Nigel Clark

I've used standard County bearings on a couple of six cylinder rebuilds and they seem fine. Reusing bolts is okay if in good condition but I always use a little Loctite as a precaution. Nigel

To add to the experience of VSR, I ran my GT6 for about 30k miles on premium unleaded without additives before stripping the engine. There was very little sign of recession. Driving was a mixture of local A and B roads with some motorway miles too, so the engine worked fairly hard but didn't spend much time above 4,000rpm. The Ford Essex V6 in my Scimitar has been similar, with no VSR problem after 20k miles on unleaded, and that has done a lot of motorway miles. I suspect VSR is really only likely to be a problem at sustained high rpm in competition. Nigel

Are those 'bump stops' a standard fitment? Could be wrong, but I don't recall seeing them before. I wonder if an ingenious previous owner drilled holes and fitted rubber blanking plugs as improvised buffers. Nigel

Could be as simple as a failing master or slave cylinder. Nigel

+1 That's been my experience too. The only way I could get the compacted crud out of the water jacket around cylinders 5 and 6 was cylinder off, then dig it out with a small screw driver and flush with plenty of water. Nigel

That sounds like a thorough plan. Having done that, you will know for certain that all the basics of the cooling system are right. Waterless coolant is a Marmite product, personally I'm not a believer and will not use it in my classics. One point to add... Airlocks. When refilling with coolant, make certain the heater valve is open and jack the front of the car as high as possible, to encourage any trapped air out through the radiator filler neck. Start the engine without the filler cap on the radiator, then fit the cap after a couple of minutes, when air has burped out and you've topped up the coolant. Nigel

I recently fitted an alloy radiator in my Scimitar GTE. The temp gauge has stayed reassuringly low at around 80-85C during recent hot weather, when before it would hit 90-95C in traffic with the old radiator. That said, the old radiator was in a bad state, not leaking but looked like it had been there since the car was built in 1977! Nigel

Chris Witor implied the same to me regarding 6 pot head gaskets, so I bought what he recommended for my GT6. Canley supply a non Payen head gasket for the 4 pot engines, and I trust Dave Pearson to sell parts that work Nigel

Thank you to all for your suggestions. In the end, I decided to pay extra to get a sensor that's guaranteed to fit easily, so have ordered from Revington. Nigel

Hi Richard, When I first got my GT6 about 20 years ago, it struggled with cooling. After trying electric fans, in front and behind the radiator, I concluded they made matters worse by obstructing air flow. I built a similar cowl to yours, from alloy sheet pop riveted together. It transformed cooling with only the standard crank driven fan. The engine now normally runs at about 40% deflection on the standard temp gauge, rising to 60-70% gauge deflection in traffic. Pointing a digital IR temp thingy at the thermostat housing gives readings of 75-85 Centigrade when really hot. More important, nothing bad has happened, the engine has run happily like this for many years and thousands of miles. Hope this is some help and reassurance! Nigel

Height at front 10mm from main chassis rail, height at back about 18mm, horizontal top surface for radiator to mount 60mm. There are 5/16" unf captive nuts in the bracket to bolt the radiator onto. Nigel

I've found these olives frequently weep a bit of fuel. Once the olive is correctly seated, a couple of turns of PTFE tape can help. I know it shouldn't be necessary but out usually works! Nigel

Here's a pic from my GT6 Mk3. The front of each radiator bracket is 35mm back from where the main chassis rail joins the front cross member that supports the valence. Nigel

I would also recommend Canley Classics for gaskets, indeed for any Triumph parts you need. I covered a professional rebuild of a Spitfire engine for Practical Classics magazine last year. The pro engine builder used Treebond 1215 as gasket jointing compound, because "he doesn't want leaks causing warranty claims". Nigel

Good call! That's what I did on my TR6. Before it would sweat oil from numerous locations when worked hard. Now the oil all remains inside the engine. Nigel

Here's the oil thermostat on my 2.5 litre GT6. Nigel

There's no question an oil cooler without thermostat will over cool the oil on all but long runs in hot weather, or track day thrashing. It's likely the mayo is nothing more than condensation trapped in oil that has never got hot enough to drive off the water as vapour. I wouldn't be worrying about head gasket replacement or an engine rebuild, at least not yet. Fit an oil thermostat in the lines to the cooler and give the car a few long fast runs then change the oil and filter (draining the oil while still hot). Clean any remaining mayo from inside the rocker cover and the catch tank and see whether the mayo reappears. My bet is it won't, unless the car only does short runs where the oil never gets time to warm up. Nigel

Soft brake pedal is the only warning, well that and reduced brake efficiency. Still better than a failure in a single line hydraulic system! Nigel

Early TR6s didn't have a PDWA or warning light, though Ziggys 1973 car probably does. Nigel

All TR6s have dual circuit brakes. The symptoms you describe could be due to air trapped, not having bled fully, in one of the hydraulic circuits. Nigel

Base oils are quite stable and unlikely to degrade much over long periods but the high pressure additives may not last so well. Also modern oils are formulated with more advanced additives. As Mathew says, use it for non critical jobs. Only use a decent modern oil for high pressure applications like trunnions, gearbox or diff. Nigel

Welcome, that's a good looking GT6. As has been said, these engines are heavy breathers and without vacuum scavenging via the original PCV, they need a big atmospheric breather. There's more info here TR6 related but relevant. I wouldn't be too worried about the mayo. Try driving the car, check the condition and levels of oil and water, then only change the head gasket if there is an obvious problem. Nigel

Wins International and Quiller Triumph may be worth a try as they stock secondhand parts and still occasionally break cars. I've also found wanted adverts in the Courier can turn up rare parts that I couldn't find any other way. Good luck, Nigel

That's what I'm fitting. Nigel

The master cylinder failed suddenly on my GT6 on Monday morning, 2 hours before MoT test booking! I last replaced it nearly 20 years and 30k miles ago. I'm fitting a new cylinder over the weekend. In my experience, new seals in old cylinders don't last long. And after so many years, I reckon the car deserves a new master cylinder. Nigel