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Well pleased with the new dash I received today from Classical Dash. Highly recommended. I see they have some bad press on the web. Their products are excellent (or my dash is anyway) - it's their business skills that are shyte and lead to customer concern. Ian Bond who runs the company is chronically poor at answering email or the phone or returning calls which makes for a fraught transaction. Don't let that put you off. It's his company that supplies Rimmers et al (he tells me!) and my dash was £65 cheaper direct from him than from Rimmers. I did try to veneer my original dash myself btw, which is another story I will relay sometime. Overall my advice would be if you are handy and you like a project, go ahead - but for me I was never happy so changed tack and bought one from a professional. I am handy and a perfectionist. The trouble is you learn as you go along and it's very easy to chip the veneer around the tiny gaps between guages / switches (1st effort). If it is a GT6 you have the 3 sections to contend with, making it important to align the sections to ensure grain consistency (the sections themselves don't directly align as the centre section is narrower than the 2 sides (2nd effort). Also I see all types of veneers, laquers and varnishes being used - but it's very important to get it right as it won't last. I veneered it twice and although they looked very good to everone else, I was never really happy and it took a lot of effort. In the end bought one and looking at it I doubt many non professionals could match the quality. Pictures below don't do it justice. Just my view. I know many people are very happy with their creations! Incidently, the colour of the new dash certainly doesn't match my old one. Clasical Dash had warned me that I may be surprised. They say this is the original colour, using the same techniques - and will naturally fade over time. But I only have their word for that! Rich

I already renovated my Girling powerstop once but it was 30 years ago. It was a bit of a pig to rebuild but possible to DIY and the kit is around £100. I see "Grease Monkey" has a video:

The paint you get on plastic bathroom fittings etc looks pretty good? or is that something else.

I'll probably get them chromed. I was thinking they may be beyond chroming - but maybe not. What about filling the pitting with epoxy and painting with 'chrome paint'/ lacquer? 😮😮 😮 Would that be so bad? Any experience of that stuff? It's not like they were ever 'mirror' chome like in the first place, as far as I recall. But I want it to look like chrome (to be honest before I took the vents off I assumed they were chrome painted plastic!). Thanks Rich

Wondering if anybody has any ideas on what to do wrt renovating the external vent covers on the rear sides of my Mk2 GT6. The originals are chrome and pitted. I would imagine a rechrome would be difficut and not great without a lot of filling but I don't want to paint them body colour or black. 2nd hand they are in the hens teeth category. I have never seen any on fleabay in years of searching. All advice appreciated. Many thanks Rich

Thanks all. I'll probably buy a new Lockheed then. Only reservation is that the Girling was the original option. I wonder if the boost ratios are different Many thanks Rich

Thanks for the opinions, much appreciated. Rimmer exhausts aren't manufacturer marked and the parts guy couldn't find out where they came from. I've aske Bell if they supply Rimmer out of interest (waiting for a reply) Interestingly the 'Standard' GT6 Mk3 exhaust from both Rimmer and SportsSix has a centre box, the Mk2 (like mine) does not. I don't think this was an original feature of the Mk3? I'll check the warranty on the Bell system but probably go with that. Many thanks Rich

Any opinion of quality of Bell vs Rimmer Prices are much of a muchness but the TSSC shop tell me Bell is highest quality. No idea who supplies Rimmer. Bell offer 10 years guarantee, Rimmers 'Lifetime'. Buying a complete SS 'standard' type exhaust for GT6 Mk2. Many thanks Rich

Wondering what the general opinion is between renovating my original Girling MK 2B Servo with a repair kit or simply purchasing a new Lockheed Universal Servo like Rimmers offer. Costs about the same either way but wondering if new is better than old? (stopping power not necessarily quality I mean). All advice much appreciated. Rich

Thanks both. I was wondering because I happened to watch the GT6 episode of Car SOS where the crank was balanced by Jigsaw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M17XcEbhcOQ&feature=youtu.be Mind at rest thanks👍

Hi all. Way back in the 80's I fitted a brand new crank into my GT6. I was rebuilding the engine at the time and a local BL dealer was selling NOS cheap. Now I'm rebuilding the engine again. I'm wondering if I should have had the new crank balanced or is this completely unnecessary? Incidentally, the engine was in quite a mess including wear on the crank when taken apart this last time. Thanks for any advice. Rich

Hi Paul. Car looks great. I see you have Black minilites rather than the usual silver. My car is also Valencia Blue. Happy with the black? Do they look better in your opinion (taking a non biased view!). Thanks

Thanks all. Those D1's look great but the trouble is they look modern even if they are not! At least Minilites look dated somehow. Anybody got an opinion on John Brown Wheels (ex Midland Wheels) copies?

