At first, it wasn't love but an infatuation. She wasn't even mine. Worse yet, she was committed to a very good friend of mine. I could only politely admire her from afar. I left many things unsaid and many questions unasked. As time passed I learned how to control my desires. I was relegated to a passing smile and drives with my friend and her through the country side. But then it happened. As quickly as they had come together, they separated. And she became mine.
If you are like me, passion for automobiles is often not very rational. I see a car on the road or read about one in a magazine and there is an immediate attraction. Some combination of aesthetics and performance take hold of me in a subliminal way and gradually work their way into a constant preoccupation. That's how it was for the Spitfire.

I always admired the classic roadsters, but never seriously considered ownership. Having been raised in the puritanical northeastern United States, a convertible seemed to be a frivolous luxury. It only took a few cold rainy Northwest winters to better appreciate the brief but glorious summers and yearn for the open road. This, combined with the nostalgia of riding motorcycles in my high school and college days, led me to first consider a Harley-Davidson. And then it happened.

In 1999, Jeff McKenna, a very good friend of mine, decided to sell his Spitfire. He had purchased her from Monte Shelton Motor Company in Portland, Oregon. Jeff enjoyed driving the Spitfire in its original condition for one short year when he begrudgingly sold her to me. He and his wife needed a more practical mode of transportation (well okay, more reliable too).

I had admired the car from the first time I saw it. It was twenty years old and in impeccable condition. Simply amazing. Jeff had only put 1000 miles on her in the year he owned her. The story goes that prior to Jeff, the Spitfire had spent over 10 years garaged and un driven. I happily purchased the Spitfire from Jeff with about 6000 original miles on her. We concluded that I was the third owner, although this could not be absolutely confirmed.

The purists should probably stop reading now. After a couple months of driving the Spitfire and fighting the Zenith-Stromberg carburetor, I decided to investigate some upgrades. I started with the typical and low-cost upgrades. These included a Weber DGV two-barrel progressive carburetor, PaceSetter headers, new wires, and new spark plugs. I had a local garage install these and was up and running in a few days. This bumped performance about 10% over the original configuration. I enjoyed the car for the magnificent, but short, Seattle convertible season. But I wasn't satisfied.
I scoured the Web for information on additional Spitfire upgrades. I found many radical things that people have done to boost performance. My challenge was to increase performance and maintainability while staying true to Triumph's European roadster design.

At first I was a bit discouraged by the results of my search. I had pretty much concluded that I taken the Spitfire as far as I could. But then I came across the web site of Performance Research Industries (PRI, www.prirace.com). I found many advanced performance upgrades on PRI's web site. Even better, not only could I get the performance wanted from PRI's Stage 2 engine rebuild, but there were also apparent maintainability benefits as well.

I made a call to PRI and spoke to owner/operator Chris Cancelli. I was skeptical that the Stage 2 engine rebuild could result in the reliability needed in a daily driver. I wanted to know how building them out to this degree affected reliability. Through several emails and phone conversations, it was clear that PRI had more road and track experience with Spitfires than any other source I had come across.

Chris and I came up with a set of upgrades that addressed power, suspension, and braking.

PRI's Stage 2 engine rebuild has delivered twice the torque and horsepower while retaining the reliability of the original factory engine. This was done in spite of the 1500's notorious crank assembly. The combination of stress-relieving the rods, precise balancing, and removing nine pounds off the very end of the crankshaft via the flywheel reduces crank flex dramatically. The results are prolonged bearing life and better operational alignment of the engine while under load.

The basic Stage 2 upgrade is assembled using brand new original equipment cast pistons and re-worked original connecting rods. To get optimum performance, Chris further upgraded these units, changing out the cast pistons for stronger, lighter forged units. The original rods were replaced with stronger/lighter chrome moly parts. This combination can handle stress levels far beyond that of the original units, allowing for an increase in compression, power, and reliability. PRI's custom JE pistons and ³cross beam² designed chrome moly connecting rods are 10 ounces lighter per piston/rod assembly than the original equipment. This plus the unique cross beam rod design reduces power-robbing windage inside the crankcase for an additional gain of 4 hp in itself over a typical H or I beam designed rod.
This was exactly what I was looking for, good reliable power!

Another unique offering from PRI is what Chris calls his Extreme Performance Cylinder Head Conversion kit. This is what really sold me on this company's engine rebuild because no one else dealing in Triumphs even knew about this technique, let alone have it in kit form for anyone to buy. I am not a mechanic (just a gear-head wanna-be!). But as an engineer it was clear to me that to re-design the entire valve train to this level, one would have to know a bit more than average about engines. Chris set me up with the same setup Steve Smiths has on his 2001 V.A.R.A. Championship-winning GT6 (on which PRI built the head). Chris also supplied Steve with the custom-built header and exhaust system he runs as well. All very cool info knowing his parts are racetrack-developed and winners!

