Peter Truman

Colin re Denso great stuff and your covering should be adequate but they also do a Denso Paste that is to be used in conjunction with the tape. The purpose of the paste is to fill in any voids or air pockets and the sharp corners eg round bolt heads and nuts so the tape doesn't get stretched with air pockets underneath and eventually tear thro. This is particularly important when covering bolted pipe flanges and the assembly is going to be buried, the weight of the backfill earth could tear the tape over the sharp edges. The tape is messy but the paste is 10 times worse, & it takes for ever to get off your hands, definitely a rubber glove job!

In recent times I’ve left the pin and split pin in place and pulled the old tensioner spring out intact by rotating it around and opening the two blades of the spring a little similarly I put the new spring in by opening the two leaves a little to enable the sleeve part of the spring to push past the locating pin. I haven’t had any subsequent issues as before fitting the timing chain cover the two leaves of the tensioner spring are slightly sprung apart, I assume the pressure exerted by the spring closes the two leaves of the spring up! Time will tell but it’s relatively easy to remove the timing cover and fix! I have a new set of duplex cam and crank sprockets plus timing chain (origin unknown) do I need a special timing chain spring tensioner? Is it wider

Doesn't specifically relate to the Le Mans Spitfire GT's but here's an Australian slant to a prototype Spitfire GT4, GT6's were never CKD assembled in Aus or sold direct only personnel imports. The veracity of the AMI prototype cannot be proved as Toyota brought AMI out & stopped Triumph production and subsequently destroyed all the AMI records of Triumph CKD production, which covered Heralds, Spitfire's, and the 2000/2500 saloons.

We have a Mk2 Spit which is a pleasure to drive, with fantastic legroom & I'm 6ft 2 and portly, relatively easy to get into and out, it has a comfortable seat even tho basic, & we can drive 3 hours without a stop, so I presume the GT6 is similar, except access with a fixed roof may infringe access for the taller person, I know getting into the passenger seat ain't easy, but that I think is normal for all cars when your used to being the driver! By comparison I have frequently driven a Series 2 E Type roadster, its hard to get into and the legroom is at best restrictive, power oh yeh plenty, but long trips are a NO NO! Price comparison here a good GT6 $30k, vs a good Series 2 E Type roadster around $200k, the one I get to drive is concour and worth $250k, and yes I prefer the GT6, style and easy/cheap to fix, I'm a practicalist. Re looks the E Type Coupe is beautiful, the roadster not so attractive, but the GT6 also has style but not it's beauty, and Oh Yes I prefer the Gt6 Mk2, ie roundtail style with rotaflex.

I did the conversion using an early full Australian Herald convertible 1960 CKD rear tub, which had no rust onto a 68 Mk2 Vitesse body, had issues with some bracketery besides the Mk2 handbrake guides (rotaflex) and cables. the earlier rear tub appeared to have some extra brackets maybe from the earlier Herald type chassis, I did have to file out the slotted convertible to chassis upper diff leg mounts over the axle by about 1/8in to get the bolts to align and ensure adequate door gaps don't know if that was due to my early vs late chassis configuration. One advantage of the Herald/Vitesse modular construction is its meccano like ability to switch between saloon, conv and estate.

Ooh it's on, should be an interesting family Christmas part Ha! & a GT6 vs Spitfire a lively discussion.

Had a Mk1 Sprite great fun but the suspension was why I went to Triumphs! Ooh and getting the spare tyre and tools out WHAT a pain! Luggage was worse.

Yes it was, as it also ran an evaporative cooler which cooled the top floor of the quite large house. Package also included selected ducting I remember getting into the roof and measuring up so he could order the hardware. I reckon it was the only house in North York’s which had cooling.

Peter I said heathens! I worked several times in the mid 60's to early 70's working in Canada and US as in all over the world it takes all types, but some of their senior managers were hard to get on with! My parents spent some time in the States mid to late 60's so when they returned to the UK they brought quite a lot of 110v appliances so they had several rooms in their UK house eg Kitchen, TV room, bathroom and garage/workshop wired for 110 and 240volt supplies, they had their own 240 to 110 volt transformer big bugger mounted in the garage, wonder what wiring the UK electrician used?

