Kevin Atkins

Thanks @JohnD - ah, I didn't realise that! That sounds like it could be the issue then - neither the original springs, nor the replacements which were also about an inch shorter than the originals (and now off the car), fitted over the spacers.

@Peter Truman - thanks, this is all good information to know for when I sort.. ..which might be sooner than later - having refitted the old springs, whilst better than before, I think the front is still sitting a bit too low. I fitted trunnionless uprights and I believe these also have the effect of lowering the effective spring rate? I have bought some spring spacers to go under the spring from Rimmers - these seem too large to fit inside the bottom of the spring - the part of the spacer that goes inside the spring as around 4mm greater in diameter than the inside diameter of the spring.. Is it a case that when assembled into the spring / shock assembly, under compression the spring should expand slightly around the spacer and grip the spacer? It seems a bit wrong to me..

Hello all, With my GT6 now in pretty good shape mechanically, I need to start thinking about bodywork / cosmetics. The car is basically sound but I'm looking to have it repainted in its correct original colour (currently Wedgewood Blue, original colour was French Blue, which is my favourite colour for GT6's), as well as some localised structural work - the front OS outrigger needs replacing, as do ideally both front chassis fillet pieces.. So.. does anyone have recommendations of any decent specialists in the Cheshire East area that would be able to take this on? The car isn't perfect, and will likely never be a show queen - what I'm after is a decent job without doing a full rebuild. The main thing is to fix rust bubbling in seams and get a good coat of paint on the car so it looks better, and mainly, so rust is arrested before it goes any further 😜 All and any suggestions welcome, and feel free to DM if you'd prefer. Cheers!

Thanks @JohnD - that's very useful to know when I come to sort properly.

Just thought I'd post a progress update. The lean was definitely coming from the front suspension - I jacked up the front and rear in the centre of the car as suggested and the rear seemed OK. So I dismantled the front suspension again - the new springs (definitely sold as GT6 items) from one of the bigger suppliers, mentioning no names, were a good inch or so shorter than the originals, so the originals have gone back on, to heck with them looking a bit crusty, they work. But at the same time, I added a shim in between the top of the spring and suspension tower on the NS. Ride height is now more even, and also more correct - it was too low before. I think there's still an issue with the NS - the wheel still seems tucked further into the wheel well than the OS, and the top of the spring tower on the NS looks 'arched', so wondering whether it's suffered some damage in the past. For now, it's OK and the car drives just fine, and I just want to enjoy driving it for now. I'll attend to it in due course..

Thanks for the tip - I will at some point go down the silicon route I think but for now, the car is running well and I can't stomach doing another cooling system drain etc! I did buy a reinforced top hose off eBay and it seems better made than the others I've tried so for now it'll do.. The ballooning hose issue I had turned out to be a useful indicator that there was trouble in the system though, traced to the radiator neck / cap, so in a roundabout way it was a good thing I guess 😜

Ah, that's an interesting point - is that the holes through which the long bolt goes at the back of the diff? I hadn't even thought of that - I did check the mounts that the front of the diff carrier attaches to, thought I might have maybe got the rubber bushes trapped incorrectly but that was all good. I guess it wouldn't take much wear on those rear holes to cause quite a pronounced effect at the wheels?

It's great to read all the replies, sharing all the knowledge and experience - owning this car and meeting everyone (if virtually) has been great! Been for a good long run today, and I think the cooling system is now behaving itself - there's a rise of maybe a couple of inches in the expansion bottle when hot, and coolant is returned to the radiator on cooling, and temperature gauge is steady, rising very slightly when trickling along in town traffic. The little car is now running well, so thanks to everyone here - I'm trying to get some miles under the wheels so I can get the head retorqued as soon as possible and then I think it'll be a wrap on this hopefully!

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions everyone - sorry it's taken me a few days to respond, back at work now and the working week is usually busy 😜 I'll try jacking in the centre front / rear and see if that gives a clue as to the lean. Just had the tracking set up correctly, so at least the front geometry in that regard is now correct - it's made a really huge improvement to steering / handling, transforming the feel of the car completely. Much better! But the lean is still very much in evidence. Re. the front suspension - I've got new springs fitted, new anti-roll bar (which was definitely flat, the one that came off was slightly twisted), new drop links, pretty much new everything. The trunnionless kit has caused the ride height to drop at the front, and there's a bit of negative camber on the front too - I'm going to get the original setup back on I think (and guess I'll end up having to have the tracking done again, ho hum).. Will let you know how things turn out - might be a week or two before I get a chance to take it all apart again, meantime will just enjoy driving it!

