Triumph Sports Cars

Check out the latest addition to the BritishV8 photo gallery:
Mike Reynolds's 1974 Spitfire with Chevy 4.8L V6 Engine (20 photos!)



Isn't this a cool photo!

Mike,
Excellent work, especially the chassis and the running gear.
Love the colour and the hood scoop too. She looks a real beauty.

Graham Bingham

Thanks

It was a big project but it is one fun ride.

Mike

Mike,

I second Graham's coments on your car! Well engineered and looks great. And all the way from the Great White North, 53rd parallel, the french community of Beaumont Alberta. I'm sure everyone in town knows you car.

Ken

I'm impressed. You've been to Beaumont?

Mike,
Beaumont, "beautiful hill". Nice historic church on that hill. I lived in Edmonton off and on for 10 years. Worked down the road at Nisku in the "oil patch". I'm a praire boy from Saskatchewan actually. Love the summers out there.

Anyway, question about your car. There are many areas to ask about but my first is how did you adapt the Mustang 11 front suspension? With that track width, did you have to engineer it all yourself or did a vendor set you up pretty well?

Ken

I did all the chassis work myself and used a Chris Alston twin control arm set up. Basically, I purchased the control arms and bushings and a front suspension blue print kit. I used a Mustang II spindle and adapted the Camaro brake kit by using a conversion bearing and caliper adapter braket with a 11" Ford rotor. The frame width is 22" outside to outside. The problem is that the narrow drag car kits are designed for a 24" frame width, so I had to use an aftermarket Pinto designed rack and then shorten the inner tie rod ends. The shocks are coil over QA1 adjustable units. I thought I would have a big bump steer issue but it has next to no issue. To keep everything within the factory fenderwells I had to use a high offset wheel. The only issue I really have is when at maximum turn, the inside of the tire can rub the lower control arm, but you have to have the wheel turned to the bumpstops and the suspension compressed. Really is only an issue if your trying to negotiate a parking manovuer that you really should do as a 3 point turn.

Mike,
Thanks for that. Yes, these LBC's are narrow. I think only the Thames vans create a bigger challenge. In regards to any bump steer issues, did you elect not to go with Chris Alston's "bump steer kit"?

[www.cachassisworks.com]

I'm curious, does the convertible top fit over that nice shiny roll bar?

Impressive display at the car show. Where was that and did you take anything home?

Ken

I thought that I may have to use the bump steer kit, but I never needed it so it did not bother doing a purchase. Yes the top fits over - but with a catch - I had to raise the top 3" and then have extra material added to seal the side door windows. The back and front still sealed fine. To raise the top all I did was move the brackets up one set of holes and re-drill new holes. The roll bar is still failly low still. With my helmet on, my head is just below the bar. If I sit up straight or stretch, I'm too tall. With the top up, the head room is pretty limited - I'm 6' tall.

The show was the 2008 Powerama show in Edmonton. I took home a 2nd place for best individual display. I lost to a guy who had at least $200,000 tied up in car and display including a rotating stand, tons of specialty lighting and signage and carpet. Oh well - I drove my car home, he trailered his.

Cool stuff!

beautiful car mike.i am doing a 69 spit myself with a 347 ford v8 with a chassis similiar to yours with a corvette rear diff with dual a-arm rear suspension of my own design and a front suspension of my own design but similiar to yours. i am also using mustang 11 spindles and a 71-73 pinto rack .coilovers all around and a new chassis made of 2x3 rect.tube.i am using a t5 trans
and tilton hyd clutch and brake kit.i built stainless sidepipes ala ac cobra style for the exhaust and am using ac cobra seats and bumpers.motor is 450 hp. 3.55 gear.15x7 rims& 225/50/15 all around.my chassis is x'd for stiffness and handling.i've done the drag racing scene already for 10 years in my 452 dodge powered,alky injected 23t altered.this is just a street car.i also have a 2008 mustang i play with at the drags.i live in sarnia ontario canada.i was also going to paint mine blue.mustang sonic blue to be exact.but that is up in the air as of yet.anyway great car and enjoy it.

Thanks Rampant Racing, Sounds like you have a handful. I drag race too - myself and a partner run a Blown Alky 23T. 6,80 @ 211MPH.

i love the altered .i am going to try and post a pic of mine but it may be too big and i don't know how to resize them.i race at grandbend motorplex.
this is the engine for my spit.

Very impressive. What are you doing for hood length and clearance? How far back into the firewall are you going?

