Nick's US-spec GT6

[DaveNotSoSideways]

I've reused bushes in some shocks with and without success, should be a standard ind. bush size?

 

If I had a lathe.......

 

When fitting the canley shafts I had to bash a large divot into the chassis and also bend the seams over on one side. Not sure what that was about but it would have shreaded the CV boot.

[Nick Jones]

There is supposed to be a sleeve over that bolt - just a piece of steel tube (which you may have thrown out with the old dampers  ) that makes the bolt up to the right dameter and provides something for the nut to tighten against before the bush is over-crushed.  The swing axle cars have shouldered bolts.  I can definitely report that my driveshafts don't hit the chassis on full droop although they are very close.  I'm using swing axle dampers (nice old OEM Armstrong ones) but also I also have chassis extensions for the upper mounts (legacy from roto days) so may not be directly comparable.

 

Nick

[GT6 Nick]

After months of faffing about, the diff is finally fitted and the rear suspension largely assembled. At last the chassis can roll on its own wheels! I still have to fit some new rear shock bushes and sleeves (thanks for the help there guys), and get some adapters made to link the inner CVs to the Subaru diff. They'll require some precision machining, but in the meantime I can refit the body for painting. (The inner CVs are in the plastic bags to keep clean).

 

One unpleasant discovery I made this week was that the POR-15 I'd painted the underside of the body with doesn't adhere well to smooth steel, and could be peeled off the floors. The marketing info raves about how well it sticks to rust and sandblasted steel (eg my chassis), but is strangely silent about smooth surfaces >  There was nothing for it but to strip it back all the loose paint, etch prime the underside and repaint it. The replacement POR-15 seems to adhere much better... fingers crossed.

[Nick Jones]

Coming along nicely  .  You might want to make a careful note of the dimensions for your Subaru/Volvo adaptors - might be a (small) market for those  

 

Nick

[DaveNotSoSideways]

Only one way to paint tub undersides, shot blasted, etched, primed, top-coated in 2 pack like the top of the car. Can lick the underside of mine clean it was painted in 1993

[GT6 Nick]

Went to see a man about a cow on Friday night.

 

The first parts unbolted from the GT6 at the start of the restoration were the seats. The covers were in shreds, the foams crumbly and frames rusty. I can't imagine anyone drove it like that, so a lot of the decay must have been due to sun damage after it was parked up. Either that or the dang dawg ate 'em!

 

No one makes covers for US-spec high back seats (that I know of, anyway), so I delivered the cleaned and painted frames, new foams and cardboard base boards to a one-man upholstery shop in Brisbane, along with a sample of New Tan vinyl. He's one of the old school craftsmen who never advertises, gets his business through word of mouth and always has a queue of customers. There was no hurry, so I waited, and waited...

 

One thing I hadn't appreciated is how many shades of tan there are. It's like the debates over the 'real' BRG or Old English White. Triumph's earlier 'Light Tan' is just that, with maybe a hint of pink, depending on your colour perception. 'New Tan' was a Seventies colour, darker and quite orangey, and it took Ron a long time to track down some samples. After 12 months, he finally had some swatches to look at this week - apparently orange cows are very uncommon. The final choice weighed up colour and shade, grain and softness. The choice was between an Australian hide, which was smooth and slightly less orange, and a Connolly leather which was a little lighter, but had a coarser grain like Newton's vinyl door trims and handbrake cover. I immediately chose the English ones, as the slightly lighter shade won't be noticeable  - lighting varies throughout an interior anyway - but the different texture would stand out.

 

So, I've paid a deposit for the hides, and by the time the body is painted, the seats should be ready as well. Ron will perforate the fluted panels just as Triumph did, and will add some lower back support. Comfort and originality!

[lordleonusa]

 

No one makes covers for US-spec high back seats (that I know of, anyway),

 

Newton Commercial make them, because I gave them a pattern from a U.S. friend back in the mid-1990s, they made a lot of them for the American market after that.

 

L  

[GT6 Nick]

I finally have a finished rolling chassis, and had fun this morning pushing it around in the sun for photos. The body will be refitted tonight. Should be easier than a Herald, as it doesn't have a separate bulkhead to align.

 

After Leon gave the Canley Classics top wishbones his seal of approval, I bought a pair to try and pull the tops of the wheels in and reduce the need for flaring the front arches (we'll see how much difference they make). The wishbones' welding looks neat, and the ball joints are able to accommodate the full range of suspension travel. Hopefully the certifier will like them too... The front camber has been set to 1.5 degrees negative at a target ride height of 115mm clearance under the front chassis rail, the same as my Herald.

[rlubikey]

V8 Nick - spring removed for photo? or are they an air-spring or -assist shock at the front there??

 

Cheers, Richard

[GT6 Nick]

The springs have been removed so that I could check whether the ball joints could accommodate the full range of suspension travel. Also, I need to see whether the wheels now sit inside the guards at the intended ride height. The engine's not built yet, and without it the front suspension just sits in the full droop position. Amusing but not useful!

