Graham C

If you run the car every day then change the oil every 6 months, if it is being driven normally then 20/50 standard oil should be ok. If driven hard or low mileage then may be you need a better oil. If low mileage then change the oil before you lay the car up. Graham

Very impressive metal work, did you make formers to get the channels or just work it with hammer/dolly and by eye? Graham

Hello Thank you, you learn something new everyday. I was told years ago the gearbox had different ratios and may be the way some ratios are presented give the impression that ratios are different. Anyway I feel the car drives better and it has been an enjoyable journey. Hopefully people will find the information useful and can improve on it. If you do than please add to this thread your improvements if you fit a1859 single rail gearbox with OD. Graham

Hello Johny My understanding was that the gear ratios in an overdrive box were slightly different on the 3rd and top gear, to that of a standard box. I had checked the car at various speed and RPM against Minty Lambs calcultion and came to the conclusion I had to have higher revs than thoses caluclauted to achieve certain speeds, so put this down to an incorrect diff. I also jacked the car up and check the wheel rotation and thought the diff had an over drive diff ratio. I noticed the new Minty Lamb only has one set of gearbox ratios, so may be my original thought about gear ratios is wrong. I have done a quick check on various websites and it does not seem conclusive, some show Non OD 3rd as 1.25:1 and 4th as 1:1, and OD 3rd as 1:1 and 0.8: 1 and simarly the diff are show Non OD as 3.27:1 and OD 3.89:1. May be the OD ratios are after the OD has been activated? Graham

Latest update. On Friday I fitted the gearbox tunnel and as expected it did not fit. I had to extend the shoulder at the rear of the tunnel, I cut down though the gear level hole and then across the top of the rear, where the prop shaft coupling would be covered. Then moved the cut section back by about 20mm and then made to plates to to fit either side to 're attach it. If you move back to far then the gear lever hole becomes to big for the rubber gatter. Lined the tunnel with sound/ heat proofing, and edged it with 20x10 foam. Saturday took the car for a quick run down the road to everything, OD did not work, did last year now nothing. Spent 2 hrs sorting that out, believed the solenoid was sticking. Rest of the day spent fitting the tunnel, enlarging fixing holes so they would fit. Screwed it down. Sunday finished off fitting the two screws that fix the tunnel to the bulk head from the inside, now remember these were fitted from the outside. Refitted the drivers side parcel shelf, seats. Took the car for another test drive, guess what OD did not work. However changing gear is smooth and the car is totally different to drive. I have suspected someone, PO had fitted an OD diff to the standard non OD gearbox and the car was rubbish, very disappointing. Now a lot move responsive and quicker. I will visit minty lamb to get speeds and revs from his database to check, but I am confident this has sorted that problem. So the previous gearbox sounded like an old Bedford lorry, now it's sounds really nice, smooth gear changes and car drives better. I know I have an oil leak from the rear seal so I will need to work on that and will sort out the OD at the same time later on in the year. My next move will get the car MOT and on the road and enjoy it for a while, I know the OD works so it has to be either the limiter switch or the solenoid. Would I do it again, yes but hopefully quicker now I know the pitfalls. Graham

Sorry meant garage, predict a text! Graham

Move up north and you can have a garbage and garden. Leave the south. You know it makes sense. Graham

Running a Spitfire 1500 since 1984 I made brackets that where fixed to the front chassis rail and had two sets of holes in the number plate one set for enter and the other for summer. The winter ones move the number plate up to block the air flow and the summer one moved it down to increase air flow. Also BL recommended changing thermostats. Only on odd occasions did I have problems when stuck in traffic on hot days but controlled temp by having heater on. Similarly I have done the same thing with my GT6, seems to cure all ills. Standard reads in both. Always puzzled by all this talk of bidder rads, etc back then we ensured cooling systems were looked after, but alas world temps have increased. Note, both cars are no longer every day cars, so not so critical. Graham

Thank you SpitFire6 Was that not the original question.? Sorry. Such a long time ago it was asked. Now I have asked it again has this comes a time loop? So help get me out of lockdown. ☺️☺️ Graham

So is cold air good for carburetor? Graham

If you are just after the outer part the try phoning Speedograph in Nottingham, they make cables to order. They may just sell you that part. Worth a call. Graham

Have you checked your clutch fluids? Lose of fluid could indicate failed master or slaved failed cylinders? Graham

Johny -"What we want Graham is your comments on driving the finished article👍 " I would like to feed back, but I have to sit at home with this gorgeous weather working, and having to wait until the weekend. Basically I need to make the cover plate of the prop shaft, fit the gearbox cover and the interior. Service and then get an MOT at my local garae who I am attempting to keep going by getting varous modern family cars seriviced and MOTed. He has seen his MOT business drop and the folow on work. I have booked off a holiday on Friday to get it done. Easy enough work but the just need to get out there. Hoping to get it MOT next week. AND PETROL IS SO SO CHEAP!!!! no way to go Graham

Originally I was told by various people that the 1850/J type OD single rail box was better than 3 rail D type OD, in addition, if retained as is, it was easier to fit. Attempting to convert this into a 3 rail box with J type seemed to be harder, though interesting I could see be going wrong as I have never rebuilt a gearbox. Looking at Peter's shopping list and the various comments I still believe this for me a better route, however people have various comments, beliefs and thoughts which make life so interesting. At the end of the day no one is right or wrong. Graham

