I guess you always need another car, right?

Ok, lets see who's been paying attention over the past 20 years.

Who remembers the red street prepared Spitfire that my father built up in the early 90s? It was on a 1991 cover, and took FTD at many autocrosses.

Why am I asking? Because I'm its new owner, as of yesterday.

15 years ago my dad sold the car, a red 1979 Spitfire that had been backdated, to a doctor in North Carolina, who loved the car. Then the doctor sold it to a man in Tampa a few years ago, who hated the car. I know he hated the car because he smacked it into a tree, bending lots of the car's pointless luxury items in the process. You know, things like frame rails and A-arms.

Shortly after he did this, he abandoned the car with the local towing company. They traced the title back to my father, and called us up. Long story short, we got the car back for the storage fees (which were minimal). We went and picked it up, and couldn't believe what we found.

All we had been told was that it had been hit. Naturally, we were expecting something minor, like a bent bumper. We also expected all the performance goodies to be gone, like the twin Webers, electronic ignition, built motor, etc.

Well, to say we were surprised would be an understatement. First, the car was easily totaled. The hood was toast, and as mentioned above the front frame rail looked like a pretzel.

Unbelievably though, the car was (mechanically) exactly the same as when Dad sold it 15 years ago. The only missing part on the car was the air filter element.

So we loaded it up on the trailer and dragged it home. We got the engine running again, then put it in the back of the garage. It sat there for a few years, while my dad and I each pursued other projects.

Fast forward to last Friday. I was plotting all kinds of fun modifications to the blue Spitfire, the one that appeared in Classic Motorsports. Eventually, my father put his foot down and said "Listen, the blue car is a solid original car with 40,000 miles. It hasn't been butchered yet and it runs great. Let's leave it stock, and you're welcome to do absolutely anything you want with the red Spitfire, provided you keep it safe."

So this is where I stand. I have a Red Spitfire with a rust free body (sans hood) that has two dents in it, total. It does need paint, though. The red car has a balanced and blueprinted 1976 engine (the only year with 9:1 compression), bored .40 over, with bigger valves, some head work, a mild cam, and headers. There is also Crane Cams electronic ignition with a 2 stage rev limiter. It also has an oil cooler. And the car also sports two two barrel Weber side drafts.

The car also has a fancy transmission with the weird trick, where half the teeth are ground off the syncros. And a limited slip in the rear.

Moving on to the suspension, the front has a big sway bar and cut GT6 springs. It's sitting on KYBs now, but I have a set of Konis to go on it. In the rear, It has a de-arched leaf spring with an extra leaf added.

Moving onto the interior, it's had an oil pressure gauge added. It also has some ripped up aftermarket bucket seats, well out of date Simpson 5-point harnesses, and an Autopower roll bar.

I've talked to a long time friend of the magazine, Steve Eckrich (sorry Steve, I probably misspelled your name). He's going to rebuild the diff for me, and he says he also has some trick rear brakes, leftover from the Rotary Spitfire, that he's going to give me. I'll probably put GT6 brakes on the front.

Now, the big question: How will I fix the mangled frame? Easy–I wont. Sitting under my treehouse is a rusty Spitfire parts car, that happens to have a good frame. Sitting on top of that car, I have a very usable bonnet.

So it will be simple; I'll take two Spitfires and make one!

Obviously, I'm not going to make a quiet car for my grandma to go get groceries in. I'm aiming to sort of make a Spitfire version of Steve's Camaro. Something that will tear up a track, but still be streetable enough to drive occasionally.

Want this to be even more interesting? I'll be trying to finish this entire project before the VTR convention in October. I plan on driving it up, taking FTD at the Autocross, and driving it home. Think it's possible?

Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes, it's been a long, Spitfire filled day.

It sounds as if you've been paying attention over the past 20 years, or most of them anyway. You're a pretty entertaining writer.

Have fun with your new car.

