This 1971 MkIV Spitfire is my daily drive, purchased during September 2001. I needed a car to get me to and around varsity and as my sister had already bought a Mk3, I was happy to find this later version, complete with hard-top.
As bought it was generally a solid car which I planned to start using straight away, while doing some extra work on it as time went on. But as luck would have it, the car needed some work straight away before I could begin using it and since then almost everything on the car has had to be worked on. To be truthful the car has spent almost as much time on axle stands as it has on the road - I like to see it as a car which is good on its tyres(!)
I was most lucky in that the bodywork was quite good (save for the paint), seeing as it had lived quite near the coast for some of its life. Mechanically, a gearbox rebuild was completed when I got the car and the front of the engine was done at the same time. The car had been earlier fitted with a Mk3 engine connected to its original O.D. 'box - I was glad it had such a nice spec - one I would have tried to change to later on probably. A full engine build was completed in the middle of 2002, and I took the chance to make the car a bit more usable - the head was ported and flowed out mildly and fitted with the larger inlet valves of the 1500 Spitfire. Later, the carbs were replaced with a pair of 40D.C.O.E. Webers, and the original cast exhaust manifold made way for a long-branch 4-2-1 item and S/S exhaust system. A new crown-wheel and pinion replaced the whining original one, and the brakes, drive shafts, cooling system and suspension received similar rebuilds.
The dashboard had to be redone as well, and I took the opportunity to make up a new one, together with the Mk3 gauges that came in the car originally. The seats were recovered, the steering wheel re-chromed and the soft-top received some attention and that just about finished off what the interior needed. The car also received a new windscreen earlier this year, an unplanned expense when the original one shattered while driving.
The Spittie eventually got its long awaited re-spray in the beginning of 2004. The only other additions as far as the exterior is concerned is the front spoiler and the Dolomite Sprint alloy wheels which were a lucky find from a fellow Club member who helped me find the car itself. The rear trim pieces were black when I got the car (1500 items) and they were recently polished to the correct silver, which suit the car much better.
The car has been a joy to use and surprisingly reliable for the past 3 years - I'll never get rid of it!
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