GFL

Hi Darren The Standard Mk2 Vitesse Exhaust is 2" Diameter, I suspect the earlier Mk1's and 1600's are smaller 1 & 3/4" possibly? No Idea what diameter the the Club Sports ones are, Garth at the Club shop should be able to tell you. To be honest I wouldn't bother changing, if you did it would only be minimal gains which you probably wouldn't notice anyway All the Best Gary

The Long bolt seizing is a common problem Your GT6 must be one of the last to be fitted with Rotoflex type suspension, I thought they changed to the Swing spring suspension in 1972? If you have an Angle grinder fit a thin cutting blade and carefully cut through where the trunnion bushes are adjacent to the Vertical link (Goggles and gloves a must!) If you haven't got a grinder a hacksaw and a decent blade will get it cut. harder work though the remains should knock out of the Wishbone, A pillar drill and the right size drill bit should drill out the remains of the bolt in the vertical link? I left the bolt in that holds the damper on my car? I've drilled and tapped for a grease nipple on the vertical links on my Mk2 Vitesse and give it a few pumps with an Oil gun when I oil the front Trunnions every year to stop it seizing again

Looking good Reminds me of my first 2000, bought off my Brother-in-law for £200 in 1984. Unfortunetly rear ended and written off a year or so later The engine lives on in my Vitesse though

Aidan Derwent Valley meets first Tuesday of the Month, Tonight to be Precise! I use S&L Garage Services in Derby 01332 341772 and have never had any trouble in 10 years of M.O.T.s? Also a mate takes his Austin Healey to Smalley Service Station 01332 880217 who are Classic Friendly? Regards Gary

Maria See my post above regarding these repro kits. On strip down of mine everything was in reasonable condition apart from the Spherical Ball that locates in the top of the Aluminium Remote casting, this had disappeared completely!! I think these are manufactured from an incorrect grade of Plastic, which is either too soft or is affected by the heat generated from the Engine which works it's way to the Gearbox. You may find if you use your Car a lot you will be changing it again sooner than you think! Gary

Just done this on my Vitesse, Pete's pretty much summed it up? You may find that depending on how many miles you do per year you may well be changing it all again sooner than you think I've fitted 4 Kits over a 10 year period and only done around 12,000 miles in total !!! I reckon the current batch of Chinese made Re-bush kits are very poor quality, especially the spherical ball which has disintegrated twice on my car Gary

Update on the Wipers, I managed to get some correct N.O.S. Trico ones off E-Bay, took it out for Drive it day on Sunday and on the way from Boston to Skegness got the chance to try them, they worked fine So the moral is N.O.S. is King, just hope they last for the new owner? I've sold the car and he picks it up in a fortnight

Mk2 Vitesse's are 2" Diameter, not sure on the Mk1 2 Litre or 1600's, I suspect slightly smaller? Mk 1 & 1600 Engines can be identified by the Aly Push Rod Tubes on the side of the Head. Mk2 Engines are simple Cast Iron Sides to the Head and Bigger Studs/nuts to hold them down.

Most Triumph 4 & 6 Cylinder Engines are recommended to be 40-60 lbs/Sq inch at 2000 RPM? Around 25 PSI at tick over is about right too, all figures when hot. Use a good quality 20/50 Mineral Oil and change it at least once a year and the filter. Regards Gary

Yes agree with Colin,4.5J Plain Steel wheels with Ro-style Stainless Steel trims standard on Mk2 Vitesse's and GT6 Mk2's? Similar trims where fitted to the 2.5PI's, Early Stags and even TR5's and very early TR6's, although all Have slight differences and sizing. I do like the Look of a Vitesse with these fitted and ran my Vitesse for several years with some N.O.S. Early MK1 2.5PI Trims bought off E-bay for around £70.