Tommy Suddard wrote: Ok, lets see who's been paying attention over the past 20 years. Who remembers the red street prepared Spitfire that my father built up in the early 90s? It was on a 1991 cover, and took FTD at many autocrosses. Why am I asking? Because I'm its new owner, as of yesterday. 15 years ago my dad sold the car, a red 1979 Spitfire that had been backdated, to a doctor in North Carolina, who loved the car. Then the doctor sold it to a man in Tampa a few years ago, who hated the car. I know he hated the car because he smacked it into a tree, bending lots of the car's pointless luxury items in the process. You know, things like frame rails and A-arms. Shortly after he did this, he abandoned the car with the local towing company. They traced the title back to my father, and called us up. Long story short, we got the car back for the storage fees (which were minimal). We went and picked it up, and couldn't believe what we found. All we had been told was that it had been hit. Naturally, we were expecting something minor, like a bent bumper. We also expected all the performance goodies to be gone, like the twin Webers, electronic ignition, built motor, etc. Well, to say we were surprised would be an understatement. First, the car was easily totaled. The hood was toast, and as mentioned above the front frame rail looked like a pretzel. Unbelievably though, the car was (mechanically) exactly the same as when Dad sold it 15 years ago. The only missing part on the car was the air filter element. So we loaded it up on the trailer and dragged it home. We got the engine running again, then put it in the back of the garage. It sat there for a few years, while my dad and I each pursued other projects. Fast forward to last Friday. I was plotting all kinds of fun modifications to the blue Spitfire, the one that appeared in Classic Motorsports. Eventually, my father put his foot down and said "Listen, the blue car is a solid original car with 40,000 miles. It hasn't been butchered yet and it runs great. Let's leave it stock, and you're welcome to do absolutely anything you want with the red Spitfire, provided you keep it safe." So this is where I stand. I have a Red Spitfire with a rust free body (sans hood) that has two dents in it, total. It does need paint, though. The red car has a balanced and blueprinted 1976 engine (the only year with 9:1 compression), bored .40 over, with bigger valves, some head work, a mild cam, and headers. There is also Crane Cams electronic ignition with a 2 stage rev limiter. It also has an oil cooler. And the car also sports two two barrel Weber side drafts. The car also has a fancy transmission with the weird trick, where half the teeth are ground off the syncros. And a limited slip in the rear. Moving on to the suspension, the front has a big sway bar and cut GT6 springs. It's sitting on KYBs now, but I have a set of Konis to go on it. In the rear, It has a de-arched leaf spring with an extra leaf added. Moving onto the interior, it's had an oil pressure gauge added. It also has some ripped up aftermarket bucket seats, well out of date Simpson 5-point harnesses, and an Autopower roll bar. I've talked to a long time friend of the magazine, Steve Eckrich (sorry Steve, I probably misspelled your name). He's going to rebuild the diff for me, and he says he also has some trick rear brakes, leftover from the Rotary Spitfire, that he's going to give me. I'll probably put GT6 brakes on the front. Now, the big question: How will I fix the mangled frame? Easy–I wont. Sitting under my treehouse is a rusty Spitfire parts car, that happens to have a good frame. Sitting on top of that car, I have a very usable bonnet. So it will be simple; I'll take two Spitfires and make one! Obviously, I'm not going to make a quiet car for my grandma to go get groceries in. I'm aiming to sort of make a Spitfire version of Steve's Camaro. Something that will tear up a track, but still be streetable enough to drive occasionally. Want this to be even more interesting? I'll be trying to finish this entire project before the VTR convention in October. I plan on driving it up, taking FTD at the Autocross, and driving it home. Think it's possible? Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes, it's been a long, Spitfire filled day.

So, then...how does your dad stand on the issue of adoption? That is, is he willing to consider adopting a 58 yr old gearhead?

Good luck with the build; it sounds like you're off to a flyin' start.

That's awesome! Congratulations on your new toy....

Do you have some sort of magic treehouse where the exact car parts you need grow out of thin air? All I ever had under my treehouse was a bald goodyear hanging from a rope

I expect a full write-up in a future GRM on this project Tommy.

Junkyard_Dog wrote: Do you have some sort of magic treehouse where the exact car parts you need grow out of thin air? All I ever had under my treehouse was a bald goodyear hanging from a rope

What he said!