It is a very neat piece of kit, I agree the 2 foot folder is very awkward to use in some circumstances and does have problems folding thicker metal. Two more items on my tool wish list, record vice and the metal folder. Thanks for the information. Graham

Thank you for taking the trouble in posting this information, very interesting. It looks a very neat engineering solution. It does avoid using the clutch lever which pivots on a ball and held in place by a spring which does not seem very secure. On fitting the fork the spring did seem brittle. If I have to pull the gearbox out in the future, I would seriously consider this as a project. It is good that people are adding to this thread with more information. When I started it the idea was to bring together as much information/learnings on this project to help others. Graham

The metal folder in the vice is interesting, do you have any information on it? I have a machine mart folder but it becomes a pain if yo only want to fold small pieces. Graham

Peter, you are correct I did modify the clutch lever and cut the corner of the gearbox, the corner was removed as a precaution as I was not sure how much travel I needed and I only wanted to put the gearbox in once. If I was younger then I may have carried out a trial run of fitting and foud out what I needed to cut or not. Your idea of a concentric clutch sounds good and another way of solving the problem. Both ways have pros and cons. Any idea which concentric and axial internal clutch slave cylinder mod would you have used? Also I need to mention that on using a GT6 clutch slave cylinder I had to insert washers between the cylinder and bell housing to move it slightly back, this was to enable me to change gears as they were catching when I did. I was lucky that the original bell housing came with a dolly slave cylinder and I noticed that it had thicker legs which the bolts went through into the bell housing. Remember I was using a dolly clutch parts in a GT6 housing so this may have caused a problem, however now the gears change nicely. I may refurb the dolly Slave cylinder going forward and try that to see it works. Graham

Thank you Chris. I appreciate the clarification on how you are running the club in these trying times. As you said this what the forum is for and by asking the question all who read the forum will now have the answer and a greater understanding. Yes Classiclife if I had bothered to phone, only I will have had the information not the whole forum. Hopefully Chris will amend the statement on the forum which will save time of those who are working answering the same question numerous times and also hopefully help the club gain some much needed revenue. Again thanks Chris for the update. Graham

Hello I did not bother phoning as the statement clearly says the shop is closed, why waste my time phoning to ask about a closed shop. However, I queried this after reading p5 of the courier today which stated "Shop items can be ordered via mail order or e mail" so this clearly indicates we can still be supplied from the club. Again I assume shop items covers all the goods shown in the catalogue. I am hoping that someone from the Club/COM is reviewing this forum and will review the message to see if it accurately reflects the true trading position. I am highlighting this as the Club could be losing valuable revenue during these trying time. Graham

Hello I am not attempting to cause any problems but in these trying times I am confused by the club shop. The other day I wished to order some triumph bits and pieces, and wished to order them through the club to get a good price and help the club out. I checked the forum for information and saw this: "CORONA VIRUS URGENT NOTICE! We have CLOSED HQ Club Shop under instruction from UK Government on non essential business along with the museum and offices. TSSC VALUATIONS CAN ONLY BE HANDLED BY EMAIL to courier@tssc.org.uk for the immediate future. Stay Safe, Comply with the law and STAY HOME. Thank you for your understanding at this time" I took this as the whole club was shut, including the shop organising purchases to be couriered to your home. So I place my order with another supplier and paid a bit more. Just catching up with the magazine and noticed it say the shop is open for on line purchases. If this correct would it be possible to state this on the forum as you may be losing business at this time, if not fine no probem. Anyway, I hope all at the club HQ and all members are safe and please take care. Graham

Colin, "so I've been following the thread with great interest and like to think I've learned something too. " I have learnt a lot, besides sorting cars out with mechanical probems, getting cars back on the road, general maintenance I have always kept them original. This is the first time I have actually fitted a non stnadard part to one of my cars and had to adapt things to fit, hence my numerous enquires over the previos year before starting. The thing it has shown me is that the forum is very useful and there is good advice out there with good people providing help. The secound thing even when you have done all your research they will be something that trips you up, for me the drive to the speedo. I assumed it would be OK and did not check, in hind sight I could have measured out the position and checked the gap. I have ordered a GT6 plastic tunnel from Moss and fingers crossed I hope it fits, considering the extra length of the OD and gearbox. Anyone interesested in a cardboard original tunnel which has been lined with fibre glass to stiffen it up. Free to a good home if usefull to someone. Was fitted when I had an the non OD box. If interested then PM. To good to throw out. Graham

I went this route Single rail with j type OD as I was told numerous times this was the better combination. It has been an interesting journey and hopefully near to completion. Sorry to cause confusion/ concern to anyone who read this thread. Be nice to get the car back on the road. Graham

Alex, sent a pm. Graham

Alex, Managed to find a post from Sept 2017 on the Club Triumph site. I stated I needed 8 - 32 x 1 1/4 unc screws. These ended cutting down. I got cap head screws from an engineering supplier, as the the original screws were too short. You will also need new gaskets. I will PM a cost. I have two pairs left if anyone else are interested. Graham