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Dave the tram

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Dave the tram last won the day on February 17 2023

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About Dave the tram

  • Birthday 28/04/1951

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Bamford, Derbyshire Peak District
  • Cars Owned
    GT6 mk 3 1973 swing spring. used daily and fairly original except for gaz shocks, slightly lowered, electronic ignition, K&Ns and twin pipe sports exhaust. Other car Skoda Yeti 4x4. Previous 3rd car 205 GTi 1.9 - oh why did I sell that?! Long ago when the kids were little, Morris 1000 Traveller and before kids, Spitfire 1500 in the early 80’s

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  1. Thanks Chris. That’s the reassurance I was seeking and will get to work with a sharp Stanley knife and find something to practice on. Cheers Dave
  2. Just fitting the window seals to my GT6 and because the door is stripped down decided, rather than use a fiddly special tool, to first fit the quarter light, runners and glass. Then, before fitting the rest of the internals, fit the window seals while I can reach through the free apertures with my nimble hands to push the clips on with the glass fully up out of the way. I needed to put the glass in first as it’s firmly attached the drop channel (and didn’t want to disturb this) which will only fit through gap with the seals out. Seems a good plan but found that the new outer seal from Rimmers has two triangular section protrusions which don’t seem to do anything. See photo. They are the same side as the notches for the clips facing in towards the glass. The rear one is no a problem, but the front one fouls the quarter light frame stopping the seal from pushing fully in. Thought I’d check with the wisdom of the forum before cutting them off. Also, seems like the seal might need a bit of trimming around the quarter light frame where it would step out from being flush with the glass. Hope someone can help. Dave
  3. Thanks for that contribution Chris. Haven't bought any gear or paint etc yet as I’ve been away - I have another week to ponder this. Perhaps I’ll look into the cost and feasibility of a decent extractor fan for my garage. The potential exposure would be low if I go with my original plan of doing the prep and spraying the primer, then finding a professional to do the finish. I might find that if spaying the primer works well, then I might consider doing the lot myself if finding a spray shop continues to prove difficult. I’ll look up those Courier articles to add to my endless YouTube research. Dave
  4. Think I’m going to have to change tack here. The plan was to do the filler and primer ready for a paint shop to do the finish in 2 pack. I now realise that the advice about using ‘safe’ acrylic high build primer at home is no longer an option - unless anyone can tell me otherwise. The only company I found that did such primer with a non-isocyanate hardener was Jawel, but they no longer do it. As it’s also proving very difficult to find a paint shop to take this on I’ve pretty much decided to revert to cellulose and do the whole job myself. About to order all the kit and materials. Dave
  5. Thanks. I was angling towards improvising now the tank is out with a piece of rubber and a hole punched and glued down, but the notes about the breathers are useful. Something I’ve never looked at so I’ll check they were previously in place tomorrow (the bodyshop took the tank out) and that they go back correctly when I’ve done. cheers Dave
  6. On the gasket front and fumes being drawn in at the rear, what is supposed to seal the fuel pipe from the tank? My GT6 has a hole about 2” diameter in the floor that I’ve always stuffed foam or a scrunched up carrier bag into around the pipe! Can’t find a proper part for this so might need a better improvisation. Dave
  7. I did the sliding paper thing to check the seal on my GT6 - and the seal was rubbish in places so hoping a new seal will do the trick when the car is back together. Question is, do I trust the Rimmers new one will fit ok or have a chat to COH Baines after my experiences with windscreen seals. Dave
  8. I have similar problem but mines a GT6 and, because I don't thinks it’s from the front, I suspect the rear hatch seals and fumes being sucked in from the tailpipe (as per Pete’s comment above). Main reason for thinking this is it’s ok with windows shut, but noticeable with any window open surprisingly. Rear quarter lights will definitely suck out but I think the overall effect of the main windows open is to create a slight vacuum, even though you think it’s blowing in. New hatch seal when I finish current restoration. As for the gearbox cover, I never trust the seals and the fit so double up with gaffer tape all the way round the inside before fitting the carpets. Dave
  9. This continues from the previous post titled ‘Help’ now that I am progressing a plan. The forum pointed me towards Tim at Willow Triumph in Darlington and well worth transporting the car from Derbyshire to get his knowledge and expertise. As ever, the rot went a bit deeper than I first thought, but no nasty surprises. He fitted 2 outer lower repair panels to both rear wings, making any required inner bits. Note he even added a bit of metal into the door just to improve the gap. Other side done the same plus a few other minor bits and pieces. Then the front end of the chassis was rebuilt as it was pretty rotten and badly aligned. New crossmember, one gusset and new hinge boxes. It arrives back home tomorrow. Tim talked me out of a home cellulose respray as with the poor quality of paints available and it being my first attempt he thought the results might be disappointing for a lot of work put in. He suggested doing all the prep and primer myself and finding a paint shop to do a 2k finish, hopefully for about £1000. The bodywork and transport has eaten into the budget somewhat but worth it to get the important stuff done right. I have no experience of spraying (but have researched quite a bit and done some decent work with rattle cans in the past) and am angling towards two or 3 coats of 2k acrylic high build primer that can take a 2k finish, as this primer is safer at home. I’d ventilate the garage well and use a charcoal cartridge mask. Any thoughts on this from other’s experiences very welcome. Got a random orbital sander for the donkey work and rather than spend many hundreds on a good compressor for just one priming job, I’m looking at a LPLV R500 gun (1.3mm nozzle) that needs 4 cubic ft per minute and a Hyundai 25L job for £150 that produces 5 and a bit cfm. Looking at YouTube clips R500 gun seems to spray well with a low air flow and is sold as suitable for acrylic primer. If I do decide to use a spray shop for the top coats I’ll obviously liaise with them on preparation and waive any warranty. All thoughts welcome Dave