I remember your Dad writing about getting the call and going to pick it up.

I'm looking forward to seeing it come back to life...

*EDIT...IIRC, your Dad wrote about going to Chimney Rock while owning this car...

This sounds like a great project! I am doing something similar with some Miatas. However, a Miata sitting in the backyard is a bit more likely than a Spitfire...

Okay, so I get to watch your dad build a car, then two decades later I get to watch you build the exact same car.

You're freakin' me out man.

jg

Junkyard_Dog wrote: Do you have some sort of magic treehouse where the exact car parts you need grow out of thin air? All I ever had under my treehouse was a bald goodyear hanging from a rope

There is actually a stack of cars underneath it. At first, it went Spitfire-Bonnet-Berkley-half of a Berkley. At this point we've slowly whittled down the stack to Spitfire-Bonnet.

JFX001 wrote: I remember your Dad writing about getting the call and going to pick it up. I'm looking forward to seeing it come back to life... *EDIT...IIRC, your Dad wrote about going to Chimney Rock while owning this car...

Correct!

In reply to JG Pasterjak:

You should grow a mullet again. For reference:

JG Pasterjak wrote: Okay, so I get to watch your dad build a car, then two decades later I get to watch you build the exact same car. You're freakin' me out man. jg

Man, you're gettin' OLD!

A few years ago (OK, many years ago), living in Miami, I was in a money pinch for a daily driver. I had what was then a G Prod Spitfire, sitting unused. So I took lights, turn signals, windshield, wipers, horn, etc. from a parts car, and made it street legal. It had an A-6 cam, 12:1, ported head, comp springs, camber compensator, etc. I had some wide 13" rubber (A70-13?) on 5-1/2 steel wheels. I bought a thrush muffler to hang on the end of the 2" exhaust pipe. I drove it that way for about 6 months. Aside from the lack of side windows (it does rain in Miami), and the welded rear diff (I snapped a stub axle making a left at Tamiami Trail & 127 Ave.), and idle at around 2K (Palmetto Expressway, crawling rush hour stop&go, heavy competition clutch, ughh), it was a blast. Expressway exit ramps were eagerly anticipated. For my job, I parked in a downtown garage, and the sound when I let off in 2nd gear was amazing (car alarms anyone?) And even though it still had the stripes and numbers on it, I was never pulled over (but I did get seriously eyeballed by the po-po a few times).

So yes, I'd say it's very possible, go for it!

Carter

Tommy Suddard wrote: There is actually a stack of cars underneath it. At first, it went Spitfire-Bonnet-Berkley-half of a Berkley. At this point we've slowly whittled down the stack to Spitfire-Bonnet.

Bonnet? As in Deutsch-Bonnet or Rene-Bonnet? (I worked for a guy who had one of the latter. Turns out he raced it at Sebring in the early '60s...)

Tommy Suddard wrote: I've talked to a long time friend of the magazine, Steve Eckrich (sorry Steve, I probably misspelled your name).

On a somewhat related note, it just dawned on me that Steve is the super nice guy I bought my e30 M3 from in ~2002. I was living in Charlotte at the time and headed over to Asheville, NC to pick it up from him. It was a very good condition 1988 M3 that I never should have sold.

Good luck with the Spitfire! Sounds like a great project.

Tommy Suddard wrote: In reply to JG Pasterjak: You should grow a mullet again. For reference:

Surely the nose isn't fireproof? I don't remeber that 'exact' outfit in ANY of the catalogs...

I don't remember anything about whether it was fireproof or not, but I know that he raced with it on under the helmet. And the face paint had to be special, so he could actually sweat with it on.

Spitfires. They do get under your skin (in a good way), don't they? I passed a 'Ran When Parked' red Mk IV just outside of Batesburg, SC the other day and started thinking evil thoughts again. Who knows...

without pictures this didn't happen.........LOL

Pictures later, my camera is still out in the garage.

My, my, they grow up so fast....

Well written and organized story Tommy. That line sitting under my treehouse is a rusty Spitfire parts car. brought a tear.

Dan