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Miles Crouch's 1979 Triumph Spitfire with Ford 2.3 Turbo Engine

Miles Crouch · 1979 Triumph Spitfire

Triumph Spitfire

britishv8.orgas published in British V8 Newsletter, Volume XV Issue 2, September 2007

Read the full write-up at britishv8.org ↗

Photo: britishv8.org

A 1979 Triumph Spitfire rebuilt around a turbocharged Ford 2.3

Miles Crouch swapped his Spitfire's original engine for a blueprinted Ford 2.3 turbo four from an SVO Mustang, building custom induction, cooling, exhaust and air-ride suspension himself. The car runs a narrowed 9 inch Ford rear end and a C-4 automatic, and has been driven thousands of miles as well as raced, making over 500 rear-wheel horsepower on race gas. It is a useful read for anyone considering a small, light chassis with serious turbo power rather than a V8.</overview> <parameter name="spec">[ {"label":"Engine","value":"Ford 2.3 turbo inline four, from an SVO Mustang, balanced and blueprinted, head ported by Boport, Wiseco pistons, Chevy 5.7 inch rods, adapted 4g63 Mitsubishi oil jets for piston cooling"}, {"label":"Induction","value":"Custom intake with 75mm throttle body, 96lb injectors, water methanol injection, 1100cfm intercooler"}, {"label":"Engine Electrical","value":"SDS…

Parts used

What the owner names in the write-up, grouped the way the Parts page groups them. Where one of the shops we index lists the same thing for this car, it is shown underneath with a link to the shop.

Engine 5

Fuel & Ignition 4

  • 75mm throttle body

    Part of custom intake for increased airflow

    In the shops
    Throttle Body ↗Moss Motors – Triumph TR6/TR250· $1,145.63 USD
    Throttle Body, X-Type ↗Moss Motors – Triumph TR6/TR250· $454.77 USD
    Jenvey DCOE Throttle Body Air Horn ↗Racetorations· £30.00 GBP
  • 96lb fuel injectors

    Sized for the turbocharged, high-output engine

  • Water methanol injection system

    Used to control detonation, allowing lower octane fuel operation

  • SDS engine management systemSDS

    Controls fuelling and ignition, wired into the Ford factory harness

Cooling 2

  • Intercooler, 1100cfm

    Cools intake charge from the turbo

  • Big block radiator

    Keeps engine cool even in traffic

Gearbox & Drivetrain 4

  • Performance Automatic C-4 transmissionPerformance Automatic

    Three speed automatic with transmission brake and 1/1 final drive, rebuilt by an outside shop

    In the shops
    BW-8 Automatic Transmission ↗Moss Motors – Triumph TR6/TR250· $0.00 USD
    DG250 Automatic Transmission ↗Moss Motors – Triumph TR6/TR250· $0.00 USD
    BW-35 Automatic Transmission ↗Moss Motors – Triumph TR6/TR250· $0.00 USD
  • 9 inch torque converter, 3000rpm stall

    Matched to the C-4 for launch characteristics

    In the shops
    Torque Converter Cover ↗Motaclan Limited· £0.00 GBP
    Torque Converter Assembly ↗Motaclan Limited· £0.00 GBP
    Torque Converter Cover Nut ↗Motaclan Limited· £0.72 GBP
  • Custom driveshaft

    Built with two safety loops for safety at the strip

  • Narrowed 9 inch Ford rear axleFord

    Fitted with limited slip differential, 2.75:1 gears and 28 spline axles

Suspension & Steering 3

Brakes 1

Wheels & Tyres 1

  • Prostar Street and Drag aluminum wheels, 15 inchProstar

    Fitted all round

Body & Trim 2

  • Frenched antenna

    Bodywork modification for a cleaner look

  • Ford rear wing

    Added rear spoiler sourced from a Ford

Electrical 1

  • Custom wiring harness

    Rebuilt with more than three grounds and extra fuses, added room for gauges

    In the shops
    Wiring Harness Tape ↗Moss Motors – Triumph TR6/TR250· $12.75 USD
    Body Wiring Harness ↗Moss Motors – Triumph TR6/TR250· $158.00 USD
    Main Wiring Harness ↗Moss Motors – Triumph TR6/TR250· $736.39 USD

Other 3

  • Turbocharger

    Turbocharges the 2.3, rebuilt by an outside shop rather than the owner

  • Supertrapp mufflerSupertrapp

    Finishes the custom exhaust system

  • Full rollcage

    Added inside the factory Spitfire frame, tied into the 4-link structure

Photos

All 7 pictures in the write-up, in the order they were posted, shown from britishv8.org. A picture opens larger here, with the way through to the page it is on.

