Semi OT: These cars put a smile on my face!

I don't know how I came upon this web site but it really caught my attention. There are a number of V-8 conversions for British sports cars like MG, Triumph etc. I used to have a Triumph Spitfire as a daily driver through college so I can appreciate the work put into, and performance potential of, these cars. Here's a few of my favorites:

A Spitfire with a 460 CID V-8!!!

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A Spitfire with a Rotary engine.
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A Spitfire with a Chevy 350 and T-56 tranny.
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A Spitfire with a TURBOCHARGED Buick 215 V-8!
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A Spitfire with a Ford 2.3 I4 turbo (SVO Mustang engine). This car is a piece of fine art, IMO. A real Viper killer.
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A TR-6 with a 302. This car is also very well done.
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A TR-6 with a 351W stroked to 408 CI. This is a nice car!
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A TR-6 with a Chevy 406 V-8. Notice what is on the glove compartment door and his license plate. My guess is that he isn't kidding!
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Last but not least, a Triumph TR-7 with a Chevy 454 that runs the 1/4 mile in the very low 9s!
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Looking at these cars reminds me of what hot rodding is really about. The guys that build cars like these are the real hot rodders, IMO.

Reply to
Michael Johnson
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Nice car, bet it is fast! what is that thing in the nose? gas tank? radiator?

"custom intake with a 75mm throttle body, 96lb injectors, water methenol injection, and an 1100cfm intercooler" wonder if they map the water/meth injection in the computer?

looks like they just dropped it in there. Bet it is really really tight, or they had to mod the bay.

Reply to
Dear Leader

Yes, it looks like it has a shroud to direct cool air into the radiator from the grill. Also, it looks like the radiator has to be slanted to fit under the hood so it can't set directly behind the grill.

I use water and water/alcohol inject on my car and I don't program it into the fuel tables. I'm surprised they use it with the intercooler.

That car looks like it could be a factory job. Great craftsmanship.

Reply to
Michael Johnson

Was a guy out here that had a dark blue Triumph with two wide white stripes.

406 Chevy with a PowerGlide. It looked a lot like a Cobra. Street driven, ran mid 10's at the strip. He sold it to build a Madza w/ a turbo Supra inline six and a PowerGlide. Last time I ran into him he was still building it, but he stuffed a turbo 231 Buick in a Vega and was racing it.

Al

Reply to
Big Al

I saw an MG Midget with a Chevy 327 pull into the local McDonalds when I was in high school. The guy had to almost stick his head out the window to see around the tunnel ram setup he had on it. It was also tubbed out in the rear with slicks. I bet the car would turn over on itself if he applied anywhere near full throttle. The thing needed wheelie bars.

Reply to
Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson wrote in news:v6CdnbxBD8fylFzbnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Awesome! Too bad there's no pic with the hood down.

Another winner. Talk about a sleeper.

Same link as above...

Sweet motor, but that scoop is fugly!

Cool swap, but it looks horrible. Thumbs down on the Supertrapp also.

Super, super nice! Another sleeper. Love the detail on these cars...

Very cool, but the scoop looks out of place. I think a mild cowl would've been better.

Gorgeous engine compartment, but the front spoiler and rear end are horrible.

Nice. Definitely not a street car...

Absolutely. The spirit is alive and well.

Reply to
Joe

This car is a real looker. Those side pipe are a very nice touch.

This swap probably keeps the weight close to stock since the rotary is a light engine. He probably kept the stock rear suspension too.

Here's the right one:

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This car may be my favorite. It looks like nothing you will ever see on the road, has a 350 V-8, T-56 six speed manual, has an independent rear suspension, Corvette front suspension, a custom frame and he used a lot of parts from a '94 Corvette. This car probably not only goes like hell in a straight line but can carve corners like its on rails while pulling your eyeballs out of their sockets when stopping! This is shade tree mechanic engineering at its best.

I guess I was admiring function over form.

That is a shaker hood scoop though, which wins major points from me. It also isn't huge and, IMO, is in proportion to the car. The car looks very close to stock and is an excellent sleeper. I'd take it off his hands.

I don't care for the style but the craftsmanship looks to be top notch.

Reply to
Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson wrote in news:SKidnfquIdKD21_bnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Couldn't agree with you more.

I'd guess the weight distribution isn't bad either. Probably handles fairly decently.

Indeed! Simply unreal. This could've been GM's version of the AC Cobra. ;)

The functional aspect (and detail) on all these cars is terrific.

I'll give you that.

Hey, I would as well! I'd just change the shape of the scoop a bit only to match the car. One thing I noticed about the shaker scoop - it's sitting on top of what looks like a K&N air cleaner. You can see what appears to be the filter mesh around the diameter of the air cleaner. If this is the unit I'm thinking of (basically the same one that fits on my Dak), it also has a filter mesh on the top, so the top and sides are all mesh. But I wonder how effective the shaker scoop is if the sides of the filter are porous...

Again, agreed.

Reply to
Joe

My son-in-law has one like this. With the usual Spitfire suspension tweaks it's a top-time-of-day machine on autocross courses. The rotor-motor is one of the very best HP-per-pound-engines, and it also tweaks-up good from a decent baseline.

Reply to
Frank ess

The stock Spitfire handles better than 99% of cars on the road. It was just underpowered. Mine would routinely take ninety degree curves at

70+ mph. I could also do four wheel slides with full control. All this on skinny old tech radials.

They could throw a few Vette parts at the Pontiac Solstice.

As light as that car is it probably doesn't matter.

Reply to
Michael Johnson

Only 2 cars I've ever owned that would do controlled 4 wheel drifts, a 1966 Triumph TR4A, and a 1971 Torino Fastback. Damn that was fun...

Reply to
My Name Is Nobody

Although it was grossly underpowered the '75 Spitfire I owned was by far the best handling car I have ever driven. I could throw it into a four wheel drift at will and stop it by slightly letting off the throttle. I can't remember a time when I was out of control when going through the curves. If that car would have had 150-175 hp with the same weight and weight distribution there wouldn't be much that could have touched it for pure performance.

Reply to
Michael Johnson

I'm thinking that it was easier in those days because the tires were generally bias belted and not as sticky as we presently know them. I do believe that the tires on the TR4A were probably radial but again I don't think that they would compare with today's tires. I remember getting a set of Michelin radial tires for my '69 Chrysler because of my earlier radial experience with radials on a TR3. I may be mistaken but I think BFG were the first NA manufacturer to make a radial in about 1970/71. Maybe it's just old age but my mind tells me that if I were to push my 'stang to the point where drift occurs you probably have no meaningful control. Would love to have a large open area to try though. It indeed was fun back then.

Reply to
Richard

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