My '67 Triumph GT6 - An Ongoing Project Log

[Wizardskills]

Well I think it is time for a thread update. It has been a busy summer for the GT6. It has been out most weekend either at shows or for my driving enjoyment. I reckon I must have put about 750 miles on it over the last 4 months. I say reckon because the odometer is still broken. This is however on my list of things to fix over the coming winter months.

The highlight of the summer was taking the car to the Silverstone Classic. This event really was a lot of fun with so many classic cars in attendance. Camping was good fun however getting everything in the GT6 was a bit of a squeeze. None the less “Camp Triumph” was established and bacon was eaten for every meal .

Both of the days I was at the event my car was on the front of the Triumph Sporting Six stand which was really cool:

The whole event was just excellent, from the racing to having a nose round the pits at 60's F1 cars. I really would recommend it as it is a brilliant weekend.

The GT6 also had its MOT last weekend. I was a little apprehensive about this as it has failed on the handbrake before. However it turned out that my fears were unfounded as it passed with flying colours with no advisories which I was quite chuffed about.

So, over the next couple of months I am going to be doing some work on the car fixing a couple of things up, doing some servicing and hopefully doing a bit of upgrading. The first thing on the list is to do a service on the car. This will include but not limited to changing the engine/gearbox/dif oil, change the coolant and change brake pads. I am also going to order a new speedo so the odometer can be fixed.

Over the summer months it was quite apparent that the car does not like the heat. It is fine while it is running along but as soon as you stop the temperature goes through the roof. If left idling for any amount of time it will start to overheat/stall which when in heavy traffic is not good. To rectify this I am going to be fitting a Kenlowe fan. As I think I mentioned before I am trying to keep this car as standard as possible however I think this upgrade is a necessary one as it will make the car much more usable and reliable in hot conditions.

One of the other things that I will have to fix is the new carb linkages that I made. They have somehow become loose around the roll pins. This is allowing the front and rear carbs to open differently. Not the end of the world but the car will run better once this is fixed.

I'll be updating this thread a bit more frequently over the next couple of months as I will be working on the car not driving it . I'll finish this post with a couple of pics I have taken over the last couple of months:

 

[benneh]

What a gorgeous car. A mechanic I used to visit had a tatty example outside usually and I'd find myself staring at it. Good for you ;p.

 

[Hades]

Such a lovely car.

 

[Jacob (:]

Such a lovely example in a very nice colour!

Makes me want one lots!

 

[Sonea Fifer]

Just watched your Youtube vids - such a lovely purr from a gorgeous car

 

[Lashout_UK]

Great stuff!

OT but the original cooling system shouldn't have any problem dealing with hotter weather - these things did work when they were originally released. An electronic fan may not be the best idea, as you could simply mask the underlying fault.

I'd have a good going through the cooling system - check the gauge, sender, pump, rad, thermostat, flush it all out, replace where necessary and so on. Also - make sure your mixture isn't too lean. If it is, that'll cause it to overheat with ease. It may not even be getting hot as the gauge and sender calibration can vary (or fail) over time, leading to inaccurate readings.

An electric fan never hurts, mind, especially in traffic - but it's worth retaining the conventional mechanical item too, as that helps circulate air through the bay.

For example, I used to run the most head-gasket failure prone of the smaller Triumphs, the 1850HL, and I could sit in 30 degree heat in stationary traffic for long periods before the gauge would start getting up to the 3/4 mark. Never went higher, though. Admittedly the GT6 does have that big ol' lump of cast iron under a relatively tight hood, mind...

 

[Crizzy]

This is such a great project thanks for the update and awesome photos.

 

[Cosimo]

Wonderful stuff! The car is a beauty.

 

[Wizardskills]

Great stuff!

OT but the original cooling system shouldn't have any problem dealing with hotter weather - these things did work when they were originally released. An electronic fan may not be the best idea, as you could simply mask the underlying fault.

I'd have a good going through the cooling system - check the gauge, sender, pump, rad, thermostat, flush it all out, replace where necessary and so on. Also - make sure your mixture isn't too lean. If it is, that'll cause it to overheat with ease. It may not even be getting hot as the gauge and sender calibration can vary (or fail) over time, leading to inaccurate readings.

An electric fan never hurts, mind, especially in traffic - but it's worth retaining the conventional mechanical item too, as that helps circulate air through the bay.

