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Aren't the frames different? |
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| Rear a-arm brackets | ||
| The roto-flex rear suspension has extra brackets welded to
the frame just below the area where the rear axle crosses. This bracket links the rear
suspension lower a-arm inner pivot to the chassis. It presents no clearance problems if a
swing axle is installed on a chassis that still has these brackets attached.
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photos to come... | |
| Shock Mounts | ||
| Because of clearance issues
regarding the diameter of the roto-flex coupling, the rear shocks cannot be positioned at
a an appropriate angle to attach the top of the shock to the chassis as in the original
swing axle design. Extra mounts, welded into wheel well sheet metal, gave the GT6
roto-flex the clearance it needed. Joe Curry
markets a very nice
bracket that solves this problem. Rimmer Brothers (see my
Triumph links pages) in England still list these parts as available. You
can buy the original style brackets and weld them into the fenders of whatever body tub
you use.
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photos to come... | |
| Rear chassis extensions | ||
| The early/mid 1970's
saw the addition of chassis rails that ran up to the rear bumper. (Crash test
requirements, to keep up their import status.) The only real problem
this creates is in the design of the rear exhaust box. The stock GT6 box will not fit
between these extensions on the newer frames. The Spitfire box is similar in design, but
shorter, and won't breath enough for a 6 cylinder application.
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| Rear transmission mount | ||
| Granted, it's a bolt in, but as a
rule of thumb.... you need to carry the rear transmission mount plate with you in
the swap.
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photos to come... | |
| Front bonnet pivots/mounts | ||
| The welded on extensions at the front of
the chassis that support the front bonnet pivots varied dramatically across models. The
early setup was rather frail in comparison to the later boxed-in style setup. I've been looking into the design of a 'universal fit' pivot mount bar system, that would let you place either bonnet on either mount system. Small box extension on the MKII with the hinge mounts bolted to the outside of the extension. Bonnet lip level with frame rail when closed. Larger box on frame with hinge support inside box, hidden by bumper overriders. Bonnet lip is now above frame rail, covered by the side quarter valance panels on the 1500.
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| Radiator mounts | ||
| There are a few small brackets here and there that are different. The radiator mount brackets from the GT6 need to be installed on the Spitfire chassis. You could weld on 'stock' parts, or you can get away with fabricating your own, and simply bolting them on. |   |
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| Rear wheel brake cable mounts | ||
| Well I don't have any photos of these but on a GT6 the guides for the hand brake cable are mounted on the Body tub and on a Spitfire they are mounted on the chassis. Arrangements need to be made to dummy up appropriate mounts. (or did I get that backwards...which is mounted where on which vehicle...) | ||
| Front Suspension Uprights | ||
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Another recent discovery is the differences in the front shock/suspension uprights. The difference here is the physical shape and position of the motor mounts in relation to the suspension mounts. The GT6 motor mount bolt locations are actually closer together (across the width of the engine) than the Spitfire. So a GT6 engine, attempting to be bolted to Spit uprights will let the GT6 engine sit too low as they are too far apart. | |
1970 GT6+ chassis and muffler
