Ian Foster

Good quality ones are readily available from the specialists eg Gower and Lee. Ian

Joe Sounds as though there might be an issue with how the insulators are fitted. If so and if it's a case of just flipping them over, then it's a nice easy fix. The carbs need to be locked together to carry out the piston lift mixture check....and balanced as I mentioned above. If you don't have a balancer (a piece of tube will also work), then you can establish a basic set up by backing off the throttle stops (carb linkage independent) winding the screws until they just contact the stops and they screwing in by an equal number of turns on each. Tighten the linkage after. If any subsequent adjustments are need as long as you do the same on both, it should be in balance. Good luck. Ian

Joe You are revving each carb separately by moving the lever on the shaft that rests on the throttle stop. When you rev the rear carb the centre part of the linkage (where the throttle cable attaches) moves, but doesn't seem to move when you rev the front one. Are the throttle spindles locked together ? Ian

I think Triumph struggled with their twin carb airbox design, as there are many iterations from the early cars to later Spitfire and Dolomite boxes. The late saloon box has an enlarged box with a centre bottom feed. My GT6 Mk2 already had 175 CD2s on it when I bought it in 1977, but with an empty original airbox. Clearly a case of someone just slapping bigger carbs on. In my ignorant youth I put on a pair of wire gauze pancakes, which probably didn't filter or flow well, but made a lot of sucky noise. I subsequently bought a pair of K&Ns which I still have to this day which actually work well giving decent power and economy, but I am troubled by the fact that they are probably drawing hot air when the car is not moving. The early GT6 box had a pair of open tubes in the front and by the time they got to the MK3 Triumph had added the feed pipes. This arrangement seems to favour the front carb and there is a rectangular hole in the bottom of the box under the rear carb which is perhaps intended to compensate for this (or to let water out). The later Spitfire and Dolomite boxes have indentations in the cover (and presumably unequal length tubes internally) to distribute more air to the rear carb. There isn't space on my GT6 to do this. The TR(250) boxes seem to have various slots on the sides of the box, perhaps to address this issue, but surely this then also allows in hot air in when stationary. I have made a mock up of a new airbox to enclose my K&N filter elements, which flares out forward of the front filter (making use of the shape of the wheelarch) in order to accept a larger diameter single air duct into the radiator cowl. I have yet to commit the design to metal/glass fibre/carbon fibre, but it might just happen this winter. Ian PS Paul you have some very nice shiny bits.

Have the carbs been balanced. If not there is not much chance of obtaining a decent idle. A flow meter is ideal (Crypton Syncrocheck, Webber or Gunsons Carbalancer), but a length of smallish diameter tube held in the carb throat and next to the ear, works surprisingly well. You'll need to slacken off the tie bar between the two throttle spindles and adjust each carb independently on the stop screws. (remember to retighten the tie connections afterwards) Ian

Good decision. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Ian

Gav Here's a photo of the manifold side of the engine. Not very clear I'm afraid as exhaust manifold is partially obscured by the heat shield. The finish is a very light silver as you can see. (I also fettled the manifold to port match the head, whilst it was off the car) Ian

Sorry Gav but it's not an invoice I have kept. Wasn't a great cost IIRC. I'm sure they will give you price over the phone. Ian

Gav I used QSE Metal Blast on the Nuffield Estate, Poole. Blast and aluminium spray coating. It's holding up well. https://www.metalblastdorset.co.uk/ Ian

Alan +1 for Mintex M1144. I have used them in my GT6 for years and have recently fitted a set to my Honda S2000. Very good cold or hot. Ian

Dave You might also like to consider Cibie H180 units, which when fitted with Philips VisionPlus bulbs are awesome (better than our moderns). To get maximum benefit and to take load off the switch, add relays. Ian

I find keeping it (them) well lubricated with white spray grease helps. Ian

I would agree that the original fuse box is a bit basic and not very user friendly for adding additional electrical items. I have added a supplementary fuse box on the bulkhead which has a live feed off the starter solenoid. This box supplies various ancillary systems (headlamps, Huco fuel pump feed (but also relayed), electric fan/12V sockets and washers) Also a fuel inertia cut off switch on the bulkhead behind the battery, which gives some peace of mind in case of an accident.

