chrishawley

The only car that got OE rimbellishers was the late Spitfire 1500 with 5.0J wheels. These had a very square/sharp profile and fitted deep and snuggly in the wheel offset. Everything else is aftermarket and have been a popular bit of bling since the 1980s. Profile is 'soft' with aggressive teeth. Had some on mine. And looked nice until the kerbing damage set in!

Thanks for the replies. Given they are not Timken I'll not worry my head over some possibly dodgy generics.

I don't have any direct experience of herald dashes or exactly what they are covered with but I've done several (black) dash tops on Triumphs and Jags of that era and always had a reasonable result with Foliatec. Cheers C

The bees knees for rescuing tired and faded vinyl is Foliatec. Really for interior vinyl but does the job on any vinyl just fine. Not many places have it so it might take a bit of searching. Used to come in gloss, satin and matt. But not sure if the satin one still exists. The gloss can look a bit artificial. The full kit is expensive and includes a primer, colour coat and sealant. But I've found one can use just the colour spray and get a perfectly good result. The good point is that it 'melts' into the vinyl to give a permanent recolour. The bad point is that it 'melts' into any other paint or material it gets on, so assiduous masking is required.

Could anyone help me identify these bearings? They got separated from the packaging. Am I right in thinking that 'LM' prefix is a Timken bearing (and therefore worth hanging on to)?

I've just had a new seal on my GT6 screen (same as 1500) . Bought form COH Baines. No problems with fit and good enough that no sealant was required.

Richard, If you looking for a manifold I've got a couple shortly to go on Ebay - but I'd be happy to sell direct. I've got; 311749/V3235 'GT6 type' - with central mounting for accelerator cable bracket 308671/v3153 'Vitesse' type - for bracket mounted on rear end of manifold Do message if you are still needful of a manifold. Cheers Chris

Most difficult! At risk of getting banned form the Forum for repeating myself I still want to say that the various aspects of panel fit/alignment on Spit/GT6 are not to be viewed in isolation: Everything from the valances back to the B-post has to be 'worked in' together. The only reliable datum points are the outer corners of the scuttle and their relation to the upper, outer, corners of the bonnet (right height together, 5/32 to 3/16th inch gap). But down to the specifics of your issue: I'd want to check two things next (following on from Alex, previous post) a) How does the lower (rear) edge of he door sit in relation to the forward extension ('foot') or the rear wing? If this is a nice fit then that acts as a reference point. But if that also is 2 - 3mm inward then that will need to be corrected before fitting the sill. b) Does the door follow a nice line with the trailing edge of the bonnet? And, if so, is the rear edge of the door in a nice line with the forward edge of the wing. With the available adjustment on the doorside hinge plates it may be worth playing with these lines to see of any of the 2 -3 mm can be taken up with slight rotation of the door. If every other aspect is good then the likely issue is how well the sill is made and it is commonly reported that repro sills are pressed too skinny in the middle section under the door. So it then becomes a case of getting extra width in the tread plate part of the sill. Easy to say, less easy to achieve elegantly. Three ways that I can think of: a) Simple and brutal: Slice along the length and re-weld. As previous post above. Simple but risks a lot of disortion. b) More elegant and adjustable: Slice off the lip and make an entirely new lip section from 1.0mm steel with a joddled edge. Weld the lip section in position then position of sill can be finalised by sliding in and out over the joddled face. Then weld. c) Panel beating; If the lip has enough upstand it may be possible to move 90 degree fold by beating over a heavy rectangular steel bar. But gaining 3 mm width would mean sacrificing 3mm in height of the lip. More tricky and requires more equipment. If, even with all the best efforts it doesn’t come up quite right all is not lost. It’s not too hard to ‘bulk up’ the top edge of the sill with a tough, hard setting, filler. While not to be recommended as first port of call, filler can add an extra couple of mm of improvement in pursuit of the best appearance realistically possible. By ‘tough /hard’I mean a metalised filler e.g. Alusoft.

