2026 (Jan Update)

A whole chunk of work has happened on the Spitfire since the last update. I finally got the front end sorted properly, and I’m now deep into the rear brakes and suspension setup.

Front Suspension — Now Fixed the Right Way

The front suspension needed a proper rebuild. The Gaz Golds I had fitted were perfect for a standard Spitfire, but being so low, they were the wrong length for my car, so I sent them back.
Gaz shortened and rebuilt the front shocks with the correct body length and stroke so they work properly with the travel I’m targeting.

With that done I changed the spring rates to something that actually suits the mid-engine weight distribution:
• Old springs were 185 lb/in — way too soft now.
• New springs are 210 lb/in and the ride height sits about right.
• I’m running around 50 mm bump and 50 mm droop from the final shock setup.

Front ride and control are finally what they should be — no more pogo-ing or diving under hard stops.

Another mod was to move the front rollbar so it goes through the front chassis rails. I added silicon bushes and adjustable drop links. This has given me more clearance at the front and aligned the rollbar so it is horizontal to the chassis.

Quaife limited slip differential

I have now fitted a Quaife LSD, this was a really difficult bit of work and required machining my transaxle case! the bearings in the transaxle were too big for the LSD, so i had to machine a sleeve for the LSD to hold the bearing in place, that then meant that the diff was too long for the transaxle case, o OI had to machine the end plate 1mm to allow diff to rotate, i tested with engineer blue, and remarkably it all worked perfectly!

This is by far the best modification i have made to the car, even in the damp I can now hold my foot down on the accelerator without is squirreling up the road..

Front Brakes — DONE

The front brakes are now fully finished and working great.

I’m running Porsche 986 rear Brembo calipers with a 130 mm bolt spacing on the front hubs (replacing the old BMW calipers i was running before). Designing and machining the adapters was a pain, I made the adapters out of 10mm black steel. They fit cleanly under the 17” wheels with 300 mm discs, and the whole setup feels really sorted now. the adapter are made from 10mm

Rear Brakes — Work in Progress

With the front done, I’ve now switched attention to the rear brakes. I’m planning a dual-caliper setup as Brembo do not make a multi piston caliper with built in hand brake..

I’m using Porsche Cayenne rear calipers, which have 136 mm bolt spacing, and the plan is:
• New adapter plates made from 10mm steel, running the Brembo caliper and for the handbrake Mk4 Golf rear calipers.
• Disc size going up slightly, I have removed the 285mm solid disc and fitting 300mm Audi A6 vented discs.

All the measurements and photos are taken, and adapter CAD work is now well under way.

Caliper Paint

Both front and rear calipers are going yellow using Halfords yellow caliper paint.