No unfortunately not - the whole of the NS is down.. I've had to fit a completely new setup to the rear - new swing spring, as a previous owner had fitted an early fixed rear spring.. so before, it was very low at the back and the rear wheels were splayed out. But NS front was still the same with that setup.

Hello all, I've had a bit of a search but couldn't find anything specific to my particular issue. Long story short, the front suspension height is uneven - the offside seems about right, and the wheel fills the well in the way that I have seen on photos of other GT6's. The nearside is down though, and the wheel seems more 'tucked in' to the well, if that makes sense. I'll attach some photos - I've found it difficult to capture, but walking around the car, it's immediately obvious. I have replaced all bushes, uprights, top ball joints, stub axles and wheel bearings, both springs and new dampers. Wishbones seemed fine - I measured them and there was no difference NS vs OS. At the moment, the car is fitted with a trunnionless setup, which I don't like, so it'll be going back to standard trunnions with new uprights, but in all cases, the issue has remained - the nearside is down. I've also measured with a tape measure which confirms. I believe the lower wishbones can be shimmed but I think that will only tend to affect camber and castor as opposed to height? The only other variable I can think of would be the suspension towers - the car was subject to a restoration about 25 years ago, and in the photographs, I can see the NS tower was removed for some reason. I believe the towers can be shimmed for height, but by my way of thinking, if someone had forgotten to add shims that were previously there, that would tend to raise the suspension height? Any ideas would be welcome! Thanks in advance.

Thanks Iain, yes water is being expelled into the bottle and drawn back in on cooling now. Had a couple of good runs today, and it's been quite a warm day; temperature gauge is exactly where it's always been, just around a quarter, creeping up slightly in heavy traffic. The cooling system now seems to be working correctly! Took a mate to the Capesthorne Classic show up here - there have usually been one or two GT6's attending, sadly none today, although there was a particularly nice Spitfire - 1966, never restored, exactly as it left the factory.. it put the panel gaps on my baggy GT6 to shame! I think my mate was a bit unsettled by the symphony of rattles, squeaks and general racket my GT6 makes.. there's certainly room for more improvements, but she'll never be a show queen, nor anything approaching 'modern' refinement... which is all good with me 😜

Yes, that hose is getting binned as soon as I receive the reinforced one! That said, I think there might still be an issue with the radiator neck overflow - my 'tweaked' radiator cap now seems to be operating as intended, and the hose isn't bulging.. maybe a reinforced hose might disguise the issue but if coolant can't expand out of the cap, I'm mindful there might be a risk to the next weakest link in the system, which could be radiator or heater matrix cores? I might experiment with the foot pump method described earlier, I need to get a handle on exactly what is happening, if only for peace of mind!

No worries at all on that Iain - it's all in the same ballpark, we both seem to be struggling with issues around the rad cap / radiator neck interface 😜 My butchered (erm, hammered..) rad cap kind of worked OK but I wasn't sure it was sealing to the rated pressure - too much coolant seemed to be expelled into the expansion bottle.. I put the other, non-butchered rad cap on and ran straight back into the original problem. For now, I have tweaked the butchered cap and straightened out the seating surface and it seems to be working correctly. I'm going to have a go at drilling some small holes around the lip of the lower plunger on another rad cap, so as not to distort the plunger, and see if that works.. I also got some calipers through from Amazon and did some measurements - from what I can determine, there should be around 1mm clearance between the sprung plunger and the inside wall of the radiator neck, but for whatever reason, the plunger does appear to be obstructing the overflow outlet.. PS - Nice choice of beer Iain - haven't tried that one, but I have fond memories of St. Austell beers from holidays in Cornwall, love that part of the world!

Yes it's not ideal, and the bottom sealing face was also slightly distorted in the operation to flatten, although I judged it wasn't significant at the rubber gasket mating surface, but still something of a risk. I need to invest in some calipers and do some proper measurements! It does look like an issue with tolerancing around rad cap and filler neck though.