Gully

I have a Halfords 3/8 socket set that was bought for me as a birthday present in August 1989, shortly after I bought my first car. The ratchet looks exactly the same as the one in that picture (aside from an older logo). It's survived being heavily used and abused for 30 years and still works as well as the day it was new. You may have just been unlucky... I will admit to being an unashamed Halfords fan. Okay, I had a weekend job working for them when I was doing my A levels and used to work for them at Christmas when I came home from poly, so have an historic connection with them, but I welcome the fact that they've maintained a good spread of stores where you can actually see, feel, touch and smell the tools, paints etc you are buying. Yes, they've diversified and like any shop you need to be selective on quality, but there are few shops you can walk to on a Sunday lunchtime when you need an imperial Allen key set! eBay and the web won't help! Rarely does a week go by without me browsing and buying something in there. Gully

Many of the wiper blades sold for the Spitfire and GT6 are hopeless - the Tex ones being particularly bad as they actually curve the wrong way! I bought 2 sets of NOS Trico curved screen blades from eBay - they are superb and a complete transformation from the rubbish I endured previously. Refills with the correct profile and more delicate rubber are also available and very worthwhile. Trico part number is PRB2-12 - they come up occasionally on eBay. Gully

I run 28psi on the front of my GT6 - any less and I can feel the slop in the sidewalls of the tyres! I'm running 175/70 R13 Toyos (found the same with previous Avons in the same size). Not had any issues with the steering being 'too' heavy, except for when I measured the toe incorrectly and ended up wildly out! That was an interesting and short test drive... Guilly

What mental lubricant do you recommend?! 😄 Well done! Gully

As of this morning, I have a shiny new MOT for the GT6 - no advisories 😀 I feel it's worth it for the brake test alone. Gully

I would stay with the original. Gully

According to The Who - The Spider! Gully

The upside of fuel additive is the anti-ethanol element of the mixture, which is why I keep using it (along with the octane boost). I rather like the pink plugs - if they're too flamingo, you need to lean off a bit! Gully

Excellent - I suspect Boris will be calling you soon 😂 Gully

Certainly works on an iPad. Gully

The radius arms on mine are straight, but then they don't match any in the manual or parts catalogue! They fit directly into the brackets without hint of a need for an offset. Mine don't have the turn buckle arrangement; the rear section simply screws into the front. Means to adjust you have to disconnect one end, then reconnect, check etc until the rear toe is correct. The parts manual seems to show straight arms for the GT6, although front and rear are different part numbers presumably for threading. Gully

Keep thinking about doing mine, but deciding to put it off until I need to replace the front discs. They're not currently even lipped and the discs on my last high mileage car lasted 90,000 miles, so at 3,000 miles a year I'll get around to it in 30 years... Probably won't be able to get petrol by then anyway and I'll have a washing machine motor (by Tesla!) on every corner of the car 😀 Maybe if I buy the parts I might get closer to making the change, although that's not yet worked for the headlamp relays! Gully

Many thanks, both of you. My early Mk 3 GT6 is also hot left, cold right, so some fettling required... Gully

Got around to fitting the crystal headlamps I bought a few weeks ago and last night was the first time I've used them in anger. Big improvement in beam patten and illumination generally (with the same H4 bulbs). I bought them from Powerful UK via their eBay shop - at £30 good value, and properly marked. Gully

That's interesting, Doug. I'd read that the Mk3 heater control was the opposite to the Mk1&2, but not sure how that compares to the concurrent marks of Spitfire. Would you be able to post the link to where you bought the valve from, please? Mine works okay at the moment, but it's a bit of a messy installation that I think will be problematical when I do eventually have to swap it. Heater needs a back-flush at the moment - there's a bit of debris restricting the flow occasionally (piece of PTFE tape I believe - long story!). Thanks, Gully

Bought my replacement flasher unit from the Club shop - still working well a couple of years later. Gully

I wouldn't worry about it! Mine's done the same occasionally over the past 6 years I've had it. Usually when I've stopped for a very short time to get fuel. Starter hesitates as though too much compression, but then pushes through and starts normally. Leave it for longer, or a shorter period, and it never does it. Gully

I suspect some was left in the block. When I last refilled my GT6 cooling system I actually added slightly more than the book indicated as capacity! Took 6.5 litres. Whether the half full overflow bottle is included or not I've no idea! Gully

I've always liked SBE as a venue - used to have a couple of friends who lived locally and one of the nearby pubs did upstairs lock-ins! Seen various bands at SBE - Roger Taylor (Queen), Marillion and the Levellers spring to mind, along with an early Genesis tribute band called Re-Genesis, who were superb. Gully

It's all that working on a newfangled TR7 😂 Gully

My early GT6 Mk3 runs a Lucas 22d6 distributor and the engine (pretty much same spec I guess) is happy at 10 degrees advance, running super unleaded with Millers VSPE additive. Gully

The parts book says the top cover breather plug is fitted with overdrive only, which is my recollection from a previous thread on here - the idea was to have only a single breather. Gully

I removed the Mocal spin on conversion from my GT6 and reverted to the original canister - it was simply too much hassle trying to get the filter between the chassis rail, oil pressure switch and oil pressure relief valve. Ended up having to partially remove the conversion plate each time. The oil comes up to pressure rapidly with the original design on mine and only rattles if you Rev it prematurely. If I was paranoid I could churn the engine on the starter with no choke to circulate the oil before every cold start up, but I'm not! For the GT6 it makes more sense to have the adaptor plate attached to a couple of pipes to allow the remote location of the filter and looking through the (now quite aged) Haynes restoration manual these used to be available, but I've not managed to find one. Gully

I hope this tale has a happy ending! 😃 Gully

Agreed - need to establish if there is a problem with oil pressure before trying to cure it. They're not called worry gauges for nothing! Gully