RW sez:
> I am in the process of buying a 1500 Spitfire or a GT6
Great! Umm, that's a curious set of choices. The driving
experiences aren't as similar as you'd think other than the fact that
they share a common interior. Their mechanical similarity is good
for crossover knowledge and they do share some parts, but that's
useful only if you own one of each! They both look sweet, though!
> I subscribe to the anything goes method of classic car owning.
I agree with you in principle, considering that Triumphs, especially
the small ones, were commodity cars, not rolling works of art. I
certainly don't subscribe to the "trailer-queen" concept. But if you
owned an original 289 Cobra or Aston-Martin DB4 or Alfa Zagato or any
of a zillion other rarer machines, you might feel differently. You
shouldn't install an electric guitar pickup in a Stradivarius
because, though you may play it regularly, you are also a curator
with some responsibility to preserve it for future generations of
musicians. Like Triumphs, they don't make 'em any more!
I say all this because it's a question of perspective. No matter
what mods you do, your Triumph will never be a stoplight dragstrip
winner in the 21st century. Every new yuppie-car in the Starbucks
parking lot can still beat you in the Exit-Ramp Gran Prix, and many
of their drivers will go out of their way to demonstrate it for you.
(Nothing is more irritating than running an exit ramp at 9/10th's for
the thrill of your own vehicle-control skill, then looking in the
mirror to see a BMW sitting 5 feet off your rear bumper and wishing
he'd back off before you have to brake suddenly when a squirrel darts
across the road.) In the long run, a half-second quicker 1/4-mile
time won't mean doodleysquat to your driving experience. However
knowing what you are driving and admiring its great looks are on-
going thrills, not to mention appreciating the thumbs-up other people
give you every time you drive it.
The point here is to do your mods such that the car is made better,
not just "faster". To my biased eye, super wide tires that extend
outside the fenders look stupid. Probably makes a mess when you
drive in the rain too. Some people install Weber carbs - great, but
is the car less driveable? Will more power end up trashing the
already fragile differential? (It's not a Lotus Elan but you can
make it just as breakable! Why not just buy a Lotus?) Straight-pipe
exhausts make a racket - fine as long as you have no neighbors to
wake up when you start your Sunday drive to the country at 7 AM, or
return home at 2 AM!
As a final observation, note that when owners do enough whacked-out
mods, the car *always* ends up looking, and probably being, trashed
eventually. Pride-of-ownwership is essential for the long-term life
of any high-maintanence car, and p-of-o is so much easier to
cultivate when the car works well and when you aren't pursuing a
vanishing dream of more speed. Without that kind of p-of-o fed by
the knowledge of originality, you'll sooner or later end up deciding
the car is trash and not worth more work. And when you're a buyer,
you find yourself avoiding the cars with the tricked-up mods because
you just *know* they are as bad beneath the skin as on the surface.
Of course, I'm not suggesting that you'd do anything foolish. I
don't know you from Adam, and you asked some good questions. Can't
really answer them.
> if anyone could tell me what the biggest set of wheels and low
> profile tyres people have used on the spitfire/GT6
Triumph eventually used 5-inch steel wheels on the later Spitfires.
The Minotaur was a 5-inch Minilight knock-off. Panasport and/or
Minilight made a 5.5-inch wheel for them. If I had to guess, I'd say
try a 1.75 70-series tire on 5.5-inch rims. Of course, heavier tires
will offset some of the lightness in the suspension, one of the
charms of the Spitfire in the first place. Tires that are too big
will change the steering feel too. The website of Spitfire & GT6
Magazine (http://www.triumphspitfire.com) has a page of peoples' tire
and wheel experiences.
Here's a personal story. Because one of my Spitfire steel wheels was
slightly bent, I recently bought a set of the Minotaurs. My GT6
still has 4.5-inch steel wheels, Michelin XZX tires, and chrome trim
rings (and Lucas healights). Someone suggested I put the alloy
Minotaurs on the
GT6. Well, if I wanted the ultimate highspeed tourer, I would. But
if I really wanted the
ultimate highspeed tourer, I wouldn't start with a 32-year-old
inexpensive British coupe in the
first place! (I'd buy a Starbucks Yuppie. :-) On the other hand,
the GT6 sure looks sharp,
chrome trim rings and all. I'd be foolish to swap wheels for any
minor improvement in
handling. I drive moderately hard and fast, but since I don't
compete I have nothing to gain.
> has anyone fited bucket seats and if so were there problems
> fitting them in??
Umm, Triumph did, didn't they? :-) Oh, you mean *aftermarket* racing-
type seats such as Recaro? I would think the usual parts houses like
TRF, Vicky-Brit, or SpitBits would have something.
Just my two cents. Sorry about the rant. Welcome to the club!
--
Jim Muller
jimmuller@pop.rcn.com
'80 Spitfire, '70 GT6+
/// triumphs@autox.team.net mailing list
/// To unsubscribe send a plain text message to majordomo@autox.team.net
/// with nothing in it but
///
/// unsubscribe triumphs
///
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
|