chrishawley

Auto Electrical Spares have a wide range of rocker (and other) switches many of them in a style more aesthetically sympathetic to a classic than a 'modern generic'. Poss worth a look. Sounds like what you want is an suitably rated (as per post above) 'click, make or break' switch. The 'best' way to wire in a electric fan is definitely a case of 'as many men, so many opinions'. For me the Revotec wiring diagram is both a blessing and a curse. The good aspect is that it allows the fan to run on after the ignition is turned off until cooling has occurred. But the bad aspect is that the switch would allow the fan to be left running constantly with ignition off and at 10 - 12amps battery drain would rapidly supervene. And possibly (not sure) the Revo wiring might not allow the illumination of an illuminated switch to illuminate.

There's so much that could said about aligning doors! May I add some thoughts into the mix? When aligning doors it can be useful to take a critical look to see if the bonnet fit is as good as it should be. Does it really sit well? For example; the profile of the front wings is influenced by the interaction between the bonnet adjusting cones and the and bonnet catch plates. Too much tension in the wrong position will 'flatten' the wing such that the door never looks right adjacent to it. Similarly the lower trailing edges of the wings need a nice line along the sills. If there's a 'step' (in or out) from wing to sill the door alignment can't look right. In total there are 15 screws which influence the door alignment (3 on the striker plate, and 3 on each of the hinge attachment points. And all of these have to be adjusted in concert. One ruse to help with setting the position of the hinges on the scuttle is masking tape. Having got some initial position put strips of masking around the edges of the hinge plates and mark around with a fine pencil. The tape doesn't solve anything but it enables one to keep track of what effect further adjustments are having. So for example if it's a case of 'I need 1/8th inch lift at the front' there's something to which to refer. The striker has its own sources of devilment! Commonly striker plates will be worn on the lower tongue because the body of the latch is hitting on this when the door is closed and riding up in the process. Thus the striker is determining the position of the rear of the door. But ideally it should be the other way round: The door should be the right height at the rear first and then the height of the striker should be adjusted such that the latch enter the striker without hitting the lower tongue. But in getting there a ruse is to deliberately set the striker too high (e.g 1/8 to 1/4 inch), close the door and the adjust the fasteners on the hinges at the front. Open door and remove striker. The rear of the door will have dropped according to degree of flex and hinge wear. Repeat as necessary. Once correct the striker can be adjusted so the latch goes into it without interference. The striker may or may not require shims under it. For example, if the door gap is too narrow at the rear shimming the striker helps to persuade the door forward. Staying with striker: With no rubber seals fitted when the door is shut there will be a lot of free movement in an out. A correctly fitting rubber should take up this slack but not offer marked resistance to the door being shut. When aligning a door it can be useful to have the drop glass fitted. The glass needs to sit nicely at the right angle to the frame and this can be checked periodically during the process. Lastly, for now at least, the hinge mountings on the doors allow not only in/out movement or front of the door but also rotation of the whole door along the car's axis (i.e. the door is moved 'in' on one plate while being pulled 'out' at the other plate by the operator). Can be quite stiff though and firm pressure or firm pulling is needed to get the full range of available adjustment. It's all a time consuming faff doing doors but getting it as right as possible makes a huge difference to the appearance of a vehicle.

Problems with these fuse boxes far from uncommon. Leaving the radio feed out of the consideration for the moment: The dip flasher, horn and roof light are all fed from the same fuse so a single problem at the fuse is probably more likely than three separate problems. Which fuse? It'll be the one getting unswitched live from the starter solenoid terminal which in practice means the one with a single brown feed on the back which goes 'out' through four purples. I could suggest a couple of rough and ready ways to investigate. One is simply to remove fuse, clean up terminals and the scrunch in some baking foil where the terminals are then replace fuse. The extra bulk and conduction may tickle the connections back into action. Or: Take a fly lead directly for battery positive terminal and connect directly to the 'out' side of the fuse and see if the circuits in question are now active. No harm in doing this since this fuse is unswitched in any case. If these tests produce zilch then check that the 'in' side of the fuse block (for the fuse in question) is getting 12v via the brown (multlmeter easiest but bulb test also fine of course). If no voltage then there could be a 'hard break' in the brown wire or a failed connection at the solenoid.The male spade terminals on the soleniod can with time loosen and break off. That's hardly a comprehensive plan of investigation but it covers some common scenarios. One other tip is that typical unbranded fuses have metal end caps which are about 1mm smaller diameter than original Lucas fuses so make a less decisive connection in the fuse box. If poss getting some OE Lucas can be helpful. I'm not sure why the radio is dead as well. The radio feed should be on an entirely different circuit (unfused and switched off the back of the ignition switch in position 2. So might be simpler to leave radio out of the equation until dip flasher, horn and roof light are sorted.

