Worldly Scions,
I was at a local "foreign car" repair shop the other day and
being afflicted with a variant of "tarps disease"*, caused
me to notice what appeared to be a forlorn GT6 tucked away
in the corner of the back parking lot. Further
investigation revealed that the car was a Spit-6, and for
sale. I gave it a cursory inspection, and talked with the
current owner briefly. The CO knows little about the
modifications to the car. (He works at the shop and has
several "abandoned" cars for sale there).
I plan on returning for a more thorough look at this car.
I know all the "usual" things to look for, even with such a
conversion, but I have a couple of questions to the collective:
Is there an easy way to tell if the car has GT6 front springs?
Measure the length? I assume Spit front springs would be shorter
under the additional load. Would Spit springs pose a serious
problem in this application? Suspension bottoming out? I will
get the motor serial number, but are there other (easy) ways to
date the motor? Based on Thomason's book, it appears that the
later GT6 motors have different rocker covers & oil filler caps
paralleling Spit changes. Does this hold true for US spec cars?
Any other obvious engine date related changes? (besides generator/
alternator).
I plan on measuring the brakes, but suspect there may be some other
more subtle differences with the vertical links etc?
The car has been off the road for several years, but is wearing
Florida tags. It's black and has a factory hard top. Any Florida
listers know anything about this car? I understand that they are
so rare, Triumph didn't make *any* of them ;-)
Thanks in advance,
Bob (needs another Triumph) Sykes
& '78 Spits
* [A more serious form of the disease where a tarp is not required
to trigger a reaction. Endemic in households containing more than
one Triumph already.]
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