Colin Lindsay

I need to replace the rubber seat diaphragms in at least one of the GT6 Mk1 seats. I'm assuming it's no longer available - it was originally by Vitafoam part number P112/A and measures approx 305mm x 305 mm. Whilst many catalogues show the diaphragm they all seem to replace it with an alternative part - 579300Z which is a strap kit; Newton Commercial have an actual drawing of five interleaved straps which I'm assuming is all that is available. I bought the strap kit from Paddocks, it arrived today, but they're too long and sag so much I may as well be sitting on the floor. So: questions, as usual... is there any suitable alternative diaphragm from any other Triumph model? (Spitfire MK3 from same era but seats may differ? Herald are way too big) Is there any easy way to tighten up the straps? (Incidentally the GT6 only takes four, there are no predrilled holes for any more, so there's even less support) or has anyone found an alternative to straps or rubber diaphragm?

Making toilet roll! Great!!

Is there any smell of petrol? My Delco (with the glass bowl) has started to leak; the rubber seal appears to have perished and if you look at the body of the pump there's always wet fuel seeping out. After a few days the bowl is empty, but it's not leaking fast enough to make me spot a leak straight away. I'm trying to source new seals at present, so will update in case anyone else needs any.

Went shopping this morning, there were so many customers with scarves over their faces, it was like a Bank Robber's Convention. 'Er indoors gave me orders before I left. "Don't expose yourself to anyone."

After a day like today, I could walk away and leave the garage locked for a decade. Bl**dy thing's still blowing fuses, not the wiper motor as I thought, so half the dashboard, gloveboxes, centre console and steering column removed and all the wiring spread out and checked. No breaks, chafes or other damage that I can see. Down to two replacement fuses unless the Postie comes tomorrow... MOT's in one week, but if it's not all sorted by Monday I'll cancel. Can't take it out these days anyway!

Get it delivered, shout thanks to Postie, open it, put parts on car, wash hands, then wait for two days. Has worked so far...

I'm not sure about the early Spit but nearly all of the other cars just have the motor held on by three bolts through vibration-proof rubber mountings. Make a note of the electrical connections, and label them if they're anyway faded; then disconnect (obviously battery disconnected first!) and with the wipers removed, undo the three mounting bolts - on the early spit you can remove the mounting plate, it's only four captive bolts (and don't forget the earth connection when refitting) and the motor is just hanging on the end of the tubing. Undo the large nut at the end of the wiper motor which holds it to the bundy tubing, then pull the entire motor and cable all the way out. That's the motor out. To remove the wiper wheelboxes or at least get them out of your way, unscrew the large nut on the outside of the body, and they'll drop down. This should allow access to the sides of the holes without having to remove the wheelboxes any further, which as Rob says is complicated by the dashboard and heater tubes inside. John Thomason's excellent 'Guide to Originality' says the motor is a single speed, similar (are there minor differences eg gearing?) to the Herald.

Give it a go, hopefully you'll be able to get the materials you need (difficult these days!) and nothing can go wrong that can't be undone by a professional if it comes to that. I'm a past-master at sending e-mails that start "I tried to do it myself, but..."

Of course!! One of the major food groups and staple diet of the masses.

Over here we park outside until called forward, the owner activates lights, horn, wipers etc then shifts to the passenger side and the examiner takes over for brakes etc; once that's done the owner goes to a sin-bin and waits while the suspension, steering and underside are checked on a ramp before the car is driven outside and we're handed the good or bad news. I can see that having changed; there's no way the examiner will get into the close confines of a car with the driver, dozens of times a day. The examiner will now probably pick the car up outside the test centre and take it all the way through by himself, in which case all of the little tricks like wiggling the steering column to get the horn to work will have to be sorted in advance...

On the GT6 where leg space is minimal I found 13" semi-dished gave a nice compromise of size and angle; it's also got a quite thick leather rim so very comfortable. Cost me £5 off eBay, and I just supplied my own boss.

Take the boot stay bracket off; this gives you an extra inch or so of upward movement. The boot floor will also flex downwards - gently - and give you slightly more free space, but don't crease or bend it with too much force.

As an expert on repair-to-destruction I'd reckon that helicoiling a thread works well; I bought a kit a year or so ago for the Tr7 with those strange metric fittings and once you have the initial expense of buying the tools - about £27 iirc - then bags of coils are very cheap, so you can find the original imperial size for the same stud if needs be. It's quite easy to do once I watched an engineer do it for the first time (I passed the buck!) then tried it myself ever since. I also bought a tube of Pete's highly-recommended Loctite 574 as a back up.