Anyway, with this high tech motor all lined up, it now has to be fed. What better way to do that than with PRI's very own quad induction system. This has to be the single most attractive item on his web site. (it looks awesome!). The system is comprised of four very high-flowing carburetors developed by Keihin, the world leader in motorcycle induction systems. This same carburetor model was mounted on all of Honda's championship-winning super-bikes in the past. There is no doubt; these carburetors have got to flow some serious air. Dating himself, Chris stated the idea came from his Superbike racing and building days going as far back as the late 70s. In 1983, he first mounted a set on a car. That car was a 1972 Spitfire 1300 he had built up for a former girlfriend. He said the results were so impressive he never again considered Webers as an alternative for automotive induction.

For those who have driven Spitfires for any length of time, the thought of doubling torque and horsepower without upgrading suspension and brakes is frightening. I still remember pumping on the brake of my unmodified 1500, panicking to bring her to a timely stop. After many months of working though the engine rebuild with PRI, I had gained an appreciation for their expertise. There wasn't anyone else I'd trust to complete the project.

To manage the new power, I went with the PRI Big-Brake upgrade. The system utilizes 11 3/4 vented rotors, 4 piston calipers, high performance brake pads and stainless steel braided hoses. Rotor hats and caliper hangers are machined of 7075-T6 aluminum (an aerospace-quality aluminum).

On the suspension front, I went with PRI's trick aluminum body gas-charged shocks. The front shocks are easily adjusted by raising the bonnet and turning the knob at the top of the shock tower. The shocks also provide ride-height adjustment, using their threaded bodies to raise or lower the car's nose in seconds.

The 13-inch rims had to go if I were to get any real handling out of the Spitfire. I completed the PRI handling package by adding their specially-built hubs and adapters. Machined from 7075-T6 aluminum, the hubs are not only lighter than the stock units by 2.5 lbs. each but are stronger than the original cast steel hubs. As part of this package, PRI also upgrades the spindles and bearings to GT6 spec's. The real benefit of these very unique parts is they allowed me to install 16X7 SSR Competition rims (11 pounds each) with 205/40/16 Kumho ECSTA Supra 712 tires.

I ended up losing an entire driving season while PRI and I put the improvements into place. It was very difficult to go through a beautiful Seattle summer without my roadster! The wait turned out to be well worth it. Factory test results for 0-60mph times of the 1980 Spitfire 1500 ranged between 14 to 15 seconds. After the upgrades, and even with problems with wheel spin off the launch, my Spitfire now pulled a 0-60 time of 6.2 seconds! I was shocked. 6.2 seconds! Wheel spin in a Spitfire! If I had been willing to fry a few clutches, it's not unreasonable to assume that I could have hit sub six second times. Increased power was not the only success. The solution was very well-harmonized. Handling and braking were superb. I didn't have access to a skip pad, but am sure this car could handle 1g or more.

The next steps of my project were to incrementally improve the some of the car's aesthetics. My baby needed a new dress. The paint on my Spitfire is in excellent condition. I was happy with it. Although the interior was also in good condition, I hated the beige hounds-tooth interior. There was just too much going on with the car's color scheme. I attribute it to the influence disco had on auto design in the late 1970s. I had seen few restorations of TR-4's with very attractive interiors. I decided to go a bit retro on the interior. I selected black leatherette (vinyl) with red piping. I did much of the interior myself but got some help on the seats from Ron's Lake Union Upholstery.

I finished off the project with a new stereo system as well. It's a hot summer day, I've got the top down, the wind is blowing through my hair; the experience would not be complete without being able to crank a little Van Morrison. In keeping with my ³go big or go home theme,² I went with a Nachamichi head unit, MB-Quart speakers in the kick panels, a subwoofer behind the passenger seat and a 300 watt JL Audio amplifier in the boot. To ensure the system was appropriately driven, the Lucas alternator was swapped out for a GM 7127 alternator.

All relationships go through stages. I started off just wanting to have fun. But before I knew it, I found myself committed. After a significant investment of time and energy (and of course money), I had a new appreciation and increased respect for my Spitfire. My new high-performance roadster is more than twice as fast as it was in its earlier stock incarnation. It is more economical, comfortable, reliable, and safe as well. I drive my Spitfire often during the summer months. She brings me as much pleasure on daily commutes through Seattle traffic as on weekend sprints through the foothills of the Cascades. The biggest challenges I see in the future is figuring out how I should spend time with her. Should I spend it on the road or in the shop working on the next upgrade? What a great problem to have!
John Scumniotales, the owner and author, resides in Seattle, Washington with his wife Jackie, daughter Sophia, and golden retriever Sam. John can be reached via email at john@scumniotales.com. Check out more pictures and upgrades of his Spitfire at http://www.scumniotales.com/spitfire!

For more information contact Chris at (541) 459-5442 or info@prirace.com