Triumph GT6 Mk2

[thebrookster]

As mentioned in another thread, I have agreed to purchase a GT6! 

Hopefully money will be exchanged and car collected next week.

This particular GT6 has significant meaning for me, as it happens to be the first Triumph I had the pleasure of meeting in the flesh, and is what spurred me into buying my first Spitfire nearly 2 decades ago! It is one of Nuala's early cars (she had this and a yellow Spitfire 1500 at the time) and I am lucky that her family gave me the chance to buy it after the first buyer pulled out.

It has been mentioned here before, I think various engine woes are detailed in an old thread. My last contact with it was trailering it from North Wales to TR Enterprises in order to get the engine rebuilt back in 2019. This was eventually solved, and is essentially TR6 spec from what I can gather. Body is pretty solid although showing signs of sitting for the last 2 years, however it still setup for road rallying (Brantz timer, roll cage, uprated suspension/brakes etc and somewhat rewired).

So current plan is to invest in a decent breakdown cover, drive down to Keswick with a friend, and drive it the 170 miles back home.

So anyway, that's my new car 

 

[RedRooster]

I'm jealous. 

[Nick Jones]

Nice 

No doubt some fettling required, along with some body tidying but a great starting point.

And what news of the Red (no longer) Shed?

And best of luck with the drive home. Suggest buying some quality fuel hose plus some inline filters, and taking them with you….

[mossmonaco]

might also be worth taking pleanty of water and hose repair kit. check the top of the radiator, there is a slightly suspicious corrosion mark around the filler neck. there also looks to be an alternator sence wire routed in easy reach of the fan. Chect the state of the rotoflex's - Quinton Hazel ones can last up to 50 miles in my experience(!). Good luck-I've always regarded the  Mk 2 as the most apealing of the GT6's, especialy with the luxurious rear seat option. The twin SU's and lucas distributor suggest that the engine might have come from a 2.5 tc- easy to confirm if it's a 2.5- the sump will have been beaten out at the shallow section to clear the extended crank throw.

[mossmonaco]

interesting exhaust manifold, koni(?) front shocks, unusual positioning of the heater valve.

[Nick Jones]

Exhaust manifold is a Phoenix one I think (mixed blessing). Agree on Konis.

Heater valve position is a lower profile variant of the TR6 position. I use similar on my Vitesse except it not a crappy repro Smiths valve.

[thebrookster]

1 hour ago, Nick Jones said:

what news of the Red (no longer) Shed?

Still ongoing, still up at Chics. I need to chase him and see where we are at, but I've had so much other stuff on recently I've kinda been happy to let sleeping dogs lie......

1 hour ago, Nick Jones said:

Suggest buying some quality fuel hose plus some inline filters

Good shout. Cheers.

30 minutes ago, mossmonaco said:

might also be worth taking pleanty of water and hose repair kit. check the top of the radiator, there is a slightly suspicious corrosion mark around the filler neck. there also looks to be an alternator sence wire routed in easy reach of the fan.

Noted. I'll check that out, and possibly zip tie that wire out the way.

32 minutes ago, mossmonaco said:

Chect the state of the rotoflex's - Quinton Hazel ones can last up to 50 miles in my experience(!).

Should be okay, they were done a while back so they have a few miles on them?

33 minutes ago, mossmonaco said:

The twin SU's and lucas distributor suggest that the engine might have come from a 2.5 tc- easy to confirm if it's a 2.5

Not a 2.5, but correct, the SU's were retrofitted, essentially to allow better tuning options with previous engine/cam combos. Not sure when the dizzy was fitted.

Yes, Koni shocks, and I have no idea what the manifold is? Some other bits have changed since I knew it, such as the electric fan has been swapped back out for mechanical.

 

[TimBancroft]

Great to see that someone sympathetic has bought the car.

Hope you enjoy the car as much as I enjoy mine.

The throttle linkage looks a tadge haphazard, I have heard of a chap called Daniel Day who makes a very simple one that replaces the 2.5S complicated linkage, might be worth investigating.

[TimBancroft]

Sorry, Dylan Day, not Daniel Day.

[Gt64fun]

Welcome to the GT6 Mk2 club. I hope you enjoy it.

If you need to use the lights, treat the side/head light switch very gently. If it the original Clear Hooters one, they are known to be a tad fragile.

They were subject to a Triumph recall in June 1978 (Recall A444), where they were replaced with a Lucas item.

Ian

[PeteStupps]

Congratulations Phil, good to hear you've bought it. Keep us updated

[JohnD]

Ah!   The car for the Gentleman Racer! Just the job, Phil!  Enjoy!

[GT6MK3]

Fantastic Phil, no better home for it!

Enjoy!

[thebrookster]

Cheers guys. Tomorrow is the day she comes home to Scotland, then I reckon I need to pick @Escadrille Ecosse brains regarding hillclimby type stuff up here in God's chosen country 

[Escadrille Ecosse]

13 hours ago, thebrookster said:

Cheers guys. Tomorrow is the day she comes home to Scotland, then I reckon I need to pick @Escadrille Ecosse brains regarding hillclimby type stuff up here in God's chosen country 

We goin' racin'

[egret]

Wow, that looks fabulous. As pointed out there seem to be a number of well thought through bits and bobs added.  Very interested in heating about race preparations!

[Nick Jones]

On 9/18/2024 at 8:33 PM, thebrookster said:

Tomorrow is the day she comes home to Scotland

Still aiming to drive her home?

[thebrookster]

2 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

Still aiming to drive her home?

Yup, and she made it with only one hiccup along the way.