I put an early Herald Convertible rear tub on my Vitesse the tub was a CKD Australian assembled by AMI it didn’t have captive nuts in the turrents but Ajax threaded speed nuts, I didn’t think they were strong enough so I drilled thro the turrent and floor then drilled back up the floor to the underneath of the turrent with a tank cutter 3/4 I think then used a suitable washer and nut against the underside of the top of the torrent thro the hole to hold a longer bolt. All structurally strong but a bit of a faff fitting the washer and nut up the inside of the turrent the bolt is just shy oh the floor panel so a long socket is needed to do it up tight. The underside is sealed with a rubber grommet. would have been easier to use captive nuts but! But I thought the larger washer and nut a stronger solution. I once had a work new Aussie Leyland P76 rip the front seat rear mountings out doing an emergency stop didn’t hit the car in front, but try driving a car with a rocking seat! Those seat mounts were just Ajax speed nuts welded to the floor too.

John NV flow stands for the oil flow through the Needle Valve, a NV regulates the oil flow to the rocker shaft. It ensures that the rockers aren’t overlubricated. hope this helps

Iain another advantage of the adjustable NV flow is you can open it up every so often to flush it thro then rest it back to original, without damaging anything. The small annulus the NV creates/works on can easily get blocked with a bit of crud esp in my previous environment of water supply we used Y strainers to protect but still used to need a cleanout when the valve operation got too slow. The blockages were the reason we always went for the smallest NV practicable so the orifice aperture opening was the largest so as to minimize the probability of a blockage.

in the early 70's dad had a new Merc300SEL with the works, 2years old and the front brakes weren't up to stopping the 6.3lt weight and power so put it in for a check up whilst he was away, Merc don't re-piston and replace caliper disc seals, only fit new calipers, cost 750quid more than the cost of a new Mini! at the time, this put me off Merc's for life, similarly the air suspension front to rear proportioning valve which is nothing much and no electronics ie a long cylinder with several pneumatic inputs & shuttle piston it can only be replaced, 450 quid! without it the car settles at the front or rear when stationary down onto the air bellows but pumps up and levels out when moving. A neighbour here put his 3yr old Merc 500 in for service which includes a full brake overhaul plus other major service items service cost near $5k, they did lend him a new Merc Sports as the service took 2 days, what was it you said about OVERPRICED, and the depreciation brings water to your eyes. I'll stick to Jags and Triumphs mind you the latest Jags scare you there so complicated, with niggling electrical problems!

what heathen would use a white wire for earth! must admit I've used red wire in place of the official positive Triumph supply white, green, brown or purple, at least it says I'm live/positive! But in later life I am going back and fixing up my earlier youthful errors, you can do that when you've owned the car 50 years! and any extra access's are independently fused thro separate fuse box's next to the original. waiting to be loudly down cried!

Some time go on the Forum there was a discussion (thread) re sump plug thread (might have been gearbox?) and some aftermarket plugs were the incorrect threads ie UNF, BSP or NPT, two of those have the same TPI but different thread profiles, so make sure any magnetic plug you purchase is compatible. Over the years I've collected many Triumph sq headed sump plugs and as a Covid job I installed think there called rare earth magnet ie a small round magnets into the end by drilling a hole in the end of the plug and pressing the magnet in, haven't used them yet! Eon's ago I purchased around 30 magnetic sump plugs from a UK cottage industry supplier for my then Aust Triumph Car Club regalia stock, at our annual combined Triumph Concour club stand they sold out in under an hour, the TR6 brigade went loopy over them!

