Ian Foster

Martin There is an article by by Chris Witor (IIRC) that describes the usage and development of the Stromberg 150 carb on the T2000 range and I think he said that the aluminium bushing for the jet is an early arrangement, replaced by brass. The carbs in your photo have the early choke arrangement, so I am thinking your car just be a Mk1. Ian

Just out of interest was the label on the front side of the spring? Does the stamped number correlate with the part number on Canley's parts diag/list. As far as I know, no one actually thinks there is a right and wrong way to fit the spring, so the 'factory procedures' theory is probably correct.

Interesting research Gav. I actually have a relatively new ignition switch so hopefully not a problem. I certainly matched the wire gauge when I brought the starter solenoid wire up to join onto the original feed from ignition to bulkhead solenoid, actually harvesting a nice length of red/white wire from my old wiring loom. Iain, if your starter is the issue, then no reason why you shouldn't retain the original bulkhead solenoid anyway. Gav, I think you said that you suspected that your bulkhead solenoid wasn't disconnecting cleanly. It would be interesting open up an original bulkhead solenoid (drilling out of rivets required IRRC) and see exactly what degrades after 50+ years. Might be an easy fix. Ian

Unusual looking bearing!

Hi Iain This is exactly the issue I was having and I suspect the internal contacts within the solenoid are corroded or eroded. If you rewire as per my posts of 7 and 8 May you will be by-passing the solenoid. Ian

I added an additional central leaf to my original rotaflex GT6 spring. I had tried a new spring but found it fairly hopeless. Owen Springs provide the new leaf (actually a pair and the other now resides in Nick's GT6) and all I had to do to accommodate it was to elongate the holes in the inner straps. It raised the rear ride height slightly and has increased the rear roll stiffness, which I felt always was an issue with the rotaflex spring. It has made a big difference to the handling of the car and the rear corner now doesn't dip when you turn in. With the swing spring design, this might be a bit more tricky, but anything is possible. Ian

Hi Iain Yes the cable from the battery and the cable to the starter are joined on the top post of the original solenoid. (ie the starter feed cable is moved from the bottom post to the top post). The red/white starter wire goes from the ignition (edited) to the starter. This effectively makes the original solenoid redundant. The original red/white wire to the solenoid needs to be disconnected and extended and I managed to harvest some original matching wire from my old wiring loom. When you start the car on the ignition switch, the red/white wire goes live and this energizes the starter's internal solenoid, throws the pinion into mesh with the flywheel and switches the main current to the starter motor. Retaining the original solenoid just made the wiring easier and with a new solenoid (which I have waiting in the spares drawer) would be readily reversible. Photo of solenoid attached (bit difficult to get a clear shot). Hope this helps Ian

Iain It might be worth checking the return earth path. Standard (on a GT6 at least) is engine to body and body to battery. If any of those connections are dirty or corroded, there will be a voltage drop which could be causing your slow cranking. This was identified as problem with my GT6 back in the 70s when I was struggling to get a decent crank with the old Lucas starter. If you make a direct connection from the engine to the battery you will know quickly whether this might be the issue. Another possible cause is corrosion within the solenoid, if you are still using it to pass the main current. I have a Powerlight starter on mine which works really well with 9.9:1 compression ratio, but had this issue and now just use the solenoid as a joining post for the starter main cable. The starter is actually switched internally by the solenoid that puts the pinion into mesh and I transferred the activation wire for the starter's solenoid from the starter body to the original solenoid post which is made live by the ignition/starter switch. (hope I've explained that ok) Ian

It's probably easier to replace stolen badges than repair damaged paint. Still hurts though. Mafia...yeh probably was. they must have wanted some decent badges on their Fiats and Ferraris. Ian

We drove my GT6 Mk2 through France to Florence at Easter circa 1980. Some scrote'o' pinched all of my badges. I have never forgiven the Italians and never will. Ian

Standard GT6 as far as I am aware. Unless you have an occasional rear seat (as if!) I still have my original front section and tank cover. The wheel cover section has been replaced in ply, thinned down locally to fit into the rear clips. My tool box and 'travel' socket set live very nicely on the drivers side. Ian

I had 13x5.5" Cobra Superslots on a Mk2 GT6 for many years, but they did rub a bit on the bulkhead, projected beyond the front arches and with the wrong tyre were very tight on the rear arches (I wonder why I bothered...alloys were faster right?). I think the ET was +11mm, which is a bit small. ET being the horizontal distance between the centre of the wheel rim and the mounting face of the wheel. Something like +16mm is probably the Goldilocks figure for a 5.5" rim on a Mk1 and 2 GT6, but I think the Mk3 (and presumably Mk4 and 1500 Spits have more generous arches. Ian

I did similar with Stromberg 175 CD2s on my GT6 Mk2, actually reducing height by 6mm. Some careful measuring was undertaken to ensure that the slide could still rise fully (not that I suspect it ever would). PDF of my AutoCad sketch attached for information. I'm afraid that doesn't answer your about thread on SUs, but it should be possible to identify it using thread profile gauges. I suspect something imperial, given the UK origin. Ian STROM 175 CD2.pdf