I'll write a proper post tomorrow, but basically Colin is an absolute gent!!

[thebrookster]

Some size difference!!

(And yes, both mine).

[thebrookster]

So, GT6!

After a smooth run down with a mate in my truck, with a couple of detours (one to avoid roadworks and congestion, the other simply to show my mate a bit more of the Lakes) we arrived in Borrowdale just before midday.

Although we had conversed by phone and messages for the last couple of weeks, this was the first time I had met Lei, the chap who has taken on the herculean task of trying to sort through Nuala's extensive collection of spares and cars. I have suggested he pop by here for a visit, he most definitely is crazy enough to fit right in!

After a quick check of the GT6 (still essentially as I remember it) we set too going through all the various sheds etc hunting out GT6 related parts. Along the way we found another dozen wheels/tyres to add to the 2 dozen already known about, plus a whole bunch of parts that we cannot for the life of us fathom why Nuala kept! But it resulted in a complete set of spare rear roto driveshafts, hubs etc. I also very gladly took ownership of a proper Triumph hub puller, a spare rocker cover, new alternator couple of dizzy's and a whole load of other assorted oddments. They were all loaded up into the truck, and by late afternoon we set of for the 170 miles back to Scotland. 

And by god the car drives well! I found a couple of small issues, one is that the idle is too low and she tends to stall out when stopping, the other I found on the motorway where at sustained revs above 3500 she starts bucking, which I suspect may be a fuel issue. She was happy just below 3500 however, which equated to approx 65mph, and to be honest for the sake of my ears this I'm not upset by that! By god that wheelbarrow drones when cruising above 3500!

So, with a brief stop at Gretna, I made it up to Glasgow only to find that the top end of the M74 and a section of M8 were closed, so had to try and navigate round Tradeston and into the south side of Glasgow. 

And disaster struck. Waiting at some lights I put my foot on the clutch, and there was nothing there! I pushed the car into a convenient bike lane and rang the recovery folks. Not the best photo, but you can see the copper line had fractured right at the slave.

However, whilst updating my mate (who had parted ways just before Glasgow) I suddenly recalled that @Escadrille Ecosse was based in the area, so I quickly popped onto here and fired him a message. 10 minutes later he messaged to say he was on his way. He was confident he had all the relevant parts to repair if we could get the line of. Some skinned knuckles later we had success in removing the line, so I promptly cancelled the recovery and we went back to his garage to fabricate a new line. We maybe shouldn't mention that two pretty highly qualified and experienced engineers had a brain fart moment whilst trying to use a flaring tool, but in our defence it was nearly 10 at night 

Anyway, back to the car and one line refitted, fluid filled and we were back in business. After that it was a nice and simple run back up to Loch Lomond side, and safely home.

So, snagging list for now:

1. New tyres needed (fitted tyres are 10 years old)

2. Diagnose and sort potential fuel issue

3. Do something with exhaust

4. Sort the few body blemishes

5. Try and work out what all the (mostly unlabeled) switches are for

6. Rebuild/refoam the seats

7. Raise the idle speed a touch

 

And a final note, a massive thank you to Colin for being an absolute gent and happily coming out after 9pm to assist a fellow triumph nut! The help was greatly received, and it meant the car got home under its own power. Not bad for being garaged and not used for the last 2 years. Thank you Colin, and hopefully next time we meet will be in better circumstances.

Edited September 20 by thebrookster

[JohnD]

Wow!  The Sideways Breakdown Recovery, Repair and Coffee Service!   Well done, Colin, and also Phil for so enterprisingly rescuing Nuala's car.    If you do make it competitive, it would be just what she wanted!

Meanwhile, may I suggest?    Braided brake lines?     Not cheap, but guaranteed not to fatigue fracture.     Nowadays, if I have a line to replace, I go braided.   Merlin do an almost by return of email service -others are available.

John

[Nick Jones]

14 hours ago, thebrookster said:

Colin is an absolute gent!!

Was there ever any doubt? 
 

Sounds like a grand day out, though skinned knuckles sounds like understatement when it comes to accessing the slave cylinder with tunnel cover in place!

Does it not have overdrive Phil, or 3.27 diff? 3,500 for 65mph sounds high…..

Agree with your “bucking” diagnosis - sounds like fuel flow is not quite enough and it’s going lean as the float bowls draw down. Could just be a clogged filter or screen.

[Escadrille Ecosse]

Glad I could help Phil. And glad you got home safe.

That is a very nice car. Very solid.

5 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

understatement when it comes to accessing the slave cylinder with tunnel cover in place!

Yeah, bassssstard job. Glad all I had to was hold the light and hand over spanners!

3 hours ago, thebrookster said:

We maybe shouldn't mention that two pretty highly qualified and experienced engineers had a brain fart moment whilst trying to use a flaring tool, but in our defence it was nearly 10 at night 

I did rather think the same..

[thebrookster]

36 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

Does it not have overdrive Phil, or 3.27 diff? 3,500 for 65mph sounds high…..

I'd need to go through the large pile of paperwork, but I'm thinking it might have a 4.11 diff? I also suspect it might be a Gripper LSD, or at least I have seen paperwork for one.

Yes to OD. And yes, I can confirm operational.

Nuala ran this as a rally car, hence why the 4.11 could make sense, and it certainly matches the speed(GPS)/RPM and how fast it takes off!

[thebrookster]

3 hours ago, JohnD said:

Meanwhile, may I suggest?    Braided brake lines?

You may indeed suggest, and I shall certainly investigate further once I gather the courage to shove my hand into that rather non hand sized spot the slave cylinder is located at.

I'll add that to my snagging list.