Mark,
The differences began in the late 60's when the Government of the US
thought they were engineers and started mandating cleaner and safer
cars. Because the European versions were pretty much exempt from the
standards, they started producing different engines for the two
markets, So the early Spits pretty much were the same. When the MkIV
came out and the de tuned engines for the US did a woefully inadequate
job of propelling the Spits in any manner even close to what is expected
of a sports car. To counter that, they upped the displacement to 1500
in a low compression format especially for the US market. It was 2 full
years later until the European market got the 1500's. But the engine
was a high compression version and worth the wait. Additionally, it got
twin HS4 SU carbs instead of the wimpy Zenith Stromberg on the US
version. So the high vs low compression only applies to the late Mk3
and later engines. The engine serial numbers tell the story
Mk1 (all) FC...
Mk2 (all) FC...
Mk3 (All to to the FDU series spitfires in 1968) FD...
Mk3 (FDU USA series) FE...
MkIV (All except USA and Sweden) FH...
MKIV (MkIV USA) FK...
MKIV (Sweden) FL...
1500 (All Except USA) FM...
1500 (USA) FM...UE
1500 (California) FM...UCE
NOTE: Canada is considered part of the USA market
Mark Gardner wrote:
>
> While looking through the Haynes manual I bought in preparation for
> spitfire ownership, I noticed that each of the three engines had at
> least two versions. It looks like all the 1500s imported to North
> America (where I am) are the same, but what about the 1147 and 1296
> versions? The manual lists "high compression" and "low compression".
> Were both versions brought into the US? California? Can I tell which
> is which by the engine numbers? Any strong feelings about which engine
> to look for?
>
> Thanks again for all the help,
>
> Mark Gardner
--
"If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
-- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
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