rlubikey

Nice job Adrian and a neat adaption of those bullet connectors. Automotive cable will also have a higher temperature rating (105'C) than standard "household flex" (70'C or 85'C) as I discovered when my OD shorted out one day having melted inside the gear stick! For my replacement, instead of 2-core flex, I used high temp (tri-rated - also 105'C) wires and an outer sleeve of high temperature glass fibre reinforced silicone tube. The sort of stuff used to protect cables in cookers and such like and good for 175'C. It all fitted in the gear stick Cheers, Richard

One to gearbox (or is it bellhousing?) and one to diff front crossmember. Cheers, Richard

I have the Mini plastic bowls, which have squared off backs. I cut holes in for suitably large rubber bungs and now, if a lamp should fail, I can change the bulb without a full strip-down. Well, that's the theory! Cheers, Richard

Hi Adrian. I don't know the answer to your question, except I believe you add the rubber ones until the body's straight & the gaps are right! Hopefully someone more learned will be along soon to confirm or correct me. But I was talking to someone in the restoration business (David Picton) about the rubber washers and he commented that the ones available today just squash to nothing in no time. The originals, he says, had a fabric reinforcement so they tended to retained their shape under compression. If this is true then it occurred to me that reinforced rubber tubing - you know, the stuff with a fabric webbing to improve the pressure rating - slit open and cut into suitably sized washers might be a better bet ... if it happened to be the right thickness. Cheers, Richard

The engine-back GT6 I saw with Jag mounts had had a good bit of engineering to make them fit. I don't know if Clive and NonMember know of different Jag mounts ... ? Cheers, Richard

Seeing NonMember's post, we need to start a thread about where to buy quality engine mounts!

The GT6 mounts are 50% wider (about 75mm v. 50mm for the Spit ones) but I've been running with the Spit mounts for years, no problems. I've just recently put a GT6 mount on the nearside to lift the engine by about 22mm (by using the top-most stud only) so that I can fit one of the double-valve Mann oil filters without it touching the chassis. There's so much space above the engine I reckon I could have them both sides and still just about clear the bonnet! Following your project Wayne - keep up the good work! Cheers, Richard

What - and have Triumph 2000 / TR6 / Stag drive shaft bind powering through the corners? No thanks! Yes, well done Roger. At least you got some small recompense for all the time and effort. And maybe word of this problem will start to percolate around the trade. When Fitchetts said Birmingham, I wonder if they meant Coventry? Oh, and it's telling isn't it; "We spoke to our supplier. They will discuss with their supplier." What a tangled web they weave! Cheers, Richard

In these cases I would always refer to John Thomason's "Spitfire & GT6 Guide To Originality". Unfortunately my copy is hidden in a safe place - so safe I can't seem to find it at the moment. Sorry! Try looking online for factory brochures and press photos. Cheers, Richard

It seems to me that we need to publicise the features of the known-good and/or known-bad parts so that members can ask the suppliers when they are about to make a purchase. This will help members, and focus the suppliers' minds on quality over price. The most obvious characteristic of the shafts is the splines which have been rolled, not machined. We also know that the yoke is heat-shrunk on, but this cannot be visually identified in the finished product. Anecdotally, we believe the material used for the shaft is EN24. We don't know if the bad shaft yokes have been shrunk on badly, or not at all, or if the machined splines are liable to deformation nullifying the heat-shrink process. In the case of the rear spring, most of the arching is in the middle. The poor rubber buttons are not easily visible and even if they were, we don't know if there is any visible difference. In the past (20 years ago or so) it had been mentioned that poor quality springs had square ends on the individual leaves, not tapered and rounded - I don't know if this is still the case today or if perhaps the poor quality manufacturers have added this visual cue of "quality" No suppliers have been mentioned, but its a (potentially growing) list of what to ask for before handing over your money. Cheers, Richard

Yeah, the Riff-Raff you get in Twyford these days! Cheers, Richard

Because of the freting/movement Roger observed, I suspect the "chocolate" shafts did not have the yoke shrunk on - or if they did there was a machining error and the shafts were too small or yoke too big. As for roll pins, a tube is indeed very strong indeed ... until you put a dent in the outside, then much of the strength evaporates. Any movement between the shaft & yoke will do just that, and then it's just a matter of time until the that action snips the roll tube in three, as the intrepid Herald team in Outer Mongolia (or wherever they were) found out. By the way, I'm *not* a mechanical engineer! (My employers think I'm an electronics engineer ) Cheers, Richard

Confirmed - 24 splines. Note that my failure was due to a loose nut allowing the hub to move. Cheers, Richard

Roger, I'll check the number of splines - I quickly counted 12 around from pin hole to hole and doubled. I'll report back tomorrow. Other than the number of splines (and the roll pin) mine seem *almost* the same as OE! Cheers, Richard