 

I've just stumbled inside from fitting the body. Maybe a few photos tomorrow, it's dark on this side of the world and just about bedtime. But for the first time in over a year, I have something resembling a GT6 sitting in the garage  ;D

[Nick B.]

Looks VERY nice. Is the brakepiperouting final? Looks a bit unconventional - hard to tell exactly from the picture

 

Pics in the morning please ;D

 

Cheers

Nick

[GT6 Nick]

Body on and bolted down! When I rebuilt my Herald about 15 years ago I left out the rubber washers, having read that it increased rigidity. I've regretted it ever since as the shell creaks when driving over uneven surfaces  :-/ I'll rebuild the poor car properly one day, but will finish the GT6 first (the road to happiness is to always have at least one working Triumph).

 

Anyway, the GT6 has a full complement of rubber washers, some of which are a right pain to get into position. I refitted the factory's two alloy spacers under the inner bulkhead mounts, and it all tightened down perfectly. One thing I noticed is that the shell had spread a few millimetres while off the chassis. A ratchet strap pulled it together enough to get the bolts in - easy when you have the right tools   I noticed that the top corners of the gearbox tunnel opening are cracked. My Herald's bulkhead has split under the heater box - obviously the GT6 bulkhead has experienced similar flexing and fatiguing over the years.

 

Nick, the brake lines are standard, simply cleaned and checked for cracks (they were fine). Obviously the hoses are new though.

[GT6 Nick]

A temporary refitting of the bonnet (I still have to strip the paint off the underside) showed that the new wishbones have pulled in the tops of the front wheels just about perfectly. They still bind on the arches on full compression, but that should be fairly easy for the panel shop to fix, with no flaring required.

 

I've noticed that the back end's sitting quite high despite my fitting a 1" spacer block. The block was necessary because the spring adapter plate on the Subaru diff seemed to sit lower than the corresponding mounting position on the Triumph diff (to be honest I didn't bother to measure the relative heights). The spring top plate sits just below the rim of the inspection hatch opening, so it's probably located about right. Looking back at the eBay photos of the car, it was riding very high before I took it apart - in fact the front springs had coil clamps to try and lower the front end. Did US-spec cars have higher ride heights? As the leaf spring's already sitting high in the tunnel, I may have to decamber it. That seems preferable to adding more spacer blocks!

 

I was fiddling with the rear suspension's radius arms last night, and fitted one body bracket. I noticed the other is distorted, so the car may have gone backwards into a kerb at some point... New ones are only a few pounds so I'll just chuck the old one. I couldn't find the 3/8" UNF bolts for the radius arms - doubtless they'll turn up somewhere unexpected one day. Rimmers carry the brackets and new bolts, but I noticed their 'high tensile' bolts are plated - surely that means they're not suitable for suspension duties? I sense a trip to the nearest bolt merchant for some 10.9 grade bolts coming up...

[DaveNotSoSideways]

Plating is ok, its just that the extra BRITTLE/DEBRITTLING processes add unpredictable results, like some screws I got from Homebase (ultimate purveyours of basically fraudualant consumer  chinese shite that has a 3month life expectancy= to be avoided at any cost) that sheared like they were made of wood, someone went a bit nuts on the debrittling in some sweat shop in China where the workers are no doubt all dying of lung cancer, have a 40 year life expectancy and couldnt give a flying **** about yout health and safety when they create bolts.nuts.screws for the cheapest price as instructed by some clueless jerk who doesnt even know what a screwdriver is for, sat in an office immune from danger he buys in 1000000 plated bolts from AngXiety Enginneringg in Beijing. not knowing or giving a toss about quality, he can't, cause there is no QC there.

 

I'd buy from a proper fasterner supplier! Buying black/proper just makes life easier.

[GT6 Nick]

After weeks of sanding and grinding, I towed the GT6 to a paint shop out on the coast this morning. The painter's got a long list of bits to weld up, and every dent puller hole and badge hole is marked - I want the random extra holes welded up, but not the badge, bonnet latch and light mounting holes! No idea how long it'll take, they'll just chip away at it one dent at a time. I gave them a touch-up pot of Mallard, as it's easiest to mix a batch of paint to match a wet sample.

 

And now the garage is looking very empty :-(

[Royboy66]

lots of work done there Nick!  nice one

 

get the white gloves ready for re-fit after paint!  

 

[lordleonusa]

Looking good Nick, When you get it back, let it sit for a week for the paint to settle down some.

 

oh and with the intention of fitting my Canley upper front wishbones soon, I measured my front wheel camber with the vehicle in it's normal sitting position, and no gas in tanks.

 

I used one of those degree gauges and after taking multiple measurements came up with the following:

 

Front Right: 89.1 degrees to vertical

 

Front Left: 89.8 degrees to vertical

 

Rear Right: 89.4 degrees to vertical

 

Rear Left: 88.5 degrees to vertical

 

Do these sound about right?

