Triumph Spitfire 1500 valve cover restoration
drivetrain, engine

Rockin’ Rocker Covers

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Triumph Spitfire rocker cover
Partial as I am to “Chevy Orange,” this “original” rocker cover had to go…


Triumph Spitfire valve cover replacement
Much like Bugattis and other supercars, the mighty Spitfire requires highly specialized tools and technicians for maintenance such as removing & replacing the rocker cover gasket once every 1/4 century or so.


Triumph Spitfire 1500 valve cover gasket alignment
Getting the cork valve cover gasket (quite prone to warp & flex) pinned down to align properly took some doing: More highly sophisticated and specialized tools req’d.


Triumph Spitfire 1500 valve cover restoration
New rocker cover proves my theory: chrome > Chevy Orange paint. In a triumphant aftermarket “win”, I only had to re-machine for about 15 minutes so the holes for the retaining nuts it came with were actually wide enough to fit. Gotta love “bolt on” aftermarket bits.

Triumph Spitfire 1500 seat frame restoration
interior

Please Be Seated

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Triumph Spitfire 1500 seat replacement
Given my sadistic determination to inspect what may (or may not) be left of the floorpans, coupled with the intervening 3+ decades having rendered the ’74 Spitfire 1500’s seats non-adjustable, it was time to evict them and see what gives (or doesn’t give)…
Not surprisingly, there was the obligatory one godforsaken rusty bolt that wouldn’t come along quietly. This last one had to sheared off with a mallet blow.



Triumph Spitfire 1500 seat frame restoration
Also, not shockingly, removal of the seats and seat frames yielded more evidence that the previous owner hadn’t gotten the memo on rust that winter(s) he apparently left the Spitfire un-garaged with the top down. In Vermont. So much for that floorpan.



1974 Triumph Spitfire 1500 seat frame restoration
One down, one to go: Seat frames, prepare to meet your new pal, Rustoleum. After a generous helping of elbow grease and a thorough bout with a range of abrasives (ranging down from 100 grit sandpaper to steel wool), I was pleased to find there was still some actual steel left in the Spitfire’s seat frames. All things considered, they cleaned up nice!

1st gear cruising in 74 Triumph Spitfire
drivetrain, wiring

Bottom Gear!

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1st gear cruising in 74 Triumph Spitfire
For the first time in the 21st century, this Triumph Spitfire 1500 moves under its own power – albeit in first gear only, on a decidedly non-roadster-friendly day in December! After replacing all of the Prince of Darkness wiring and ignition bits – and then discovering the clutch slave cylinder had seized and needed replacement as well – the Spit is up and running again, after over a decade of profound inertia.


74 Triumph Spitfire restoration
Even got two generations (one in each direction) of Spitfire aficionados to climb in for a victory lap up and down the snowy driveway…
1st drive - restored 74 Triumph Spitfire

Triumph Spitfire 1500 seized clutch slave cylinder
drivetrain

Getting in Gear: Not Coming Through in the Clutch (Slave Cylinder)

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Triumph Spitfire 1500 clutch slave cylinder
A scuzztastic, totally corroded and seized up clutch slave cylinder can really slow your roll. Or, more to the point, not allow to even begin – at least not in gear. Even with the electronic ignition working, and the Spitfire 1500 firing on all four cylinders, I’m not going anywhere until a new one of these arrives in the post!

Provided the gearbox tunnel is not in place (and covered with interior carpet), access to the mounting flange and removal of this bad boy is comparatively painless. Separating the cylinder from the mounting flange is another matter entirely, however…


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“Recalcitrantified”: (adj) conjunction of “recalcitrant” and “calcified” that the Brits should’ve created given the aging habits of their hydraulics, particularly those in the ’74 Triumph Spitfire 1500 that found it’s way into my garage. Fortunately, the colonists invented Liquid Wrench.


Triumph Spitfire 1500 clutch slave cylinder restoration
3 days of liquid wrench + 5 minutes actual wrenching + some Hammertime (to jettison the slave cylinder from the mounting flange) = one liberated defunct clutch cylinder. Then a bit of wire brushing on the flange and (almost) good as new, and ready for install of a replacement cylinder. Next stop: 1st gear…


1974 Triumph Spitfire clutch slave cylinder replacement
New clutch slave cylinder installed & ready to shift….

Triumph Spitfire 1500 distributor replacement
wiring

Redistributing the (Prince of) Darkness

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Triumph Spitfire 1500 distributor replacement

Q: What’s missing? (hint: after a brief blaze of glory yesterday – actually running for the first time in a decade! – the part that heretofore occupied the area plugged up with a rag has been temporarily removed, off to the shop to be fitted with an electronic ignition, as part of the de-Lucasization campaign)

A: The OEM Prince of Darkness Lucas distributor

The long and winding road of restoring and maintaining a 1974 Triumph Spitfire 1500