Hi Rich,
Don't ride with the club much, but I wanted to tell you I've done a
similar thing to my Spitfire. You may want to consider sourcing a cyl head
from a Toledo. These have larger valves than the Spitfire heads and go well
with the 9:1 pistons. Also look very carefully at the space between cyl 2
and 3 on the head for erosion. It's very small and a good spot to blow the
head gasket (voice of experience). The symptom is no compression at all on
2 and 3, but also no fluid mixing. You can mate a 1300 intake system with
dual 1.25 SU's OK, or find the home market dual 1.5 SU system, or weberise
the single carb manifold to good results.
The overdrive will require a shorter driveshaft and a bit of tunnel removed
to get to the u-joint. I used a shop in Santa Rosa to re-pipe my
driveshaft. The speedo cable is also longer and uses a right angle adapter
off the tranny. God luck with it all.
Scott
'65 Spitfire
--------------------------------------------------
From: <rlmossholder@comcast.net>
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 9:07 AM
To: "North Bay British Car Club" <nobbc@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Nobbc] TRs and big engines
> Hi Greg,
>
>
>
> B That Busa V8 was what I'd do to the spitfire if I win the lotto. Did
> you
> watch the video of the dyno test? The sound of that engine is
> astonishing!B
>
>
>
> B Well, I found the main problemB with the Spitfire that kept me from
> participating in any of the rides. The stupid previous owner installed a
> bolt
> from under the car in the transmission. This bolt served as the fulcrum
> for
> the clutch throw-out yolk. Since it was installed from underneath with a
> standard nut, over time, the nut worked loose and the bolt fell out. I
> couldn't see the bolt location because the exhaust pipe blocked the view.
> I
> found this after removing the engine, of course. Since I had the engine
> out I
> decided to rebuild it all. All the engine bearings were shot as well as
> the
> pistons and cam. The head had an unusual burn pattern. cylinders 1&4 were
> running rich, 2&3 were lean. I thought this was strange since I only have
> one
> carb . Maybe it's a function of the intake manifold? I purchased a
> J-typeB overdrive transmission for $400, not a bad deal. I will tear that
> down
> next time I go up to my Dad's shop. The engine block and head have been
> taken
> to the machine shop. We are going to useB .030 overB European spec flat
> topB pistons. That will bump up the compression ratio from 7.1 to 9.1 and
> add
> a little HP to the mix as well.B The main goal is to build a reliable
> engine
> with a little more power. We are balancing everything and adding roller
> rockers too.
>
>
>
> B John Kenner has given me aB bonnet which I am modifying. I always
> thought
> it would look good with a hood scoop, so I've cutB itB out andB will be
> weldingB that soon. I also want to move the headlights back farther in the
> fenders with the perspex lens covers like the Le Mans Spitfires of the
> '60s.B Not sure how to do that yet. I want to fill in the seams and smooth
> things out a bit too. The fender seam has always looked odd to me. It just
> dies into the door with no continuity to the rest of the body. B I will
> also
> be removing the bulky side marker/reflectors, and replacing them with 3/4"
> round LED markers with chrome bezels.B I am , however, keeping the
> original
> bonnet in tact.
>
>
>
> Have a great ride this weekend. Hope to see you all soon.
>
> Rich
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