Triumph T6 Spitfire Gt Build Chris Sherrington.

[CHRIS211083]

I've just spoken the the Guy that runs ProtechShocks.

 

http://www.protechshocks.co.uk/

 

I decided that to do what I wanted to the Koni's would make the cost too much. So here is my next choice. For the shock absorbers (or dampers) alone it will cost £396 delivered. I'll be using the Triumph tune springs I bought last year as protech do a spring plate to accommodate these. I was swinging towards Avo shocks but with all the bad press and problems you can find on the net and also the fact that sometimes they wont rebuild there rebuildable shocks. You can see why I chose to stay away from them.

 

Chris.

[Millstone10]

I was having a think today and I've decided that the White Lemans alloys I bough for the car will need to be repainted. I was originally going to have white number boards on the car which would have made the wheels not look out of place. Now its just going to be black with the Red stripe so I must change their colour. Was thinking Gun metal Gray with metal flake??? Whats the thoughts???

 

 

Chris.

 

 

Hi Chris

I have had mine powder coated over in black. (thanks for the pictures a while ago). Difficult to photograph (for me anyway) . They look great in sunlight. have to make sure you don't powder coat inside the hub centre as the extra 1mm makes a difference

 

I would like to have polished the rim as some have done to the Revo's but didn't want to go to the hassle of removing the original paint as it would have cost more than the wheels. (this is colour directly over the original vintage white)

 

I like them, and they look great with the BRG, not sure with other colours. Not sure about flake though, pretty sure I have some flared jeans left at my mothers place somewhere but cant see myself in them now. "repent at leisure" as the saying goes...

 

One day Ill get the car finished to take some better pictures...

 

Nigel

 

[Gt6s]

I've just spoken the the Guy that runs ProtechShocks.

 

 

 

His surname is Avon he initally founded AVO hense the name, which now he has a very low opinion of.

[CHRIS211083]

Today Arrived the second hand drivers door glass from the Spitfire Graveyard.

 

 

I've also ordered a new rear runner for this door from Rimmers so will fit them both once I have them both. Also my Radiator arrived.

 

 

Its a standard Ford focus 1.6 lx rad. It looks big here but it will be lent over at about 45 deg and will look a little like this.

 

 

At first I though it wouldn't fit as the top is now on the side and this would have created air pockets at the rad top. However I later discovered that if I flip the rad over then the other sides inlet/outlet sits higher and it should be possible to remove the air this way.

 

After faffing about with that I then moved onto the passenger side door mounting. The door has been mounted on the recycled hinges I had but still needs fettleing. I've not fitted the rear catches or door handles yet so still loads to do. I also drilled the hinge holes out to the next metric size up to fit the Stainless bolts better and give them a touch more adjustment for the door. Another point to note is that the Fibre glass doors with the T6 are thicker than the steel originals. I got round this problem easily as the replacement door mounting bolt kit I bought came with bolts a touch longer where the original had a point for easier location here is a pic.

 

 

I'll be spending some more time with door alignment over the next few days.Then once they are fully fitted with all the bits and bobs then I'll move on to fitting the brake pedals and all the bits on the bulkhead.

 

Chris.

[James]

 

 

His surname is Avon he initally founded AVO hense the name, which now he has a very low opinion of.

 

Well, he would? Wouldn't he?

[CHRIS211083]

From reading alot of posts on the internet I think the problem was money(usually is). By the sounds of it Avo were happy with the current product but Mr Avon wanted to make it better. Avo probably said no as a collective as it was selling well. However time moves on and improvements are being made. Do you try to keep up with technology or stick with what you have at a lower price(not much lower).

 

Chris.

[zetecspit]

Protech have a good reputaion on teh kitcar sites, but so do Gaz and spax.

Seems he gives a personal service and listens to customers, rare these days.

 

Chris, sadly most "advances" to products seem to be aimed at cost-cutting and profitability. that is why there is so much tat out there and you have to search out the good guys.

