Okay so here's my story and my plan:
I have a very steep driveway, you gotta use 4wd to drive up even in the dry. My everyday car is a 93 Tracker 8v auto tin top which is a great car.
I really like old British cars - I know, I know..., anyway I bought an 89 Tracker 8v 5spd that is pretty rusty. Going to look at a triumph spitfire this weekend. So I'm planning to give the old tracker a spitfire body.
Anyone here ever do this sort of conversion?
Any (helpful) suggestions? Known pitfalls?
Yes I have a pretty good assortment of tools and equipment and plenty of experience with restoration and repairs of old and newer cars.
thanks,
Jim
Okay so here's my story and my plan:
I have a very steep driveway, you gotta use 4wd to drive up even in the dry. My everyday car is a 93 Tracker 8v auto tin top which is a great car.
I really like old British cars - I know, I know..., anyway I bought an 89 Tracker 8v 5spd that is pretty rusty. Going to look at a triumph spitfire this weekend. So I'm planning to give the old tracker a spitfire body.
Anyone here ever do this sort of conversion?
Any (helpful) suggestions? Known pitfalls?
Yes I have a pretty good assortment of tools and equipment and plenty of experience with restoration and repairs of old and newer cars.
thanks,
Jim
Well Jim....There is a guy in my town that has a Town Car mounted on a long wheelbase Ford truck frame. It also has a lift kit and is something to see.
B95
Okay so here's my story and my plan:
I have a very steep driveway, you gotta use 4wd to drive up even in the dry. My everyday car is a 93 Tracker 8v auto tin top which is a great car.
I really like old British cars - I know, I know..., anyway I bought an 89 Tracker 8v 5spd that is pretty rusty. Going to look at a triumph spitfire this weekend. So I'm planning to give the old tracker a spitfire body.
Anyone here ever do this sort of conversion?
Any (helpful) suggestions? Known pitfalls?
Yes I have a pretty good assortment of tools and equipment and plenty of experience with restoration and repairs of old and newer cars.
thanks,
Jim
Hi, Yes it can be done,however be ready to do a lot of work.
The first thing you will have to do is measure the wheel base and width of both veicals. Next check height of engine placement.
If the measurments are close enough then a body swap is posible.
Now comes the fun part,you will end up with a load of rewiring for the dash and ecu.
Forgot to mention the trany shifter will have to be relocated as they never come up in a comfortable possition.
If the body dementions are off then be ready cut and quarter the body. Try not to modify the tracker frame ,but modify car body instead.
And that is just the start.
I did a 4x4 convertion on a 68 camaro a long time ago and what was suposed to be a week end prodgect ended up being two years to get everthing right.
The really hard part will be to make it look good and not like it came from a junk yard.
Justy my 2 cents...although I never really liked the Spitfire, my favorite car of all time is the TR6 (I had MG's years ago). If I had the option of getting a TR6 (or even a Spitfire), I don't think I would EVER cannibalize it and put a different body on it, etc. I would restore it as a Spitfire, and love driving it. You no longer find cars that give you that kind of feel while driving (Miata may be closest in current times). Instead, I would house the Spitfire in the winter, and use the Tracker. In the summer, I would give the Tracker a rest, and have a blast driving the Spitfire....(and if the old Tracker is rusty, how is the chassis?? Must be rusty, too...)
First, I've never done anything like what you are thinking of doing. But here is some info I gleaned from the web.
Tracker wheelbase: 86.6 inches
Tracker width: 64.2 inches
Spitfire wheelbase: 83 inches
Spitfire width: 57"
Based on this, it appears you'd have to cut down the Tracker frame in order to avoid creating a Frankencar. Of course you could quarter and extend the body as suggested above, but you'd end up with a car that looks sort of like a Spitfire, but different.