AFAIK all GT6 mk3s had body coloured ventilation louvres. My GT6 is was registered in May '71 and that has them in body colour. I can't speak for all the previous Mk3s (Oct 70 - April 71) but chrome is maybe unlikely. There was on ever one part number (909453/4) so no indication of a documented change in style. Yup, and the ventilation extraction was changed on the Mk3 from the smaller type on Mk2 and none on the Mk1.s

That's a real poser! But for what it's worth here's what I can think of: • Most earth returns (batt neg) come back through the loom(s) and are bundled together and attached in common with the battery 'black' cable on the welded nut on the side of the battery tray. • Rear light units - Lucar tabs on the light units connect to the black cable in the rear loom and go back to battery. But common practice to supplement these with fly leads earthing the light units directly to the body • Heated rear window: From right hand tab and goes to earth under one of the nuts affixing the tailgate hinge mechanism to body. • Courtesy light switches on A-post. Earth return through body of switch. • I think there's an earth return on the dash loom which goes under one of the knurled nuts securing speedo or tacho. Maybe, I think. • Starter soleniod; earth through its body directly to scuttle • Horn earth: Braided earth strap across the low steering splined joint. Then another braided earth from steering rack nipple to chassis bracket for anti-roll bar. • Engine earth: At least on my GT6 this is a heavy braided cable from bellhousing running back behind battery to the earth common point (as above) • Front lights: Early models are earthed to a local chassis point. Later GT6 earth returns are through loom to battery common point. • Points. Tiny little black cable inside distributor jumping the base plate down to the distributor body. • Wiper motor. Eyelet on loom down to screw fixing motor retaining strap. I doubt that's comprehensive or necessarily 100% precise but I hope its a help.

I apologise for any previous reference I made to Whitworth. I'm glad this erroneous statement was quashed promptly. It's obviously wrong despite what the factory manuals say. Manuals say that GT6/vit is 9/16th Whit, 2000/2.5 says 17/16th Whit and late Spit as 9/16 UNF - which I now know can't necessarily be trusted. So I spoke to the machinist in the Unit next to me. 40 years experience. old skool. Pointed me in the direction of the Unified constant pitch series of threads as specified under ASME B1.1. Lo and behold Unified 9/16 28 tpi is a designated part of the 'constant' series. So it's a recognised standard, just an obscure one. No idea where to get tap/die for that size.

Can't generalise as variations across the years (e.g. dolly not same a gt6) but 9/16 Whitworth is definitely one that was used commonly. Whit's 12tpi on 9/16. For unified on 9/16 UNC is 12tpi, UNF is 18 tpi and UNEF 24tpi. If 105438 was for GT6 then Whit is the most likely. Whit and UNC can be hard to tell apart but they are not interchangeable due to the different thread form.

It's surprisingly complicated when one thinks about it detail! A Jubilee clip has a specified range (roughly stated) of the min/max circle diameter it is possible for the clip to achieve. So, for say a 11mm ED rubber pipe the suitable JC would be a 9.5 - 12mm. But there's a but: As a JC is hoiked up towards it minimum diameter the figure it forms becomes less and less circular. Doesn't matter two hoots on, say, a garden hose, but on critical applications (e.g. hydraulic fluid returns, fuel lines) this lack of circularity can be a significant issue. In such circumstances a screw and nut type clip can be used which is much better at remaining circular, and providing even clamping as tightened. So for this type of clip a 11mm ED pipe would take a 9 - 11mm specification. So for your example of a 9mm ED pipe a 9 - 14mm JC may produce weak and un-circular clamping. I hope that's some sort of an answer!

