Colin Lindsay

The GT6 is like that, a full tube in between the rear uprights and one long bolt. I've got the original diff casing out, I was convinced I'd fitted blue polybushes but they're just new originals. The two studs I'd used to seal the extra holes for the swing-spring conversion took two days to drill out so just in case I've sandblasted and repainted an old Herald casing. (without checking for fine differences, it needs the cleanup anyway - if it's different to the GT6 version at least it'll be clean) I may be able to reuse the original GT6 case as the stud holes are undamaged.

I used to find I couldn't sleep whilst thinking about reproduction.

That's the Triumph part number, not the Superflex kit... which incidentally is 'out of stock available to order'. There's an Indian Restaurant about 14 miles from me, you used to regularly see the staff sprinting to Tesco if a customer ordered something odd off the menu and they hadn't the ingredients. Sometimes I wonder if it's roughly the same with Triumph parts...

Must be the forum equivalent of that strange new thingy on cars that senses drift and pulls you back again. Is there an override? Wiper blades to clean the shower indeed. Where do you mount the motor?

I've never seen anything different other than the same two bushes in the two 'legs' on the diff casing and either one long bolt or two half bolts on any diff in our cars, so it's just idle curiosity in case there's one I've never seen. Anyone know the polybush kit number so I can shop around?

My GT6 gauge is a Smiths' and on startup goes right up to over 100 on the scale, it drops very quickly to about 75 and when idling when hot goes down to about 40. I don't believe a word it says. (Do you get thrown off the forum for saying that?) I've run for years on Castrol GTX until I tried Lucas engine oil, 'Hot Rod & Classic 20-50' and it cost me £50, covered about 200 miles at tootling speeds over the next year and was changed at the annual oil change. A total waste for my style of driving. These days I just use Comma Classic at £15 the tin.

Bought a tube at your recommendation and have used it extensively since, so will be sealing two halves of a diff together within a few days - not trusting the paper gasket alone; if it leaks it'll be nice to have someone to blame...

It's 'being hit on the head' lessons in here.

I've been mixing and matching differential casings for years then just got an e-mail from a supplier telling me they can supply polyurethane bushes for GT6 up to KE20000 but not after ie swing spring. This is the two rear mounts into the chassis uprights. I'm on a tight schedule to rebuild a diff and rear suspension and so am blasting and cleaning a spare diff casing, but apart from the obvious differences of thicker axles for the GT6 / other 6-cylinders, number of stud holes, and changes in front brackets am I right that the rear mounts were the same all through the range?

I have to agree, although I don't use the shop much due to postage costs. I've just been on, searching for differential rear casing bushes, but with a lack of photos I've no idea if the one I'm looking at is the correct one. Time is short and I can't take the chance. I hate feeling disloyal but I can buy them cheaper on eBay and with free postage.

That's how I found a badly chafed brake hose on my GT6 yesterday; the rear spring is for some reason allowing the halfshaft to rub on the stainless hose and has rubbed quite a bit into it. First run of the year is on the 22nd. Now I have to replace the rear spring and brake hose, possibly rear shocks too, so have spent all day trying to drill out two studs that seem to have welded themselves to the diff casing. (trying to put off removing the entire diff but not succeeding so far) I just don't get how some of the most badly neglected cars in the area go on forever. Never checked, basic maintenance, and never break down.

Not quite, if you put the yoke in the vice you're working at the other end from your support - put the yoke in the vice and you've two feet of halfshaft waving about at the other end where the hub is, but clamp close to the hub and it's a lot steadier to work on.

The one that's puzzling me at present is 'expect the unexpected'... surely if you're expecting it....?

Bit far for me to go....

Ok... as I cannot locate a correct rear spring - part number 159654 which is a 5-leaf spring - I've decided to refit the original 8-leaf fixed spring as a stop-gap. I'm quite amazed to see that I have refurbished it already and salted it away so it's been cleaned, greased and received new bushes in the past. So far so good (except I can't find a spare 6-hole top plate; there should be an awesome collection of them by now in my garage but apparently not.) Anyway: the original and as I thought correct rear spring has come out. Except: it's 6 leaf, not 5, unless the long bottom leaf doesn't count... and of course it does. So much for the supplier telling me it was extremely rare and charging accordingly way back then. Rotoflex has 6 leaves but is presumably fixed, not swing. Any ideas what the 6-leaf spring may be from? Correct 5 leaf spring in the last photo for comparison.

Clamp the hub firmly in the vice - the bit with the trunnion. Yes the axle will rotate but the unit will be gripped. Put a large screwdriver or breaker bar through the yoke. Now when you turn the hub puller the breaker bar will lock on the bench and prevent rotation. Don't try to grip the halfshaft, you'll just mark it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294045807626?epid=4040403754&hash=item44767ef40a:g:4B0AAOSwkd9gQQaa Just thought I'd post the link in case anyone else wants to play, too! I wonder how far the wifi extends? Like BW I'm old school, I just put my eye to the hole or whatever and squint...

For months I was finding feathers on my garage floor, little piles of really dry stuff but no bones or carcasses. I couldn't understand it as my cats don't go in there, even if I'm working with the doors open. Eventually I moved the Herald body tub and had a huge puff of feathers come from the old bedspread I had covered it with. Came from my Grandfather's house many years ago and now has a tear, so the bird bits are escaping....

Are these the correct wheelnuts? 15, just as I thought I had...

Do you have a local Dentmaster? https://www.dentmasteruk.co.uk

That's why the original version had that bit that Pete refers to as an anti-rotation bar... you're turning against the vice as opposed to turning against the axle. Surely if you're clamping the trunnion housing in the vice it shouldn't slip?

Cheap - no! Good value, yes. There's a difference... Paddocks appear to have the proper spring but might not be in stock, so have e-mailed them. I've also tried GB Springs and will try Owen. Of course the car has been sitting for some time now and this problem only becomes a priority when the club runs are starting again, so I need a fast turnaround. I never thought about rebuilding. I have four or five Herald and Spitfire springs in the spares pile. Might be worth a look. It's an eyeopener when I start to think about the timescale; those shocks and that spring have been on the car for almost twenty years. On a modern they'd have been replaced years ago. Maybe it's just due. Edit: Paddocks don't have the spring; Rimmers seem to have but at twice the price. I'll keep looking. I've just taken the car down off the ramp and the rear brake hose is lying across the rear halfshaft once the car is reversed. The rear spring must have collapsed completely to allow so much movement - new spring required and as the brake hose is scuffed, new hoses and probably shocks required too. I just don't understand how the rear of the car drops so low on reverse and rises again on moving forwards - what's to stop the same problem happening again with £350 of new spring? If I can't identify the reason I can't fix it. Left photo below driving forward, right on reverse. You can see the hose lying parallel to the halfshaft at the bottom; the halfshaft has risen by almost four inches and is now right up where the hose is in the first photo.

You could always replace it with a solid type, no sliding joint to worry about. 1200 props are a straight fit.

That's a priority. I'm paranoid about brakes at the best of times! It's been rubbing on the yellow covering so not yet touched the stainless hose itself, but only one one side of the car too - I wonder if this is due to the weight of the driver? I've got ten days before the first club run, so time to replace a spring if it arrives quickly. Any sources for good rear leaf springs? (Not the 'overheads' suppliers who are charging almost £400 for one...) I need 159654 5 leaf, not 159640 Spitfire which fouls the wheel cylinders.

...although the fire should be going towards it...