John Bonnett
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Posts posted by John Bonnett
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I took the first step today in fitting the Minilites. Easiest option first; the fronts. All went very smoothly and I actually think these wheels suit the colour better than the wire wheels.
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Much to my relief the electrics have all been reinstated and work. The engine turns over on the starter and the oil pump primed almost immediately. So very good progress. Over the next two weeks I'll be refitting the interior and the polycarbonate windows once they have arrived.
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Hi Pete,
I guess under-torqued is a possibility, though I did re-torque twice after the initial fit with a decent quality Snap-on wrench.
I guess the fact it's bored out to +60 only makes a weak spot weaker again.
Will refit once the new HG has arrived, hopefully just gremlins. If it happens again I will reassess.
Darren
Oh dear Darren. Mine has been been bored out to plus 70 and a c/r of 11.4:1
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Ah. After speaking to Garth then I now understand. The appature hole on the spit brackets are actually ~10 mm lower than on the gt6 but the actual bracket is about the same size. Called round suggested suppliers and the cheapest solution s to get a spit bracket and fit that. Even if I by a clutch one to match then it's less than half the price of a cylinder
I'll offer the redundant one to the local group.
If anyone feels like taking a photo of their bulkhead for the brake pipe runs then would appreciate it. Mine are a mess. Email is k.cpayne@blueyonder.co.uk. Ta kevin
Hi Kevin,
Here's a picture of the pipe runs on my car.
rgds
John
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Things are still moving along well with the engine now plumbed and filled with coolant. The new throttle linkage gave me a bit of a clearance problem cable to bonnet but I managed to overcome this.
The seats are now ready to refit once the carpet and seat belts are back in the car. They are finished in Mercedes leather courtesy of Owen at Park Lane Classics and they look absolutely splendid.
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The boots respond well to a heat gun and soften sufficiently to be pushed in place in just the same way as a grommet.
Clearance between bonet and reservoir lid is always going to be close but no matter which master cylinder you fit it should clear. And the Spitfire and GT6 mounting brackets are I believe the same.
So my thought is to lift the front of the bonnet on the hinge box adjusters. Perhaps worth a try.
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Today, I managed to fit the engine and gearbox, bleed the clutch and fit the new Webers complete with linkage. Things are moving on nicely.
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That's interesting Pete. Thank you for that.
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Hi Rich,
There is adjustment where the hinges bolt to the doors. This allows the door to be moved in or out in relation to the sill. You will need to drop out the check strap clevis pin so that you can open the door wide enough to access the countersunk screw in each hinge. I removed them and left them out until the adjustment had been made and the hex head set screws nipped up. I then refitted them.
I hope that helps
rgds
John
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With no deadlines to meet, I've been putting the car back together at quite a leisurely pace. Everything is clean and because it has been assembled before it all fits. This is one of the most enjoyable parts of the build. I spent a bit of time when I took it apart to bag up and label all the nuts and bolts and I'm reaping the benefit now. It's all coming together very nicely. A couple more pictures. Strange how the colour changes depending on natural light or flash.
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That really is very sad news. Let's hope Owen makes a speedy and quick recovery.
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Rich, I have just done the very same thing; replacing the MWS chrome wires with Minilites. Tubes were not a problem but certainly cleaning was a nightmare and you will save 34kg in weight with five wheels. I fitted the wire wheels with 6mm spacers so that the wheel studs did not need shortening. If you find yours are too short it would be a good opportunity to change to 12mm studs.
rgds
John
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We have consulted the oracle (MSE) for spending abroad.
Wish I had bought/loaded a prepay card a few months ago though.....we would have got near 1.40 IIRC. Our summer holiday just went through at 1.30 but I have a nasty feeling we will be down to the mid teens in a few months and in the aftermath of the referendum.
Hey ho, can't take it with you.
As my friend who is 84 says, "You can't take it with you, so I'm not leaving!"
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I'm sorry for the thread drift here. Clive is actually worried about an additional charge by the Club for the booking if the Pound weakens any more. Not about spending money. I threw that in
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Looking at the world economic situation and the uncertainty over the result of the referendum I think there is every chance that the Pound will fall further Clive. Might be worth buying some spending money now.
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I now have more information on the Event as follows
The event start on 30.9.16 Friday in St Wendel with a come together in Hotel or Pub.
Saturday we drive throug 3 Country Corner , Germany , France and Luxemburg and a small diner in Villa Borg.
Than back to St Wendel and evening diner is in St Wendel and the price is about 25-30,-Euro each Person.