Triumph Spitfire with Ford 2.3 Turbocharged Inline-Four EnginePhoto: britishv8.org
Ford 2.3 Engine with Intercooled TurboPhoto: britishv8.org
Custom air-ride suspension: Home-made A-arms and Mustang II spindles.Photo: britishv8.org
Air ride, with narrowed 9 inch Ford rear axle.Photo: britishv8.org
Ford rear spoiler. Supertrapp muffler.Photo: britishv8.org
15 Prostar Street and Drag aluminum wheelsPhoto: britishv8.org
Donate Now!Photo: britishv8.org

How it was done

Engine swap

Crouch replaced the Spitfire's factory engine with a Ford 2.3 turbo four pulled from an SVO Mustang. He had it balanced and blueprinted, sent the head out to Boport for porting, and fitted Wiseco pistons with Chevy 5.7 inch rods. To improve piston cooling he adapted oil jets from a Mitsubishi 4g63 engine into the Ford block.

Induction and management

A custom intake was built around a 75mm throttle body and 96lb injectors, with water methanol injection and a large 1100cfm intercooler to control heat. Engine management is handled by an SDS system wired through the stock Ford factory harness.

Cooling and exhaust

A big block radiator keeps temperatures down even sitting in traffic. Crouch fabricated his own exhaust, running a 3.5 inch turbo down-pipe into a pulse chamber, then hand-built a dual 1.5 inch pipe system from a single pipe split and rejoined with flat steel, finished with a Supertrapp muffler, for flow and ground clearance.

Drivetrain

Power goes through a Performance Automatic C-4 three-speed with a transmission brake and 1/1 final drive, a 3000rpm stall and 9 inch torque converter, to a custom driveshaft fitted with two safety loops. The rear axle is a narrowed 9 inch Ford with a limited slip differential, 2.75:1 gears and 28 spline axles.

Suspension and chassis

Up front Crouch built his own A-arms and used Mustang II spindles with Grand National shocks and the factory Spitfire rack, running on custom air-ride. Out back is a 4-link and Panhard bar setup with airbags and Camaro shocks. The factory Spitfire frame was reinforced with a full rollcage, with the 4-link running rocker-to-rocker into the original frame.

Brakes, wheels and body

The car stops on four wheel discs and rides on 15 inch Prostar Street and Drag aluminum wheels. Body touches include a frenched antenna and a Ford rear wing, and Crouch rewired the car with more grounds, extra fuses, and room for additional gauges.

Results and use

In its original tune the car made 511 rwhp at 29psi on 116 octane race gas, or 348 rwhp at 23psi on 93 octane with water methanol injection, and the car weighs between 1950 and 2000 lbs. Crouch has driven it thousands of miles, including trips to Montgomery AL, and says it needed an NHRA license because it was too fast for the track as run.

A summary in our own words. The full account, with all its detail, is the owner's: read it at britishv8.org ↗

Worth knowing

  • Adapting oil jets from another engine (Mitsubishi 4g63) can solve piston cooling problems on a turbo swap.
  • A big block radiator was enough to keep the turbo four cool even in stop-and-go traffic.
  • Tying the 4-link suspension into the factory frame rocker-to-rocker keeps the car tracking straight under hard launches.
  • Fabricating a split and rejoined exhaust pipe can gain flow area while preserving ground clearance.
  • Running race gas and high boost can make the car too fast for grassroots track rules, requiring a proper license.

britishv8.org

Read in full on 5 September 2026. The work, the words and the pictures are Miles Crouch’s; this page is a catalogue of them in our own words, and a signpost.

Read the full write-up at britishv8.org ↗

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