We recently completed the full restoration of our 1976 Triumph Spitfire.
Its very happy owner came all the way from his home in France to collect this beautiful classic and to take it for its first drive….back to France!
As first drives go, that’s a big one but our Spitfire and its owner made it back home with no issues.
Everyone here at Bridge Classic Cars is looking forward to seeing it out and about on even more adventures.
In preparation for our 1979 Triumph Spitfire to be delivered to its new owner (who won it through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions), Jonn has been conducting a pre-delivery inspection and road test.
Here are his notes:
Finish pdi and carry out road test. Choke not picking revs up enough when operated. Adjust quadrant bolts on throttle spindle and retry, ok. Drives ok when warmed up properly. Throttle pedal a bit stiff again like before. Remove cable and lubricate. Refit and test, better. Just waiting for spare tyre yo be fitted to spare wheel and the ready to go.
Jonn also stripped and adjusted the nearside front wheel bearing before refitting the wheel and torquing it to spec.
Tony recently made the drive to Clacton to pick up a 1974 Triumph Spitfire. After loading it into the trailer, he delivered it safely to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Now that it is here, work can begin on bringing this classic Spitfire back to life.
The wheel caps of our 1976 Triumph Spitfire have been prepped ready to be painted very soon.
Our 1979 Triumph Spitfire has been in the hands of Jonn. Here are his notes:
Get in and finish the service. Fit new points and condenser. Refit cap and rotor and try to start. Won’t fire. Investigate and found wire from condenser insecure and barely making contact. Strip and solder both wires from condenser and to points into contact. Adjust points and try to start again. Ok now. Take outside and warm up. Set idle speed and carry out road test. Not too bad now but will require throttle cable (on order) as its very stiff.
Our 1979 Triumph Spitfire has spent a bit more time in the Bridge Classic Cars paintshop.
After a successful final road test, our 1978 Triumph Spitfire was loaded onto our trailer and delivered to lucky winner Barry Pendleton.
Molly even made the trip to see the delivery in person!
Our 1976 Triumph Spitfire has made lots of progress recently. The wiper motor has been stripped, rebuilt and fitted. The dash bridge panel was stripped, recovered and refitted. The centre armrest was also stripped, repainted, recovered and fitted. The seats were recovered too.
Seat belts have been installed along with the centre armrest and trims and the left-hand seat. New covers were put on the right-hand side seat before this was put into the car.
Various parts of the seats and trim also spent some time in the paintshop.
Our 1979 Triumph Spitfire 1500 has recently been painted in the Bridge Classic Cars Paint shop.
Jonn has been looking at our 1978 Triumph Spitfire. His notes are below:
Finish as much of the inspection as possible on the floor. Carry out repairs. Sort connections to nearside reverse lights. Remove offside door handle and inspect. Strip apart and clean components. Lubricate and reassemble and test. Works fine. Refit to drivers door and test. Still the same. When it has to release the pressure of the lock it slips past p clip inside handle. Requires new handle.
Mauro has been polishing the bonnet of our 1979 Triumph Spitfire 1500. He has repaired the chips and cracks along with completing some light welding next to the headlights.
The car was then prepped and primed.
Rob has continued with the rebuild of our 1976 Triumph Spitfire.
The headlamp bezels have been fitted and the bonnet has now been fitted to the car too. The door seals and B post capping finishers were fitted and the hood frame was bolted on.
Rob cleaned the hood frame catches and fitted them.
Technician Rob has continued his work rebuilding our 1976 Triumph Spitfire. The starter and alternator have been fitted, as have the exhaust manifold, inlet manifold, and exhaust system.
The engine of our 1976 Triumph Spitfire has been making great progress in the hands of technician Rob.
The rods and pistons were fitted, and the camshaft timing was checked and adjusted to bring it to the manufacturer’s specifications. Rob also fitted the cylinder head and rocker ger before setting the valve clearances.
Once the assembly of the engine was complete, the gearbox was bolted to the engine before it was fitted to the car. The radiator was also fitted.
Neil has refitted the rocker cover and air filter to our 1979 Triumph Spitfire 1500.
