1970 GT6 MK2

[Speedysix]

I finally managed to obtain some rear light units and lucas lenses

is it normal for the lenses to fit absolutely crap on these? Mine, you can hardly get the little lig on the bottom of the lens into the light unit, so its lust able to swivel, and genuinely a shoddy fit. Not to mention one small brush with one of these and it's goodbye lens!

You will also note a big bore stainless exhaust courtesy of canley classics.

Now we move onto somthing which I had been trying to get my hands on for years. A set of decent ish, mk2 recliner seats. 2 years these took to find. And the tunnell trim. I obviously wanted black ones but not a chance would I find a set that didn't need retrimming. 

After a really good scrub the seats were looking absolutely perfect. There were a few little mice holes here and there but with the help of a car sponge and some glue, all was solved.

The seat diaphragms had had it, so after reading someone else's thread on here, I deployed their solution. It's essentially 2 layers of wetsuit material glued together with washers sandwiched between for the holes. It worked perfectly. The wetsuits cost about a fiver so win win compared to buying new diaphragms.

Now it was time to turn the seats black with some help from a can or three of vinyl dye.

They're obviously quite shiny, and don't really look great but they're black so I wasn't fussed! I did retrim the handbrake cover so inside the car there is about 5 different shades of black vinyl. Great. I really really wanted to get these seats retrimmed but cost is the main factor and finding someone who will do it properly. Most trimmers hate doing these seats and the mk1 fixed ones because of those side pieces, absolute pain in the neck to male foam fit and cover them well. 

The seats ended up working great, I'm quite tall so having slightly worn seats meant I actully fitted in the car! My friend recently had his mk3 seats done with new foams and covers and I genuinely have to have the recliner at a 45°angle or cut a hole in the roof. 

The seats now after a few years of driving are showing their age. The side foam has pretty much dissolved and the drivers one has developed a split. I have asked Owen Lloyd at Park Lane classics but he doesn't have any patterns for my seats. I think he just doesn't want to do them on account of them being very tricky to do.

If anyone knows any trimmers that have done their mk1 or mk2 seats we'll with new covers and foams for reasonable money do let me know.

[Gt64fun]

33 minutes ago, Speedysix said:

you can hardly get the little lug on the bottom of the lens into the light unit, so its lust able to swivel, and genuinely a shoddy fit. Not to mention one small brush with one of these and it's goodbye lens!

Yep that's fairly standard. I'm always careful walking round the back of mine.

The lines of the car were actually designed with the type of lens found on the TR3 which is more compact and I know others have fitted these. (eg Tim Bancroft, Club Triumph). I do like the look, but am always torn by originality vs modification. I think the TR3 light output is probably inferior in standard form, but could no doubt be improved with LEDs.

Ian

 

[Speedysix]

56 minutes ago, Gt64fun said:

Yep that's fairly standard. I'm always careful walking round the back of mine.

The lines of the car were actually designed with the type of lens found on the TR3 which is more compact and I know others have fitted these. (eg Tim Bancroft, Club Triumph). I do like the look, but am always torn by originality vs modification. I think the TR3 light output is probably inferior in standard form, but could no doubt be improved with LEDs.

Ian

 

Likewise, they're so flimsy. I have yet to break one.

I have seen these but I do prefer the look of the standard ones. Just personal choice. 

[Escadrille Ecosse]

Bonny looking car. Nice to see you finishing up the writeup.

4 hours ago, Gt64fun said:

The lines of the car were actually designed with the type of lens found on the TR3 which is more compact and I know others have fitted these.

I much prefer the look of earlier type. Having experience with both they do seem slighly more robust, smaller with fewer angles to catch. With all the other stuff going on with my cars originality isn't my priority with the tail lights I must admit. And they do suit the car I think

[Speedysix]

3 hours ago, Escadrille Ecosse said:

Bonny looking car. Nice to see you finishing up the writeup.

Haha thank you. Better late than never! Still a way to go but we're getting closer!