Sunday we all go to Linsler Hof.There is one of the biggest Oldtimer events in Saarland.We have our own area to park.From there some Teams will go home.But i and some ather people will stay till Monday in St Wendel ,because we have Bank Holiday on Monday.
The Hotel we stay is : Le Journal, Schillerstrasse 5-9,66606 St Wendel.
You can google Villa Burg and Linsler Hof to know how long it is to drive from St Wendel.
If you want to come and stay longer ,you can drive from the ferry over brüssel to aachen ,leave the motoway near Malmedy ,go to Racetrack of Spa .From spa is about 150 Km to the Nürburgring ,from there to Cochem is 50 Km and you can drive on the River Mosel .from Cochem is about 130 Km to St wendel.This will be a really nice trip and a chance to meet up with continental GT6 owners. I'm seriously considering it and anybody else is very welcome to join us.
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Electric washer pump on the 1500 and the wipers should be two speed. I've got the same set up on my car ad the wipers are quite acceptable. The wiper motor earth is the black cable with an eyelet that screws into the scuttle. It is possible that this is corroded and may well account for the wipers moving slowly.
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For the old age topic, I looked up chic but no website now for parts, never thought of ebayshop
Grrr
pete
Times are changing Pete but not necessarily for the better. There is less and less personal interaction in our daily lives and we're the poorer for it. If you have a particular query on a product or service it is harder and harder to find a contact number so that you can speak to a real person. And look at the way libraries have gone; fully automatic. I just find the whole business very sad. Ebay and Amazon are taking over the world.
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Great excitement today. The car is now back in my workshop and I've made a very good start in putting it back together. There was a lot of anguishing about whether to paint or not and what colour it should be but any doubts I may have had have been completely blown away with the result. Shut lines are hugely improved and I really like the way the rear three quarter panels flow into each other. The whole car has been taken to another level and looks much more finished. Colour is very subjective and one man's meat is another's poison. I had expected the car to be painted in the Triumph paint code 126 but by a glitch in communication it has been done in 166. Both colours are French Blue but quite a big difference. Fortunately,
I much prefer the colour he has done it in which came as a big relief to the painter! -
I thought I'd post some pictures of the new cam-follower (which I've decided not to use) compared to the original. The new follower is, as you'd expect, dimensionally identical to the original but the construction seems different. The business end of the original has a 4mm region which seems to be made of different darker material whereas the new follower is the same colour all over. Do you think the OEM follower is really fabricated from two separate sections or might the darkening be a phosphate coating?
Wayne
Case hardening?
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Spot on Pete and Chic Doig has the roof repair panel. So Tim, you are in luck>
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Good Morning Tim and a very warm welcome. Perhaps i could get the ball rolling.
The roof flange is spot welded to the the corresponding mating flange on top of the windscreen. The joint is concealed by the finisher which is pushed on and glued in place. Quite likely, the rust will extend from the flange up into the roof for perhaps two or three inches. And there we have a problem because while you can buy the finisher the front roof repair panels are NLA. Some people I believe have successfully adapted a Mini valance whilst others have fabricated their own repair panels. However, if you try Ebay you might find someone selling a repair panel and worth a call to Chic Doig.
Please let us know how you get on and if possible post some photos in a larger format.
rgds
John
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Having suffered the results of soft cam followers I would urge you to take John's sound advice. Stick with what you've got. Damage to my engine included the loss of three lobes from the camshaft the swarf from which destroyed the oil pump. There are a lot of iffy cam followers out there so beware!.
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Thank you so much for your lovely comments; excellent. When he called last evening to say it was finished I asked the painter if he was pleased with it and he said yes but you know John, you can't make a rat out of a mouse or a silk purse out of a sow's ear. But I've done my best! He is absolutely right of course. There are lots of flaws which he couldn't cover up but I have always wanted usable, presentable and I think he's delivered that.
I'm collecting it tomorrow and it will be so nice to have it back in the workshop and have something to get on with.
wires or minilites
in Chassis, Suspension & Steering
Posted
I know a great number of people fit 175 and even 185 section tyres but are they actually an improvement over the 5.50/155 x 13s that the car was designed for? Manufacturers spend huge sums of money to optimise all components and so unless the car is going to be used for something special why change from standard? You may say, there is a wider choice of H rated tyres but there is an H rated 155 80 13. We all know that the camber changes on the rear wheels don't favour wide tyres and on the front surely they just load up the steering; particularly true with a GT6. I ran my GT6 on 155 80 13s and never found them wanting in any department and the relatively light steering was much appreciated.
I've come across this great clip which presents the Lotus Elan and the benefits of narrow tyres and reduced unsprung weight.