  10. Some good luck at last! I followed up Josef’s suggestion (many thanks) and contacted Tim at Willow Triumph in Darlington. Had a good chat and as expected he was booked up until summer 2025! But when I said I might try and just get the bodywork and welding done for now - he said ‘send me some picks, I’ve just done a GT6 with very similar issues.’ To my delight got a one line email next day - ‘ I’ll do it, if you can get the car to me now along with the required repair sections as I have a small window of opportunity’. Get it back Monday with all the require repair sections welded in to rear arches etc and chassis front end rebuilt. Well worth the cost of transport to get it all done properly by someone who knows triumphs inside out. I’ll now start a new thread for this with a more meaningful title. Dave
  11. Made the 40 mile round trip to the bodyshop today - the forum feedback was useful as it pointed me towards trying to salvage the position, rather than be complaining, after realising that I might struggle to find anyone else to do it within the next year and within my budget. They were a little embarrassed and fairly humble. They have, as several of you hinted, been very busy with accident insurance work and didn’t want to have a longer project taking up space. I now have fairly firm date in early January for the car to be collected so will update the forum in the new year on progress and final outcome. Fingers crossed for being back on the road early spring and will keep the list of possible alternative options up my sleeve. Dave
  12. Thanks all for the fantastic response with several leads to follow if need be. I plan to drive down tomorrow to call in on the garage I’d planned to use and draw a line under it one way or another. Perhaps some mishap has befallen them, who knows. For now I may end up simply trying to find someone who can do a good job welding the repair sections to the wheel arch bottoms and do a plated repair on the bottoms of the front chassis bits (hinge turrets and one bracing cross member - you can’t see those bits!). I might fully strip the rear of the outer sills and base of the B pillars just to confirm my belief that everything is solid ahead of the outer arches. Then use filler and rattle cans for now, as I’ve been happily doing for the past 15 years. It was smart enough for me, I just had the ambition to make it more sound and rust free ready for the next 15 years! Worth giving a call to the various folk mentioned though before I give up on the full project plan. Cheers Dave
  13. Thanks Joseph. Depending on how things pan out, having a chat to your man in Darlington might not be out of the question if we could find a way to keep to £4K. Will keep this in mind. If I ended up giving him a call I could give him a video tour around and under the car as a starting point to see if it was something he might take on. Like a said, it’s fairly sound but even with the car stripped of components, the rubbing down would be a big part of the cost unless I decided to tackle much of that myself. Cheers Dave
  14. Hi Pete Hmmm.! Interesting. Looks like we customers might not be in a very strong position. If this seems to be the common experience, it might point towards trying to salvage things with this guy if he can restore some confidence with me and assuming some tragedy hasn’t befallen him. The total radio silence is a bit perplexing. I’d better learn some real patience it seems. Cheers Dave
  15. Help, I’m in a bit of a pickle here. Does anyone have experience of a reliable bodyshop/ restorer in the north or midlands - or perhaps anywhere in the country! After looking around for a good bodyshop for welding some minor panel repair sections and a respray for my GT6, I thought I was sorted. Found somewhere 15 miles away that does this sort of thing and has some experience of classics - quite liked the outfit. Gave the car a full look over on two occasions with them, agreed a plan and agreed a date way in advance - to start beginning of October. This slipped, which is fine if previous job overran a bit, but kept slipping (2 months and counting) and now can’t seem to make contact. Not replying to messages nor picking up my calls so I’ll end up paying a visit as a last resort. So disappointing and frustrating. Part of the deal was that I stripped off all components and then built it back up afterwards (to keep the cost in budget) so spent a month doing this ahead of the planned date. I now have an un-drivable stripped down car sat there, which I would normally use almost daily, plus lots of restored or new bits waiting to put back, so my main hobby is also on hold. Can barely face the idea of bodging the car up with filler and spray cans then putting it all back together. This would be soul destroying and two months work wasted. Likewise I can’t really master both welding and spraying myself just for this one job, so I will probably need to find someone else. Tricky now that I can’t take the car to them, but if need be I’ll bite the bullet and get it transported if I can find somewhere. The car is basically sound but needs outer wheel arch bottoms, bonnet hinge turrets repairing, some small areas of rust that were previously filled, and then a respray. I have what I think is a reasonable budget of £3k, £4K max. Any help or suggestions very gratefully received. Dave
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