[Speedysix]

Carpet installation time! I wanted to go for a moulded set but the bank said no. The standard set is OK but a real pain to fit, especially on the rear arches. I later replaced these down the line as I did such a shoddy job. The rear cards also got replaced late 2022

I had no sunvisors starting this project, nor was I ever going to find some mk2 ones and brackets. So I decided to make some.

Starting with some mk3 sunvisor pegs, cleaned and polished. Then some polished stainless sheet steel, domed nuts and stainless Philips head screws. I used the mk3 sumvisor as a template for a rough size. It's 3mm dark blue clear perspex. Cut a rough shape then slowly worked up grades of sandpaper on the edges to achieve a perfect beveled edge.

I want to modify them slightly during this refurb as they are slightly too high up. This will need a rethink on the bracket. I still only want one mounting point per visor, don't think it would look very good with 2. 

The next day, I hung the doors. A job I managed to do without removing half the paint

Not perfect door gaps by far but i think acceptable.

 

[Escadrille Ecosse]

Like those sunvisors

[Mark]

Fitted TR3 rear lights to my gt6 mk2 after getting fed up with finding the originals in the road outside my house. People crashing into them crossing between parked cars. Originals were in decent condition, eventually cracking and being glued back together a couple of times. TR3 type have screws top and bottom, and don't stick out as far, and i think look better. But again, poor quality repros. Moisture inside within a few weeks.  Rubber seals perished and cracked after a few months, and the terminals inside are coroding. I've got 50 year old original mk3 type in better overall condition, which I'll probably fit to my mk3 Spit. These repro TR3 lights are probably 2 years old.

Edited April 3 by Mark

[Speedysix]

On 4/3/2024 at 8:33 PM, Escadrille Ecosse said:

Like those sunvisors

Thanks, if only they functioned as good as they looked

[Speedysix]

On 4/3/2024 at 9:04 PM, Mark said:

Fitted TR3 rear lights to my gt6 mk2 after getting fed up with finding the originals in the road outside my house. People crashing into them crossing between parked cars. Originals were in decent condition, eventually cracking and being glued back together a couple of times. TR3 type have screws top and bottom, and don't stick out as far, and i think look better. But again, poor quality repros. Moisture inside within a few weeks.  Rubber seals perished and cracked after a few months, and the terminals inside are coroding. I've got 50 year old original mk3 type in better overall condition, which I'll probably fit to my mk3 Spit. These repro TR3 lights are probably 2 years old.

Don't get me started on repro quality parts. Can you imagine how bad the repro mk2 rear lenses are, a small gust of wind probably rips them off!

[TimBancroft]

As Ian has mentioned, I fitted TR3 and many another old UK car rear lights to my GT6, as Mark above states, it got boring finding mine on the floor after some ape had knocked them off. 

Speedy Six, the car is looking great, I must pop over, are you still in Basingstoke?

[Speedysix]

On 4/5/2024 at 11:21 PM, TimBancroft said:

As Ian has mentioned, I fitted TR3 and many another old UK car rear lights to my GT6, as Mark above states, it got boring finding mine on the floor after some ape had knocked them off. 

Speedy Six, the car is looking great, I must pop over, are you still in Basingstoke?

Yes I think I do recall them on your mk2! Thanks Tim, I'm aiming for mid May time to get it back operational. With all these upgrades and little things that are getting addressed, it should be just about able to keep up with your MK2 But yes of course, still in Basingstoke, you're not to far if I remember, hook/Odiham way?

[Speedysix]

Checked the dates , these got taken around June 2021. Block and crank at +20 oversize.

Now it was time to give the block a lick of paint

and as everyone knows, youve got to get the engine spotless, especially the oil galleys. Most of you know I learned the hard way on this !

after many hours with the compressor, brake cleaner, and gun brushes. It was time to begin assembly.

If only I wasn't building this in such a rush, I would have never got that thrust washer in backwards. And my car would still be on the road!