I'm supposing there will be a wealth of experience to advise you on this so I'll just stick to factors which I've experienced first hand: For 'die then recover' I've had: * Fuel tank shedding detritus enough to partially obstruct the forward fuel line. The tank had been refurbed but shed an atrocious amount of crud after it's first fill. • Obstructed needle valves in one or both carbs - general filth +/- flakes of rubber from fuel lines • Obstruction of the interconnecting pipe between the carbs • Carb flooding due worn needle valves (not returning) or poorly fitted sealing washer between NV and carb body (leaking) • Intermittent loose/poor electrical connections almost anywhere from battery through to distributor. • Impending failure of electronic ignition unit (Accuspark) - intermittent problems first, follwed by complete failure. I guess there are many other possibilities beyond my knowledge but those are ones I've dealt with first hand. Hope that helps with thinking about the problem.

Yup. Vast majority of such panels are 19 or 20 SWG i.e. 0.8 to 1.0mm. A couple of other thoughts that might contribute to minimising heat distortion are a) don't skimp on the gas, b) the repair section not to be a tight fit in the parent metal to allow for expansion and to 'take up' the extra metal that is being fed in by the MIG wire.

Yup. A Spit must have a stabilising strap mounted on the bell housing otherwise the exhaust down-pipe gasket will fail quickly. Rear of center pipe to be supported at the left hand differential mounting. I used a rubber flexible mounting from a Metro but almost anything will do.

I assume you have the Draper DMM300. Just so happens I was using mine today to confirm the manual adjustment of the points. Instruction manual is not at all comprehensive. So: Black lead to COM, red lead to V/Ω. Turn on meter and check 'hold' and 'max' functions have not been turned on. With meter set to '4-cyl' but not connected to anything the meter should read 90 degrees dwell (i.e. 100% dwell time for 360/4). Start engine. Black lead down to a firm earth e.g battery negative terminal and red lead to coil negative (i.e. points side of coil). Should now give a stable reading of dwell which fluctuates by only half a degree or so. Of course the meter is supposed to work on negative earth systems!!!! Apart from a duff meter the only other things I can remotely think of which might mess the dwell measurement are a failing condensor or wrong coil (e.g. 6V 'ballasted' coil on a non ballast system) but since the car is running fine that wouldn't seem likely.

I can't give direct experience but I can advise the utmost caution. The website provides insufficient info to validate that the company even exists (no address, no landline, no trading number) although having said that it's pretty obvious it's VIetnam as that's were the stainless bumpers have been coming from for the last 15 years or so. If I were going to buy a replica SS bumper I'd do it through a UK seller (e.g. Rimmers do some) because then if it's a pile of junk there is some comeback. I've had experience of VW camper and Mini replica bumpers and the results have been varied. Some have been reasonable and given an ok fitted result; Others have been so bad as to just be a joke - wouldn't fit the vehicle at all. Enough reason to make me circumspect about all claims in this area. And forget the hype about polished stainless being 'like chrome'. Sure, polished SS can carry a pleasing finish but it's always yellow/dull compared to chrome which is blue/bright. (Stainless is stainless because the surface oxidises readily not because is doesn't).

Can anyone advise how/where to get a good quality set of hammer-through screwdrivers? Not that I like hammering screwdrivers but necessary now and again, and the hex end is handy where spanner assistance is required. Purchased a spare set about a year ago and not that cheap. But on opening were just chinky crap.The shaft of the screwdriver(s) wasn't even bonded into the handle and as for the 'thru' bit there wasn't any, just a faux hex capping on the end which would happily spin on its own. It was a case of the non-hammer through non screwdriver set. What I want is a PROPER hammer through screwdriver set where there shaft goes right through the handle and terminates in a hex which is actually a part of the shaft. Don't mind paying decent money for the proper thing. Ideas? Cheers C

If it's desperate last measure before having to fork out $$$lots then might be worth a try with Fabsil (the stuff used for waterproofing tents, raincoats etc). Absolutely drench the material with it repeatedly, but keep it off paint or other furnishings. It may just give a little bit of extra stretch allowing a 'closed'' position to be achieved.

