SixasStandard

I've just had a response from a FB group on this.......apparently the article appeared in the November 1997 edition of 'Classics' magazine........does anyone have a copy in their archive that they could scan for me? Thanks, Ian

Thanks Colin, I appreciate it. Ian

You're quite right Colin........I'm afraid that patience and good manners isn't always my strong suit!!...........but point taken. Ian

Thanks Richard, I owe you a call.......will be in touch for a catch up over the next few days if you're available. ATB, Ian

I can almost see the tumbleweed blowing silently across the screen...............

Hello All, Bit of a strange one here........I'm actually looking to track down a magazine article published some time in the early 1990s which featured a comparison test between a Red Triumph GT6 reg OGV 368M (currently taxed according to DVLA), a blue MGB Roadster reg TJN 405H (also currently taxed), and a white Sunbeam Alpine reg OJG 23F (now in Australia). If anyone knows who the owner of the GT6 was in the early 1990s they might be able to help identify what magazine published the article in question. It's a long story.......don't ask! Thanks, Ian

Could also be due to an existing owner changing address perhaps? so there could still be hope!!

That's an interesting idea Adrian, but I think my concern would be about creating water leaks. More of an issue here with the UK weather obviously!! Ian

I went through a phase of repeat FIAT offending during the 80s/90s, had an Uno, Tipo, Tempra, Bravo 1.8 HLX (brilliant car until the cam belt went on the M1), and finally a Marea. Cheap reliable utilitarian transport when you had a mortgage to pay.........but that Bravo........it really was a cracking little car. Ian

If 'HT' stands for 'High Tea' then yes!! It always amazes me when these ultra low mileage cars turn up........like you say, why buy the bloody thing if you're not going to use it. Just to prove that such 'Unicorns' do exist though........an elderly neighbour sought my advice a few days ago about a car she was being offered. Her 20 year old Toyota had finally blotted its copy book by starting to display an engine warning light (there goes the myth of Japanese reliability!!!!). A friend of hers in London has just stopped driving due to health problems, and has offered her his 2010 Fiat Panda for free (yes.......i did say free!). The mileage on this 10 year old work horse?.........7,750 miles!!! It's enough to make you weep! Ian

I watched the re-run of the 'Bangers and Cash' episode last night (one of my favourite programmes by the way). Having such a proven low mileage example, and bearing in mind its lovely condition, made the car pretty unique, and yet it only fetched 14k. There were some changes from OE spec, someone had added side indicators to the front wings (their placement just below the 'Alpine' script was terrible!), and the engine had a Weber carb fitted, replacing the original twin Strombergs ( a very good upgrade), but it just went to prove the over-valuation of a lot of Alpines currently on the market. Don't get me wrong, I love the cars, but anyone expecting to get North of 12 to 13k for a well restored Alpine needs their head examining. My Alpine is a Series 3 GT, the most sought after model, and yet I have no illusions about how much it will take to restore it, or that I'd get anywhere near to recouping that expenditure if I ever came to sell it. To my mind you're paying for the experience of the restoration, not what it'll fetch afterwards. Right.......time to get off the orange box and fire up the kettle! Ian

Hello Pete, That could work, but to be honest I've now moved the Vitesse into Winter storage to free up the garage for my Alpine 'weldathon', so the 'Vit' will be taking a back seat for a while. At least I can start the Vitesse now........so that is progress!! Ian

The power cable for the HT starter turned up this morning, so it was straight out to the garage to get it fitted and (hopefully) get the old girl fired up. WOW!!! what a difference. The cranking speed is just so much higher now, and despite the car having sat in the garage for weeks without a start she literally burst into life after a matter of a few seconds. This is definitely one upgrade that I would recommend to other owners, particularly those with larger Triumph engines like the straight six or the V8. I am now a convert, and will be upgrading any classics that I own in the future. The only criticism I have of the Wosp offering is the cable that they supply to bypass the internal solenoid, which due to its short length means that it loops round and comes closer to the exhaust system. I opted to make my own, longer version, which allowed me to loop it the other way round, and hence take it away from the exhaust. This is nit picking though, and the HT unit itself is a good quality Denso manufactured item, so should be reliable and long lived. Ian

Still waiting for the power cable to be delivered, but in the meantime have fitted the HT starter and had a go at mocking up a heat shield with cardboard. Long story short there just isn't enough available space to fit anything in there, so I've given the idea up as a bad job. Sometimes you can end up creating more problems than you solve by fiddling about like this, so in this case best to just leave well alone. Longer term I'll be wrapping the exhaust manifold and down pipe anyway. One point that might be worth mentioning regarding the WOSP HT starter (and the Powerlite as well), is that you need to retain the OE spacer used in conjunction with the old inertia unit. This is probably obvious, but I checked the throw on the WOSP unit and then measured the distance between the starter ring gear and the mounting flange just to be on the safe side. There's no mention of this in the instructions that came with the WOSP, which are just generic........so be aware of this if fitting one yourself. Ian

