1979 Triumph Spitfire Project

(Written on 3/31/2022)   After taking numerous measurements, I was absolutely certain that the V6 engine might possibly fit. 🤞😜🤞 The next logical step was to remove the Spitfire's engine and transmission to allow full access to the engine bay. I see by the photo dates that I did this in October, so the chronology of the blog is a bit off. Oh well.   A friend generously loaned me an engine hoist and I got to work. The anti-freeze was drained and the radiator removed. Time was spent taking a number of photos and labeling connections and loose parts.   This is the four speed Triumph gearbox viewed from passenger compartment, driver's side. Regardless of what engine ends up in the car, this will not be the transmission. What you can see here is the hydraulic clutch cylinder, the speedometer cable, and wires to the neutral and/or reverse sensor.   The Spitfire has so little ground clearance that I had to jack it up a bit for the hoist to roll under the chassis.   ...

(Written on 3/23/2022) A reader commented. "Would like to see a pic of that 2.5L". This is exciting because it means we actually have a reader. Well, here it is. Right side of the 2002 Mazda KLG4 2.5L V6 engine, which will be the back of the engine if it ends up in the Spitfire.   Left side of the engine, which with luck will be the front. As I said previously, I discovered the Mazda KLG4 2.5L V6 on a Miata forum. The engine has an aluminum block and cylinder heads to reduce weight. My understanding is that this is physically the smallest V6 engine manufactured. But as noted on the Miata forum it is neither small nor light with all of the "stuff" around those fundamental parts. So what one does is scrap all that stuff. The stuff is mostly intake and fuel injection parts. This will be replaced with aftermarket components if I move forward with this engine. Switching from the restrictive factory intake to the free breathing setup the Miata folks use increases the hors...