@ Max Brewster

[danny1291]

Hello...

New user to the forum and the site. Great place! Glad I found it. I have a question for Max Brewster, if you're here, and you don't mind answering. Where did you have the spindles machined for your Spitfire, and about how much should I expect to pay someone. I have Mazda RX-7 rotors for my conversion (1979 Spitifre, with VG30ET from Nissan 300ZX, pics of which I'll post on here when I get a chance!), and the custom axle stub is a great idea. I was going to swap the entire spindle, and fabricate ball joints, etc, but this is so much a better idea. I can fabricate the caliper bracket no prob, but I don't have access or know how to properly use a lathe.

thanks, Danny

[MGBV8]

"VG30ET/Spitfire"

Hold on tight, that combo is gonna fly!

[danny1291]

I hope so! I've got everything in place, just need to finish making the rearend mount, and the drivetrain will be in. It fits almost like it was made for the car.
Danny

[turbospitfire]

Hi Danny, concerning your question about the spindle. I machined them myself on my old Atlas lathe. It took a long time and wore out some parts on the lathe which I haven't replace yet. A larger lathe would save some time, you can take bigger cuts. I used an alloy called ETD 150. Its a machinable high strength steel that you won't need to heat treat. Make sure you use this alloy, FOR SAFETY, or you risk bending breaking your spindle. The steel company I bought it from had a $200 minimum so I had to buy 4  feet of 2.5 inch diameter round bar to meet the minimum. That was 5 years ago so I suspect you will pay more per foot. Steel has really gotten expensive. Below is the information on EDT 150:

Another high strength material made by Niagara LaSalle's patented "e.t.d."® (elevated temperature drawing) process. Eliminates heat treating and secondary operations such as straightening, finish grinding, cleaning, and inspections. "e.t.d." 150® can be roll threaded, knurled and plated. Suitable for induction hardening. "e.t.d." 150® is also electro-magnetically tested using induced eddy currents.

I don't know what it would cost to have a machine shop make the spindles. Prices are high for just about any labor intensive service.
Suggestions:
You may be able to by a small lathe and learn how to do it yourself for the price of having someone else do it. or...
You could take a machine shop class a community/technical college. Sometimes they let you bring your own projects to class. You could make the spindles and caliper adapters at the same time.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Max Brewster
1979 Spitfire

[danny1291]

That helps out a great deal, Max. Thanks so much for your input. A lot of machine shops I talked to will not do automotive work, due to the liability factor, so I may need to find another alternative. A place I buy from on Ebay, Ihateskool, (weird name, I know!), offered to give me a quote, if I sent measurements. I may give them a try.
Fantastic car, by the way. Would love to see it in person!
Appreciate the info about the proper steel to use, also. I was wondering about that.

Thanks, Danny

1979 Triumph Spitfire w/ 1985 VG30ET V6 from 300ZX

[spitfire79]

do you have pic/drawing/template of your motor mount.  i'm placing a chevy S10, 2.8 with a s10 t5 transmission, in a spitfire, i've seen another use S10 transmission mount, but no sure how it was connected to the motor itself,
any help

[BlownMGB-V8]

I would think that any decent chrome-moly steel would work pretty well, especially the ones that come already heat treated, such as 4140HT and similar. Quite tough but still can be threaded with tool steel dies. OEM spindles don't seem all that hard.

Jim

[roverman]

Clan, so many good design spindles available in aftermarket, like Mustang II and A/F body G.M. Both have bolt-on steering arms,(front/rear steer. Adapt and save ? Cheers, roverman.