dougbgt6

Not bragging but my GT6 has never blown a head gasket. Due to engine abuse by PO, a re-bore and re-grind. Due to ex-wife running it with no oil, another re-bore and a new crank. Means the original HG and 2 more in 42 years. The straight six is a very resilient unit! Do not despair!

Hum, bubbling from the thread? Now what could that be? Sorry! It's an easy and satisfying job, but make sure you get the right gasket. Check for a tab, or lack of tab, on the back of your current one. This signifies recessed or non recessed bores. Shouldn't take more than an afternoon. And get new nuts and washers.

Once again Henry, I'm impressed! Moderns have antifreeze in all year round but in the old days we only put it in for the winter. So no antifreeze at all at this time of year is fine. I have to have a sight glass! I need one.

I've seen a few Triumphs in Gun Metal Grey, they look OK but, I get the impression it's been done to make them look more contemporary. Surprised it's a Triumph original colour. Still, it's your car and if it's done properly no problem. I prefer Triumphs in original eye watering "What the hell is that!" colours. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

"this only started when I decided to flush the cooling system the other day" There's a clue! Generally it's the last improvement you make caused the problem. How did you flush the engine? just top and bottom radiator hose? If that's it youmay just have pushed all the sludge into one place causing a more effective blockage. Or did you take out the engine drain plug, carb side near/below number 6? Some people even take out the core plugs. Sometimes you have to poke out the drain plug with a wire coat hanger! Here's an interesting video, can't understand a word he says and I don't think it's a Triumph 2litre engine but this is how to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JllvVHKo07U

Agree with Casper! WHY? The GT6 was very fast in it's time and still fast enough to keep up with modern traffic. When you do this sort of mod you open Pandora's box. Every thing is affected, brakes, suspension, cooling, it's a nightmare. And you still won't be as fast as some modern family hatchbacks.

5 thermostats?!! I'm impressed! I'm off to East Berks club night. I'll see what they think.

I thought when I read your first post, head gasket. You say you have no visible signs of leaks but are you loosing any water? That would indicate head gasket. Interior heating within a minute sounds a bit soon. What does the temperature gauge say? My GT6 need at least 5 or 6 miles to get to normal operating temperature. Is your thermostat working? Take it out and boil it up in a pan. Try running without a thermostat what happens? Might give you some more clues.

I clumsily overfilled to that much once in the past, didn't seem to have any consequences. But as Pete says if you've got the wrong dip stick..................

It's a bad sign they're extending that clause, previously it was mainly inner city areas where your car had to be garaged over night. It's gonna wind up, no garage, no insurance.

From the upper lip of the bottom spring retaining seat, to the lower lip of the upper spring retaining seat, measures 8 and 3/4 inches. Haynes says spring working length on a GT6 9 and 1/2 inches which fits, I think? I also notice that my adjusting knobs are towards the discs and yours must be towards the engine. But I don't see how this makes any difference.

Ah! Mine are fixed seat with just the knob for adjustment. Maybe this makes a difference in turnability? I've never had a problem with wheel arch bounce even with the old knackered springs and shocks. I'm guessing you have bigger tyres?

I have mine set fully soft with standard new springs. The knob's dead easy to turn, the instructions tell you to set them soft before install and go from there. I think the Allen screw holds the knob on it's shaft so I wouldn't touch it! They are a vast improvement, no more teeth chattering jumping about!

I'm interested in this as I got an advisory about an outrigger on a recent MOT. My experience is that Canleys are often cheaper than Rimmers, on common parts. However, I had to replace my servo, Rimmers was £102, Canleys, £157 for a supposedly identical item. I got the Rimmers but had a few problems with it, the build quality was poor and I suspect their offerings are from different sources. Probably the same with the outriggers.

Commuting to work? Nope! Only one word out the three I recognise!

Wow! Changing things on these cars can be a can of worms! Improve one thing and you expose something else! After you replaced the cap you say "ran for a bit then got rough" Later you say runs for 15/20 mins, then rough". Presumably the "bit" was a lot shorter than 20 mins? So every thing you've done in between is an improvement? What plugs did you use? Plugs for moderns shouldn't be used on our cars, they need a level of HT our cars can barely attain and can't sustain. but, I think anything with an R in the suffix is a no no. Pete Lewis can tell you more! Doubtless he will be along shortly! Doug

Come on Dave! Tell us the problem, we can sort it out!

Here is a link to Buckeye Triumphs, (recommended to me by someone called Pete Lewis) it tells almost all there is to know about Strombergs, although these are175s they are very similar to 150s. Tuning, I think, is the third link at the bottom. http://www.buckeyetriumphs.org/technical/Carbs/CarbsI/CarbsI.htm I wouldn't get too hung up on static timing and strobe guns. It's best done by ear. Obviously it has to be someway before TDC then start it up and turn the dizzy to highest revs, then back a gnats. Take it for a run, if it pinks back a bit more until it doesn't pink. I have a tool for carb balancing but to be honest it's easily done by ear. I've done it by ear and checked it with the tool, spot on! (Another tool I didn't need!)

There's a recent thread on here, "Stromberg 150 CD flooding" where a lot of relevant advice has been given. Have a look at that, there might be a clue to your problem. I would guess if your car's been standing for a month there may be some debris settled in the carb.

Thanks John, Can it be sent over the internet? Doug

I think your original plan of French Blue is the correct one, matches the unseen bits, suits the car and will look stunning. FB is my second favourite GT colour, I was after a FB GT6 until I encountered Mimosa.

John, Wow! I would LOVE to see that! Is it easy to put on the inter web? Doug

And the live feed to the ignition switch is unfused.

Well, I'm only just in front of you changing the wiring but, looking at the coloured wiring diagram there are 9 circuits (counting wiper switch and motor as one) hanging of 3 fuses. And even with the additional headlamp loom there is still an unfused wire to the light switch. So I'd split all those up. I'm not sure if other relays are required, I suppose the heated rear screen draws a lot of current,( if it ever worked ). I'm sure others have some experience to share who've completed the job.

Yes I've got that one! So much easier to read in colour. I've also got one of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H4-9003-Headlight-Booster-Wire-Harness-Connector-Relay-Fuse-Socket-/390938014554?hash=item5b05b8b35a Don't know how they do it for the money but it's reasonable quality. The battery connection has to be extended and on mine, I've had to remove and reconnect the headlamp connectors once I'd fed the cable into the headlamp cowl. Here's a guy who's fitted relays to a Spitfire. http://williamcolumbine.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/headlight-relays.html