Have you got the bumper off successfully yet? If not: The proper way a Spit 1500 bumper is fixed is with four 3/8th UNF bolts (9/16 AF head). Two are through the quarter valances into a weld nut on the bracket on the bumper. The other two are located at the hinge boxes and go through the bumper into weld nuts on the top face of the hinge box. The only other fixings are four 7/16th bolts securing the plastic overriders. The bolts on the hinge box are very difficult to get access to with the bonnet fully up. But if the bonnet is propped halfway up a socket on a medium length wobble extension bar will go on ok (or a cranked extension piece will do). Or remove bonnet entirely. Different size heads means a PO has done a work round at some point. On the valance fittings it's common for the welded nut to have shear off. Not to big a worry since, with delicate fingers, there's enough space to replace with a conventional nut and bolt and that works fine. The center fittings when seized are mostly like to shear the nut before pulling the weld nut off. Usually possible to drill out the stub and retap the thread. Or reweld a nut. But as you say your nuts are very much not welded on .......If there is a 'free' nut on the valance fitting then possibilities are a) to sacrifice a spanner by grinding it down so it can be slid in or b) Wedge a screwdriver (pref an disused one) forcibly between the nut and the bracket or c) as per previous post, grind. Hope that helps a bit

Dear Hag, I'd best most interested to know the outcome so do please post again. I had similar problems a while back with my XJ6; 'normal hot' was fine but 'hot on a hot day' was problematic much as you are experiencing. Eventually sorted with a recon rad and sorting out the absence of proper baffling ahead of the rad to direct all the through the rad rather than round the sides. Do please post again when you've tried the 'always on' fan.

I was wondering whether you have been able to get a solution to your misfire problem. Any luck? It occurred to me that if investigations of the ignition side are not proving fruitful then then there might be some scope for looking at the induction side. Misfiring exclusively when hot could fit in with an air leak on the induction side. Also I'm assuming you have CD150 carbs. These won't have a heatshield but are the insulation washers between the carbs and manifold present and correct? Other factors which might impinge on cooling capacity are a deteriorated water pump or 50 years of detritus in the internal waterways. Has the engine been rebuilt in living memory?

Hmmm. If attention to the ignition side of things isn't giving a good outcome then it might be worth investigating the induction side. 'Misfires only when hot' could fit in with a leak/crack in carbs, manifold or joints thereof which only becomes evident when everything is hot and expanded - a weak mixture results. Crude tests which might provide some evidence would be a 1) WD40 spray test, 2) when the engine is misfiring try the choke and see if more fuel offsets the problem. I'm assuming you've got CD150s and thus no heat shield. But are the insulating washers present and correct? If it's just a case of the top engine getting far too hot exploration might have to go beyond rads and fans and consider the internal condition of the water pump and whether a good couple of flushes is need to reduce 50 years of accumulated detritus in the waterways. For myself I'd be investigating ignition/distributor first but be prepared to focus attention elsewhere as well is nothing shows up.

Dear Scrapman, Would you be willing to part with it for a suitable sum? if so I could give you my contact details and perhaps think about the suitable level of £££s Cheers Chris

Thanks for the replies. What I've got is two rear windows. Neither have working heater elements and have picked up abrasions and scratches - doubtful if could be polished out but I've got some 3M polish I could at least try. Point taken about toughened rather than laminated - especially having just blown £120 on breaking a front screen putting it in. Ho hum. I didn't know that NOS would be a possibility (syndym or not would be fine) - NOS would be great. Any suggestions for a supplier? Many thanks for the comments. Chris

There is hope the GT6 (3) might get finished!!! I'm thinking about buying a new tailgate glass rather than up cycling one the existing rather tabby ones I've got. But before I part with £££lots does anyone have experience to say whether the repros are up to standard. By which I mainly mean do they fit alright without any fuss? Also, on the repros, are the heating elements applied to the surface or moulded into the glass? Any advice much appreciated. Regards Chris