[DaveNotSoSideways]

If we still have the same conscious, ie total and utter ignorance and we still have some conscience bred into us we will look back at the earth in a few hundred years and wonder what the fuck profitability, expansion, costing and growth did for anyone bar make someone some zero's in an account while undermining the entire health of our species and planet.

 

I guess when we have undermined the entire planet and all it's elemental resources are sat on the surface in the form of objects our task will be completed?

 

We undermined the future of our entire planet in an stella-speed-hyper-space like rush of increasing magnitute simply to produce substandard junk with an inbuilt short life of service, shit of which about 10% is actually worth using, buying or even making. We could make products last forever, we are retards.

 

I can only assume that we are either really fucking stupid as a species as we persist to pollute the air we breathe, water we drink and earth we eat from in the pursuit of industry that serves no real function, so we are either really fucking stupid or we are innocent victims and that some other form of life has got us mining the planet, when we have mined the entire place and fucked it totally and we are stood shoulder to shoulder with a global population of 60billion I'm hoping to see space ships arrive and gather up all the resources we have mined for them and handly placed on the earths surface in the form of objects. They will surely laugh on the way back home; brainwashed an entire species and within 5000 years lead that species to undermine an entire planet within the blick of an eye and noone even bothered to make a stand.

 

Just that costing and producing low quality stuff fucking annoys me, ok? Are we that stupid? It's gotta be a conspiracy? lol

[CHRIS211083]

Yes Dave its all just crazy.........

 

Today bits arrived from Rimmerbros.

 

x2 red door seals

x2 rear quarter light seals

x2 front door channel felts

x2 rear door channel felts

x1 rh rear door channel

 

 

I then had five mins spare so fitted the rear felt to the new rear channel.

 

 

Its a nice snug fit and should help keep the glass ridged and the wind out. After putting up with the spitfire windows tucking out at speed these gt6 door quarter lights and glass are much more ridged and give the car a really nice finish. As will the red coloured door seals.

 

 

They look lighter in person.

 

As some may have spotted I've bought two Rear quarter light seals too. I've made the decision to not just fit solid glass in place of the rear quarter light as I had originally planned. Instead I'll shorten them and give the car the original opening rear Quarter lights like it should have. I think these will give the finished car a really nice finished look.

 

I also decided today that I wont be using the standard triumph engine mounts but will instead use ford cortina round mounts. They will be easier to mount/replace and should last longer. They are also rated for a vehicle with more weight/power so should be better suited.

 

Chris.

Edited June 15, 2012 by CHRIS211083

[CHRIS211083]

Well, out of the blue I got a day off. Was training right through last week and this weekend so I decided to do a bit to the car.

 

I've been having trouble getting the doors to fit how I want so today I opened the drivers door bolt holes up to give more adjustment and also ground down the edges of the door hinges to give more clearance.

Before

 

After

 

I also did the same to the threaded plates on both sides of the hinges.

 

 

However this didn't really help as the door needed to be raised first. So I began trimming the door and tub to get a nice fit.

 

 

 

After a fair bit of work the door fitted and then I had a look at it opening and the other gaps on the door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures speak a thousand words.

 

I then fitted the drives glass and runner and alighned the quarter light in the door and WOW does it look the Mutts Nutts.

 

 

[CHRIS211083]

So that was one door fitting well but I still have the handle and latch to fit yet and then its onto the next door. However there wasn't enough time for that today so I decided to look at the rear quarter lights.

 

Here is the problem.....

 

 

The standard ones are too big so need cutting down.

 

 

 

Not only the length needs modifying the hinge does too.

 

 

 

You can see how it sticks out. However Graham at T6 sold me some part modified ones. Here you can see the shorter one.

 

 

Unfortunately its glass is green tint so I'll have to come up with something to replace this.

 

I've also been thinking about my colour scheme. I'm now wondering if I should just do the car Black without a red stripe??? This would mean the wheels could stay white and the car would a bit less of a target to people. Choices Choices.

