1980 Triumph Spitfire 1500

Here we have my 1980 Triumph Spitfire 1500 that i have restored from the ground up over the last 3 years. Its been back on the road for a little over a year and covered 1300 miles. This car has to be seen to be believed from its gorgeous Vermillian Red body to the under hood finish and plush interior.

The engine runs on unleaded petrol.

I have a huge history file of Mot's and more from when I purchased the car plus my own invoices for the restoration which is literally 3 inches thick of paper.

Historic class so no mandatory MOT and £0 road tax. Although not mandatory the car will come with a 12 month MOT. The bodywork has been completely gone through with any rust been cut out and replaced with metal and many new heritage panels. New panels include, outer wings, inner wings, arches, main floor, outer sill, middle sill and inner sill, bulkhead repair panels and a complete brand new heritage bonnet. Thousands spent on panels and hours spent ensuring its 100% true and panel gaps etc are better than factory. It was worth the effort as you can see in the pictures. No gaping panel lines or ill fitting doors.

The body was professionally painted by Bedfords in Norwich which is renound for doing high quality paint jobs. The finish is like glass using 2 pac epoxy paint with a depth of shine that just oozes quality. This finish wasn't just done to the outside also inside the car and underneath. Underneath benefits from a modern stonechip protection finished off in Vermillion Red. I have a comprehensive digital photo album of the whole process which will be sent to the buyer.

Chassis was stripped completely, shot blasted and powder coated in the same colour as the body. All internally wax oiled as done to the body.

New stainless steel front and rear bumpers from Harringtons.

The engine just runs superbly. Its hard to describe how good this car drives and I have spent a small fortune to achieve this. The enigine is a re manufactured Spitfire 1500 engine as it would have come from the factory. Ivor Searle supplied the engine and I spent many hours running it in properly with several oil changes and techniques to seat the piston rings. It was worth the effort as having had the car tuned at 1000 miles on a rolling road to fine tune its producing 100bhp and 140 ft lbs of torque. This is helped with the 4-2-1stainless exhaust system with twin outlet. The header has a ceramic coating to reduce under bonnet temperatures.

The gearbox and overdrive was rebuilt at Heathrow Transmissions. The gearbox is 4 speed with overdrive. As you would expect from a reconditioned unit its free from noise and smooth. Overdrive is a joy to use in 3rd and 4th gear.

Rear diff and cv joints etc all overhauled.

Twin SU HS4 Carbs are fitted that have been fully serviced. Removed the waxstat jets for non waxstat and even in heavy traffic the idle is stable and runs cool. I have also fitted ethanol resistant parts for future proofing with modern fuels. Twin pancake filters with venturi stacks internally.

Fuel tank was cleaned out, new hoses and lines, mesh type fuel filter, Huco fuel pump with ignition based cutoff. Fuel filler cap rechromed.

Ignition system has been changed to a 123 fully programmable system. It has been setup on a rolling road for advance and vacumn advance for part throttle cruising. Its so responsive on pick up.

The cooling system has been totally upgraded. Running a full width radiator, Revotec suction type fan new hoses, pipes, valves and water pump. The system is clean and the heater etc all works as it should. Temperatures run optimally when driving even in this heat and long running in traffic jams is no problem at all.

Suspension has been sympathetically changed. At the front it has a Canley's trunnionless conversion coupled to uprated springs and GAZ adjustable shock both in height and dampening. The rear has a modified Moss Motors rear spring again with GAZ shocks. Red polly bushes, solid steering rack mount results in a crisp drive but with such supple suspension. Very comfortable even on the Norfolk B roads. Many suspension parts powder coated in black.

Brakes have been totally overhauled from new brake lines to new discs, pads, shields, pistons, cylinder and more. This car has a lovely brake feel and effective.

Electrics are fully functional and wiring loom in excellent condition. Lights converted to LED without any modification so they could be replaced if you wished. The headlights have the benefit of day runninglights, LED function and lights you can actually see with at night.

The interior is new from the black carpet, Black leather seats, vinyl side panels, vinyl windscreen surround plus all the gloveboxes and other trim items. I spent a month drawing the dash on cad and had that machined from genuine black carbon fibre.The result is stunning.

The hood is new from Rimmer. Black Mohair that fits really well and looks amazing.

Alloy wheels are Sprint wheels finished in black via powdercoating. The red with the black looks fantastic. Yokohama tyres all round about 800 miles only on them.

All in all i genuinely don't believe you will find a better example in both the finish and driving. This isn't anywhere near the cheapest Spitfire 1500 you will see but if the price isn't the driving factor and you want the best then its here. The number plate is private and will be retained by me and I imagine the original will be reinstated which I will do the new number plates for.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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