If they are properly soldered or properly crimped then a firm pull will generally release them. There is a special 'bullet closing' tool (e.g ALT/SSC1-09) for putting them back together but 99% of the time finger pressure or blunt screwdriver will do just fine. If they break on removal then usually they were on their last legs anyway; like LUCARs, the copper corrodes, hardens and fractures at the base. Easily replaced: soldering is fine but can be a faff. Or better, use the special bullet crimp tool (e.g. ALT/SSCT1-02) dear for what it is but does produce a reliable result even in confined spaces where soldering may not be easy.

Henlow car centre?

Of the number of times I've offered the benefit of my advice about this sort of problem at a distance I've been wrong 50% of the time. But here goes anyway! My guess would be that the issue is on the ignition side rather than carburation or internal condition of engine. Or, to be more precise, it's aspect I'd investigate first. Assuming one still has the original distributor a way to proceed would be to substitute the Powerspark unit with the original one with its own points, condensor, cap and leads (such as are to hand and in fair condition) and leave the vacuum blanked off at both ends. Outcome will be a) improved = diagnosis is the Powerspark unit, b) No change = diagnosis is not the PS unit, c) worse/differently worse = no useful info. And of course, swapping between points and EI and vice verse necessitates re-timing. If 'a' that would be no surprise to me because I've had two EI units fail in under 100 miles: One because it was spiked off a superboost battery charger and one because it just failed. If 'b' then i) multimeter check that with engine running there is a 'clean and stable' 12v to coil (I'm assuming your system is unballasted). If suspect, coil can be hot-wired off the battery for further checks) ii) check coil for approx 3 ohms across primary winding (if 1.5 ohms it's the wrong coil) and between primary and secondary windings many megaohms (varies by coil but lets say 10). Another exploratory investigation is to get a new, correctly gapped, sparkplug and connect directly to coil and touch down to engine block. Cranking should then give a good spark at twice engine rpm. Repeat with each plug lead which should then give spark at half engine rpm. Rather hard to describe what a 'good' spark looks like compared to a 'feeble' one so that's a matter of judgement. But any variance between the 'coil' spark and the 'individual plug' spark narrows down the area of enquiry a bit. Without trying to cover everything in one post some other experiences I've had with this sort of thing are. • Triumphs: Air leaks in breather pipes, no oil in dashpots, air leaks at inlet manifold, wrong needles or jets • Mini: Unpredictable misfire: Compression test seemed reasonable(ish) (15% variation) but valves, guides, seats all severely deteriorated • VW T2; Misfire, poor pick up. On strobe timing could be seen to be 'dancing' and flitting around all over the place. Extreme wear in distributor drive gear and distributor shaft. I have the premonition that everything I've mentioned above is wrong (!) but I hope it might stimulate some thoughts about how best you can proceed with further investigation.

Entirely possible to use shims between hinge and tailgate itself, if and when required. But it's a subtle matter because shimming one side 'up' throws the other side 'down'. Much experimentation can be required to get a balance between the sides. But if without any seal the 'gate is sitting nicely at all four corners then one could say that the basics of the panel alignment are correct and shimming would not be relevant. The seal you've got definitely looks wrong. At a guess it looks like a 16mm or even 19mm bead. If one is going to use a beaded top seal (rather than lip) it's most likely to be 8mm, 10mm or 12mm bead. But just which would depend on the particulars of the vehicle. Once the basic fit of the 'gate is right then the seal is the most important factor in determining the final position. But it is also worth taking a critical look at the lip on the body aperture and the corresponding inner face in the 'gate itself. If there have been repairs then there may be high spots which need to be dealt with. What I'm about to say is possibly completely wrong. If I recall DX73 is a side-lip seal. Which would mean that the only thing for the gate to 'hit' on when it closes would be the hard rubber where the seal is pushed on to the lip. If one's going to use a lip seal then might it need to be a top-lip? Such that the closing is onto the lip. ??? An additional point for examination is how well any seal pushes on as it traverses the nylon striker plate for the catch. Especially if there have been former repairs the nylon may obstruct the seal from pushing all the way down on the lip, creating a high spot. Easily remedied but may not be obvious on casual inspection.