 

I've also been considering converting the steering column to the late 1500 spitfire type with the wash/wipe/indicators etc all on stalks. I know they are not cheap but it would make things closer to reach and the dash will look less crowded. Lots to think about.

 

Chris.

[CHRIS211083]

Ok so today I was lacking in energy so decided to do something easy. Engine mounts!!!

 

Here are the type of mount I've chosen and the place I wish to fit them.

LEFT

 

AND RIGHT

 

The idea was that they can either sit on the ribs with a hole through the turrent. The ribs should easy be strong enough to hold the mount but to make sure I'll fill the gap with spacers the width of the mount. Its the same on both sides and places the weight of the engine through the center of the turret. The mounts to the engine were then made from cardboard which will then be handed to the local welder to fabricate. They are very simple and should hold the weight well.

 

Left side

 

Right side

 

The mounts are angled to keep the engine central and steady.

 

Chris.

[DaveNotSoSideways]

The Caterham/Jag E-Type engine mounts are good, just a mention, they are rock solid and really tie the engine to the chassis, desiged for 300kilo engine. They have a low profile and have two handy bolt holes and a metal mount plate they also have a captive nut and so alignment and removal is easy as there is no stud/thread attached to them. No engine movement at all; good for tight exhausts and firm feel.

 

That door shouldn't need that much work, clearly it now fits and looks correct, the mould or door mould at grahams must have moved? Make sure the door works right with the seal in cause the seal runs close to that area you doctored and doors and seals are generally a pain in the arse, the trim panel also adds thickness to the shell of the door. Same story; fitting the door, and having it close with all the seals and not need slamming or popping open onto the safety latch etc are two different things...

 

There is a more solid version of that mount available with two metal discs as part of it, one on either end and one in the middle the rubber is then in two parts so it makes the mount alot stiffer. You'll find the engine vibration minimal anyway it's a modern engine it's well balanced!

[CHRIS211083]

I might have just spotted a pair a cheap fast road cams for my Zetec se 1.6 (newman cams) so might have a punt. Don't need them but it wont hurt, they are rated at 145bhp.

 

Chris.

[CHRIS211083]

Well I won them. 1x pair of newman fast road cams.

 

http://www.ebay.co.u...9#ht_750wt_1270

 

A 1.6 Focus with standard inlet manifold, modified exhaust and a remap they help to make 135-145. So with the ITB's should be interesting. Didn't really need them but this hole car is really just for fun.

 

Also bought a full late 1500 spitfire steering column with switches etc. Should arrive next week.

 

Chris.

Edited June 21, 2012 by CHRIS211083

[CHRIS211083]

Also Ordered a cam belt and water pump kit with locking kit to make the job easier. I also ordered new spark plug leads and the hydraulic type 9 gearbox conversion kit. Tomorrow I'll order the protech shocks and go to see the metal fabricators to make the mounts as they were not in today.

 

Chris.

[CHRIS211083]

Well I arrived home from training abroad to a bunch of parcels so I decided to show you some of my automotive porn.

 

Spitfire Graveyard found me a late 1500 steering column and bits.

 

 

The Zetec SE water pump and cam belt turned up.

 

 

 

and obviously you need the locking pin kit to fit the above.

 

 

Next was the type 9 gearbox hydraulic converter from retro ford.

 

 

So where is the porn you say...........

 

Protech Shocks...........Wow.

 

 

these are so good looking, and they are really light too. Quality is superb.

 

 

And the front

 

 

Yum yum.

 

Chris.

Edited June 29, 2012 by CHRIS211083

[CHRIS211083]

Well the fast road cams have arrived.

 

 

 

Looking forward to fitting these.

 

Chris.

[CHRIS211083]

Well I used the only bit of energy I had today to send an hour or so fitting the discs and front shocks.

 

 

Out with the old shocks.

 

 

In with the new.