I'm assuming the situation is sealing of the outside of the bonnet top to wing seam on a vehicle which has either had new wings or the original seam has been cleaned up and de-rusted. If you went a mid-price body shop what you would probably get is a generic polyurethane adhesive-sealant (e.g Starchem PU at £5 a tube). Applied with a caulk gun (Mastic gun) and finished off with a moist finger. I don't know Tetrosyl CSS310 in particular but the principle would be same. But to add a bit to that: • PU sealants are good and durable for some years. But many will dry to a gloss finish or 'sweat' and any paint applied over them may crawl off or crack a few weeks later. Similar to silicone bathroom sealant which won't accept paint. So it might be a good idea to do a test first. • Another approach to consider might be two pack epoxy putty. This would apply especially if the seam is uneven, pitted, or too wide. I've used Milliput on a job recently. It's bond's tightly to metal, dries tough and hard but can still be sanded to deal with any defects. Can be knifed deeply into the seam to help bury any inaccessible rust pits. More than one way to skin a cat here but I hope that's some help.

At first glance it does does look like there are more hoses than are needed. The flow through the system is illustrated in Fig 1 attached. How it works in practice slightly mystifies me because the water pump is receiving, all at the same time, cold water from the bottom of the rad, hot water from the cylinder head, and partially cooled water on the return pipe from the back of the inlet manifold. The thermostat housing is connected to the radiator twice; once via the fat hose and again via the narrower one to the neck. That's correct, although it seems plausible the the narrower one could be blanked off with no major loss of cooling. That's the setup. Is there a Guru who knows why the setup is that way?

The ebay one looks like absolute tut. For starters it not drilled either for the mounting bolts nor for cowling mountings - so that's a couple of hours bother putting that right. Fitchett's £210 + VAT is not unreasonable but a local repairer will be better because if the header is not servicable they can give you an opinion before parting with any money. Biting of bullets may be necessary! And the Chinese tut should stay where it belongs, In China.

The data sheet for Hydrate 80 is oblique as to what it contains. But most likely it'll be based around phosphoric, oxalic acid or citric acid or something like that. Any of these will tend to create a non conductive coating that can be a hindrance rather than help for welding. Clean metal always welds better! I use Jenolite for surface prep then just quickly clean the welding faces with a scourer (e.g. Scotchbrite). Fine for MIG. Then, wherever the joint is accessible, work in a rust inhibiting primer (e.g. Bondaprimer) with a fine artist's brush.

You're correct. Clockwise to stiffen. One click at a time. I can't remember exactly but it's about 12 clicks from full-soft to full-hard which is about half a rotation. Full soft (full anti clockwise) is very roughly the same as a standard shock so the upper end of the range might seem very hard for ordinary road use (opinions vary!!!) C

Some tugging and bending almost certainly required but here's a couple of suggestions to go along with that and which might minimise the bending required. - Confirm, in principle that the bonnet is going to fit ok. Using light weight ratchet straps or inelastic cord make a lasso to go right the way round over the bonnet and under the car in a ginourmous loop. Then press packing (e.g. polystyrene) under the strap in sticking out areas. If light packing improves the shape then you know you are on a winner. -If not already done use the available adjustments to maximum effect. a) Bonnet location cones: Move inward as far a reasonably possible. This will tend to tension the the bonnet top and may throw the lower edges of the wings inward (by a bit). b) Bonnet catch striker plates. The vertical position of these affects how much the lower wing edges are drawn in. Try various positions. c) Bonnet catch striker plates again: Shimming under the strikers (1, 2, 3, 4mm) may (depending on other factors) draw the lower lip inwards (by a bit). Another exploratory thing to look at it the relationship between the bonnet hinge tubes and the inner wheel arch. For example: Slacken but don't remove the middle bracket and remove the 1/4 inch screws from the rear bracket (at the apex of the wheel arch). With the bonnet in 'down' position push the wing edges into alignment with the sills (or use lasso as above). If the holes move out of alignment with the weld nuts on the bracket there may be scope for the holes to be elongated so that the wheel arch is tugged further inward (a bit) . I'd doubt that above suggestions would avert the need for some bending but they may reduce the problem and give some insight into where cautious bending is best applied. Hope that helps (a bit!)

