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.

Hi Iain, Hmm, that does indeed look not quite right. When I measured mine, I don't have any calipers so my figures might have been inaccurate, but the two measurements were very close. However, I think I might have got to the bottom of this.. and I think it is to do with a radiator manufacturing defect possibly. I took a spare radiator cap and slightly flattened off one side of the sprung plunger. Took the car for my usual 3 mile run and on my return, checked the hose and expansion bottle. Hose was not distended, and coolant had been ejected into the bottle as expected - in the attached photo, the masking tape indicates the level before the run. So I think the issue was indeed the sprung plunger obstructing the expansion outlet in the radiator neck, which suggests to me that the radiator neck diameter is too small. The question now is whether, having bashed the rad cap plunger with a hammer, is seals properly and coolant is drawn back into the system when it cools.. will let you know of results.

Thanks Ian, that might be one of the next steps, much appreciated. I have ordered a reinforced top hose from a seller on eBay - apparently UK made and from the photo looks similar to yours, much sturdier than what I've got fitted at the moment - I'll try that first and see. I've got two rad caps, both are giving the same results. I'm beginning to wonder if instead of the cap lifting at 13 psi, the hose is just swelling - ie, the hose 'springiness' is enough to keep the cap seal from lifting? The other possibility that I can see is that the cap plunger is obstructing the neck take-off tube sufficiently that it's preventing correct venting - I'm half minded to experiment by slightly flattening the circumference of the plunger adjacent to the orifice.. That sounds like a similar setup to mine then - I'm assuming mine is also a Bastuck item, bought new from Rimmers about six months ago, seems nicely made. I'll post back when I've fitted the new hose - it might be a few days until I receive it. On a different, more positive note.. I've just put the car through its first MoT since 2007, following extensive work in the last six months, and she went through with no advisories! That's made it all feel worthwhile, so these niggles will just be a process of elimination.. the old girl will come right in time 🙂

The engine has cooled sufficiently, so I've just been out to check the overflow pipe on the radiator neck. It is completely clear of any obstruction. I did note that the black paint inside the filler neck felt very 'tacky', so wondering whether maybe the paint is interfering with the cap plunger lifting properly? I have now cleaned all the paint off the inner seal seating surface, back to bare brass.. will see what happens.

Bingo.. I think you might be on to something here Johny - just taken the car for a short blast. Engine was tepid to begin with - not stone cold but cool, and the top hose was back to its 'non-ballooned' state. I marked the bottle before I set off. On my return, engine fully warm, opened the bonnet, hose bulging again.. and no change in level in the reservoir bottle. I'm sure I checked the metal take-off tube in the radiator neck but will check again when the engine is cool. If it's clear, wondering if another possibility is that the cap plunger is obstructing the take-off tube, but will rule out the tube first. As is probably clear by now, due to lack of understanding of how the cooling system actually works (although I've got a much better idea now, thanks to all), my fault diagnosis skills aren't great 😜 Will post back with an update....

Hi Ian, Thanks for the pointers - yes I ran the engine with the front jacked up and massaged hoses. I've done some measurements of the rad and cap and all looks OK from a mechanical point of view, so I think the rad is alright. I've attached a shot of the hose after a run, with the engine fully warmed up, and I don't like the look of it, it's clearly bulging. There doesn't seem to be any reinforcement - nothing woven into it, it's just a moulded rubber hose with welded seams. I think I'll look at replacing it - your point re. Mk 3 and higher system pressure is interesting. I also checked engine and radiator temperature with an infrared thermometer just after the run - the stat housing was around 84 - 86 C, the radiator bang on 82 C, so I think the cooling system is working fine. Thanks Pete - the new thermostat didn't have a jiggle pin in it, so I did drill a 3mm hole in it, having seen a recommendation you made in another thread I think.

Thanks Gully - just had a look, neck flange to lower seat was just over 20mm, the cap measured around the same.. in fact, thinking about it, my addition of an extra top seal might compromise the lower pressure seal so I might remove the extra seal I added, but it doesn't look like an issue with the lower sprung seal, spring seems to have plenty of travel left. I've had a closer look at the overflow pipe - the radiator neck pipe is fine, all clear; the pipe itself was also completely clear of obstruction but was a fairly thin wall plastic pipe and there was a bit of a kink just ahead of where it attached to the radiator, and it was quite long so the bottom of the pipe was dredging the bottom of the expansion bottle. I'm wondering whether it was either collapsing at the kink, or possibly too long, or maybe the pipe to radiator seal wasn't perfect with it being plastic, so air being drawn in during cooling? I have replaced it with some 1/4" petrol hose, good tight fit at the radiator neck, and cut so that it reaches maybe 3/4 of the way into the expansion bottle, not bottoming. Will see how that goes..

It is, really strange - like you say, max pressure should be around 13 psi, unless that expansion hose is at fault like you suggest - that scenario makes sense, so definitely going to check that when the car has cooled down..

Hi Pete, OK I think it might be time to invest in silicone hoses. The hose itself is brand new from Paddocks, and I bought two just in case, but if silicone is the way to go I'll do that.. The item currently fitted, as well as the others that burst, does seem to be rather thin walled and there is a welded seam which is where the last one gave way.. Thanks Johny, I'll check that. I've just had the car up on ramps, topped up cooling system and massaged all hoses - I was kind of thinking get the radiator orifice up high - and there was some more trapped air released from the system. Put rad cap back on with extra rubber gasket as it didn't seem like a very tight fit, brought the engine up to temperature, all seemed fine, so just been for a short run and it looks OK. This is one finicky cooling system!

Oh dear... today I took the car for a short spin (maybe 2 - 3 miles), and during the drive, I decided to move the interior heater control back from 'hot' to 'cold' - don't want to have to be driving with the heater on full blast, the interior is toasty enough as it is in summer. Anyway, found the car wasn't running quite right so returned home to investigate - that was just a vacuum hose on the servo had come adrift. But I then noticed the top radiator hose was blown up like a balloon, so I think I'm back at square one with the cooling system.. I'm thinking if there's trapped air in the system, it must be expanding? Or badly sealing radiator cap? Luckily the hose hasn't burst this time.. going to wait for the engine to cool completely and investigate.. Maybe the whole system needs a back flush? PS - The temperature gauge is stable at around the 'quarter' mark during driving, which it has always done. I did find if I stop the car and start again after a few minutes, heat soak sees it climb up towards 'half' before drifting back down to 'quarter' over a period of a few minutes' driving. It hasn't tended to do that before, I never saw it ever climb above the quarter mark.

Thanks Pete, that's reassuring to know. The cylinder-to-cylinder results were nice and close (within around 5 psi) so felt that was a good omen. I will check and adjust the valve clearances after the re-torque. I remember my parents had a Mini that needed a head gasket and they got it done at a garage, and afterwards the clatter from the top end was awful.. the garage had clearly not bothered to reset the tappets afterwards.. it was a later fuel-injected car so ran fine, guess the ECU must have compensated (it wasn't injector noise, it was definitely noisy valve gear!)