Thanks Johny & Clive. Do 175/70s fit comfortably on a 5.5 rim? I wonder if they might rub on the bulkhead at full lock? I've not heard of Dunlop lp923. Whats the big deal?! Many thanks

I'm planning to fit alloys on my restored GT6 Mk2, probably lookalike minilites. Does anybody have a view on a recommended wheel size (standard being 13 x 4.5 I believe) and Tyre size (standard 155 x13) please? Many thanks for any advice. Rich

Thanks for all the replies, very helpful. The section I show in my photo has rotted on the far left side (out of picture) so is unusable. The rest is probably recoverable. Yes, it looks like my dash IS veneered then - just very plain (which I quite like) Discussing with a furnature repairer, he suggests that lacquering the birch ply of a new dash directly is a good option as the colour is neutral and can be stained first, assuming no 'swirls' required.. He advises using an industrial lacquer however (pre catalyst lacquer or bar lacquer), rather than a polyurethane job that is susceptible to heat. So about 100 squid plus lacquer. Either that or the ebay fellow will provide me with the single section (not sure how much yet) and I veneer the whole thing. Sounds like an interesting project. About £40 I guess plus hassle of restoring the original two sections.. The other option is a new, veneered dash complete from Rimmers (around £250 😖😖 ).

Bit more research and I see that pretty much everyone adds veneer, but most do it themselves for around £20. I should probably just buy a new 3rd section and give it a go. Current finish here. Looks very plain to be a Veneer to me 😕😕

Obvioulsy the other alternative is to buy one from Rimmer @ £240

Hi all I need to renovate my dashboard. At the very least I will need to relace to the passenger side panel which has rotted due to a leak. Surprisingly when I took a close look I recon my dash has no veneer. The ply is simply laquered (a very good job) and there is absolutely no grain pattern except those you may expect to see if you laquer ply. I had assumed that all dashes were veneered. Was this actually the case? (obviously this would mean that mine has had the veneer removed and then laquered) I'm not happy making my own section and have two alternatives: 1. There is a guy on ebay selling new presision made dashboards from an original template (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-GT6-Mk2-dashboard-dash-fascia-panel/183622630842?hash=item2ac0c2fdba:g:grEAAOSwqkRb-GLw:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true ) Yes, he makes them the other way around too! I could buy one of these (£71seems pretty good) and laquer it directly. I actually don't like all the swirls and stuff. 2. I could buy only the one section and have the whole thing veneered. I have no idea how much veneering costs. Does anyone have any experience of these remanufactured dashboards from this ebay seller? What would you do? Thanks for any advice. Rich

For anyone thats interested, my friend Peter is restoring my GT6 for me and is recording progress on Youtube. Although only a hobby, Peter has been restoring Triumphs for decades and has an excellent ruputation for his Triumph knowledge and high quality work. He was a professional fabricator prior to retirement. His Videos are intended to be educational and well worth a watch. In particular, if you look at his Vitesse video's you will see a master craftsman at work. Well worth subscribing. My GT6 Mk 2 Restoration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ4_0KHWa1w&list=PLj9GWtoWPbyC-8CdRztPyRoWs7FljO_Fq Peter's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzpZXUiLDsEWOaW9DcN1Fg Hopefully back on the road this summer! Rich

Noted, thanks Colin. My third panel is somewhere in the loft (I hope). I have a rear seat that I found in a Triumph graveyard probably 30 years ago. Actually my car is in pieces, currently in process of chassis up rebuild. I'm starting to think about the 'fittings' like these panels. Tempted to see if I can straighten the original. Maybe dampened and left under a lot of weight to dry out. Any ideas? (the originals are basically thick hardboard) My friend Peter is doing all the work. Multiple videos here:

Mine has the same jack handle but it's still warped to hell. :-( Colin - as mentioned, I think the easy option is just to use polystyrene packing from the centre of the spare wheel to provide support. I still have no idea why bother making the boards different thicknesses - and I'm sure mine are original parts. Very strange. I haven't compared the thickness to the 3rd panel (the parcel shelf that runs behind the front seats) which will be interesting. I'll try to look at another car and see if they have the same thing.

I would take a pic of them joined together but both boards are in poor condition at the ends and you can't see teh difference. Thinking about it, probablythe recess is to account for the felt since they would need to align across the font edge where they mount on the transverse support wheel arch to wheelarch. So remains a mystery. I'll probaly make a new spare wheel board and go with the the thinner thickness therefore - with a thick felt strip and add support (maybe polystyrene) on top of the spare wheel. Strange!

Now that I look at them again, I think it's intentional. The thicker board is over the spare wheel and is the one thats bowed. I'm guessing that it's thicker because it's not supported in the middle where the tank board probably is by the tank. In fact there is a plate fixed along the edge of the fuel tank board to support the spare wheel board. The plate is NOT flat and is actually recessed for something wider. Also the spare wheel board has a strip of felt along the same joint (that sits on the supporting plate.. The shape of the plate suggests a different tickness unless that's supposed to account for the felt strip. A very poor image of the metal support attached seen end on. I'm sure that neither are DIY copies BTW, the detail and fixings are too good. Any other view welcome, not heard of this before! Many thanks

Hi all I'm refering to the 2 boards covering the spare wheel and the Fuel tank respectivelly. Looking at teh dtail on them, mine are almost certainly original GT6 but I notice that one is about 1.5mm thinner than the other. Seems very odd - has anybody else come across this? I need to make a new board to cover the spare wheel as mine is badly bowed. Obviously thicker is best but wondering if there could be any explanation? Maybe I have a mk 3 and a mk 2 board or something? Really not sure. Many thanks for any advice. Rich