Dave the tram

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This thread made me think - the area I’ve paid least attention to on my Mk 3 GT6 (swing spring) is rear suspension, apart from fitting Gaz shockers and routine maintenance like trunnion greasing. I’ve long been puzzled by a noise I get when I jack the rear. As it gets negative camber but before the wheel leaves the ground I hear a loud metallic bang, as if something was under tension then slips. It’s not associated with tyre slipping on the ground. Perhaps spring leaves binding then releasing. I’ve now wondered if this could be linked to a less noticeable noise on rare occasions on rebound after bumps. Stiffening the shockers made it less frequent but I’ve noticed it more after stripping the interior out for renovation so no sound insulation. Think I need to look at the thread on spring refurb and make the rear end my next project. Anyone recognise this description of the noise? Dave

Good discussion. I’m going to take a middle road for those first five seconds, just enough revs to get the oil round quickly, then drive off. It’s off the road for its respray etc but normally gets very regular use which is good for it. Think I will go back to a good 20/50 next oil change instead of the Millers cos I’m sure the rattle only became noticeable when I switched to it in order to get better pressure at tick-over when very hot. Talk about de-coking old cars quite often - my Dad had cars in the 1930s (must be in the blood) - I realise now that very few people did - and used to talk about taking the head off old side valve engines and de-coking MOST WEEKENDS! I remember him when I was a small lad digging a full size inspection pit through clay before laying the concrete floor to build his garage. A true home mechanic. Cheers Dave

For those of you who may be unaware of it, here are a couple of links to stuff about the GT6 on a roof near Brick Lane. I discovered this for myself when taking a friend for an unusual meal - the ‘restaurant’ was in an old Routemaster bus parked in a yard off Brick Lane - half the seats replaced by tables, kitchen on the bottom deck and a few tables around it. For the loos you had to walk round the corner to the pub with Punk bands playing. We sat on the top deck and as we got onto the second bottle of wine, the gentle rocking on its suspension became a bit disconcerting. When I looked out of the window and spotted a Mk 3 GT6, a bit like mine but pink, on a roof next to us I thought there must have been something else in the wine. I think the Routemaster restaurant has now gone and the car has gone through several iterations, has been claimed as a ‘Banksy’ and is currently in a Perspex box. Still, I always thought the GT6 styling to be a work of art anyway and mine I drive around for others to gain pleasure from viewing. Haha. The first link is about the locations history as brewery with a brief section on the car. The second gives some history and a sequence of photos as the car evolved over time. If the second link isn’t there or won’t open, go to it through the section in the first link. https://inspiringcity.com/2020/02/14/secrets-of-the-truman-brewery-on-brick-lane/ https://www.flickr.com/groups/banksy/discuss/72157594582215020/?search=pink+car Dave

Interesting to read your comments on front stability with and without spoiler Mijt. I took mine off my Mk 3 GT6 some years ago as I prefer the look without and was surprised to find removal cured the front end lightness and wander above 60mph, which was counter- intuitive. I just can’t remember now though if I removed it at the same time as lowering the front a bit as it sat too high. Mine had the side valences as well as a spoiler. Might put it back on one day to check the point as I’m sure just the removing the spoiler improved it. Dave

Also, I have a fairly new radiator with extra core, new pump, thermostat and hoses and the water temperature remains as is should be regardless of driving and conditions, so actual overheating not a factor just hot oil after a long hot drive. Dave

Thanks for all the comments. To clarify, I do have a spin on filter, did change the filter with the oil and usually change both every year or 3 k whichever comes first. I start it with minimal choke and revs until pressure built up. The main point is that I had very little start rattle with previous oil (just Halfords classic 20/50 or later Castrol Classic 20/50) and the rattle became noticeable immediately after switching to Millers, at the same time as the hot pressure improved. Once I’ve used the batch of Millers I have, perhaps I’ll switch back on the basis that 8 psi at very hot tickover once in a while is doing less harm than an avoidable rattle at every start up. Regarding the final response, I won’t let it worry me as I have a little savings pot for an eventual engine rebuild and will go on enjoying the car daily - but this will of necessity involve some ‘hard driving’ - it’s a sports car and great to drive! Cheers Dave

Although my GT6 engine seems ok for now, possibly a bit tired but runs well and no nasty smoke etc, I’d become a bit anxious about low oil pressure on long hard journeys, especially in hot weather. When cold I was getting 65psi at 2k revs and not that much less at tickover, but when fully hot on a long journey it was about 30 at 2k and less than 10 at tickover which worried me. I switched to Millers sport 20/60 oil and noticed an improvement in pressure so never less than 15 at tickover when very hot - but am I kidding myself? The gauge gives reassurance but is the lubrication really better as it will need more pressure to get thicker oil where it’s needed (bit like narrowed arteries, high blood pressure and blood thinners). The thing that really makes me question things is that I now get a start up rattle, whereas I didn’t used to with standard oil. Although the cold viscosity figures for the oils used are both 20, I suspect that the millers is taking longer to get round and the pressure gauge is slower to climb. I have always had a spin on filter that should help retain oil for startup. I now daren’t touch the throttle and keep the choke in as much as possible until the gauge has climbed and the rattle gone. I might switch back to previous oil in case I’m doing more harm than good, and just keep saving up for that eventual engine rebuild one day. Any thoughts on this theory about oils? Cheers Dave

Danny Don’t know if you’ve cured this yet, but I had very similar symptoms to yours over many years. Mainly a loss of power quickly followed by hunting or coughing back through the carbs. This tended to be only when on full throttle in 3rd or 4th, especially uphill. For years I never dare overtake. Went though everything, ignition, coil, fuel pump, jets, new breather pipes, even refurbished carbs and fitted electronic ignition. It started and ran great, except for this issue which kept recurring. I’m convinced that I cured it after realising that the washers on the rocker cover, which was a bit warped, were not sealing and believe it needs some vacuum, not just for the auto advance under these conditions, but through the breathers etc. I’ve never heard anyone else report this and I think there was some scepticism on the forum, but the car has performed faultlessly for months now. Because you only become convinced that it’s cured after many miles in varied conditions, I never got round to recreating the fault and was loath to mess with a perfectly running car. It’s off the road now for a respray otherwise I’d have tried it now. Be interested in others opinions. cheers Dave

Chris - your comments where very useful and directed my thoughts nicely. I think I have 3 things working in my favour here. 1 - The current fit is not that bad - bonnet fit and gaps are good, bumper and quarter valances a little less so but these can be adjusted, shimmed etc. 2 - The main chassis rails and the cross member look ok so this will help with maintaining alignment. It might be that the bottoms of the side gussets and the hinge supports can be repaired in situ. 3 - I’m not as fussy as some, especially about the bits you can’t see, so as long as these chassis sections end up solid and rust free, I don’t care if it’s a bit patched up. It will never be a ‘show car’ and I just want it to look fairly smart and drive well, while knowing that everything is solid and pretty rust free. I will update when the bodyshop have dug into everything a bit. Cheers Dave

Hi Pete Interesting, many people start using doors as a lever either in very low cars or as they get older! In my GT6 if parked next to a high kerb I’m stepping up out of the car! But my defect is gradual rusting due to water ingress I think through poor weather strips etc. Should be easy to fix/bodge. By the way, where in the East Riding are you - I went to Hull Uni many years ago then stayed on in Humberside for a few years - the east coast from Spurn Head to Whitby was my old stomping ground. Dave