Rich White asks:
> I just looked from the outside, so I did not hear it run or look
> under the hood. It is a square back model, does that make it a 1500?
> All my books are TR, so I was wondering what it might be worth?
> What to look for?
Dan B. wrote a nice reply, but I'll toss out a few comments too.
As for price, it would appear that a decent 1500 can be found for $3500
perhaps, a great one for $5000.
The main things to look at are the obvious - frame and body. The drivetrain
is pretty good as long as it hasn't been abuse and wasn't a lemon to begin
with. An engine rebuilt and balanced etc. by a good engine shop will be
very good for many years. Overdrive is highly desirable for highway
driving, though not absolutely essential. To install OD on a non-OD car
you'll generally need to swap the entire tranny, including the rear engine
mount and the plate across the frame that the mount sits on. (The frame
plate is often ignored and tossed out when "parts-recyclers" save a tranny
because they don't realize it is different on OD and non-OD cars.) However
tranny removal is pretty easy. A leaky clutch master cylinder may drip
brake fluif on the bulkhead and thus ruin the paint there. However it is
easy to clean up.
Most everything else on the car is eary to work on and fairly robust. Dan
B. said the later Spitfires aren't as "quick or nimble" and the earlier
ones, but that is partly the result of added emissions equipment. Do check
the engine number; it is on a flange on the left side toward the rear of the
block, if I remember right. 1500's had a compression ratio of 7.5:1, except
for 1976 which had 9:1. This might matter to you, and will matter for a few
of the parts such as fuel pump.
Dan B. also said "1500s are prone to 'rear end squat'" but that's a curious
phenomenon. I thought mine was sagging but a new spring made very little
difference. (Anyone need a pretty good used spring? It's been leaning
against my garage wall for years.) And I can't say I've ever observed a
reason it would be a problem except that the halfshaft u-joints would run at
a sharper angle. It makes little difference to the rear tires because the
car is so light, especially at the rear. All of the square-tail models
should have the swing-spring in the rear which solved the previous swing-
axle tuck-under problem. In 1973 (starting with the 1500, at least in the
US) it got a longer rear axle, and in mid-'79 it got 5-inch wheels.
Overall, a good Spitfire is a sweet car, not as powerful as the bigger TR's
of course, but nicely balanced and highly evolved.
Enjoy!
Jim Muller
jimmuller@pop.rcn.com
'80 Spitfire (Percy)
'70 GT6+ (Nigel)
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