 

I aim to get the same readings once I have swapped out the upper wishbones and adjusted the outer joint.

 

Leon

 

 

 

  

 

 

[GT6 Nick]

Those front camber angles are about the same as mine, although I set mine using an iPod app - not the most accurate way, I know! The A-arms will, I think, turn out to be very worthwhile for the GT6, because one of Queensland's modification regulations specifies that when adding aftermarket wheels, the track must increase by no more than 25mm. The 5-spokes are 22P, giving an increase of 38mm over the steel 4.5" rims. Removing the lower wishbones' shims and reducing camber with the adjustable arms means my front track width - if anyone cares to measure - is within the law.

 

The rear track will be a bit too wide, but GT6 rear arches are flared so much that the bigger wheels still don't fill them, and won't arouse suspicions.

 

Without a project in the garage I'm getting bored - must - avoid - eBay...

[GT6 Nick]

Avoiding the internet - specifically companies selling GT6 goodies - isn't going well. Somehow a full set of Newton Commercial biscuit-coloured GT6 carpets is on its way : Oh, and a radio faceplate, gear lever knob, cold air duct for the Herald...

[GT6MK3]

Newton Commercial?  Moulded carpets?  Ohhhhhhhhh...   They're on my "One day" list.

 

And me getting home late having worked all weekend again.  (Must. Spend. Money. After. Working. All. Weekend.)

 

Any chance you'd like to double up on the order and split the shipping?

 

Craig

 

(Biscuit though?   Really?)

 

PM on the way.

[GT6 Nick]

The painting's started. They've taken the body off the chassis again (hope they remember where all the bolts go!) to make it easier to move around the workshop. It's ben sandblasted to remove any remaining traces of paint and to provide a better surface for the paint to key to. They've also sandblasted the underside of the bonnet, the one area I didn't have time to strip before I left town last month.

 

I'm not sure when the guys will start hammering out the dents and welding. There are several cars in the shop, and each seems to get a bit done at a time. But it looks better than last time I saw it :-)

[GT6 Nick]

Managed to get to the painter yesterday. He's in the middle of making the bonnet vents, by cutting inside the lines I'd drawn and wire rolling the edges. Some proper workmanship going on there  

[GT6 Nick]

Just been to Brisbane, and stuck my head into the local Triumph specialist. I was (and still am) looking for a GT6 / Spit Mk4 windscreen. He doesn't have any but says a specialist down south is about to make a batch. Most stuff I import, but getting a windscreen through the post would be a tad ambitious!

 

I also asked if he had any 2.5 crankshafts, and he produced one which has been ground 10 thou. Which is perfect as I already have a set of .010 VP2s, so I staggered out under the weight of about 25kg of steel! He also recommended using a 2.5 damper pulley, as he's seen 2.5 engines with 2L dampers break their cranks. Hmmm...

[GT6MK3]

I got my new screen through National Windscreens (who paradoxically, are only operate as that in Victoria), they were the only supplier I could find who had one in stock. 039687622.

Their Product Code "TR631 LB".  Described as "SPITFIRE GT6 MKIII, MKIV 2DR Convertable 1968-1973"  $265 fitted last December.  Google says that Protector windscreens in Mackay are part of the N.W.G. 0749531466.

 

B.A.C. almost always seems to have the stuff I wan't, just I tend to feel like I to need to open my wallet and say "Help yourself" to get it.  Supply and demand I geuss, and he's got to make a living.   Currently very much a fan of Markich Motors over in WA, pricing seems pretty fair so far, and service has been really prompt.

 

C.

[GT6 Nick]

The traditional Australian summer wet season has meant an end to work in the Queensland coalfields for a few months, so I'm back in Brisbane and Triumphless. If I'd known our temporary suspension would turn into several months I would have brought the Herald down. That way I could spend Christmas fitting its new trunnion-less uprights!

 

In the meantime the painter says he's finished the GT6's bonnet, and would I like to pick it up please? Apart from the problem of geography (Mackay is about 900km north of Brisbane), I'd rather not try and transport it any other way than bolted to the GT6's chassis, as I don't see how I could avoid scratching it or rubbing through the paint. For a short trip, lying it on a mattress and blankets might be OK, but Moranbah, where my workshop is, is a 200km trip. Hopefully by the time we're able to work up north, the body will be painted and back on the chassis anyway.

 

The GT's Christmas present is a 'semi-sport' rear muffler from Reamers. I want to keep the original transverse box look, and having two pipes sticking out one side is a Triumph design feature. Stags, TR6s and GT6s all had 'em. Some people have commented on the semi-sport's noisiness, but I'll wait and see. It can't be as loud as the Herald's exhaust! For starters I'll keep the original exhaust manifold, until someone produces a proper equal length jobbie.