 

 

To give the same ride height I wound the adjuster down till it seated and then counted the notches on the bottom spring adjustable plate as I turned it up. I just gave it a rough setting of 15 notches and then I put 4 clicks on the damping. This will do till the test driving begins.

 

 

Yum Yum and now the car sits lower but its still missing alot of weight off the front ie coolant rad cowlings etc. But for now this will do.

 

 

Another thing to mention is that I have a pair of standard front and rear shocks that are only two years old and have loads of life left in them so if you want them then its postage only on these. That also goes for the Canleys drilled front discs I just removed but they will need the paint removing off them.

 

I've also made the decision today after looking at the standard hubs that I'll be buying the canley's uprated hubs/stubs and trunionless uprights next month. Might as well make it the best it can be.

 

Chris.

Edited June 30, 2012 by CHRIS211083

[CHRIS211083]

Today i got a reply from Shawspeed the Zetec SE specialist. Ive discovered that they do a rear water outlet housing low profile replacement. This will hopefully mean that i wont have to cut the bulkhead much if atall. i hope i can play with the possition and of the engine and make the setup fit totally without mods to the tub or bonnet. Shawspeed also do a number of power upgrade kits upto 220bhp normally aspirated. So if i can do this conversion without mods then i can see this being the new replacement fast road spitfire engine. Why rebuild the stock when you can have so much more for the same monet.. This engine can also take weber carbs and because of the ford toothed flywheel it can be done on the cheap. Also The five speed will come as standard.

 

Im thinking of putting together a spitfire Zetec SE build guide. It will cost a couple of quid and will state what i did and how much it cost along with engine mount dimentions and the best priced suppliers etc. I will also be offering to do this conversion once its been proven and i move into our new house with purpose built garage/ home workshop. dont intend to make much cash but more intent on giving people somthing that works and fits unlike whats offered from most places.

 

But its a future thought for now.

 

Chris.

[CHRIS211083]

Well after a couple of months away from the car I got back from the Olympic's last night. Today I opened the parcels that had arrived.

 

 

One steering wheel with Genuine Astraili hub to fit a spitfire 1977 onward. One low profile rear water take off for the Zetec Se engine and one pair of Progressive front springs from Gareth Thomas.

 

 

This is the same wheel as I had in the old spitfire but its in better condition. Another helpful thing is the boss or hub adaptor see below.

 

 

 

Most people have problems with the aftermarket hub being too big however as you can see above the Genuine Astraili Hub has a black plastic cowl that can be removed so the wheel can fit into the later switch cowling more easy. A very interesting thing for anyone with a late spitfire wanting to fit an aftermarket steering wheel. I'll update again once more has been done.

 

Chris.

[pomwah]

Hi Chris,

 

Still got those discs?

 

The Protech shocks look good, what spec did you get?

 

Cheers

James

Edited August 15, 2012 by pomwah

[CHRIS211083]

Well, today I removed the engine from the wife's mini. Over the next week the new parts will arrive for the mini and I'll refit the rebuilt engine and then convert it to EFI. This will be the same type of ECU as being used on the Spitfire GT so it will give me some time to get use to the system so when it comes to mapping the Spitfire it should be a well lubricated drill. Tomorrow I'll be swapping parts from the old mini engine to the new one and then I'll be fitting the engine mounts to the spitfire and doing other prep. Will take pictures and try to get this car on the road for the RBRR2012.

 

Chris.

 

p.s.

There was some on that wanted both the disc's and shocks so will give them first refusal.

[GT6 Nick]

Mmmmm, bonus man-points here - trying out a Megasquirt conversion on the wife's car before trying it on your own is very, very brave.

 

Judo has nothing on The Look.

[CHRIS211083]

Ha ha, sorry not Mega squirt. Its a Specialist components ecu with complete mini kit so it comes ready to fit. Megasquirt is more complicated and takes more building and wiring. These things I don't really want to do so have paid the extra cash.

 

Chris.