In a message dated 6/4/2001 3:54:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
Malaboge@aol.com writes:
> My knowledge of Spits is more than a little lacking, so I pose this
> question...How many different doors and/or interior door panels did the
> early
> round tail Spits have.
> I know they all look the same, but so do TR3 doors, and there are lots
> different styles of those...
Somewhat the same with the Spitfires. The original Spitfire 4 and early Mk2
use a rather unique door so far as the latch mechanism goes (like the old
MG-TD door latches). Provisions for that latch make the early trim panels for
those cars unique as well. Also, some of the original Spitfire 4 trim panels
have the "toe kick" carpeted section at the lower front corner, while others
don't.
Mk2 and Mk3 doors are pretty much identical, I think, with the biggest
differences being in colors offered for trim panels.
I'm also reasonably sure that the MkIV and 1500 doors (pretty much the same
from 1971-80 except for the anti-intrusion beam in some later "Federal"
doors) will bolt up to an earlier tub, with the latch hardware mating up as
well. Note that both inner and outer door handles are different from Mk3 and
earlier cars, and trim panels are again different as well.
That's pretty much all from memory. I've at least one pair of each door style
(Spitfire 4, Mk2, Mk3, MkIV and 1500) in the barn. Maybe I'll go out there
tomorrow and double-check on all this.... ;-)
>
> I just purchased a car that uses Spitfire doors and one is not perfect, and
> neither have any panels, so the quest starts.
>
--Andy
Andrew Mace, President, The Vintage Triumph Register
<www.vtr.org>
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