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY BACK! the number one sparkplug is in line with the coilover.it will come through the hood a bit but i like that look,that's why i picked a polished aluminum breather.i am thinking of either dual rollbar hoops or maybe a double bump configuration ala new corvette or pontiac solstice.i am using shortback ac cobra seats so the double bump would work well i think.i am moving the battery to the back as there is no room up front after the surgery.i like plenty of room around the starter etc.am using shorty headers that fit the application like a glove.does your body sit on top of the frame as opposed to the original backbone style frame that runs through the middle of the car and sits down over it? i copied the original shape of the frame up to the point it kicks up at the back then it is all custom fab.it is all made of 2x3 inch with a 1/8 wall thickness.i then added a perimeter frame a bit wider then yours and x braced it for stiffness.i am using all heim joints as suspension points except for the rear inner pivot points of the irs.ther i am using delrin.urethane sucks as a bushing material.it is to sticky and flexible to be of use in a serious suspension as is rubber.i am using 11 inch rotors all around for stopping.that should be sufficient considering the weight or lack there of.
this should give you an idea of the setback.it is still in the original chassis but it was to get an idea of how much sheetmetal to take out.once i get the rear suspension finished i will post some pics of the frame.later

this is a pic or two of the chassis in progress. i have since done quite a bit more i will post more pics later .


the diff mounts in these pics has been changed it was only temporary to get measurements.

Looks like you've got plenty of time already invested for sure. I thought about going with a SBC and doing that kind of set back, but it would have made the trans tunnel wider (I'm running a GM 200-4R) and I wanted to have easy motor/trans access without going to removable panels. I made my frame so that the body would sit down onto it and I've got 10 mounting points. I did not do the X bracing as the power / weight ratio is not too bad and the roll bar ties the whole chassis together, plus solid mid and front motor plates. I too use rod ends vs bushings.

That thing is going to haul once its done. I don't know too much about the IRS systems - can they launch straight? I went with the 4-link because I know them, it was easy to do, and because it is adjustable. My only issue has been that with 13" center to center 4-link bars, the suspension has enough movement, but hits almost too hard at the strip and can sometimes blow off the tires (a 24" slick) if the traction is not there. Once under power, it stays hooked, but that first 10 feet feels like I've been hit by a bus.

Good luck with the project. E-mail me if you ever have a question.

the irs is more for cornering and a nice ride but can still get it done at the strip if it needs to.it doesn't hit as hard as a 4link but it should take the hp seeing as how light the car is.the trans tunnel will be bigger to accomodate but should still be small enough
to fit my 6' 325 lbs beside it.(i hope) you can see the rear control arm setup i am building if you punch in" team 321" to your
computer.i am making mine very similiar to the yellow picture but a little sturdier with better welding( i am a welder,local 128 boilermaker to be exact). the motor weighs 440 lbs with the alluminum heads.they have 2.05 intake /1.60 ex and 210cc runners
anf flow 260cfm @.550"lift.cam is a .512" /226deg@.050 pretty mild but enough to pull stumps and rev to 6000 all day long.vitor jr.intake with a 650 dbl pumper for now.changing to a stand alone efi after i get all the bugs out of it.it has a true 10.0:1 comp.
steel h beam rods,steel crank,forged pistons with floating pins.etc.it can take 200hp nitrous if i had to.how did your inner pivot points line up on the front suspension as pertaining to bumpsteer? do the inner tie rod pivots line up with the inner lower control arm bolts?i know you shortened the tierods but what about the rack gear itself? later

this is a pic of the rear suspension i am sort of copying.i like mine better as it is much easier to adjust using the left hand/right hand adjusters of fof a set of ladder bars from bears performance so no need to mess with shims for the camber adjustment and the toe adjustment is just as easy as this yellow one but much sturdier i think.

Very neat IRS. I would not have thought of going that way. I'm not too sure I understand the tie rod question. I shortend the outer threads on the inner tie rod ends and chased new threads further up the tie rod (closer to the rack). The tie rods themselves are level when the car is at ride height. Below is a picture that may help answer your question. I'll be hopefully taking the car out of the trailer this weekend (weather dependant) and can try to take a better picture for you. I had hoped that I could have lowered the rack more to allow the motor to sit a little lower, but no dice. The front suspension is a Chris Alston Drag A-Arm #3005. If you call them you can get the blue prints. I'd offer mine, but they are long gone.