I think that's the reason I haven't progressed any further on mine. I had a lot of the engine out, and while I had access replaced the points with an Accuspark module, but now that most of the engine is back on I'm wondering how on earth I'll set the timing. It's way in behind the carbs and all I can see are the two wires, and I only managed to get at it while the manifold was off. The engine hasn't been started since it was stripped down, so a lot of things to fine tune once it's restarted, timing being one of them. I keep putting it off...

I think - think - we have the same but it only applies to cars that are due after the 30th March. My Gt6 was due in March 2019 so will have to be tested, as will any car whose MOT expires before the end of March. We're still trying to get the 40 year exemption through the Assembly but they can't seem to get their priorities right this weather.

It's okay, I've mended it to destruction anyway. Rather than resleeve the cable I decided to replace it, cut off the old one, and now the solder won't stick to the terminal, and now the other wire to that terminal has come off and won't stay back on... I hate these things. I've also burned my finger on the soldering iron and have a large blister. Anyone got hand cream? Thank the powers that be for the spares pile; I have another GT6 motor that had broken the park mechanism, so between the two I now have one that runs as a single speed motor - no idea why but a) it's not blowing fuses any more and b) it's better than none. That should please the MOT man if they're still testing in April. BUT: back to square one; started the GT6 up today to get the coolant circulating and the fuse blew again, or else had blown since yesterday. Half the dashboard stripped out already, down to three replacement fuses, and one week to MOT.

Got it. I think. The park cable has shorted out against the body, it looks brittle and must have been stretched when I rotated the cover. I'll resleeve it and hopefully that will cure the problem.

Was it punched?

So do I, Doug - I cleaned it recently, regreased it and painted the body, then replaced it... all worked ok but the park wasn't ideal so I rotated the top cover until the wiper stopped in the best place, and thought that was it done. The radio I just fitted was also on the same circuit, and of course I blamed it - it took me until last night to realise that even with it all disconnected, I still blew fuses. I'm running out of 17 / 35 fuses so have only four chances today to get it right. I've ordered more online but they'll not arrive until tomorrow. ...and YES!! We have a winner! take a bow, Doug - I've just restarted the car with the wiper motor disconnected, and no blown fuse. Now all I have to do is work out why.

That's today's job, Clive. I just can't do anything right at the moment... so have to undo all of my last few jobs and work out what I did that's caused a short. Last job I did on this circuit was to set the park on the wiper motor; I also tightened up the steering column clamp which may have nipped one of the indicator stalk cables. The fuse blows as soon as the ignition is turned on, so it's something that's already live, and of course - I suspected the newly fitted radio, and removed the entire thing to no avail...

I was never able to get the hang of that, despite being shown how to do it back in the early 1990s... and given the difficulty in sourcing parts for Herald gearboxes these days, I don't think I'd chance it on any of mine as I'd probably strip all the teeth on some gear that's impossible to replace.

All of them. You need to flush it from every direction, backwards and forwards, to dislodge as much debris and rubbish as possible. Rad hoses, waterpump housing hoses, heater hoses (with the valve open of course!) get the water flowing through and you'll be sure the system is cleaned out. If you're confident in removing the engine block drain tap on the side of the block, that's another spot for debris to emerge. I don't use any kind of flushing agent but then the engine and rad are relatively new after reconditioning, (that photo was the rusty water from the TR7 when I bought it!) but I flush, fill and empty a few times and then finally fill with clean water only, run to normal temperature, allow to cool again, and drain again. The final fill is with the antifreeze mixture.

The one with the spade terminals to the rear wouldn't suit mine, one like this would do except it's from China and so not sure if it would ever reach me in this current climate: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Automotive-10-Way-Circuit-Blade-Fuse-Box-Block-Holder-LED-Warning-Light-Kit-FAST/392498849474?hash=item5b62c126c2:g:5JoAAOSw0l9a1HKF

Cancel my last. Just blew eight this evening; no idea what's causing it but it's the top fuse, temperature and fuel gauge etc. As I may be stuck at home for some time I'm now debating fitting a new fuse box in behind the dash leaving the old one as a dummy, and splitting the cables to individual fuses. Thankfully the Mk1 has spade connectors to the rear of the fuses so easy to remove. I'm going to need a huge coffee / beer / vodka whilst I peruse all the threads and see what the best fuse box is, or the required amperage of fuses, unless there's a sticky somewhere? I'm a basic autoelectrician and both I and the car are allergic to fire.

Yes.