I had to do a similar repair on my Vitesse, if you have to replace the front body mounting it's a good idea to drill a drain Hole in the base of the 'A' Post so if any water does get in it can drain out, I drilled a 20mm size hole? It also gives another access hole for pumping in Rust proofing fluid too, while the Bulkhead is off the car. Regards Gary

I had similar trouble on my Convertible Vitesse I managed to get a steel fabricator to fold me a suitable length of steel into a 'V' Section, my Biking buddy mate who welds, then fitted it with suitable tac welds every so often, carefully bending to follow the shape of the Windscreen surround? A clean up of the welds with the grinder and flap disc, then seam sealer/primer and it was ready for paint and a looking lot better Regards Gary

If you manage to get the Bosch Rubbers fitted to the Chrome Blades and they work ok still let us know? Alternatively you can get chrome texture spray paint now, don't know how good it is but that's another option, spray the Black Bosch Blades with Chrome spray

Do you know if you can get the Bosch Blades in Stainless Steel or Chrome finish? They certainly seem to work on the You tube video, can you confirm if it was just the blades that where changed and not the arms also?

I've never stripped one down? The mirror on the passenger side of my Convertibles visor has worked loose and the vinyl as started to split. The material inside looks like some sort of expanding foam, presumably with a Hardboard centre to give strength? You can get new Visors to suit Spitfires but as far as I know you can't get new Herald/Vitesse visors. E-Bay, the spares section of this site or even the Classic car weekly spares section may come up Trumps!!

Saloon or Convertible ones? Convertible ones are like Rocking Horse P**!!, Saloon ones must also be getting pretty rare now too. I wanted a set back in 2006 to finish off my Vitesse rebuild but couldn't get any, I've E-Mailed Newton Commercial the Triumph Trim people on numerous occasions about getting a batch made, but have always been told there's no demand? You may get lucky and see a pair on E-bay but be prepared to pay a high price or alternatively have a go at fitting alternative ones, I remember somone fitting Dolomite ones without to much trouble on the old TSSC Website. Good luck!

Keith On the earlier Vitesse and all Heralds with the Standard Swing Axle rear suspension the Radius Arm bolt to the rear Outriggers more centrally. The Mk2 Rotoflex Vitesse Radius Arms bolt on to the Outriggers like the Photo's you have shown. Does anyone know why the Rotoflex Radius Arms are located in a different position on the Rear Outriggers?

Keith Not sure on this, but the GT6 Radius arms may bolt to the Chassis/Bodywork in a different location to a Vitesse, hence the kink on the Radius Arms? The Vitesse Mk2 Rotoflex Radius Arms are bolted more inboard towards the Centre of the Car than a Mk1 Swing axle Vitesse (Anyone know why?) You may have GT6 Radius Arms which are a different part number as you probably know. Be very carefull with the Rear Bearings on the Rotoflex hubs, if there is to much preload on the bearing they won't last long! I suggest a strip down and re-set in line with the information on the Canley Classics site if you go for the standard bearing set up, shims and spacers may be a problem although someone as had some remanufactured, can't remember his name? Not sure with the Canleys CV conversion but certain others use other type of Bearings that don't need the shims and spacers? Hope you get it sorted. Regards Gary

Hugh Roberts was involved with the TSSC way back in the 80's & 90's. The Dolphin Grey Vitesse Mk1 Convertible in the Club Museum was restored by him in the Late 80's early 90's and was a Autoglym Concours finalist and winner back then? I can honestly say it is probably one of the best & most Originally restored Vitesse's in the World! Howard Jones Mk2 Convertible from the same period is a close second though. I've admired Hugh's Vitesse on numerous occasions at thr Club HQ. He also used to help out at SW Classics down in Devon who had a good reputation for restoring Triumphs and did the Practical Classic Vitesse & TR6 Resorations. I believe he retired abroad somewhere?

I've been watching the values with interest over the past few months as I'm thinking of selling mine? Recently on E-Bay a fully professionally restored 2 Litre was up for £20k and I've seen a couple of nice Mk2's for sale around the £10K mark, which is around Dealer price values for nice ones. I've got mine agreed Value insured for £13K and hope to get someone near this figure when I decide to sell it. When you factor in the costs of Labour alone, to fully restore a basket case one could easily exceed £20K with the Parts to be added on top! When I restored mine back in 2002 I ended up spending over £13K on Parts and the Respray, this doesn't take into account all my time, I must have spent near on 2,000 Man hours over a four and a half year period! I'm hoping to get a TR5 or TR250, the values of those two model really have gone up dramatically recently You only have to look at Escorts, Capri's and Mini's to see the small Chassis Triumph's are bargains in comparison.