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Old Sep 22, 2005 | 06:48 PM
  #1  
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RoSpit

Hey where is a good place to find info on the Triumph Spit Fire any how. I want to build a Rotary powered Spitfire next. Is there a forum like this one for the spit? What do you guys think... 66 or earlier spit with a bridge ported 13b and a Miata rear end. My wife wants a convertable. I think that this is just the car that we can both live with.
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Old Sep 22, 2005 | 11:55 PM
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grassrootsmotorsports.com built an absolute bitchin one that they autocross and take FTD. Took like 15 articles to cover it. To make good power and do it right is not easy and they said they would never do a project like that again. Coming from car nuts with resources that says a lot.

What class do you road race the deuce in? They handle well. There was one in San Fran region in ITA that did quite well even against the CRX Si's back in 94-96.
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Old Sep 23, 2005 | 12:18 AM
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That '2 didn't happen to be white, did it?

Mike
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Old Sep 26, 2005 | 04:44 PM
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Im actually wanting to build a car that I can auto cross more than anything. I dont road race the Rx2. I dont have the money right now. I dont know that I will have the time even when I do have the money. The other thing that I want to do with the car is drive it on the street... now and again. I would not want to drive a bridge ported or peripheral ported motor all that often. And my wife wants a convertable so... The people that I have talked to have all said that the Spitfire is the british roadster to put a rotary motor into if you're going to do it.

I remember those articles with the RoSpit. Though I didnt read the article where they said that. I know that its going to be a long term project. I dont even plan on starting for a few years. I want to gather parts first. Its going to be a while.

Heck I still have my Rx4 to restore, the Rx2 to tinker with a little more (almost there) my gsl to add a few finishing touches to and a corvair pick up that I want to get on the road and start straightening out. Heck I want to get the kid a Go Kart inside of a year or so too. RoSpit will be a little while comming.

I know that the RoSpit is a big project but man... Im bored with working on cars that have the correct parts in them. I need to move onto the next thing. Putting the wrong parts into an existing car. Then I can go onto putting together a whole car.
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Old Sep 26, 2005 | 10:15 PM
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I gots one, built it myself, did the whole conversion in about a month. You won't find a huge amount of info. There are a few websites about them, but nothing major. Grassroots went overboard in my opinion, but thats there job. I built mine to drive, and did a 400 mile trip yesterday. I can explain anything you want to know about putting a 12a into one. 13b is quite a bit harder due to space constrictions, but has been done. I could do another conversion in about a week provided the driveshaft shop was quick. There are very specific places to trim and add metal to the frame. Happy to answer other questions. For a few good spit sites, try triumphspitfire.com, prirace.com. Pri is awesome. Here's a pic for you to start with, but I can take any that you want to see:

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Old Sep 26, 2005 | 10:33 PM
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Nice job Xavier, did you keep the spit rear swing axel? Does the rear end push up high under braking or hard cornering?

Mike it was a read deuce in ITA, I got some pics but not digitized yet. I'll see what I can do. GOT a nice shot of a CRX SI trying to catch it outta turn 3 @ Laguna, but can't. :-)
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Old Sep 26, 2005 | 10:40 PM
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wow thats a rad spitfire
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Old Sep 27, 2005 | 02:37 PM
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I did use the stock rear setup, and have had absolutely no problems. The rear end does not squat hardly at all. I benefitted a huge amount from the inherent lack of torque the rotary has. The rear ends will take plenty of HP, but high torque will break it pretty quickly. It is also nice that a stock rear end on a spit is 3.89, which works well with the Mazda tranny that ran into a 3.9 in a 1st gen.
For anyone who used to own a spit, you should also notice something alittle different about the wheels...
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Old Sep 27, 2005 | 04:59 PM
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Excellent! Thank you so much for the info. Glad to see that someone else thinks that its not so hard. Brad was making me nervous there . I know what you mean about space constraints. I had to do a little cutting to get the 13b into my Rx2. Though that was partially due to having a big aluminum radiator in there. I'll stay in touch incase I have any troubles. Thanks again
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Old Sep 27, 2005 | 05:08 PM
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Are those Miata or 3rd gen wheels?
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Old Sep 27, 2005 | 05:30 PM
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neither, they are honda bolt pattern 16" wheels. Make a huge difference over the 13s it came with stock. They are also 205s rather than 155s like stock. Car sticks to the pavement like glue.
Good luck on your project, let me know if you have any questions
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Old Sep 28, 2005 | 12:18 AM
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http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/archives/rospit.html

Theres some info *after* the car was built and drivable, on the right all 18 articles are available for $75. GO for it! Damn nice car.
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Old Sep 28, 2005 | 09:31 AM
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i hav emost of the articles as well, pm me if your interested. matt
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Old Oct 11, 2005 | 04:45 PM
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cool thanks for the link drive fast.
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