Rotary Spitfire
09-12-13, 09:24 PM
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Location: Long Island
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Rotary Spitfire
12 years ago I blew up my transmission and my 76 Spitfire engine was burning oil and the carb was held together with wire. I lived in LA and found a guy who drag raced rotary mazdas and supported his fun by converting british sports cars to rotary engines. I always liked rotaries and the RX-7, so I had him do the conversion. It has a 13B with a Weber 45DCOE on a racing beat intake and a custom header to fit. The conversion lost about 150 lbs leaving the car at around 1650 lbs empty. The 6 gallon gas tank is a nuisance with the 13B but I seldom drive the car for long drives. The car ran strong, and I had a great time with a sleeper Spitfire with 175 HP on the dyno instead of 55. I lived at the top of a 1500 ft hill with a limited access road, and the only car that ever beat it to the top was a turbo 911 that was willing to take the curves at 110 mph +, which was too fast for me in a light Spitfire.
We moved, and the car ended up sitting for many years. Job and family left no time for working on the car, and the carb gummed up and it wouldn't start. I now live in Long Island and I retired, so I finally got enough time to rebuild it, since the suspension and steering was in poor shape and the original conversion was done to a functional standard rather than a neat installation. I got a carb rebuild kit, and got it started again. After the initial start it ran clean but rich with no smoke but plenty of fumes. Since I rebuilt the suspension, replaced the steering rack and installed better wheels and tires the handling is OK, but the engine is not making anything like it's original power. So I joined here to learn more about rotary engines, how to tune them and how to get the best performance out of them. I'm starting from zero here, but I've read the primers on the newbie FAQ section, which were great. My goal is to autocross the car, and use it for track days. I'm a novice SCCA member in autocross, and look forward to taking the rotary spitfire out soon.
Mike M.
Long Island, NY
We moved, and the car ended up sitting for many years. Job and family left no time for working on the car, and the carb gummed up and it wouldn't start. I now live in Long Island and I retired, so I finally got enough time to rebuild it, since the suspension and steering was in poor shape and the original conversion was done to a functional standard rather than a neat installation. I got a carb rebuild kit, and got it started again. After the initial start it ran clean but rich with no smoke but plenty of fumes. Since I rebuilt the suspension, replaced the steering rack and installed better wheels and tires the handling is OK, but the engine is not making anything like it's original power. So I joined here to learn more about rotary engines, how to tune them and how to get the best performance out of them. I'm starting from zero here, but I've read the primers on the newbie FAQ section, which were great. My goal is to autocross the car, and use it for track days. I'm a novice SCCA member in autocross, and look forward to taking the rotary spitfire out soon.
Mike M.
Long Island, NY
09-15-13, 10:04 PM
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Location: Davie, FL
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12 years ago I blew up my transmission and my 76 Spitfire engine was burning oil and the carb was held together with wire. I lived in LA and found a guy who drag raced rotary mazdas and supported his fun by converting british sports cars to rotary engines. I always liked rotaries and the RX-7, so I had him do the conversion. It has a 13B with a Weber 45DCOE on a racing beat intake and a custom header to fit. The conversion lost about 150 lbs leaving the car at around 1650 lbs empty. The 6 gallon gas tank is a nuisance with the 13B but I seldom drive the car for long drives. The car ran strong, and I had a great time with a sleeper Spitfire with 175 HP on the dyno instead of 55. I lived at the top of a 1500 ft hill with a limited access road, and the only car that ever beat it to the top was a turbo 911 that was willing to take the curves at 110 mph +, which was too fast for me in a light Spitfire.
We moved, and the car ended up sitting for many years. Job and family left no time for working on the car, and the carb gummed up and it wouldn't start. I now live in Long Island and I retired, so I finally got enough time to rebuild it, since the suspension and steering was in poor shape and the original conversion was done to a functional standard rather than a neat installation. I got a carb rebuild kit, and got it started again. After the initial start it ran clean but rich with no smoke but plenty of fumes. Since I rebuilt the suspension, replaced the steering rack and installed better wheels and tires the handling is OK, but the engine is not making anything like it's original power. So I joined here to learn more about rotary engines, how to tune them and how to get the best performance out of them. I'm starting from zero here, but I've read the primers on the newbie FAQ section, which were great. My goal is to autocross the car, and use it for track days. I'm a novice SCCA member in autocross, and look forward to taking the rotary spitfire out soon.
Mike M.
Long Island, NY
We moved, and the car ended up sitting for many years. Job and family left no time for working on the car, and the carb gummed up and it wouldn't start. I now live in Long Island and I retired, so I finally got enough time to rebuild it, since the suspension and steering was in poor shape and the original conversion was done to a functional standard rather than a neat installation. I got a carb rebuild kit, and got it started again. After the initial start it ran clean but rich with no smoke but plenty of fumes. Since I rebuilt the suspension, replaced the steering rack and installed better wheels and tires the handling is OK, but the engine is not making anything like it's original power. So I joined here to learn more about rotary engines, how to tune them and how to get the best performance out of them. I'm starting from zero here, but I've read the primers on the newbie FAQ section, which were great. My goal is to autocross the car, and use it for track days. I'm a novice SCCA member in autocross, and look forward to taking the rotary spitfire out soon.
Mike M.
Long Island, NY
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