Anyway.

standard clutch and all payen gaskets used.

standard mk2 cam and nothing special with the head. The idea was run the engine in then upgrade it. Plus I'd ran out of money after the bill from the machine shop.

I prefer to get as much done on the engine stand as possible. Valve clearances the lot.

I usually have oily hands so the pictures lack a tad. But this coming build i promise to be in depth !

[Speedysix]

The finishing stages were soon approaching. I basically was working day and night on the car, which is why some of it ended up being a bit rushed and needing to be done again, more cosmetic stuff.

Anyway, bonnet on finally!

i aligned the headlights on the garage door with the masking tape and tape measure method. The bonnet fitment wasn't amazing, I suspect because the bonnet tubes are a bit out of place but it seemed good enough.

again, regret doing the black arches. Ive also painted the bonnet stay in a luminous orange, same as the dipstick. Just as an extra safety measure. It appears to work as I've yet to have it close on me or knock it by mistake!

I also wasted some of my money on these old BL repro service stickers. I think it ended up getting damp and soggy very quickly. But it was still a nice little touch I think

the bumper was a bit wonky as ypu can kind of see, again one of the issues I will rectify now. The chrome is also rubbish on it and it does hurt the look of the car. Rechroming is extremely expensive and forget buying a new one! I do keep an eye out for good mk3 spit ones so I'm always on the look out as I'm not putting this one back on the car after it's refresh. If anyone's got a good one do let me know!

Next a strange phenomenon which John and a few of the others on here helped me solve

after doing a few test runs to tune the carbs, i noticed this little suprise on the brand new tyres. Not happy. Basically the edges of the bonnet/arch lip cuts into the tyre wall as theyre much wider, but only from bumps and suspension movement. Ended up cutting the edges off the bonnet arches and sealing them. And replacing the tyres

[Speedysix]

So although this was prohably one of the most brief build threads going, I just wanted to get it up to date so I can share smaller more in depth modifications and rebuilds that are going on with the car as its been off the road for the past year with this engine disaster.

But without further ado, prepare yourself for some pure Triumph porn. 2 years of rust, sweat, nearly severed finger, and 3 engines, I give you Joe, named after my grandfather:

over the next year or two this little machine went on so many adventures and roadtrips, not a single fault.

It was shorly after doing a track day at Abingdon Airfield in Oxfordshire that this engine fault started to arise. Low oil pressure when hot and at idle. After doing some diagnosis and advised by you guys on here, I eventually pulled the engine and well...the rest can be found on a thread in the engine section. At least I'll never put a  thrust washers in backwards again!

But in all seriousness I never thought I'd take a car like this

and turn it into somthing absolutely perfect in my eyes. Its by no means a perfect car, but it's one I'll gladly say I built.

It'll be a little less picture heavy and again more in depth on the work currently going on, minor things and some major things.

I'll add a few shots of the car out and about just as a bonus

Right, endo of the pictures but I'd thought I'd at least show the car off a bit! I just can't wait to get it back on the road! 

Stay tuned for the updates, hopefully sooner than you think!

Jacob

 

 

[Nick Jones]

Good looking car  Great transformation - you didn’t have much of a starting point - and that makes a resto much harder! Well done 

 

[Speedysix]

45 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

Good looking car  Great transformation - you didn’t have much of a starting point - and that makes a resto much harder! Well done 

 

Thanks Nick, learnt so much from doing it and can't wait to get it back on the road! 

Also sent you a PM about the Crank

[Gt64fun]

Nice to see another Mk2 back on the road. That colour looks great when it's so fresh.

Sorry you had front wheel arch problems and damaged a tyre. I remember this problem back in the day when i had 5.5" steelies and then Cobra Supaslots. Mine have now been 'shaved and rolled'.

What offset are those wheels. I am on modern Revolutions which have an ET of +25 and need a 5mm spacers to clear the top wishbone.

Ian

[Speedysix]

1 hour ago, Gt64fun said:

Nice to see another Mk2 back on the road. That colour looks great when it's so fresh.