Forgive me for offering an opinion on a topic you didn't request, but here are my thoughts. If I wanted to do this project because I like the look of a Spitfire, I'd want to do it in a way that preserved that look. Otherwise, I'd just drive some existing 4WD vehicle. If I really wanted the best of a 4WD car that looked like a Spitfire, I'd research other 4WD/AWD CARS that might be a better fit for a Spitfire body. Lastly, if I just wanted to work on a project that nobody else had done and I didn't mind if it looked a little weird when I finished, I'd press on with the Tracker/Spitfire combo. There may not be anyone else on the planet who would ever buy it from you, but if you're happy building and driving it, go for it. Good luck.
First, I've never done anything like what you are thinking of doing. But here is some info I gleaned from the web.
Tracker wheelbase: 86.6 inches
Tracker width: 64.2 inches
Spitfire wheelbase: 83 inches
Spitfire width: 57"
Based on this, it appears you'd have to cut down the Tracker frame in order to avoid creating a Frankencar. Of course you could quarter and extend the body as suggested above, but you'd end up with a car that looks sort of like a Spitfire, but different.
Forgive me for offering an opinion on a topic you didn't request, but here are my thoughts. If I wanted to do this project because I like the look of a Spitfire, I'd want to do it in a way that preserved that look. Otherwise, I'd just drive some existing 4WD vehicle. If I really wanted the best of a 4WD car that looked like a Spitfire, I'd research other 4WD/AWD CARS that might be a better fit for a Spitfire body. Lastly, if I just wanted to work on a project that nobody else had done and I didn't mind if it looked a little weird when I finished, I'd press on with the Tracker/Spitfire combo. There may not be anyone else on the planet who would ever buy it from you, but if you're happy building and driving it, go for it. Good luck.
P.S. You can call it a Spitfour.
Based on Hottommy's specs, this is as close to drop on body that you may get. and can be done without too much body cutting. If perfictly centered you may not have to cut the body at all. But just mod the wheel wells by an inch or so. The weath can be changed with reverse deep dish mags so the wheels don't stick out too much. and the list goes on.....
HOWEVER I still feel bad about destroying a clasic car and feel a pain of regret every time I think about it.
Why not use a body from a fiberglass kit? They are cheap and easy to work on. There is a hugh number of VW kit cars out there and they cheap and avable. Besides they are fiberglass and easy to chop and cut.
Being a person who has worked on car and truck frames ,I can only say that by modifyng a frame you can get into all sorts of head ackes . Modifyng the frame is the absolutly the last thing you would ever want to do.
I'd have to come in on the side of 'save the classic' too... but there is a guy over on zukiworld.com that has done at least 2 like this. Not sure if they're tracker or sammy framed. His user name is 'Spitfire Rick'... go figure. I'd point out 1st though that his rigs are MASSIVELY modded, not just drop the body on kinda thing. Looks like he hasn't been active in a while too, though he may be on other sites as well such as Zuwharrie.com, dunno...
Here's a link to a thread with a pic of 1 of his, with the other in the background, pic shows on reply #9:
Sorry, that Spitfire is really criminal. To people who were brought up in the '60's and '70's, and weaned on British sports cars, they would love to be able to have the option to go out and get such a car now. Impossible, as they are no longer made. So, to find an existing one and (sorry) trash it in such a way is really awful. There are so many sh*t cars out there that you can experiment with. Why take a classic and do that to it? Get an AMC Pacer or Ford Pinto and throw it on your chassis. But a British sports car? Designed for handling, that throaty noise their exhaust made. Sitting practically on the floor with legs straight out to get to the pedals (and I probably couldn't get out of one now, if I was in one...). Eck, this breaks my heart....
There are a lot of Spitfires available for cheap. They weren't great cars when new and reliability was poor, so there are a lot sitting around. Miatas still hold a pretty good price. I think the track (width) will be the challenge I figured 2.5" at each wheel I'm hoping I can push the body work out a little like a race car would. also Spitfire uses 13" wheels I'm looking at a 1500 Spitfire which is the least 'classic'
when I get both cars home, I'll post some photos.
If there is anyone feels like a Miata is a better candidate and wants to trade one for a Spitfire - contact me very soon
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Tracker with a different body
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