It seems from both personal experience and this thread that the build
quality and component life of the Spitfire / GT series was more
"variable" than that of the Spridgets. My first 2 cars were a '63
Spitfire Mk1 (to differentiate from later models, just said "Spitfire 4"
on the boot lid) purchased well used, and a 1970 GT6+ purchased new. In
the 6 short months I had the Spit it got a rebuilt engine (thanks to DPO
induced oil leak), rebuilt trans and a new clutch. Other than that it was
"trouble free" in the short time I owned it. It passed from my
possession when it broke a piston in the middle of Pennsylvania (
equidistant from my home and my destination at college - 300+ miles
either way). The 1147cc engine, IMHO, was not suited to US driving
habits, especially long "high speed" cross country runs on the
Interstate.
The GT6+ was a much more suitable touring car. The only real problem
that I had with it, other than the usual Lucas "foolishness", was with
the rear axle shafts, specifically the U joints. Triumph used the same
joints at the inner axle ends as the Spitfire (the same, incidentally, as
Spridget driveshaft too.) They were undersize for the torque load they
transmitted and were not greasable as there was too little room between
the yokes for a fitting. As a result they wore terribly fast and, if not
replaced at the very first indication of wear, would develop enough play
to break the yoke when taking off from a stop. I drove that car 102,000
miles in 4 years and replaced 2 axle shafts and 6 U joints in the rear
axle. Other than that, the only major repairs were a valve rocker shaft,
one clutch disc and 2 lower front suspension trunnions. I probably would
still have the car but it got caught in a flood and was a total loss.
Chris - AN5L35xxx
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