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In reply to 93EXCivic:
Thanks, took 1st in class over the 69 Mercedes. Glad the Maserati wasn't in my class. 
I forgot about them too. For some reason when I'm around classics I tend to forget about the racing and vice versa.
Don't forget to come out on June 4th for the all European show. 
wlkelley3 wrote:In reply to 93EXCivic:
Thanks, took 1st in class over the 69 Mercedes. Glad the Maserati wasn't in my class.
I forgot about them too. For some reason when I'm around classics I tend to forget about the racing and vice versa.Don't forget to come out on June 4th for the all European show.
That Maserati made my pants a little tight. I will be there for the show for sure/
Do I need to get anything from the rear suspension of a GT6?
Only if you plan to convert to to the rotoflex GT6 rear suspension, which is basically a bolt-in after welding on the required brackets (and relocating the trailing/locator arm bracket). The main benefit to this is somewhat improved suspension geometry and removes the inner u-joints from being stressed suspension parts. Canley Classics in the UK sells a CV joint conversion kit to remove both the inner u-joint and the the roto-flex donut. All I've talked to who've done this say it's expensive but worth every penny.
The downside is most GT6 cars use a 3.27:1 rear axle ratio which due to manufacturing methods is inherently weaker than the shorter ratio versions. Also makes the car slower off the line (speaking from experience).
But...
I've owned a Spit 6... they make great cruising cars... but rather sucky sports cars. All the added weight hanging in front of the forward axle-line plays hell with the car's handling. The way to get around this is the mount a Spit engine mounting plate to the front and relocate the whole engine & trans back 2 cylinders worth. Doing this keeps the weight more centered and retains the stock Spit bonnet. However, this is not a simple bolt-in project. Google: FIS6.
My Spit 6 had a 3.27 rear combined with an OD trans. The sucker would easily cruise on the hwy at 80 mph @ 3200 rpm. Of course, I was half-deaf by the time I arrived anywhere... I had it up over 100 mph on I-95 once... it still had more to give but I ran out of nerve. A street Spit is generally not happy at those speeds....
So it is either do the fabrication to fit the 6 cylinder further back or find more power out of the 1296.
According to the commission number it is a 1964 model year car.
93EXCivic wrote:So it is either do the fabrication to fit the 6 cylinder further back or find more power out of the 1296.
Depends on what you want the car for. IMHO, if you are considering turning it back into a street car, you will spend a lot more money on this car than you would simply buying one that's closer to complete and running.
If the history of the car can be found, and maybe a log-book resurrected, then building it back into a vintage racer could be fun. Won't be cheap (you could buy at least one running, streetable Spit for the cost of a race-prepped 1296 - engine alone). But it would be fun.
An E-Mod auto-x car sounds like it would make the most sense: no worries about streetability and engine & drive train options are wide-open (think: roto-Spit).
I am thinking Challenge car right now. But being a bit sick I want to stick with a British engine in it. R160 rear diff, slightly modified 1296, GT6 brakes and front uprights and motorcycle shocks.
Will the rear brakes off a Rotoflex GT6 fit on a Spitfire?
Yes, the Rotoflex brakes from a GT6 are basically the same as a Spit, just a bit wider. But if you're converting the Rotoflex, you get the GT6 rear brakes by default. The master and slave are also different.
As far as Challenge-priced Brit engines go, your best option will be a Rover (Land Rover being most common) V8 with either MS EFI or being very lucky and finding a cheap 4BBL Offy intake. Either will require significant bonnet cutting to clear.
Fitting a R160 can be done relatively painlessly... but keeping it under budget will depend on your access to very good welding skills since the rear axles will need to be fabricated.
Ian F wrote:Fitting a R160 can be done relatively painlessly... but keeping it under budget will depend on your access to very good welding skills since the rear axles will need to be fabricated.
No problem there.
93EXCivic wrote:No problem there.
In that case, don't waste your time with the GT6 bits at all (which are actually worth more to the Spit/GT6 community if you find them for Challenge money) - just convert over the matching parts from the R160. No point in reinventing the wheel for a Challenge car.
Even better - use a Miata diff, half-shafts, hubs and uprights and fabricate control arms.
Ian F wrote:93EXCivic wrote:No problem there.
In that case, don't waste your time with the GT6 bits at all (which are actually worth more to the Spit/GT6 community if you find them for Challenge money) - just convert over the matching parts from the R160. No point in reinventing the wheel for a Challenge car.
Waste my time with which GT6 bits? The rear?
93EXCivic wrote: Waste my time with which GT6 bits? The rear?
All of them.
If the goal is a Challenge car, then there are better and cheaper options than making GT6 parts work with the R160 diff. And if you do get GT6 parts for cheap (example: I saw a complete pair of swing arm and hub assemblies at Carlisle for $80 - a virtual steal), you can sell them on Ebay and make money.
Ok I have a line on some on the front suspension parts. Should I not take those?
The GT6 front spindle and brake assemblies are somewhat of an improvement over stock Spit brakes - slightly larger rotors. But again - these parts are probably worth more to a Spit owner looking to upgrade with bolt-on parts than they are to you who can use whatever you want. The Spit/GT6 suspension isn't bad, but as Jensonman has documented in the past, it has serious Ackerman issues and in your case you can take this opportunity to upgrade.
Another liine of thought would be to just clean, refurbish and paint what you have as your limited Challenge $ will be better spent elsewhere (moar power!)
