What are the parts of a spitfire?

Answer 1

Brakes, Suspension & Wheels

part

replacement

notes

anti-roll bar (pre 1973 Spitfires)

anti- roll bar (73 and up)

73-up cars have a larger front anti-roll bar (approximately 15/16 inch instead of 11/16 inch) which, while not as good as a one-inch aftermarket bar, is a cheap junkyard upgrade.

beauty rings (wheel trim rings)

Dodge Omni or Plymouth Horizon (TC3)

and

Ford Escort & Mercury Tracer

Wheel trim rings (beauty rims) will fit Spitfire's stock 13" wheels perfectly. I bought 4 beautiful ones, $20 salvage yard. Its an alternative to Moss,Vic, TRF. etc..

brakes (GT6 front calipers)

TR-6 front calipers

TR6 calipers up to CC81078 (1972) are identical to GT6's through mid 72

TR6 calipers from CC81079 are identical to GT6 calipers from mid 72 to 73

brakes (GT6/TR6 front calipers)

1979-83 Toyota four wheel drive pickup

With some mods the Toyota calipers fit TR6's. Since TR6 calipers fit GT6 then the Toyota ones should also fit. Visit link to VTR site for conversion.

This link shows them being installed on GT6 .

brakes (Spitfire front calipers/suspension)

GT-6's stronger front discs, vertical link, calipers and hubs

Straight swap but must use everything between the A-arms. Not sure if they will fit all years but probably safe to assume Mk1-2 GT6 fit Mk1-3 Spit and Mk3 GT6 fit Mk4-1500

brakes (Spit front calipers)

Ford Escort (Euro)

Front brake calipers fits, but the brake hose comes to different place, so you have to change the hose: (from Opel with "banjo type" fitting) to clear the suspension parts when turning the wheels.

brakes (front caliper pistons and rebuild kit)

Spitfire 1967-80

Jensen Healey, Delorian, Porsche 911S & Carrara, Morgan +4 & 4/4

According to this Morgan site the caliper piston 32320329 and rebuild kit SP2697 are also used on the following cars:

Jensen Healey; the rear of the Delorian; Spitfire (67-80); Porsche 911S (74-77), Carrara (72-75), 911SC (77-on), Morgan +4 and 4/4 (61-85). The calipers are different.

brakes (front caliper pistons and rebuild kit)

GT6 1968-73

Capri, Austin Healey 3000, Delorian, TR4-6, Morgan +8

According to this Morgan site the caliper piston 64321880 and rebuild kit SP2589 are used on West German Capri 2000, Morgan +8 (68-7/78) 2300, 2600 (71-74), 2.3 & 2.8 Litre (75-78); Austin Healey 3000s (64-67) if replacement calipers are installed; GT6 (68-73); TR4 thru TR 6 (65-76) if replacement calipers are installed.

The calipers are different.

brake assembly (rear)

GT-6's stronger brakes

Straight swap. You need from the backing plate out (drums, shoes,wheel cylinders, etc.)

brake drum pin & spring set

Ford Escort, Sierra kit

Pin and spring kit for all years Spitfire/GT6 drum brake - Autogem BHK38 Brake Shoe Fitting Kit for Ford Escort, Sierra.

brake pads (MkIII-1500)

Ford Escort MkI (non US)

brake pads from Rimmer Brothers is labelled "for Ford Escort MK 1"

Straight swap

brake pads (MkIII-1500)

Volvo 140

Straight swap

brake pads (MkIII-1500)

Volvo 240 (rear)

Stock Volvo pads from local Volvo dealer (fitment is REAR pads for 240's with Girling rear brakes). Major improvement! Lighter pedal feel, much better bite! One thing, don't use the black mastic anti-vibration pads that come with them, just use the aluminum shims. The mastic pads make the pedal feel squishy, and taking them out made no difference in the amount of brake noise - there is none either way. They were about $30 for the set.brake pads (GT6)Datsun 240Z-

brake light switch

Austin Metro

Exactly the same part, so straight swap, no modifications needed. Cheap new and abundant in scrapyards.

brake light switch

73 Chevy Nova switch

Go to ANY Auto Parts store and ask for a 73 (non-cruise control) Chevy Nova switch. They make two, one that is metal and the other is plastic. Less than $10.00. It works great but you do need to shave off part of the threads, like it is on the OEM unit, so it will fit.

brake light switch

Datsun 310

Brake light switch fits without modification

brake light switch

1977-1981 Chevy Luv Truck

Direct replacement but will have to crimp new ends on it.

hubs (rear)

Dolomites and Marinas

Dolomites and Marinas used the same hub

lug bolts

7/16" x 20 studs (Mercury Capri )

Dorman part # 610-175 or Balkamp's (from NAPA) part # BK641-1063(R)

lug bolts

7/16" lugs

Some machining required. Visit this link for machining requirements & photos.

