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Triumph Spitfire Cars

With the Engine and Gearbox safely removed it was time to get on with removing everything else which is bolted, screwed, stuck or attached in some method to the body and chassis.

The brake and clutch master cylinders were carefully disconnected from their copper pipes, I am not sure at the moment whether to buy new master cylinders or buy a seal kit for the old ones, it will probably depend upon what they look like once I strip them down. With the master cylinders out if the way the pipes were removed without too much care and in some places just cut through as I will be replacing them with a new pipe kit.

The wiring loom was removed throughout the car taking great care to photo and label all the connections as the loom looks in quite good order and because finances are limited it will be reused after a good clean and all the connectivity checked through.

I have read 2 different books on Spitfire Restoration Cars and had comments from loads of people, some say never take the body off the chassis before completing the repairs to the body others say you are OK to take it off as long as the body is supported.

I decided the best way for me (only having a single garage) was to support the body and remove it so that the chassis could be repaired and then the chassis could be moved to the side of the house and covered until required.

Related : Triumph Spitfire
Related : Restoration Cars

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Triumph Spitfire MK IV Cars

The main aim of the next part of the work is to remove various bits and pieces so that I can pull the engine and gearbox. When I first bought the car the first thing I did was change all the water hoses and clips so I removed these first carefully so that I could reuse them once the restoration was complete. As the hoses had only been on for about 6 months these came of nice and easily. With the hoses removed the next job was to take out the radiator which was a real pain, the bolts came out of the radiator without any problems and enabled me to remove the radiator for safe keeping and checking later. The pain was that the support brackets which support the radiator to the chassis would not come off the chassis and they are right in the way so every time you do work in that area you were guaranteed to catch yourself on one of them. I soaked the bolts is loads of penetrating oil and eventually with a little help from a big hammer they gave in and came off.

To make the engine lighter and easier to lift the next job was to take off the engine ancillaries such as the alternator, starter motor, carbs and manifolds. These all came off without any problems and were stored carefully in labelled boxes to be cleaned up and checked at a later date.


With the radiator and engine ancillaries removed there is so much more room so any remaining wires were labelled and any other bits and pieces which could get in the way during the lift (such as the horns) were also removed at this point.

Related : Triumph Spitfire Cars ~ Spitfire Mark IV Part 1
Related : Triumph Spitfire Cars ~ Spitfire Mark IV Part 2