The Other Cars of USA7s Members (Non-Se7ens only)

[3-Pedals]

The term "back seat" in an air cooled 911 is quite generous.  LOL.  "Jump seat" is more accurate!  

[3-Pedals]

On 2/10/2026 at 7:31 PM, Reiver said:

Man, that thing is a beast

Indeed it is!  A white-knuckled ride for sure.  That  is what makes it so much fun.  LOL

[Reiver]

Can't imagine using that much HP on the street.... my C8 Vette has more grunt than is usable on the street unless I feel like going to jail.  The reason I love the r400 is I can play with it on the street and have some winding out without pure felony time.

Edited February 13 by Reiver

[3-Pedals]

17 minutes ago, Reiver said:

Can't imagine using that much HP on the street.... my C8 Vette has more grunt than is usable on the street unless I feel like going to jail.  The reason I love the r400 is I can play with it on the street and have some winding out without pure felony time.

 Valid point!  I do always exercise caution when I'm out and about.  I just like building crazy stuff.  Going for 900 on my current project but it has been a challenge

 

 The C8 is such a nice car and so very capable.  I am a vette fan too but one gen earlier.

[Reiver]

If they had not made the C8 a mid-engined platform I'd have gone elsewhere.  It has less HP than some other front engined rides but will beat them around a track due to the weight distro.... smoking/spinning tires don't do much for me.

[pethier]

I considered a C8.  I'd been thinking that it was about time I tried a dual-clutch car.    But I'm an autocross freak and it's just too wide.  Than I tripped over a great price on a Cayman with the most reliable engine, PDK and Sport Plus.  It's my regular 3-season driver and a backup autocross car.

[Reiver]

They are nice...I had a 718 w/manual for some time.... sold it for the C8.  Lol, I just smoked one with my r400 on the straights and roundabouts on 93..

[theDreamer]

In the “Photo of Your Car You Took Today” thread I mentioned the wife won a sealed bid auction for a 1981 Triumph Spitfire 1500. A local LBC (Little British Car) club known as the Boot ‘n Bonnet Car Club inherited the one owner, low mileage 1981 (build date was June, 1980 but VIN model year is “B” for 1981) Spitfire as seen here: Spitfire Auction n.pdf . She beat out the next nearest bidder by $19.80 because she used the cars build date of June 1980 in her bid. It had been sitting for over three years before the club took possession. Because of this it has some issues. The club member who was storing the car said the automatic choke was stuck on and would cause the engine foul the plugs and stall. It would require removal and cleaning of the plugs before it run again and of course he’d have to repeat this after so many engine starts. When we first went to see the car we noticed the rear end was damp as were several other areas. We knew it would need some things done like replacing dried gaskets and seals and rubber items like wiper blades and tires. The wife had a devil of a time getting her insurance company to honour their quote. Three phone calls and over three hours and they still won’t sign off on what they had quoted. Five minutes on the phone to a Hagerty rep and her new car was on our policy with all the same items including Road Side Assistance.

She also had a fight at several Service Ontario Centers trying to get the ownership transferred. They all required a new appraisal. They would not accept either of the two that came with the car. Finally she called a friend in the business. Was able to do a quick appraisal using the Governments 1 page form. He did note all the items that would have to be repaired or replaced in order for it to pass safety. We went back to a Service Ontario Center and they accepted the paperwork without questions. So Linda finally got the ownership transferred into her name as an unfit vehicle and a temporary plate good for 10 days to allow us to drive the car home and to the shop that would do the safety check. With everything now done we arranged to pick up the car.

The day came and we went over everything with the cars recent custodian. We decided to drive the car home from where it was being stored because I wanted to give it a good shake down. The plan was for me to drive it part way home and stop to fill up with fuel. I would go over everything I had learned with Linda and then let her drive it the rest of the way. I pulled out of the driveway which was on a step hill and put my foot to the floor. Clouds of grey black smoke billowed out of the exhaust pipe and I could not get it above 30 kph it was running so rich. After a couple of kilometers it started to clear itself and before I knew it I was doing 80 kph in top gear. It seemed to be running fine. I made it to the first stop sign and turned south onto the main road and the little Spit hummed along rather nicely as the engine temperature had started to rise. However, it died after only 6 kilometers. We phoned the chap we had just left and he came with some tools I did not have. He snapped in a spark check viewer and there was plenty of spark. Next we pulled the plugs expecting to find them fouled yet they were clean but DRY. They should have been wet from all the cranking so the verdict was fuel starvation. Lucky for us a call to Hagerty and a flatbed was there within the hour. It was delivered to the shop that is doing the safety. They will be going over the car and get it running as well. I expect there will be a list of items that we will have to address. It has been sitting at the shop for week now as they were backed up. Tomorrow it is supposed to be first in. Being Friday I don’t expect to see the car until sometime next week. Little British Cars, they always need something, right?

