was in the drivers floorboards and cockpit front kick panels.which has been replaced.

Looks like there is some rust on the driver’s side sills. But the insides have been treated with rust encapsultion products.

All enclosed sills and box-sections of body have been cleaned out, treated with rust-encapsulation products and them painted.

Some slight rust at the front right headlight nacelle.

A few small surface rust spots on the body.

Some body filler on front of rear left wing

Cockpit stripped to metal, two layers of truck-bed coating applied. Then painted and sealed

Most of the exterior firewall and engine compartment shelf has been cleaned, primed and painted.

Small hole in battery compartment repaired.

Frame is solid and straight.

Inside of front lower apron/valance partial restored/primed

Tilting front hood is straight and in good shape. Car does not appear to have ever been hit.

Trunk cleaned, primed and painted. No rust anywhere in trunk area.

Conversion from the big, black plastic bumpers to chrome bumpers (chrome bumpers included) nearly done.  Chrome bumpers just need bolted up but front under-riders are needed.

Electrical , heating, cooling.

Wiring seems in very good shape. Lucas alternator tests fine and all gauges, switches and lights work with no issues.

Heating and cooling systems work. No leaks found on testing. New hoses, thermostat, etc included.

New spark plugs, distributor cap and plug wires installed.

Windshield wipers, turn signals, emergency flashers, etc. work correctly.

Ignition switch, starter and starter relay replaced.

Suspension, hydraulics and related

Aside from cleaning, degreasing and painting the front suspension, it is untouched. The springs and shocks appear to be good as does the rear end.  There is the slight Spitfire rear end sag that can be cured by installing new spacers in between the rear leaf spring or by installing the included rear air-shock conversion kit.

The car was pulled at speed of up to 35mph and there were no bad sounds or clunks from the rear axle or any suspension components.  Car tracked well and the steering and suspension felt good.

Brakes worked fine when parked but new brake rebuild kits, shoes, pads and master cylinder rebuild kits were purchased but not installed.

A new clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder rebuild kits were purchased but not installed.

Engine, drivetrain and related.

Engine fired up and ran smoothly when parked.  There were some carb-related issues which kep me from driving it.  The carb has been rebuilt but not tested. But beyond that it ran smoothly, compression showed good in all four cylinders and there appear to be none of those big oil leaks you so often see with British sports cars.

The clutch was replaced within 10,000 miles of when I purchased the car but the slave cylinder was almost inoperable (rebuild kit is included with the car) so there was no way to test it while driving. Shifting feels smooth.

The exhaust and catalytic converter are good and the gas tank was also replaced with a new one around the time the clutch was replaced.