About bamnow
32 Years of Dreaming Finally Leads to Reality
July, 1973. An 18 year old college student buys his first car, a 1963 Triumph Spitfire 4 for the grand total of $60.00. It barely runs, but the dreams of what it could be cloud the reality of what condition the car is really in. He drives it 7 miles to his parent’s home, and work begins on turning the dream into reality.
However, like many car dreams, overcoming reality can be a nightmare. After 3 summers of engine, brake and suspension rebuilding, the dream does not see the light of day. Like so many other restoration projects, life’s other commitments continually place the dream on the backburner. Just another unfinished restoration project. Sound familiar?
But Brian McCarthy refused to let go of the dream. A number of cars ranging from Volkswagens to Porsches have entered his life, but none had displaced the dream of restoring his 1963 Spitfire.
February, 2003. Nearly 30 years after buying his Spitfire, he decided to finish turning his dream into reality. So began a 2.5 year restoration performed by Mark Samiec at MK1 Motorsports in Westmont, IL. As the Spitfire had spent all of it’s time in the Midwestern part of the US, rust had pretty much touched every body panel. In fact, the only remaining original panels on the finished car were the front bulkhead, the transmission tunnel and the rear bulkhead.
“We replaced floors, inner and outer rocker panels, trunk floor, door skins, etc. The challenge became not in simply replacing these components, but rather in properly tying them all together.” With sheet metal components coming from a variety of US and UK based suppliers, proper fit was a recurring problem. Measurements were constantly made against original factory specifications and trial fitting of panels before welding became the norm. The body was mounted on a rotisserie to ensure proper alignment and gain easy access to all areas of the body. After 16 months of work, the body was ready to be sent for painting. As the car was being repainted in its original black color, panel fitment and alignment was crucial.
Preserving all of this hard work was also very important. “We really wanted to minimize any chance of the car rusting in the future. The insides of ALL body panels were painted with Hammerite prior to welding them together. We also used a special zinc primer on all seams that were being welded.”
While the body was off to the paint shop, work began on the chassis, suspension and drivetrain. Surprisingly, the chassis only had some minor surface rust (leaky British engines, transmissions and differentials provide excellent chassis rust proofing!). After media blasting, both the outside AND the inside of the frame was painted with POR-15, a special rust and chip resistant paint. All suspension components were likewise media blasted and painted with Hammerite. “We debated over powder coating these parts versus using durable paints. As I fully intended on driving (and not just showing) the car, we felt paint was the logical choice. You can touch-up nicks and chips in paint, something you can’t really do with powder coating.”
All chassis hardware was replaced and upgraded as appropriate. Zinc and cadium coated nuts and bolts were painted with a satin clear coat to prevent rusting.
Perhaps one of the more novel approaches to protecting the car from stone chips and dings was the use of truck bed liner on the underside of the body. “Mark thought of that. When the body tub came back from the paint shop, he painted the complete underside of the tub, including the wheel wells with truck bed liner. He used a product which did not have a lot of grit in it, but yet would have the durability to stand up to stones, chemicals, etc. encountered in every day use.” It would also seal the underside of the body better than any traditional undercoating product.
Owning performance cars, Brian could not leave things stock, yet he wanted to make sure all modifications were not out of place and were, for the most part, period correct. “We upgraded the shock absorbers to Spax adjustable shocks and went with street (versus race) grade polyurethane bushings throughout the suspension. We upgraded the front springs, but retained the stock rear leaf spring. We also put in a slightly larger front anti-roll bar. The end result has been a firm, yet comfortable ride.”
The standard brakes were rebuilt and upgraded pad material was used. For the wheels, however, he wanted something different.
“Almost all of the Spitfires I had seen had either wire wheels or a Minilite-style of mag wheel. Again, we wanted the car to look unique but period correct, and we were able to locate a set of Cosmic alloy wheels in the correct size.” Cosmic was a British company that made wheels and other accessories in the 60’s and 70’s. To ensure a long lasting shiny finish, the wheels were powder coated in the appropriate silver gray color.
It’s in the engine where the car again took on that “period correct” theme to a new level. In 1963, S.A.H. Accessories offered a Stage Two Tuning Kit which consisted of a fast road camshaft, 8 port cylinder head, dual 40 DCOE Weber carburetors and a tubular exhaust header. This kit was similar to the performance modifications made to the Spitfires which raced at Le Mans in the early 60’s. However, locating one of the rare, 8 port cylinder heads used on the 1147cc engine was next to impossible. Instead, the look he was after would be achieved using a 1296cc engine.
“We built the engine for street use, however, one thing lead to another and we ended up with quite the motor.” The engine block was bored .040” over. All internal components were balanced. The cylinder head has larger intake and exhaust valves and it was ported and polished to match in size to the intake and exhaust manifolds. The compression ratio was raised to 10:1. A fast road cam was installed, as were the dual 40 DCOE Webers and a tubular exhaust header. Although the car has yet to be placed on a dyno, they anticipate the engine will yield approximately 100 bhp. “The engine is very tractable and idles very well, considering the extent of the modifications. It also makes real neat sounds!”
The transmission and differential were rebuilt in stock form. The only change for the future may be the addition of overdrive to make highway driving more rpm reasonable.
The interior was completely redone in red vinyl, just as how the car was originally made. In the interest of added comfort and sound deadening, carpeting was fitted (early Spitfires only had rubber floor covering) with heat and sound absorbing padding underneath.
September 11, 2005. The car is finished at 3:15 am. It’s a big day for both Brian and the car. Today, Brian will drive the car for the first time in 32 years. How will it perform? Where will he drive it to? Will the dream be realized or become a nightmare?
That very same day, one of the largest British car shows in the US is held in the suburbs of Chicago, near Brian’s home. The British Car Union annual British Car Festival features over 650 British cars of all makes, vying for participant choice awards. What better place to take the car on its inaugural drive. Not only did the car perform flawlessly on its maiden voyage, it was also voted the Participant Choice Award for Triumph Spitfires.
So has the reality matched up with the dream? “Absolutely. However, the greatest part of turning a dream into reality is sharing it with others. My wife and I enjoy taking the car out as often as possible. MK1 Motorsports shows the car to prospective customers to give them a sense of what their dreams can lead to. Some of my co-workers have been “bitten” by the British car bug and have purchased Spitfires and MGB’s. Turning a dream into reality is not only personally rewarding, it’s contagious.”