Hi Roger. My broken shaft has a small shoulder - approx. 0.5mm - and then the splines which have peaks *almost* the same as the main shaft diameter. There are 24 splines. The main section of shaft is 26.5mm diameter, spline peaks 26.3mm and neck 25.6mm. I would estimate the splines are about 1mm deep (peak to valley). Any more details, just ask. Hi Nick. The broken shaft is deffo. fitted with a Slotted Spring Pin. The ones on the car seem to be the same, though not as easy to inspect. I just spoke to David Picton, who says they made & supplied by ESP Automotive in Coventry. He believed that the yokes were heat-shrunk on to the splines - in these ones at least - and therefore shouldn't move at all. He said ESP was started by an ex-Triumph chap and thought that, to his knowledge, these were the best pattern parts available and supplied by a number of more familiar names in the trade.. Cheers, Richard

Thanks Paul. Had the Spit MOT'ed at CitreoMech here in Wokingham on Tuesday. Despite the name, they're classic friendly and the older chap did the MOT, as usual with an older car. He's always happy for me to hang around, help with the bonnet, let me look underneath, chat, etc. Got a clean pass, but he suggested to me I ease off the off-side drum one flat as there was a slight drag - I'd been a bit enthusiastic with the pre-MOT brake adjustment! There's often a classic there. In the past I've seen ... what's the TR4 with GT6 style roof? Or a Landie, an A35 van, XJS, XK140, E-type, or what have you. Cheers, Richard

Nick, I'll have a look tomorrow - see if I can tap it out or something.

So, about 5 years ago I had to replace the halfshaft on Red Spit as there was a "Squeak" when I took up drive. It turned out the hub nut was not tight - though it had been tightened up on assembly, presumably to 120ft-lbs. Consequently the hub itself was moving on the shaft. I realised I still had the shaft, and here it is. As you can see, the Woodruff slot was shot - fortunately at the outboard end. However, it's interesting to see that the yoke has a roll-pin. You can just see the yoke has been struck in a cross at each end to stop the pin from exiting. So then I looked at what's on the car now, and they're both roll-pins holding the yoke as above. Seems that's what the pattern part boys have been fitting for at least 7 years. Cheers, Richard

Well, we've been sending them all our rubbish; why shouldn't they send us theirs? Cheers, Richard

Well Doug, they're ALWAYS too clever for me!

One person did that and something bad happened to him! Oh, what's that nice car in the background? Cheers, Richard

Nick, et al. The quality of pattern parts isn't known for being outstanding, but maybe halfshafts are an exception. The Classic Driving Developments web site isn't the last word - or even the first! - in disseminating information. However Garth, when he was at the club shop, sent me this after I berated him for using that hateful word "uprated" when describing the halfshafts. As you can see, they were still finalising the spec. (which is why Garth used my pet hate word) but here is what I take from the preliminary info sheet text. The UJ is Freelander. Good, but nothing special there. The club and others do those! The shaft is S155 steel, whereas they claim the originals were EN24. Sounds good, but I've no idea what those numbers actually mean - any metallurgists here like to comment? Uses the standard outer hub but the Woodruff key slot is changed. What have they done? Or, more to the point, what did Triumph do wrong? I remember GT telling me about the circlip slot in gearbox mainshafts and how he and John Kipping hadn't realised the slot has an undercut with a rounded profile to mitigate the inherent stress raiser. They did their first few shafts without this and wondered why they started snapping - then they learned ... ! The inner bearing does NOT run directly on the shaft. Both inner and outer bearings are larger than original. You can see that the inner hub seems to be a custom fabrication - presumably to accommodate the new bearings. So there we are; that's what you get for your money. It seems to me that the key improvement CLAIMS are:- The better steel and improved Woodruff key slot. These, I think, are to stop the shaft snapping. No bearing direct on the shaft and bigger bearings. To prevent the classic "yer halfshaft's had it" when you strip down the hub. The advantage, I think, over the Summers Brothers solution, is that it uses much of the original system - including the hubs - but seeks to address the specific faults. The BIG question is ... does it succeed??? I mentioned wheels falling off to my Nearest & Dearest this evening and she said "Just do it!". I'm a more cautious person when it comes to shelling out money for (ahem!) UPRATED parts. I increasingly think that Triumph got a lot of things right. However, I also know that they didn't expect their cars to be tanking around the roads 50 years later with even MORE power than stock. All views welcome. Cheers, Richard

Scary indeed! Glad to hear you're OK Colin. Such a shame it wasn't too bad until the last leg of the journey. Cheers, Richard <THINKS> 150bhp through a drive train designed for 35bhp ... Now, how much were those Classic Driving Development half-shafts the club does?

I really did think we - i.e. the TSSC - made them a couple of years back. Or was there an announcement and nothing actually happened? Where's that "scratching the head" emoticon when you need it? Stop it Richard, you'll get splinters. Cheers, Richard

I think that, if your cooling system is marginal - i.e. suffering from silted up water ways &/or corroded radiator - then moving the plate down will help. But 1000's of Spits & GT6's didn't have a problem back in the day when they were nearly new, did they? East Berks in 2015 You can't see mine (back left), but check my signature. Cheers, Richard PS: Damn clever of those Triumph engineers to make the number plate double as a stone guard, eh?