Chris I use the Koni 80-1717s on my Mk2 with a bespoke bracket, which also corrects the fore/aft alignment (as posted previously). We we rebuilt the car in 2010/11, we went away from the arch mount due to significant corrosion and fatigue issues. As stated the Konis have and open/ closed length of 292/216 which works well. The units are adjustable but must be removed from the car make adjustments. I use the dampers with a spring that we have uprated by adding an additional leaf in the centre (now 7 leaves) and the ride is actually really good now. Ian

Syncro check....to....chocolate biscuits. Epic drift!

Not sure he after just water! Anyway that's a great story. I have an an original boxed Syncro check Model B89, which I found on ebay after much searching and yes they typically go for north of £50. Mine has a rubber cone. Works really well and much better than the basic Gunsen Carbalancer jobbies. The only adjustment on the gauge itself is the small black knob, which is moved in or out to 'adjust the meter to approximately half scale'. Get the car up to temperature, slacken off one of the pinch bolts on the linking bar and adjust the throttle stops until both carbs give an equal flow on the gauge. Retighten the pinch bolt (before revving). Well worth doing! Ian

Neil My Mk2 also came out of the factory as non O/D with a 3.27 diff. I swopped out the ageing gearbox for an O/D unit from a Vitesse, (in the days when such things could be harvested from the local scrappy), subsequently briefly tried a 3.63 recon diff but actually reverted back to a 3.27, which probably did circa 80k miles. This was again swopped for a Canley recon 3.27 unit when (actually soon after) we rebuilt the car in 2011 and it has done 15k miles since. I understand that 3.27 units were originally built with Gleeson gear sets which required a specific carrier and I believe this is the weak part of the original axle. Dave Pearson at Canley's explained that they now use 'Orlicon' pattern sets from Turkey, which do not require the original 3.27 carrier. LSD conversions are available from 2spec Transmissions. See attached research document. With the 3.27 diff, in top gear 70mph = 3400rprm and with a 25% D or J type O/D this reduces to 2800rpm. Ian GT6 LSD.pdf

John I have a 600g dry powder extinguisher which fits nicely inside the forks of my steering lock and both are placed under the front edge of the drivers seat, nestling behind the cross member. Nice and close for action if required (but hopefully not....ever!) Ian

Gav Invoice says 30 August 2013, so probably quite a good innings! It was an Exide 069 70AH Mileage over that period is circa 12,000 miles, which includes the 2016 and 2018 RBRRs. I generally keep the battery on a CTEK smart charger which is on for a couple of hours a day, via a time switch to make use of my PV energy. Ian

In retrospect, the electric fuel pump took longer to prime yesterday, which I put down to more evaporation from the float bowls due to the warm weather. Cranking was not unusually slow. Only when the new battery was fitted did I really notice a difference. Should be OK for a few years now....until the next time. Ian

So I am travelling to my annual MOT and am running early, so I pulled into a layby to wait 20 mins or so. It's quite warm in Dorset today, so I had been using the electric fan a bit in traffic. Nothing unusual there. I went to restart and the ignition and oil light came on as normal, but it wasn't interested in starting. Turn ignition off and back on and ign/oil lights are dimmer. No start (obviously). Bonnet up, nothing obviously amiss. Luckily at that point a chap returned to his car parked in front of me, took an immediate interest and offered a jump start with a nice set of leads. That worked just fine and got me to my MOT, but with the volt meter running near 15V. At the MOT garage the multimeter came out and it was fairly clear the battery had failed. After the static part of the test the car was restarted with a jump pack to get on the brake rollers and then again when I was ready to leave (with my new MOT). I the drove 25 miles to my usual nearby tyre and battery emporium and a test showed only 10.5 volts and under load test only 42 (thingies) when it should have been 500 (probably a cranking test). I have had batteries fail before, usually in cold conditions, but never like this. Anyway all's well that ends well and apart from being a bit poorer, I'm happy the failure occurred when and in the manner it did. We're off to the Sherborne Castle show on Sunday, so I feel I have dodged a bullet. Ian

Mike If it's a leather seal, soak it overnight in oil before fitting. Ian

It could just be a weep from the rocker box. Dry it off and monitor. Ian

I would be inclined to check that the manifold ports match the head, either by using the new gasket (may not be perfect) or making a rubbing with thin card. My original cast manifold needed some fettling to match my reworked head. Ian

A faulty condenser will certainly cause a misfire under load and I had this issue on my GT6 (Delco) many years ago. Luckily I was carrying a spare and a simple swop sorted it out. The quality of aftermarket condensers can be iffy so try and source from a reputable dealer of substitute one from another car that is known to be OK. Ian