Return to work.

Finally back to the Triumph after spending a few months working on another car. The Triumph needed to have the rear brakes redone. The parts were obtained reasonably at Victoria British. I decided to go further and disassemble the suspension, shock, anti-sway bar and the Leaf Spring that runs across the axle. It looked like the rear differential has a oil seal leak so I decided to drop the differential. Not an easy job but got it done. I plan to replace the main oil seal, put the differential back in place and finish the suspension work. I'll also be working on the body under the car now accessible after removal of the differential. Making progress but slowly.

Let the Project begin

Once snug in the garage I felt a little overwhelmed. Where exactly do you start with a car thats over 40 years old? Slowly, after talking to several people, it became clear that a planned attack was needed. So I decided first to take down the car's interior to discover what lies hidden under the surface. I figured if this is now my car I might as well get to know the good and the bad. I suspected I'd find a good deal of bad but I kept my fingers crossed.

Surprisingly enough the seats and carpet seemed to come apart and out pretty easily and I came to learn someone ( probably the previous owner) had recently had it all apart. The floor panels were covered with a tarred material, almost like roofing shingles. Upon peeling these off the floor panels I could see patch work welding had been done in an attempt to repair the floor panels. And though it was a passable job I don't want to leave it in that condition. So my plan became one of finding new panels that could be welded in to replace the old rusted ones.

It was then that I discovered that the internet is thriving with Triumph Spitfire parts. After searching several sites I bought the panels I needed online at Rimmer's brothers in the UK. The cost was higher with the shipping but I got very good panels and I plan on having them welded in once I get the brakes repaired.

First Ride

Once I got the car home it was time to unload off the u haul. The first order of business was getting the car started. The car just wouldn't start so I headed off to NAPA and got some starter fluid. Using that I was eventually able to get the car running. Had to keep the choke on till the engine was fully warm or it wouldn't idle. So I assume I have some carburetter work in store on the duel carbs.

So, with the car finally running I backed it slowly off the trailer. The transmission seemed to work fine. Going down the ramp I pushed down on the brake to stop and guess what, we have no working brakes! Well that felt special. Instead of going for a nice test drive I ended up going straight for the Garage where I plan to start working on the car. My plan is to start taking the car apart so I can finally know what needs to be done to get the car operational.

In the Begining

I've decided to do a blog on my '68 Triumph Spitfire car project. I've been inspired by fellow Triumph bloggers at http://carnewbie.blogspot.com/. They are working on the same car, a 1968 MK 3 Triumph Spitfire. I found their blog after buying my car on ebay and have enjoyed following them.

I always liked the Triumph. When I was a kid delivering News Papers I remember seeing a guy working on one in his driveway. I remember saying someday I'm going to get one of those. So now almost 40 years later I have. In July 2010 I placed a bid on Ebay and before I knew it I won! The first thing that I asked was oh gosh what have I done! But after paying for the car ( price undisclosed) I relaxed, and started making plans to have the car delivered from Vermont to Florida.

Because of where the car was located however finding a transport was nearly impossible. In the end I went to Vermont myself, picked up the car on October 31st, put it on a Uhaul transport, and got it out of there just before snow was about to hit. Good thing I didn't wait longer.

One thing I noticed on the trip back with the car in tow was the great amount of interest in the car by passers by. The questions kept coming whenever I stopped: What kind of car is that? Does it run? Is it in good shape? How did you find it? What did it cost? etc. I answered as I could, not being an expert or knowing really how good or bad condition the car really was in yet. My hope was that it was in fairly decent shape and my plan was to start tearing into it when I get it back home.\\