Sorry you had front wheel arch problems and damaged a tyre. I remember this problem back in the day when i had 5.5" steelies and then Cobra Supaslots. Mine have now been 'shaved and rolled'.

What offset are those wheels. I am on modern Revolutions which have an ET of +25 and need a 5mm spacers to clear the top wishbone.

Ian

Likewise Ian, It felt criminal cutting my arch lips on a freshly painted car! Did the same. Rolled the edges gently up and trimmed, then repainted and seamsealed.

I believe they are 16mm offset. They fit perfectly without spacers. The usual bulkhead rub when reversing on full lock.

Tyres are 175 70 13. Had I had the adjustable top camber brackets at the front, I might have gotten away with it after a degree or so of negative camber.

Jacob

[Gt64fun]

ET +16 is probably spot on for a Mk1/2 with 175/70 R13s on 5.5" rims.

To date I haven't suffered any bulkhead rub, but tyre profiles can vary so if I don't replace like for like, I may have to be careful when it is time for a a change.

Ian

[TimBancroft]

I have enjoyed this problem, and like Jacob, I have had the inner edges of the wheelarches on the bonnet rolled back.

I am using Uniroyal Rainsport 175/70 13s and find them to be very good.

[TimBancroft]

This is how she now looks. 

[Speedysix]

On 4/9/2024 at 6:46 AM, TimBancroft said:

This is how she now looks. 

Looks just as good as remember Tim!

[Speedysix]

So, jumping foward to the present. The engine fiasco happen July time last year. After assessing the damage and everything else that I wanted to do, I basically just turned the garage light off and closed the door, not to return until early this year. I can't emphasise the frustration but what's done is done, lessons learned and all that. 

Anyway, with the engine completly stripped in the corner of the garage on the stand, I began writing out the list of things that needed doing on the whiteboard, things that I wanted to improve/upgrade, repairs and general tidy ups on the car. ...... the list filled the whiteboard!

Majority of the jobs ended up being inside the car,

-Heater refurb, it's useless

-dash top recover and demister vent replacement/ repair as the present ones are all bent and look terrible

-speedo replacement, the current one never worked

-fit inertia seatbelts

-New parcel shelves and retrim dash rails

-fit a radio and speakers, period look but ideally with some nice features

-seat retrim and re foam( not going to happen, too much money and all trimmers hate the mk2 recliner)

-Door refurb, check for rust inside the door and treat, sort out 1/4 light to body gap and glass to body seal gap, I can nearly fit my finger between the top of the glas and the seal on the car

-Cut a boot board to go over the tank

- Sort out slop in clutch pedal, clevis pin hole all ovaled, quite an easy repair actually

- With all the centre trim out of the way, adjust the handbrake cable and at the wheels

- Improve the current sunvisor brackets as they're a bit sloppy.

-find a new/ better front bumper or rechrome the current one, it just let's the look of the car down.

-better wipers!

This pretty much covers 2/3 of the car. The remaining is all front end and engine bay etc. In addition to all the paint issues to rectify. The front suspension is far too sloppy and needs stiffer strings with adjustable shocks, everything else is all good. 

Not exactly a small job. On top of that add on a full engine rebuild with performance upgrades, quite a lot of work. The last few things to track down in preparation for the engine build is a second hand 6 3 1 manifold and decide on a camshaft

I'm a bit peeved as I had quite a few pictures of some of those jobs but they've been lost in the matrix unfortunately. I now have a replacement crankshaft courtesy of Nick, saving me once again. It's at the machine shop as we speak and will be supplied with tri metal bearings.

Anyway, long post dragging on, there's quite a few nice upgrades that I'll be showing off shortly if I can find the pictures!

Jacob

[Mark]

Most of the things on your "to do list" could apply to my mk2, with the addition of body work, respray, etc. Your car looks great, love the revolutions, always wanted a set for my car, fitted m12 studs so not sure if today's revo's use sleeved nuts, which would be a problem.