For example, I used to run the most head-gasket failure prone of the smaller Triumphs, the 1850HL, and I could sit in 30 degree heat in stationary traffic for long periods before the gauge would start getting up to the 3/4 mark. Never went higher, though. Admittedly the GT6 does have that big ol' lump of cast iron under a relatively tight hood, mind...

Yes this was my thought as well. I'm going to do a full cooling system flush first before I buy anything. I did replace the coolant last winter and when I drained it it came out clear, however there may be a slight blockage that could have formed over the last 12 months.

The sender was not working when I got the car however that was replaced and it does appear that the gauge is giving sensible readings. None the less it doesn't hurt to check these things. When driving around and the car can get air the temps stay at the half way point. Its when I get caught up in a queue for a traffic light for 5 mins things start to go wrong. Too me that does indicate a flow problem of some kind

I'm going to have to do a bit of measuring if I am going to put in an electronic fan as there isn't too much room between the conventional fan and the radiator. I'm guessing it wouldn't make any sense to fit the fan in front of the radiator as that would obstruct air flow?

 

[Hades]

I keep coming back to look at this. I think it's my favourite car on this forum

 

[Felix]

My brother in law had an MGB GT and had to put in an electronic fan due to the same problem when sat in traffic or on a warm day.

 

[Wizardskills]

I think it's my favourite car on this forum

I wouldn't go that far as there are many nice cars one here, but many thanks for the compliment

 

[latercomer2]

Ah a GT6 - my all time favourite car

Very nice looking example too. Have been lurking on here for some time but not seen this thread until now. I'm hopefully going to be in a position to look for one soon - need something to make up for the sacrifice of selling my home and moving close to the in-laws

Will be subscribing to this to see how you get on. Could do with more pics though

 

[Jamous]

Cool car and great thread, I had the pleasure of rebuilding the stromberg carbs on a US LHD TR6 years ago, had to break out the synchronometer, can't remember the year, I just remember it was a bright green lol.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Will be watching this thread. Loved watching my dad restore a Triumph Spitfire - such wonderful cars

 

[Crizzy]

I love the spitfire as well but is amazing how much more presence the GT6 has.

 

[Hades]

I wouldn't go that far as there are many nice cars one here, but many thanks for the compliment

Sure it's not as fast or 'nice' as a modern car and it's not as pleasant a place to be in compared to a 911, etc. But I bet it puts one hell of a smile on your face when you take it for a drive, or when someone stops you to comment on it

 

[Wizardskills]

So over the last couple of weekends I have been making some new carb linkages. After some inspection of the old ones my fears were confirmed, the roll pins had worn the brass causing the carbs to not open in sync. So the new design was going to have to be a bit more robust than the old one. As luck would have it I came across a set of universal joints that would do the job. So after a bit of modification I ended up with this:

These ones don't contain any roll pins so nothing should get worn. I just have to wait for the glue to set and they will be fitted tomorrow.

I have also acquired some engine oil and some new break pads which shall be sorted tomorrow if I get chance. The speedo has also been sent off to be repaired so that should be back with me in the next couple of weeks ready for the Pistonheads Sunday Service at Silverstone.

Another job I'm thinking of doing is making some foot well lights as the interior light is pretty weak. I can't seem to find a nice looking bulb holders that will take a Festoon bulb though. I don't really want to go down the LED road either as I want it to look as standard as possible. Has anyone ever found anything like this?

 

[Wizardskills]

Ok, time for a bit of an update on the GT6. Over the last couple of months it has mostly been upgrades done rather than fixing stuff which has been a welcome change . At the beginning of February I sent the speedo off to be fixed as the odometer had stopped turning 12 months ago. I had been keeping track of all the miles I had done in the car while it was broken and requested that the mileage be adjusted accordingly. Getting the speedo out wasn't the easiest job but after a bit of prying and loosening the steering column it came free. One of the things that has bugged me about the indicator lights were that they were not really bright enough, so I decided to make my own. The lights that were being used were small filament light bulbs. I wanted to convert them to LED as they give a much brighter light. As the speedo has a coloured lens these LEDs would still look original but just brighter which was ideal. The only issue was how to fit them. As luck would have it the old filament light bulbs had the same thread on them as some touch bulbs I found in my local hardware store. I modded these bulbs by smashing the glass and pulling out the filament. The top was then modded so I could solder on a resistor and and LED in place of the glass.