interestingly Colin for a scroll seal there doesn't appear to be a drain hole in the bottom of the Bellhousing. Why shouldn't the alloy gearbox case be strong enough it's the same material and construction as the big saloons and TR range presumably just smaller so unless it's of thinner construction should be stronger. I read somewhere Triumph went to the cast iron bellhousing to kill the noise yet they persevered with alloy in the Vitesse and all other models go figure? Don't the boy racers like the light weight alloy gearbox's for racing ie weight saving. I have two alloy bellhousings a Herald early one which is definitely of thinner construction and fewer strengthening ribs, and a later one which is thicker and the same molding as the standard cast iron unit. My daughters an Aero Space Engineer and when I rebuilt her gearbox 18 years ago whilst she was in Germany working for VW/Audi I asked her which bellhousing I should fit the thinner light weight or the later thicker alloy unit, her answer surprised me, the later thicker alloy unit as it was stronger and would last better and kill the noise better, this was after she had built a carbon fiber racing bike with friends at Uni, her motto was reduce weight as much as possible, ie alloy water pump and alternator pulleys, alloy thermo/water pump housing, brackets drilled out to reduce weight (even the alt is a NOS Holden Aussie Lucas and looks shorter/smaller than the std 15ACR, but I haven't weighed them) I think we might look at alloy front and rear engine backplates just cos we can & there reasonably priced.

As a Yorkshireman I now know why I baulk at some UK postage costs to Aus but then some are reasonable. I hate eBay generated postage costs min appears to be around 20quid, whereas them in the know can do it for half, don’t get me started on US postage or carriers and delivery I reckon it doubled overnight. Just sourced locally with free postage a Hi torque starter for 65quid had been looking overseas but postage was a killer.

Interestingly on the Triumph Experience website in the Spitfire & GT6 Forum there is a query re difference why the difference in weight between the GT6 and TR6 flywheels (18 vs 27lbs) with pics of the GT flywheel maybe of interest

My penny's worth on Triumph Keyrings here's the two sides of my personalised daily keyring, I think it's a modified Jag ring of early 80's vintage the original plastic Jag insignia has been replaced with enameled badge and a Vitesse enameled JB welded to the other side the hook broke off so has been replaced with a large oversized split pin JB welded & impaled into the backing diecast base, it's heavy around 34mm dia and overall 6mm thick. Hey I like it I've used it daily for around 40 years & it'll be with me forever, my two favourite cars! On the ring I have my Viresse's original Ignition key now far to thin to use, along with my last dogs name disc (16yr old Foxhound) and a US dime I've used since 1968 when we got married "In God We Trust"! Aah I'm a softie.

Someone asked so here are some pic's of my original early Vitesse Mk2 Steering Wheel as still fitted to the car after 52 years. Stitching still good but how do I tidy up the damage to the leather at the top its minor but a little roughi

I assume in the UK there are people who recover steering wheels ,my Dolly Sprint has been done professionally in thin leather by a chap here in Melb who came and gave a talk/presentation to my previous club. What a great job it is too retains the original look and feel ie it’s also the thin rim feel it’s stitched on and very tidy where it goes over the spokes. ref the aftermarket lace on leather covers I think we all put them on in the 60/70’s they provided a thicker wheel and if you were careful you could get a good fit BUT they could be loose and twist on the wheel I think they cost around a fiver , I see there up around 50 nowadays I presume there the same quality with the same tightness issues. I reverted the Mk2 Vitesse back to the original the leather has scuffed up over 50 years but still sound, any ideas how to clean up and refinish it.

Adrian what is the Bosch Part No. please, the the Isuzu Trooper was produced over a long period and had different models & engines, also as a Holden Jackeroo clone, there are 2.6lt equals but I'd like to be sure. Regards, Peter

So fitting one other than the possible tuning advantage really ain’t much fun if you try and use it properly so I’ll give it a miss fitted an oil pressure gauge into the Dolly Sprint today not as easy as a Spit or Vitebsk the double bulkhead and soundproofing made alignment difficult but it works on a hot day running 50psi and idle around 20, might try another Smiths gauge as the original of dubious heritage, had in the surplus box for 40 years

i've always wanted to fit a Vac gauge BUT how to interpret its meaning has always scared the hell out of me to such an extent I've never had the guts to fit one! I reckon it's the ultimate tool whilst being the ultimate measure of being paranoid !

I think Pete has advised previously make sure the glass jar is above the bleed nipple so the air travels uphill to the highest point and into the jar and doesn't get stuck in the pipe high point caused with a low jam jar.