I’ve attached some photos we took on our first visit to see the car. These are not in the ad I linked above.

[Reiver]

My God, those bumpers.... that 5mph deal really screwed up some cars... I've had AH's/a TR3/XKE but really got tired of the constant fettling...hence the later Caterham.  Have fun...1500 right.

[jmaz]

Your Spitfire's got a carburetor, not fuel injection, right?  I'm trying to remember all the things that would go off on my former carbureted cars - TR4 and BMW 2002.   Clogged jets and fuel filters weren't unusual.  You note that the car had been sitting for a few years.  Had the old gas been drained?   The other common failure source was burnt or out-of-gap ignition points.  Thing about the old technology is it was usually possible to get the cars to run, even if poorly.  My newer (former) fun cars (Alfa Spider and Ferrari 328) were more of the "either runs or doesn't" mode.  I'm hoping that my Caterham will be more predictable and easier to diagnose/fix.

[Reiver]

SU carbs.... not overly hard to tune but prone to leaking (seems to be a Brit car design function in that period)...any gunk will really mess them up.  Use good filters not those goofy stock steel mesh ones that can only keep small birds from entering the throats....

[11Budlite]

Unless it's been modified/upgraded it should be a single Stromberg carb in a 1500 Spitfire. All my former British sports cars had SU's, but I think the Stromberg's were used because they were easier to pass emissions. As well as your normal ignition/fuel supply checks, maybe take the dashpot off and check that the rubber diaphragm isn't damaged.

[Reiver]

Probably correct Bud....later car.  0 to 60 in 1/2 a minute

[theDreamer]

Yes, this is a full on smog edition, single carb, all the air pollution controls, 53 BHP model with, as noted, the rubber baby buggy bumpers. Although many late model spitfires have those converted to earlier style chrome bumpers it is thought to be sacrilege to do so to this final model year. Speaking of which, with its build date being June 1980 and the last UK model being built in August of 1980 that makes the wife’s car one of the last North American Spitfires to be assembled. It was bought new in February of 1982 so it is also one of the last Spitfires sold.

As to the fuel issue the garage discovered a cracked rubber fuel line and thought it was sucking air. This after the car lost almost half a tank of fuel while it sat waiting to get looked at. Sounded plausible and the car started and ran fine for them after they replaced that hose. The mechanic did adjust the carb and reset the timing as well. However the carb needs a full rebuild so a kit is on order.

We picked the car up late Friday and the wife drove it home. When we arrived she jumped out screaming it was on fire. I raised the bonnet to find it was just coolant burning off the exhaust manifold. When she went to restart it so I could look to see where it was leaking, you guessed it, it would not restart. She washed and detailed the car. That took about two hours at which time it fired right up and she drove it into the garage. Go figure, eh! The car sat all weekend as it rained off and on. Yesterday, (Monday) she decided she wanted to drive it over to the nearest gas station to add some carb/injector cleaner and fill the tank up with fresh fuel. It fired up and drove over without incident. I took a can of Quick Start just in case it wouldn’t start. I figured it should fire up with a squirt of that stuff. However, it didn’t start after filling up nor after waiting several hours regardless if I used the Quick Start or not.

So, Hagerty roadside assistance came in handy yet again. The car is now back at the shop and the wife doesn’t want to see it until they can prove it will start repeatedly whether within minutes or hours of being shut off.

I’ve researched this issue and it seems lots of Spit owners have had this very problem before. However, each seems to have had a different cause and therefore needed a different solution. From carb rebuilds or replacement to filters and switching to electric fuel pumps. Then there are the electrical fixes from bad earths to lose or broken wires to replacing the coil.

I’ll keep you informed as to what the problem and cure is/was.

Meanwhile, I’m off in a couple of hours in Purple Reign to the Tuesday night cruise meet about a half hours pleasant drive away.

[Reiver]

Still, top down motoring...hope she enjoys it.