A test run was then done and they worked first time . Its quite hard to tell from the picture but the LEDs do put out much more light.

On the 4th March it was the Triumph Show at Stoneleigh Park. This event is brilliant for getting some bargain parts and there is a good selection of cars on show as well. As luck would have it I managed to find an original GT6 steering wheel up for sale. These normally sell for silly money (£200+). After a bit of haggling I got it for £65 . Quite a good deal however it came with one downside – the steering wheel came with no boss to fit it (hence the low price).

No problem I though, I'll just make one. This turned out to be quite a bit work as I'll now explain. As you can see from the picture above of the speedo lights, the steering wheel is locked into place on the steering column by some splines. Are very hard to make on the equipment I have available to me. The other issue was with the increased diameter of the new wheel (15” vs 13”) clearance would be issue with the gear stick. To get round this the new boss would have to be made in 3 parts and then another part to go on the front to hold the horn push. As I was unable to make the splines I purchased a moto-lita boss

This would not fit onto the new wheel so it had to be machined down to a flat base

The next job was to make an extension so clearance of the gear stick could be achieved. This extension block as made out of aluminium (its lighter than steal and this is a sports car after all).

Here is the block on the lathe before any “sculpting”

Slowly getting there...

A plate was also made to fit onto the top of this extension so the wheel could lock into it. Cutting this plate was hard work.

This plate was then put onto the milling machine to have the square cut into it so the wheel could lock into it. Holes were also drilled and tapped into both sides of the extension so bolts could hold it all together

After some light final cuts on the lathe to get a nice finish this is the end result

The top mount for the horn push was then also turned out of aluminium with a hole through the middle so it could then attach to the extension via the tapped hole in the centre of the locking square

This is the back of the top mount. Note the holes had to be made so bolts could be used to secure the wheel.

Next job was to clean up the wheel itself. To be honest this didn't need to be done but I like shiny new stuff so I masked up the wheel and got polishing.

Before

Non polished Vs Polished

After

And here it is all fitted with the reconditioned speedo

Here is the old wheel for comparison

A vast improvement in looks in my opinion and it has made the car much easier to steer as well. This coupled with a new set of tyres in the correct size (155/80/13) have totally transformed the handling of the car. The car rides much smoother now due to the tyres and the steering is much lighter now due to the small width tyres and larger steering wheel.

Next job was to fit an electronic ignition unit that I purchased from ebay. Here is a link to the unit itself which I have been very impressed with.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal...CarParts_SM&hash=item2eb11e9e31#ht_2897wt_952

The unit came with some very comprehensive instructions on how it fit it. Here is the diagram the best explains how it works

As you can see the unit is essentially patching into the existing ignition system. This has some very distinct advantages.

1)It is very very easy to fit
2)If you wish to go back to the original system all you have to do is connect the condenser back up and disconnect the unit.

Fitting of the system took all of 15 minutes.

On starting up the car after fitting of the unit it fired up immediately, something which it rarely does when it has been standing for 2 months. On the test drive as the car warmed up properly I started getting a misfire. Odd I thought so I checked the carb tuning which was fine. After a bit of digging it turned out the be the coil degrading due to the increased voltage going though it. A Lucas DLB105 sport was purchased and the misfire was cured.

The engine now starts much easier and it is much smoother when accelerating. Not bad at all for such little outlay. I really would recommend this electronic ignition – just make sure the rest of your ignition system can take the voltage it puts out and that you get the right variant of the ignition system for your car.

So, what's next for the car. Well the alternator has started playing up and it is only putting out 12.5 volts instead of 14v at idle. When then engine gets up to 4000 RPM it start putting out the correct voltage. So the next things to check are:

1)The pulley ratio between the crank and alternator are correct (I don't think the ignition light was on before so this situation is unlikely)
2)See if the belt needs replacing. Again unlikely as it was changed a couple if thousand miles ago and it seems tight.

If none of these prove to be true it looks like its new alternator time.

Another thing I have got to do is fit in some footwell lights. I picked up these units at the triumph show

The bulbs in them need upgrading as they are only 1watt and I'll need figure out how to fit/wire them in. Other than that the car is ready for a summer of driving. It has already been out once this year, a Pistonheads meet Silverstone the other month

More fixing, upgrading and adventures to come soon

 

[Felix]

Thanks for the update. Fantastic looking car!