spitfire restoration

Spitfire hood repair

We’ve been repairing the hood frame on our 1977 Triumph Spitfire. This involves straightening out the linkages and then drilling out old pop rivets. Once

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Work Continues – 1977 Triumph Spitfire

Classic car technician Jon has once again been investigating the running issues facing our 1977 Triumph Spitfire. After his initial investigations and subsequent work with the brake fluid being used in the car, he has had to continue his work to find the cause of the running issues being experienced.

Jon stripped the carbs so he could thoroughly inspect them. He found dirt in both float bowls so these were blown out before Jon cleaned them out ready for reassembly.

The fuel lines were also blown out and the filter was removed and cleaned too. Jon found a small leak at the gearbox end of the fuel line so he fitted new seals to rectify the issue.

After this was all done, Jon balanced the carbs and rechecked and adjusted the ignition timing. Although Jon was keen to take our 1977 Triumph Spitfire out for a test drive to ensure everything was moving in the right direction, unfortunately, the weather was not suitable on his first attempt.

During his investigations, Jon bypassed the ballast resistor in the wiring loom by running the power wire directly to the coil. Doing this got the car running perfectly. Jon found an ignition-fed live wire which he traced back to the rear of the fuse box where he soldered the wire from fuse number 1 to the coil-positive terminal.

Jon tested everything and all was working as expected. The last thing to do was to tidy up the wiring and to refit the components.

Now that Jon has been spending some time with our Spitfire, it looks to be making good progress and will soon be back with its owner and on the road again.

Spitfire’s New Hood

Weโ€™ve got a lovely triumph spitfire in at the moment that has had a new hood made up by our trim shop. This is the only modification weโ€™ve done to this spitfire as its going elsewhere for the rest of its restoration journey.

Kath had to hoover out the back of the spitfire to prepare it for its new restoration work.

Kath first had to cut holes out of material to make the hood. The front latches have been screwed in place. Kath then bolted the hood frame to car and attached the rear plate to the hood with 3 fasteners.

The next stage was to fit stud button fasteners to rear body so that the hood can be secured in place. Kath then had to clip the cover around the hood bars inside, pull the front material over the header rail and clip in place.

A crucial step in this process was to leave it over night to stretch and then continue in the morning. Once everything was clipped down and glued in, Kath then had to fold back the hood to trim off excess material. She then riveted a metal channel into the rail and inserted a rubber seal inside channel.

Spitfire hood repair

We’ve been repairing the hood frame on our 1977 Triumph Spitfire. This involves straightening out the linkages and then drilling out old pop rivets. Once these steps have been completed, we ensure it fits back on the car without any further modifications.

Soft Spot For The Spitfire

We’ve had this beautiful 1971 Triumph Spitfire in for work before, so its nice to have it back in for another check-up! Unfortunately, the diagnosis is a blown gasket, but its no trouble for our skilled technicians. This red beauty will be back up and running in no time!

The blown gasket:

The new gasket:

Coming soon: 1976 Triumph Spitfire 1500 with Overdrive

Joining the Bridge Classic Cars family early next week we have our beautiful 1976 Triumph Spitfire 1500 with overdrive, finished in Damson red.

If you are looking for a lovely tax and mot exempt spitfire then look no further, with an absolute fortune spent on maintaining her!!

The spitfire has been very well restored, looks stunning and sounds amazing. Perfect for a first classic if you are starting to feel the hunger for owning a classic as the work has already been done and it’s ready to enjoy.

The interior is a nice place to be and has a dark walnut dash and Motolita steering wheel and has the added bonus of cloth Mazda MX5 seats for comfort and long journeys. Everything works, including the overdrive in 3rd and 4th. The soft top is excellent too with a zip out rear window.

Our Spitfire is sat on new Minilite wheels with polished lips and excellent tyres which, I am sure you’ll agree, set the car off just right to give it an even sportier look.

Here is a list of new parts detailed to us by the previous owner:

Full new bell twin  stainless exhaust

Stainless manifold

Full new suspension front and rear (fully adjustable)

Weber 45 carburettor 

Triumphtune inlet manifold

Stainless oil catch tank

Stainless heat panels 

Electronic ignition

Electric fuel pump and cut off

New minilite wheels 

New 4 pot brakes 

Motolita steering wheel 

Radiator 

Alloy rocker cover 

New wipers/mirrors

Door rubbers 

Burr walnut dashboard etc

1977 Triumph Spitfire Arrives for Paintwork

We’re delighted to have this wonderful 1977 Triumph Spitfire 1500 into the Bridge Classic Cars Paint shop.

The owner has brought in his spitfire 1500 for our Paintwork specialists to work on. The Spirfire will be painted black. Interestingly, black was never a colour option Triumph offered from the factory so this really will be a unique classic.

Here at Bridge Classic Cars we have a bit of a soft spot for Spitfires. they’re such wonderful classics. We can’t wait for work to begin and to see this Spitfire transform into a beautiful machine.

The 1500 from this vehicles name denotes the cc of the engine given to it. The 1500 was the final iteration of the Spitfire and is favoured amongst enthusiasts as it was the most powerful engine on offer.