Colin Lindsay

Same model will fit so Spitfire MK4 / 5 will fit the GT6 MK3. I think you can use them straightoff as a quarterlight-less door as the Spitfire glass fits the same angle of screen pillar on both cars. If you want to add the quarterlight, it's a simple job.

I'd like to think that it would reset to the proper angle after some use; there should be some swivel movement in the trunnions and spring bushes! Do you have the correct halfshafts? Short instead of long would create this effect, but maybe they're still the originals?

Everytime you walk past, take a hammer and gently tap around the hub in a nice, gentle rhythm, almost like drumming, for a couple of minutes. If the hub is straining against the hold, this will set up a rhythmic vibration that will eventually shock the hub free, but gently so as not to damage anything. It's a technique I learned from an elderly engineer and it has worked on everything from seized bolts and studs to halfshafts. You're not trying to batter it off, just vibrate it free.

Yep same one. The theory is that you adjust one tappet, then click the others to exactly the same setting therefore no need for a feeler gauge. The problem is that you have to set the device up with - TWO - feeler gauges, tighten the tappet as far as it will go, then back off the required number of clicks, each one being 1000th of an inch, and then recheck with a feeler gauge. It's a lot of faffing about and probably easier just to use the spanner and screwdriver method.

I'm not allowed to post the pictures; for one thing they'd put you off your tea and give you nightmares, but for some a jack would suffice, as long as it was supported by a crane and a full team of structural engineers...

I have a Gunson's Autoclick Adjuster (in fact through an error, two!) and rarely use it. It's a nice concept having one setting for all tappets and once it's properly adjusted, just leave it at that setting, but it does not take wear into account and therefore isn't just as one-size-fits-all as the makers would like us to think.

I used to be able to undo a bra clasp one-handed. Now I can't get my hand so far up my back any more.

After he's put the plastic cover back on. It's just a mockup for the photo.

Nah just the clasp.

Still smug. It's a Triumph.

One of my favourite authors is a man called Keith Roberts - sadly now deceased, but lived around the Poole and Corfe areas of Dorset - and one of his books gave me the mantra I use when stuck at some job or other that will not do what I want. "A vehicle, any vehicle, is a machine assembled by men. What has been assembled, can be disassembled." If I can't take something apart, I'm doing it wrong... that's usually time for a break, or go do something else. Penetrating oil, heat, and patience, and it'll shift. And as Homer Simpson says: "If at first you don't succeed.... hide all the evidence that you ever tried."

Three points for my sixpenny worth: I blast with aluminium oxide; but for any metal if it's rusted then that's metal that is now effectively dead and needs removed. Any form of blasting will therefore need to blast away dead metal; if you're only removing paint then a softer medium is fine, but to remove rust other than light surface rust it will take a fairly harsh abrasive, or a lot more time with a softer medium, and the end result is the same in any case - the rust is removed back to bare metal. If it doesn't remove rust there's no point in doing it in the first place! It should not weaken metal unless it's amazingly thin, and in many cases the initial blast of very rusted metal is sufficient to leave it requiring only repainting every so often in later years so it's not as if it will eat right through wheels etc. If it does, they were unsuitable for reuse in the first place! Powder coating I dislike - personal opinion of course - but my first GT6 had full powdercoated suspension and it rusted underneath the coating, which eventually flaked and fell off in huge lumps. It's no doubt fine for some applications and looks nice when fresh, but I always found it had a limited shelf life in a well-used car. Sandblasters and priming: my local blaster will prime metal if requested to prevent it rusting almost immediately, especially if I can't collect for a few days, but the intention is to remove the bulk of it and repaint properly. It's not a paint-shop job, merely as a fine layer of temporary protection. For tight areas ie the gap between wheel and rim, especially in the narrow-spoke Heralds, I clean as finely as possible, in many cases using the edge of a knife blade, then pour Jenolite or the like into it. With adequate cleaning and time to harden or dry out, it works very well - the GT6 wheels are now coming up on 20 years and no rust from these areas. I know we all have different ideas and techniques, so it's finding what works best for you.

42.5 cm long 15 cm high 22 cm deep with the domed cover fitted (approx - mine was in two bits so I measured both and added them.)

You too? I thought it was only me that did things like that... Is there any wear in the pivot pin that the release arm moves on?

Have you looked at the remote lever assembly on top? Might be worn bushes that cause intermittent problems depending on the position of the gearlever. The bit about the clutch is interesting and may be the cause of both creep and inability to select gears - it's not disengaging fully. Possibly it's got a completely incorrect clutch assembly fitted, but to find out you'll have to disassemble the entire unit; the release arm and bearing may also be wrong somehow. You've had the box out already; if it comes out again, post a few photos.

Thanks, Pete. That's another £1.88 you just cost me.

Mine too, and when I click on that, it takes me to the latest post; no idea how as I never touched the settings.

Very true. A cheap hood will always look cheap, and some of the vinyl ones I remember from Spitfires I had lasted about two years before they split.

Aha! That clears it up! All I saw was the MK1 bit... no glasses on this morning. As you say, yes no problem in fit.

I used hard yellow bushes on my GT6 - they used to be sold / made by a guy called Kevin trading as something like KRGClassiccars and I've no idea if he still makes the or not; but they were great and I bought two spares ets for my Heralds. Rear radius arms are red Polybush, diff is blue, but the front suspension bushes are quite hard and are excellent. No problems, no hard handling or road noise, but none of the vagueness from old worn rubber bushes. Given that the steering rack mounts are alloy and vibration will come up the steering column anyway. Shock absorbers are just the standard rubber that comes with Spax or Gaz.

As long as there are no differences ie hood sticks on early models and frame on later which may affect either the fitting or the useage... I think early cars may have used sticks / rods but don't know how this affects the way the hood fits or is put up / down. The hood itself may be a one-size-fits-all these days so no problems, but it's best to check.

I once set mine to Newtons instead of foot/lbs.... or the other way round... whichever it is that breaks things off before it gets to what looks like the recommended setting.

That £63 is for a pair (from the same supplier who sold me cr*p TR7 bearings that I had to bin). Lots of pairs of lamps for around £49 elsewhere, though. One other is selling a pair for £65, but he's also selling a tractor plant ignition switch, so for £6.79 you can start the assembly line all by yourself...

If they were that easy to get out, that's not bad at all. THIS one had to be drilled for a metal bridge then chiselled out without causing damage to the caliper, and was certainly scrap afterwards!

Have you adjusted the shoes at the lower adjuster? It can make quite a bit of difference, I found that out on the GT6 when I rebuilt the rear axles and forgot to adjust one side.