This link also has some info.

(WHEEL-TITE brand, part #28020)

lug bolts

Ford Escort, Cortina studs

Ford Escort, Cortina etc. studs fit straight to Spitfire hubs without any modifications.

lug bolts

m12x1.52004 Land R Freelander frontpart# CLP9037L

same head and shank as original, 1/2 inch longer.

Great for alloy wheels, much stonger than original

master cylinder

Datsun 510

The flare fittings are metric, so I had to cut the end of the brake lines, then re-flared them with metric fittings. The master cylinder used the same bolt pattern, so there was no problem bolting it in. The Datsun MC is designed to sit level in the car but have had no trouble with the Spit's angle.

master cylinder

Toyota Tercel (US)

had to modify mounting bracket and add metric fittings

master cylinder

TR7

Same size, angle etc. But the TR7 used a larger pipe and pipe fitting. The flare was cut off. A suitable 'large' fitting was substituted for 'small' pipe for $1.

shocks (rear)

13.5 Harley-Davidson Motorcycles

Remove bushings from Harley shocks replace with 3/4 inch long pieces of heater hose. With 5/8 inch diameter. This will raise the rear of the car up by about 1.5 inches to get rid of the sag common on the spit. Did this on my 1977 1500 worked great cost $25 including shipping on ebay. Most Harely owners remove these as soon as the get dirty or to lower their bikes cheap and plentiful.

The ones I purchased were for a 2004-05 XL model with 13.5 eyelet to eyelet measurement. Most motor cycle shocks that measurer 13.5 to 14.5 would work as long as they have eyelets on each end. This raised my rear end up by a little over 1.75 inches. The Harely have a little larger eyelet opening than most Asian cycles but they still could be used. I even installed a pair to lower my Yamaha 750 down by 3/4 of an inch last year (required a thin steel bushing do to hole size difference). The 77 Spitfire drives better and now sits almost level since installation.

shocks (rear)

62-78 Corvette

Monroe MA-785

1980 Corvette

Gabriel (Auto Zone Part# 49304)

you need to take the old mounting grommets & washers from the top of the old shocks & use them on the new ones (different size) Visit VTR page for details

springs (front, US 1500)

Mk3 Springs (214144)

Gave me back the phenomenal handling and stability Spitfires were world renowned for.

The 214144 early spring is rated at 150lbs rather than the later TKC1884 being rated at 180lbs. Visit Paul's website for details.

springs (Spitfire front)

springs (GT6 front)

GT6 front springs with one coil cut off work well on a Spitfire

wheel bearings

Spitfire

TR6 front wheel bearings are the same as Spitfire

wheel bearings

GT6

GT6 front wheel bearings are the same as the Stag. Victoria British and Moss use their own part numbers so you can't tell from those catalogs but if you look up the factory part numbers it shows they are the same. GT6 and Stag share the same front outer wheel bearings as the MGB, MGC and MGBGT.

wheels

-

see the wheels page for more info about other brands/cars that fit Spitfires/GT6's

wheels

1986-89 DeLorean

These are 14" rims that fit on the Spitfire. They are fit the rear well but are too wide for the front (they hit the frame)

wheels (early Spitfire)

late Spitfire

All Spitfires used the same bolt pattern (3.75"). Late Spitfire wheels, at 4.5" or 5" (1980) wide will fit early Spits.

wheels

TR7

5.5" wide with same bolt pattern and offset.

Note: TR7 wheels are hubcentric (centered on the hubs) and Spitfire hubs do not allow this. It is a good idea to countersink the lug holes 1/16 inch to better accept the Spitfire's stock tapered lug nuts.

Check out this link for more info

wheels

MGF wheels

MGF alloys are a direct swap, exact same PCD (3.75") and Offsets, they look good too

wheels

Rover Metros and Montegos wheels

Straight swap & are 14" in diameter

wheels

Austin Marina and early Lotus

Marina's and Lotus's used the same bolt pattern

Answer 2

it has elliptical wings (rounded wings) fairly long thin body, and fairly flat canopy.

also the landing gear folds down towards the middle of the plane not outwards.

please add to this answer.