One of our storage cars, a 1968 Triumph Spitfire was looked at by technician Steve recently.
He cleaned the washer bottle as the pump was blocked and the hand brake had a broken pivot. Steve also noted that the rear shoes were wearing thin.
Classic car technician Neil has been servicing our 1979 Triumph Spitfire in preparation for it to eventually be won through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions.
Alan has been adding colour to the wheel arches of our 1976 Triumph Spitfire after it had raptor applied. As well as the arches, the last few small components were painted too along with the headlight bowls and bonnet corners.
Alan then flatted and polished both sides of the bonnet.
Technician Rob has also been working on our Spitfire. He has fitted the boot lid and the lid stay was blasted and painted before being fitted to the car too.
The front side lamps were fitted to the quarter valances before these were also fitted to the car. Rob then made the brake pipes and fitted them to the brake master cylinder and pressure valve.
Classic car technician Rob has continued making good progress putting our 1976 Triumph Spitfire back together.
He has now fit the left-hand door, the windscreen chrome insert, and the door weather strips and top cappings.
Rob also painted the brake callipers and rebuilt them with new pistons and seals before refitting them to the car. He then blasted, painted and refitted the window guide channels before stripping the brake pressure valve to clean and paint it.
We recently welcomed our 1979 Triumph Spitfire into the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Very soon after its arrival, classic car technician Neil serviced the car and a plan is now being created for its future as a competition car.
Our 1976 Triumph Spitfire has continued to make progress through the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Rob has fitted the vinyl trim around the screen frame and fitted the windscreen and top capping. He then fitted the lower steering column and the RH door.
While Rob was doing that, Alan was prepping, sealing and raptoring the bonnet, wheel arches, and lower bonnet panels ready for colour.
The reassembly of our 1976 Triumph Spitfire is making good progress. Rob has now fitted the rear seat pan sound deadening aswell as fitting new trim in the rear of the cockpit area.
While Rob was doing this, Alan was prepping the doors and bonnet for colour. He then applied colour and lacquer.
Bridge Classic Cars paint technician Alan has been working on our 1976 Triumph Spitfire.
He prepped the polyester primer ready for high-build primer before applying the high-build primer to the doors and boot lid.
Alan then masked and primed the body of the car.
Rob has welded the inner wheel arches back onto the bonnet of our 1976 Triumph Spitfire. He did this before the outside of the bonnet was painted.
More parts are being cleaned and blasted before Rob electroplated them.
Our 1976 Triumph Spitfire has continued to make good progress at the hands of technician Rob.
Rob has built up both front spring/shock absorber assemblies and fitted them to the car. He also fitted the poly bushes to the rear trailing arms.
He then went on to fit the poly bushes to the differential rear case and fit the differential to the chassis with poly front mounts. The rear spring and rear driveshaft assemblies were fitted before Rob built up the heater box and water control valve. He then built up the right-hand front disc/hub assembly with a new wheel bearing and fitted it to the chassis.
Classic car technician Rob has built up the left-hand front disc/hub with new bearings and fitted it to our 1976 Triumph Spitfire.
He has also fitted the steering rack before he built up both rear driveshafts. The rear spring bushes were changed for poly ones and the spring mounting box was assembled.
Classic car technician Rob has been refitting the front suspension to our 1976 Triumph Spitfire.
Rob has also cleaned, sandblasted, and replated all of the parts for the steering and suspension that were initially plated. These are now ready for reassembly.
Alan is busy masking up the body of our Triumph Spitfire ready for the new Java green colour.
Wet on wet primer to cover over the seam sealer. He has painted inside the boot, cabin area and bulkhead.
Alan has applied a DTM gloss black to some of the suspension parts. DTM or Direct To Metal paints are created to provide your metal substrate with protection from corrosion, yet provide a good cosmetic finish at the same time.
The internal joints have also been seam sealed and are now ready for colour.
Our 1976 Triumph Spitfire has been in the Bridge Classic Cars paint shop with technician Alan.
Alan has been applying polyester primer to the doors, boot lid, and bonnet. The first stage of this was to reapply epoxy primer to give them corrosion protection. Then all of the parts were sprayed with polyester primer.