Any progress?

I was just wondering whether you've made any progress on the paint issue. Painting sounds sooo simple when one reads the 'how to do it books' but the reality is different and most is learnt through experience. Looking at your photos I get the impression less of fisheyes (silicones) and more of generalised reaction of the colour coat. Now I can't back this up with firm experience but it's within the bounds of possibility that UPol's panel wipe is formulated on the assumption of using a 2-pack paint system and not compatible with cellulose. I suppose the only way to prove that is to spray out a test piece and do a half and half comparison of panel wipe v no panel wipe. Cellulose is a lot harder to use than 2-pack, although cheaper. One aspect is that cellulose uses a large percentage of very solvent thinners whereas 2-pack has a small percentage of (relatively) non-solvent thinners. Cellulose thus has more propensity to 'wake up' incompatibilities in any previous coats under the most recently applied primer. If the area has not been bare metaled there's always a possibility that either one pack acrylic or (worse) synthetic has been applied at some time in the past which then reacts with any fresh application. Hope you make good progress on this. I'd be interested to know the final diagnosis.

After innumerable suspension and steering problems, to cut a long story short, I settled on a laser wheel alignment. All well and good and the car came back with everything 'on spec'. Except that on the road it's not quite right: On the straight it just feels a bit vague and doesn't self center that well. Would it make sense to experiment with a tadge more toe-in at the front? Maybe an extra 16th inch? What about the rear? Best left alone? Overall the handling's pretty reasonable so it's more about tweaking rather than fixing. As ever, advice would be much appreciated. C

Unlikely that Triumph ever fixed the decals in a truly standardised position so what I have is a bit different. For the boot: If ‘A’ is form the corner of the ‘E’ then I have 2.75 inches. Id ‘B’ is from ‘0’ going downward then I have 2 and 3/16the inches But in addition the text is slightly tilted such that a line dropped for ‘1’ is 2 and 1/16th inches to the egde of the lid Bonnet If A is from the ‘e’ going laterally then I have 1 and 5/8th inches. If B if from the ‘e’ going down (forward) the curve measures 5 and 1/8th inches C from the ‘s’ going down: I have 5 and 7/8th inches

It's the right sort of stuff. But...... If panels have become heavily contaminated (e.g. long term storage, been in an environment where oils or waxes have been misted) then the contaminants may be so widespread and soaked in that panel wipe can't lift them all out. In which case flatting and re-priming in 2-pack may be the only option. Or in the most extreme cases an isolator primer is needed. Only rarely are airlines the culprit assuming that the compressor isn't knackered and that a remote oiler for air tools hasn't been used. But to control both water, but also other contaminants, a spray gun should not be run straight off the compressor. At least one, but maybe two, level(s) of filtration should be in place between the compressor and the gun. I always use at least one of a) an in line filter b) a filter regulator. Or both. Anti-silicone drops are good stuff and minimise fisheyes pretty well. They can be used as a matter of routine. But they do alter the 'feel' of paint so a few minutes practice 'off the job' is a good idea. Another factor which helps to suppress fisheyes is using a dust coat before applying the full coat. And giving that dust coat plenty of time (or warmth) to nearly fully harden before going in with the full coat .Won't eliminate silicones but is one more help. I've assumed we're talking about 2-pack here. The issueswq with basecoat and clear are a bit different.

Yup, concur completely about. My GT6 is nearing completion so I had it MOT'd. Given I've done a nut and rebuild I could have supposed that everything would be just so. Errr...... The (old skool) MOT man found; 1) excessive stiffness in steering 2) Locking tabs not turned over on rear hubs 3) Anti roll bar drop link bush fallen out Not exactly major issues and all quickly fixed. But would have gone unfixed without MOT.