Hi again. Let me express the deepest empathy; I've been in exactly this sort of situation with both cars I've had and it's most vexatious (but solvable!) . I get the impression that the evidence converges on the root problem being the geometry of the length of sill under the door. But before jumping in with another opinion could I ask a question? From your first photo it seems that the overhang of the door is greatest just above the the sill to rear wing seam but the tapers off toward the front of the door. Is this correct or just an illusion from the fall of the shadows? While I'm pondering further I can answer another question more firmly regarding the gap on the hinge side (your second problem). The question being 'How big should this gap be with the door closed?' I measured up on the GT6 and found something I hadn't noticed before: As the door is opened the leading edge moves forward. Took me a while to figure out the geometry of that but it has to be so because the hinge pivot point is behind the plane of the door skin. On the GT6 the sill -rear-end to leading-door-edge gap is just under 3mm with the door open which dictates just over a 6mm gap with the door closed. So that particular gap has to be fairly capacious to allow a respectable clearance + forward movement of the door - lets say something around 6mm (door closed). How big is your gap? I hope you are getting further forward in solving this. C

There is a wide range of experience and approaches to getting the best panel fit on Spits/GT6s so if I convey my own experience it's with lots of caveats. So.... My mentor Nigel Hall-Smith (now sadly passed) drilled into me the maxim; 'Don't cut without a diagnosis'. If there is poor fit the remedy should be directed to the cause, not the consequence. The single most useful tool for S/GT6 sills is the 6ft steel rule. Although these sills might look like they are curved in plan they are in fact near straight. The lower lip should be near perfectly straight in plan and elevation views and not at all bowed or banana'd. The line line along the front upper edge of the sill, across the door to fold on rear wing should be near straight all the way along. Assessment in this way may shed light on where the extra 10mm is coming from. Another pointer might be to carefully assess what is happening at the triangle between the trailing edge of the bonnet , the outer end of the scuttle and the front uppermost corner of the door. This corner provides about the only reliable datum point from which to work. Getting this 'triangle' right helps to set the height of the door correctly. If the door goes higher that may diminish the appearance of overhang on the lower edge. Similarly; does the top front corner of the sill line up to form a smooth curve with the wing's wheel arch. If it doesn't line up well then the whole sill is too far forward/backward/short. I'm assuming you've used the adjustment on the hinges to maximum effect but just to mention that repro hinges can be too thick and restrict the range of adjustment and benefit from skimming to allow the door to sit far enough in on the lower hinge. I could go on at length but I hope that provides some things to consider.

I would think that cutting two access holes in the sill end plates would not be a MOT problem. Two bits of the MOT test procedure would apply: a) is there a defect in a 'prescribed area' e.g. within 30 cm of of seatbelt mounting, suspension mounting, other structural element b) defect, even if not in prescribed area, significantly impairing structural integrity. Not that a neatly made, blanked, hole could be considered a defect but even if viewed that way it wouldn't fall under a or b as above. My wife's Copen passed three successive MOTs with nearly nothing left of the front sill ends (repaired now!).

Any advice? I'm planning to repaint the wheels on my GT6 (1970) and I generally use basecoat and clear. I would like to get a silver that is reasonably authentic for the period. But I haven't got anything original to match against. Could anyone help with suggestions with a paint name or code which might be appropriate? I've tried a few test swatches with various silvers (Fiat, Mercedes etc) but nothing looks right; too bright, too much sparkle. So I'd appreciate any suggestions rather than stabbing in the dark Cheers C