Triumph Repair: Engine Swap for Triumph Spitfire, triumph motor, triumph spitfire

Question
My son recently purchased a used Spitfire from a local used car dealer, not sure if '76 or '77 with 1500cc(approx). It was stated as having a new rebuild with a Weber on it.  Within just a couple of days, apparently a washer that was left 'in' the carb made its way through the fuel inlet valve and you know what happens next.  Since there are no 'Lemon Laws' on used vehicles in our state, I told him that I thought I had heard of people swapping out the triumph motor with an older '69-'72 Datsun L16,L18,L20 with much success, which also can be found for a real reasonable price.  He's not interested in making it a powerhouse, just wants to get it going without having to rebuild the current factory motor.  Any ideas or web links that you know of?  Thanks
Carl

Answer
Hi Carl,
What you say may be true or not. I have no experience with conversions on spitfires. You might look on the net for John's Cars in Texas, they have some conversion kits for British cars. I don't know if they have one for the Spitfire.
The only thing I know is that it is usually a large job and requires fabricating skills and some shop equipment like welding and cutting equipment.
Howard