"I might have mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it!" Basil Fawlty

Pete Thanks for the comments. Seems like everything wants to eat rubber. Agreed. I have been even more careful what I selected this time. Ian

I have just finished changing out my flexible hose elements. I was a bit shocked by the condition, with cracking most noticeable on the outside of bends. There hadn't actually been any obvious leaks and interestingly there is no evidence of cracking internally, but I am sure it would have only been a matter of time. The old hose is marked W=SAE J30 R9 FUEL INJECTION 7.6mm and was changed in 2016 just prior to the CT RBRR. (sourced from a reputable supplier IRRC). Fuel has almost exclusively been 97-99 octane <5% ethanol. I have replaced it with Cohline-2240, which interestingly has Kevlar reinforcement. Gates Barricade as sold by the club shop would be suitable alternative. Beware and check those hoses! Ian

Ricard Have you tried FW Thorton. https://www.fwthornton.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwlumhBhClARIsABO6p-xOn5f9Z1ard6amwG0_aWqeM3QJ3R4Dm6Xco7laXQvsi1jjnjQ08MAaAplKEALw_wcB Ian

Think we are being miss-sold here. Based on the bonnet bulge and dash I would call that a Gitfire! (or Spitsix) Bit of a bitsa anyway, Triumph bonnet badge and a Mk3 Spit bootlid. What do we think about the chopped front bumper. This one appears to have been done quite well and is appealing in terms of improved cooling. PS Thanks for posting Alan PPS Pretty girls always go for the GT6s. (just ask my wife) Ian

By strange coincidence the April edition of The Courier has just arrived and Dave Rumens covers the subject of starter boxes in the Vitesse section. The photo of the disc used in article is similar to Nick's. Ian

Oh yes, forgot to mention this. I keep mine on the winter setting and just pull the choke out a bit less in the summer. Nick your disc has all holes drilled and looks to be quite progressive. Looks right! WSM shows setting distance of 1/16" (1.6mm) between choke cam and the head of the fast idle screw. Ian

OK, so the rays of understanding are starting to penetrate the fog of ignorance. If you look at the photo of the disc in the Buckeye photo, you can see that there is just one set of graduated holes. This is consistent with the starter box being used for one carb only (the other carb also has a starter box on the TR6). For the GT6, which only has a starter box on the front carb, the disc has two sets of graduated holes (as per attached pic), with one set feeding the brass transfer pipe to the rear carb. So returning to Owen's OP, if fuel cannot be seen in the transfer pipe, then it is entirely possible that the disc is assembled 180 deg out and fuel is not getting to the pipe. Also looking at the disc in my photo, the first hole is blank, the second tiny, the third small and the fourth much larger, suggesting that you would need to be on full choke to get a reasonable amount of flow. If the cable adjustment is not allowing this, then it could also be an issue. Ian

Can you explain what they do Pete? Ian

Based on my limited investigations, it would appear that there are various flavours of both discs and cams, as reference to two of the three spare carbs I have (courtesy of the late Alan aka-Old Tuckunder), have different markings to the ones fitted in my carb. One of the spares has a 'D' stamped on the cam, a 'P' stamped on the body and an 'R' on the disc. Another has a 'W' on the cam and an 'F' on the body, so there are obviously different combinations for each car application. If I compare the 'R' disc of the spare with the photo in the Buckeye article, it has no first drilling and the fourth drilling looks larger. The Buckeye article (last para) suggests that TR6s (TR250) were fitted with starter boxes on both carbs. There are also a pair of brass plugs or valves on the inside of the inner part of the body, which may be there as a result of the manufacturing process. They look more like plugs than valves to me so are probably not service items like fuel pump valves. If carbs are original to the car, then the combination of parts should be correct, but if the unit has been disassembled before it is quite possible that is has been put together wrongly. Ian

Owen I have 175CD2s on my my GT6 Mk2, but they have the same choke arrangement. I definitely see fuel in the transfer pipe when the choke is on. It is possible to assemble the choke disc incorrectly (180deg out) and there are quite a few small holes and cross drillings in the disc which might just be blocked. If you can get access to an ultrasonic cleaner that would be a great way to give it a really good clean out. I have attached an extract from the Buckeye Triumph (IIRC) website which covers the choke mechanism, which might be of help. Ian Scan_0111.pdf

I think 175/70 R13 might be the closest option. This works well with 5.5" rims but could be a bit wide for 4.5". As you already have two 5.5" rims you could put those on the rear and find one 4.5" to go with your existing one on the front. 5.5" original pattern steel wheels might be difficult to find and expensive. I did have 13x5.5J steels on my GT6 mk2 for many years before changing to Cobra Supaslots. Both now sold, as I am running 13x5.5 Revolutions (+25mm ET with 6mm spacers). Ian