Geoffrey,
My spit has this conversion in it (no I didn't do it).
I would suspect that they used the engine and tranny, with a custom
drive
shaft. If they used the 5 speed, you're in luck. To find out what motor
it has, look for a flat square on the block near the distributer.
It wil say something like A14 or A15 on it, denoting the 1400 or
1500 cc A series nissan motor. For these motors, the 78 and earlier
A14 is the one to have. The later ones (including all the A15s, I think)
had less power due to smog stuff (might not be true outside of
the US). The 78 was rated at something like 80hp @6000rpm,
which is not too bad for a stock 1400. These motors are very strudily
built. I've seen a midget with this motor that went VERY fast,
even after the motor had been horribly abused.
They should not have butchered the car to much to put the motor
in. All you should need is motor mounts (probably something that
fits the nissan geometry was welded onto the frame) drive shaft, and a
couple
of wires. The oil pan might also have been modified. All this should
be reversable if you want to go back to a triumph motor. If you drive
it,
you may find that the clutch is very stiff and short travel, because
of the diffence between nissan and triumph slaves.
I would say that if it runs well, and the conversion wasn't a
horrible bodge, you might as well stick with it (until it wears out,
anyway.) Parts availablity is fairly good, both in junk yards
and through auto parts stores. I think the A series was phased out
in the early eighties (when all the small cars went to front wheel
drive ... GAG) There is not many performance parts specificly aimed at
these motors.
All that said, I would not bother doing this conversion,
since the gain over the spitfire is not that great (you get a 5 speed
and easy picking at the junk yard). Since mine was already modified, I'm
in the process of converting it to a 1600cc DOHC motor.
Good luck.
--
Reed Mideke rmideke@interbase.com
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