Colin Lindsay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Gt6-Vitesse-caterham-new-crown-wheel-and-pinion-3-89-151801/283906989617?hash=item421a2cde31:g:GigAAOSwpaxe3k~x What's the verdict on this sort of thing?

For the first time ever I've been pricing the LSD internals for the Triumph diff... just in case.

GT6 wheel on top, thicker saloon wheel below. Quite a difference in weight!!

I've managed to find two (I hope!!) relevant photos - this is a MK2 Vitesse block with the flywheel, it may illustrate the setup in relation to the distance off the block, and the other is a clutch centralising tool made from an old GT6 input shaft which shows how far along the splines the clutch goes. Might be of some help! Just to clear up confusion in one of my earlier posts I did use a spigot bush on my GT6 reassembly but it only fitted once the shaft was trimmed down.

He may be clever but I'll bet he knows sod all about GT6 gearlevers.

It's also been on eBay for a while; looks quite nice, but I'm itching to tell them to dust the steering wheel and the stalk cowls!

The GT6 gearbox was an original GT6 MK1 gearbox from 1968; the reconditioned engine and block is an HC block originally, so Vitesse 2.0 litre. The gearbox shaft had already been crudely trimmed for the saloon (MB) engine that was fitted, and it used the saloon flywheel. We could not get the bellhousing to mate with the block at all and when tightened up it simply pushed the crank forward so far that it ate the washers and seized the engine. Once the gearbox was removed a whack on the crank pulley with a block of wood freed it up again. If I remember correctly the input shaft from the replacement overdrive gearbox, which was a Dolomite 1850, also would not fit so my mate took a spare shaft and we had it turned down on a lathe (don't ask what that did to the original hardening etc!) but the shortened shaft fitted first time and has been in use ever since. I tried quite a few different bronze spigot bushes, still have a selection of them in the drawer and nothing worked. By the time I fitted a proper GT6 flywheel, two, maybe three years later, I was still using the same input shaft so I've no idea if the longer one would have made any difference with the replacement flywheel. Every year I expect the tip to start complaining and was actually looking for a replacement quite recently, but it's given no bother that I'm aware of despite the butchering it got.

Don't use his methods. My photo above shows the results after an engineering company had tidied things up on a lathe. The original below was slightly more.... amateur.

If you've simply fitted electronic ignition then keep the original gap. If you've fitted an uprated coil or any method of improving the spark itself, then you may be able to open up the gap, but on a standard system keep to the original 0.025.

Let me know if you find the reason. My Mk1 GT6 had a saloon engine when purchased, retaining the saloon flywheel plus a non-O/D GT6 Mk1 gearbox, and when I tried to fit an overdrive gearbox it wouldn't fit - same gap as in the photo Roger has posted. The friend who was helping me insisted that tightening the bellhousing bolts would pull it into place, with the result that on startup the engine ate the thrust washers then seized completely. On inspecting both gearboxes I found that someone had done a little bit of surgery on the original input shaft to close the gap. I purchased a completely refurbished GT6 engine from a supplier but on fitting, same problem, even with the GT6 flywheel. I ended up removing the replacement gearbox shaft and reusing the old one (which has lasted twenty years so far!) and it fitted first time. The replacement gearbox shaft will not fit at all, despite numerous attempts with varying sizes of bronze bush etc. This is the replacement shaft, about half an inch longer... So: if you find out why I'll be interested!

Especially if you shop around and compare prices. They do vary enormously.

https://classicleatherfobs.co.uk/product-category/triumph/ These guys have a good selection... all leather, sadly, but still a good range. Whilst many are remade some are NOS original 1960s versions, and the price reflects it!

I'm waiting for the technical posts to start: how some members have converted their cars to keyless, run from their mobile phones, which is the way forward now that stocks of original keys are running out; how others have used the ignition system from a Ford somethingorother which is much smoother and more reliable to start except that the ignition slot is now behind the driver; how, if you use a key with a rectangular head instead of the round head that Triumphs originally had you have to upgrade all the wiring due to the extra strain the bigger key puts on the system, and how, if you use too heavy a key ring, you need to update the front suspension and roll bar, with graphs of data and performance figures to prove it... (I'll be hiding behind the sofa if you want me, just in case someone has done it already...)

Like this sort of thing? To be completely accurate you'd need to know who the original Triumph Dealership was that sold your car, then work back from there. There are so many variations of modern and remade keyrings about these days that finding an original 1960s version will be real detective work.

Yep, those guys. I have three in a drawer, all variations of 4-cylinder if any use to anyone.

A small point but very relevant - go for leather; the ignition switch on your car, as on mine, is on the dash and a metal keyring swinging about as the car moves will damage the dash veneer. Even hitting it off the door as you unlock the car can mark the paint. Maybe only slightly, but it builds up over the years. Another point worth remembering - if you go for a keyring with the model on it ie GT6 / Herald then if you drop them, for example at a show, then they can be returned to you, or identified from lost property, much more easily.

+1 for Classiccarleds, I bought stop / tail lights a while back and whilst I was so careful to check they were the correct fitting, wattage and profile I purchased positive earth by mistake; he was happy to refund and supply the correct versions.

If anyone needs extra vanes / triggers I have three or four of them in a drawer... the unit is long gone but these were left behind.

Ok, I think I've got it... it will click eventually.

That's where my confusion comes from. Roger says: "I would expect smaller pistons to move further for the same brake application" which seems to make sense - if you pump a pedal and fluid moves then a smaller bore will take less fluid than a larger one, so will move further or for less effort. If your foot goes down further, surely you're making more effort at the pedal, or moving more fluid? That extra movement must be for a reason; the fluid does not compress so it must be greater volume of fluid being moved?

I think that's correct, lettering on the more exotic models such as Vitesse and GT6 and plain round on the Heralds. Gearlevers come up all the time, depends on what condition you require (last one looks nice but not exorbitant): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-GT6-GEAR-STICK-THREE-RAIL-GEARBOX-RECHROMED-WITH-NEW-BALL/223691782590?hash=item341511b9be:g:Q8kAAOSwebNdlkVZ https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/triumph-herald-gear-lever/223481688599?hash=item34088bf217:g:g-wAAOSwHnJb6dML https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Herald-Vitesse-Gear-Lever/363162461155?hash=item548e2b63e3:g:S1QAAOSwathfg0AO

Possibly distortion of the rocker cover due to overtightening - check it on a straight edge when you remove it - but it's more likely just an old and deformed gasket. You can buy silicone versions which are a better seal.

So what you're saying is: the piston increased in size, but the fluid chambers are the same?

I seem to have deleted the original post and can't find an 'undelete button' so here's the offending articles again: I don't run any kind of business, John, so did not give any kind of official verdict; the new owner merely wanted to know if any parts were available locally or who the best mainland supplier was. He was amazed that the seller claimed the car required no MOT and could be used straightaway, and I used the opportunity to free off all the seized wheel nuts with my impact wrench, as well as separating the very loudly grinding front pads from the discs to make the car easier to push off the transporter and into his garage when he arrived there. I ended up removing the pads to get the calipers pushed back in, and couldn't resist a quick photo.

Interesting that one was Born in Le Mans and the other Bred at Le Mans. In the second you can see how the Spitfire fastback evolved into the GT6.