No idea........Matron mashes them up and puts them in my sprouts. Ian

I'll be able to give an impartial view shortly, as I've never had a classic car fitted with a HT starter before, and my shiny new WOSP starter (based on a generic Denso unit) has arrived and is waiting to be fitted. Typical that the starter should arrive in record time, whilst the new power cable is kicking its heels in some sorting office somewhere! Anyway, I'm sure that 'losing my High Torque virginity' will be all that I've dreamed of for all these years, and expect a suitably emotional and gushing report in due course. Ian

Hello Roger, I've opted for the sort of heat reflective adhesive sheet that they fit to the underside of kitchen counter tops where a cooker is installed. Cheap as chips and should be good enough when combined with a custom made alloy shield. I'm toying with the idea of making some louvres in the end of the shield, which might seem counter-intuitive, but maintaining at least some flow of air over the starter would seem like a good idea. Ian

Thanks Pete.........'whizzo stuff'........onomatopoeia at its finest!! Ian

After some hard bargaining I now have a 'Wasp' HT starter on order from crack bay specifically for the Vitesse/GT6. The final price was less than the club shop offering, so I got a good deal. Once I have the starter/solenoid cable/heat shield material I'll update the thread with my progress, and my impressions of the installed unit's performance, for those that are interested in such things. Ian

In my opinion the reasons for changing to a High Torque gear reduction starter are a combination of: increased cranking speed, reduced power demand on the battery, and lower weight. There are other benefits, such as the better location of the armature, and the flexibility to convert the starter to a pre-engaged type with simple cable connection changes. In my case the decision to replace the starter motor stemmed from the failure of the original, and the badly corroded armature and badly worn pinion gear that I discovered when I removed the OE unit. Refurbishment wasn't worth the expense, as the unit was end of life. Faced with the prospect of replacing the original with a similar unit, or with a more modern efficient and reliable alternative, the decision was an easy one. In much the same way as I chose to replace the failing dynamo on my car with a more modern efficient alternator, I would always look at making the car more usable and reliable when failure forces me to replace a component. The HT starter is just one modification in a long list that we might consider for our cars, like CV driveshaft conversions, modern adjustable dampers, electronic ignition etc etc etc...........I don't imagine that those mods raise too many eyebrows. Ian

OK, so an unfortunate development took place last night...........I received a reply from the US supplier of my Alpine HT starter (www.britishstarters.com) and unfortunately the unit I have isn't compatible with the Vitesse. It looks identical, but the pinion gear and the 'throw' are different. Bearing in mind the fact that I bought this unit from them 3 1/2 years ago, I think that a 24 hour response from them (and it was the owner of the company who e-mailed) is pretty amazing. Anyway, in the light of this new information it's now back to the spanners and the credit card (not necessarily in that order) to resolve things. I'll be ordering a Vitesse/GT6 specific HT starter today. In the meantime I've already ordered a replacement solenoid cable and some adhesive heat shield sheeting. Once I have the correct HT starter I'll mock up shielding with cardboard before fabricating from alloy sheet and covering in the adhesive material. Currently the plan is to attach the new shielding to the engine side valance. The Alpine is just going to have to wait its turn! Ian

Hello Chaps, Thanks for the details on heat shielding Pete, I'll look into what is possible on my car once I have the starter up and running. I've finally got the HT starter in position and secured on the bolts. This starter has a separate mounting ring with multiple holes for the securing bolts, so you are able to rotate the main body of the unit until you achieve the best clearances before locking the mounting ring in place with two Allen socket head bolts. Luckily I got the best position at the second attempt. It's good that I've done this job, as I discovered that the insulation on the power cable from the solenoid switch to the old starter had been cooked by the heat from the exhaust and had cracked, exposing the copper cable itself. This couldn't be seen without getting it off, so I've dodged a future bullet there. I'll be fitting a new cable as part of this project, so will now consider heat wrapping it. The exhaust will be wrapped in the future, but not just at the moment, so worth protecting the starter and cable at this stage. If I was doing this job again as a discretionary project rather than an emergency repair I would schedule it during the summer months with the car outside and the gearbox cover removed, working from the inside where needed. It was a real bugger getting to the nuts on the rear of the flange, and in the end I had to resort to gumming the washer and nut in each case to my nitrile glove with grease to position them blind before screwing in the bolts from the front. More updates to follow once I have a new power cable and can test the starter. Ian

Thanks Paul. I have a tubular sports exhaust on my car, so I'm anticipating the requirement to fabricate some form of heat shield between the starter and the exhaust, does your car have a similar set up? and if so did you do any heat shielding? This question is also pitched at the other owners who've installed a HT starter, as any experiences or advice would be welcome. As an aside, and referring to another recently posted Forum thread regarding High Torque starters, my example was purchased from the US based www.britishstarters.com whilst I was living in Canada, so I'll be able to report back on their product performance shortly (all being well!!). Regards, Ian

Hello again Paul, I forgot to ask you, was it necessary to retain the spacer when you replaced the OE starter with the Powerlite? Thanks, Ian

You know me Richard, I'm all for yielding to temptation!........especially when it involves a 5 roller bearing supported armature.