1976 Triumph Spitfire Base Convertible 2-door 1.5l on 2040-cars

1976 Triumph Spitfire

Color Brown VIN FM46544 Mileage 80690

We've owned the car since 2003. Rebuilt the (I believe) Zenith-Stromberg CD 150 carburetor and re-cored the radiator in 2003. Reupholstered and new soft top in 2004 and learned about hog clips in the process. Corvette air shocks on rear wheels and new springs on all wheels, new water pump, new master brake and clutch cylinders, new windshield and repainted in 2004. Passed Chicago emissions test in 2003 (we moved to Bloomington, IL in 2005 and did not require emissions testing here).

The car runs great with smooth shifting. 4 speed stick with reverse. Have taken her to a number of British car shows. Working headlights, turn signals and brake lights. Tail lights and parking lights need a new wire from the switch to the fuse box as the original wire broke off the fuse box. Very little rust as the brown Spitfires are renowned for not rusting as much as the other colors. Even the windshield wipers still operate.

AM-FM radio was not original but is from another Triumph Spitfire. Stereo amplifier is wired in with large 6" speakers in boxes on the package shelf. Radio antenna extends and retracts smoothly.

We have a number of tools (hub puller, etc) and spare parts (fuses, engine cowling, etc) manuals and miscellaneous knick knacks (car cover, triumph parking sign, etc) that come with the car.

This is a 38 year old car. As such it has some quirks like the drivers door only opens from the inside; trunk lock does not lock but these are minor and can be fixed.

No warranty expressed or implied. As is.

Buyer must pick up the car or arrange transportation and provide their own license plates. I will work with the transporter within reason. Cash or certified check only.

>Does the engine leak or burn oil ( white or blue smoke out the exhaust)?

No oil burning or leaking from the engine (that I can detect).

>How are the tires and brakes?

We purchased new tires sometime after 2005 and very low miles on them since.

Brakes we replaced in 2004 (along with the master cylinder). Work as well as can be expected in a car from the 70s. These are not power brakes but the car does stop solidly.

>Any accidents?

Not that I'm aware of (we have not been in any accidents and I can not see any previous damage from an accident).

>Does everything electrical work?

As I mentioned in the description the tail and parking lights need a wire from the switch to the fuse box added. The air horns may need replacing as they do not always work.

>Does the clutch have a lot of freeplay?

My original response was "Yes" but then I went to lookup what freeplay meant and I had a completely different concept. The clutch engages like I would expect it to on any other manual car I've driven. Very quick and smooth.

>Where is the little bit of rust that the car has?

Around the brake/clutch cylinders (platform) is a bit of rust from leaking (from before we purchased the car). We replaced both.

>Does the steering pull to one side or the other.

No (not that I can tell).

>Does the roof leak in the rain.

This is a convertible. When the soft top down it is always leaking ;-) With the soft top up it is fairly water tight. There might be some leakage by the windows but I really have not driven the car in the rain in a very long time so I do not know how much water would come through.

And to add one point. The car did pass emissions testing about a decade ago in Chicago before we moved away. We have no such requirement here in Bloomington therefore it hasn't been back for emissions testing since.

I also forgot to mention I replaced the electronic ignition in 2010'ish time frame with a Pertronix Ignitor Electronic Ignition along with a larger ignition coil.

I have more photos of the inside of the trunk, bonnet and the underside including the oil pan, differential, suspension etc. For some reason I can not load more than 24 photos here so please message me and I will send them to you.

The new ignition coil is Flame Thrower High Performance. The car also has an original jack and the bags they go into.

When I drove the car back into the garage I was reminded that there is a loose power connection somewhere for the dashboard gauges which causes the dashboard gauges to lose power. It is sporadic and I haven't had time to investigate this issue.