Pete Lewis

Getting the sump off a 6cyl does have some fight the thing to a standstill many succeed some give up you cant refit the oil pump from the gap even if your a gynecologist and paint the hall through the letter box. Yes things that restrict lift is the clutch hsg, rad hoses , fan fouling radiator and all things that may get taut, johns plasti gauges will show some variation in clearances be it wear or ovality, there were things like Tallyrond that plotted the surface and its concentricity we dont have them in the cupboard A mic only measures across one axis, it can show a thruppenny bit is round clives right many an engine gets new life by just fitting decent shells, but its the old utopia or compromise johns correct goggles and drip tray op head is needed it will drip and dribble for ages we had to replace the crank in the car ,, it gets worse than bl**dy heavy but you can do it Dave dont get over anxious about the myths of drain back and a few rumbles when she fires up you seem to have decent oil pressure, triumph give 40 to 60 psi at 2000rpm idle low psi switch will show at around 6psi so if the lights out at idle and you get close to the figures running its in reasonalbe condition Just drive it

getting the sump off can turn into a right faf getting it past the oil pump but with engine up as high as you can and much fiddle it drops off and probably need to shift the rack forwards . once in desperation we undid the oil pump through the sump gap and let it drop in the sump that makes it easy...putting it back ....is back to much tea and cursing but its possile how ever you go about it yes its possible but as youre dealing in 0.0001" need a micrometer rather than a vernier crank pin is 1.8750" to 1.8755" checking roundness and ovality is a more complex affair. the shells will probably tell you a story thats self evident

many of us need some sunshine to inspire getting out and getting under I could heat the garage but blew the OAP winter fuel payment on myself Ha ! there's no hope Pete

A small point but from my dealings with AP Lockheed and Lucas Girling over many years some transfer of fluid to lubricate and leave wet residues inside the wheel cylinder boot is very normal. half a boot full is a problem pete

There are some nasty bugs about , had a few friends have taken a long time to shift the blighters im sure you will soon be back tinkering with the car pete

have to say the Club Parts Catalogue does state ' please check with club shop for fitments to a GT6 MK111 ' its on on page 7 if that helps and as alloy covers take on engine temperature they cure cold running mayonaise in the cool parts of the engine Tin covers get cooled by the fan air , you could add a deflector or lag the cover to improve the brylcream syndrome Pete

If the old belt is too short cut it and refit measure the gap add this to the mm belt size printed on the belt you need six pairs of hands pete

a distant shot of my 1600 with orig dynamo brackets and 85amp fits all lucas alternator Pete

You can buy the angled connector block but a straight lucar will be fine the block generally has a clip to avoid detatchment, but not overly important should have the same vee as the dynamo belt the adjust link does not have to have the lifting eye any straight or curved link will work without too much meccano . On my 1600 we used the orig mount , just used spacers to align the pulley if needed you must not hard fix the tail lug tubular sliding bush , this must have free clearance for the lug to move with heat or the rear lug will soon fracture sorry dont remember the belt length pete

it takes a lot of miles to get wrong camber to wear a tyre where as tracking will scrub the edges off very much quicker and is the main error that destroys tyre life quickly the track rods from the centre of the sperical to the centre of the TRE is shown as 221.36mm 8.715" so theres some 'wheres the centre' guesswork here hidden under the gaitor, if you tape measure from the spherical back stop (inside the gaitor) then add 1.42" but both rods should be same length. if you turn the outer wheel to 20deg in the inner wheel should produce the same angle ie theres no toe out on turns they stay parallel up to 20deg then ackerman creeps in. have a look at http://forum.tssc.org.uk/index.php?/topic/2009-toe-in-the-easy-way/

well apart from the fluids brakes and such like things that suffer in storage she looks in pretty fine nick think you have a easy job why has she been shrouded for so long ?? Pete

so there's a semblance to the Brits in ministry of transport but when handing over the A trunks routes and De trunked them to local councils they chopped up a good system of road numbering and managed to cogitate a complete mixture of numbers so trying to follow the old sensible and has become pretty impossible in most areas so to me France had a more sensible less bureaucratic approach, if it works dont break it . well done Pete

this is whats made up from 1.5" plastic waste pipe flared the ends with a hot air gun and a suitable socket glue welded the joints the cross tube was just a support , , slot the ends to get the hose clip to clamp up ok. Pete

Yes very valid many a car has the handbrake cable snarled up which opens the shoes away from the wheel cyl pistons and gives lost hydraulic travel . the base setfing is to disconnect the cable from the cyl levers then fully lock the square expander up to lock the drum , reconnect the cables with the wheels at ride height , not left hanging adjust the cables to a nice but not taut fit then back off the expander to free the drum . always best done with the wheels on to get a better feel of free. pete

Oh go on dont spoil the fun now youve explained so well (I worked in Lyon Renault Trucks St Priest for a year before I retired) With a flat near the Pencil tower.in Part dieu

Then they generally should open up when released, the fact that one seems to is as expected and the one that doesnt .......would seem defective pete

You can if not on originality use dome headed stainless bolts with nuts behind the valence bit of a fiddle but possible if you dont have or want a pop rivet gun pete

They normally self expand as soon as you release the ties are they stated as gas filled ??? pete

When I get on the laptop (its piped up in the conservatory... Brrr) I will post a pic of my waste pipe version , if you want something to make up clives idea of straight rad hose is good , but I reckon 6cly vitesse is 1.5" same as my 2000 4 cyl in probably smaller Measure the spout ? pete

Gas filled will expand and can take a good effort to collapse it , hence the strapping to contain it till its fitted to my thinking both shockers should behave the same or the non lifting unit will make the ride heght lower than the expanding unit side pete

no idea what these are like but seems good for a only a £49.99p http://stores.ebay.co.uk/faslanestyling-europe/Back-Boxes-/_i.html?_fsub=5101463016&_sid=1088124356&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322 just need the inlet size ,there was a triumph listing but cant find it now Pete

most camber testing equipment will tell you if you cant get the floor quite level measure the sum total of both sides and halve it. if that helps Pete

mine 1600 had a 631 , 2" pipes and a club semi sports single and it really amazing on song , the wheel barrow twin was more like a hair drier and nothing like as crisp didnt stay on for long this was the smaller semi , the inlet just a neat fit 'inside' the tail tube a real yippee to drive ....yes i miss it Pete

stay safe ...........keep your dongle in your pants Pete

just talking about this a few minutes ago only goes back to 97 what happens to pre 97 seems a bit unclear ?? says pre 97?diesels are exempt dont must read it backwards dont see ant ref to older petrols must be missing something ....i wont be going anyway but its good to know all exclusions and even uk road bridge and tunnel tolls that are becoming automatic got you's if you ignore the signs Pete