Richiow Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 Recently collected our Triumph Vitesse project car. In pieces when we got it, but hoping to get it back on the road and running. Also means I get to spend some quality time to spend with my dad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiow Posted February 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 Managed to get the chasis prepared and and painted in red oxide. Ignore the black paint. My dad got excited and wanted to see what it looked like with the chasis paint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomL Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 Hi Richiow, Welcome to the forum. That certainly is a project-and-a-half. I like the photo where you've trial-fitted the front seats - perhaps a bit ahead of time maybe. Do you have any history with the car? Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiow Posted February 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 Thanks Tom, I understand the car originally came from cornwall, but had some minor damage to the front. My dads work colleague bought it as a project. They only got as far as repairing the chassis and has been sat in the shed for 20 years. It is a mk2 2ltr vitesse and it is the original yellow from factory. Apparently the mk2 should not of come in this colour yellow and it was a special request to the factory. It is completely original and has 50,000 miles on the clock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomL Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 Hi, Is the colour "Jasmine"? I imagine that wasn't a MkII colour, so could well have been a special-order. 50,000-miles is exceptionally low mileage for a car of this age, so a great starting point (my car has done well in excess of 200,000!). I recall a 13/60, belonging to a friend, which was Jasmine with a tan interior - a slightly odd combination but it was the '60's! Does it have overdrive? What's the condition of the body? It's great to hear that you're keeping another of our lovely Triumphs on the road. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiow Posted February 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 Hi Tom, From what i understand from the previous owner, they did some research and it is a primrose yellow with tan interior. Both of which was not a factory option. The original tan leather seats need a few small repairs but are otherwise in good condition. There is no overdrive and do not plan on adding it, as I would like to keep it original. We have both metal and fibreglass front ends. Both needs work and I think we will try and get the metal front end repaired. Apart from a bit of rust in the footwells and a small amount around the arches it is in good condition. It is our first car restoration, so I hope we will do the little triumph proud and keep her on the road for many years to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted February 21, 2016 Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 If I may, and from experience of reassembling such a Vitesse/Herald, careful measurement when assembling front and rear body halves. I ended with the whole assembly half an inch shorter than it should be! Your soft top will not fit then! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiow Posted February 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 Well we flipped the chassis over today to start the prep on the underside and discovered our first bit of damage/rust. It is on the main beam where the outrigger joins it. We will cut out the rust and hopefully will be able to weld a plate over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiow Posted February 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 If I may, and from experience of reassembling such a Vitesse/Herald, careful measurement when assembling front and rear body halves. I ended with the whole assembly half an inch shorter than it should be! Your soft top will not fit then! John Hi john, Many thanks for the advice, it is something that I did not even consider. I think we will do a dry run before having the body sprayed and ensure all the panels fit. How long did your body off restoration take? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted February 21, 2016 Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 About three years. Complicated, because it was to become Silverback, my race Vitesse Estate (see bbelow), so there were a lot of other suspension, bodywork, engine and fuelling mods to do as well. For instance, the doors were in DiY GRP, but of course when fitted to the body, would come nowhere near shutting. My solution was to cut a vertical strip half an inch wide from the doors! It was going to have plastic windows anyway, so no probs fitting glass. The GRP roof was a VERY tight fit, but as it was very stiff, unlike an OE metal roof and third the weight, with that tensioned the whole shell was also beautifully stiff. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiow Posted February 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 About three years. Complicated, because it was to become Silverback, my race Vitesse Estate (see bbelow), so there were a lot of other suspension, bodywork, engine and fuelling mods to do as well. For instance, the doors were in DiY GRP, but of course when fitted to the body, would come nowhere near shutting. My solution was to cut a vertical strip half an inch wide from the doors! It was going to have plastic windows anyway, so no probs fitting glass. The GRP roof was a VERY tight fit, but as it was very stiff, unlike an OE metal roof and third the weight, with that tensioned the whole shell was also beautifully stiff. John I'm loving the Vitesse race car John. To be honest i would prefer doing repairs in GRP, as i used to build carbon fibre racing yachts. My welding on the other hand is not so good, but i get the feeling the vitesse is going to need it to get better. My dad is pretty confident he can do the welding work though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve C Posted February 21, 2016 Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 Hi Rich You can get a suprising number of GRP panels if you are not too concerned about originality, try Honeybourne Mouldings, who are still going. On the plus side they are easier for the home mechanic to prepare, repair, and modify, and they shed weight. On the negative side, they always require some fettling to fit, crack if stressed, and never seem to fit quite as well as steel. You have quite a project there, but I have seen worse. The key is organisation and method, and then doing little and often. Get all the stuff you don't need yet boxed, bagged and labelled, and into dry storage, then try to accomplish something each day, and run a job list. Butt weld everything for a neat job, use original quality steel to make repair panels, get some decent zinc-heavy primer on and then the rust won't come back. Making friends with a good sandblaster will also save you hours of work. Keep posting the pics, and good luck with your project Regards Steve C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiow Posted March 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 A few photos of the build moving along slowly. Due to wedding planning i have not done as much as I would have liked. We have welded the outrigger where the small bit of corrision was. Completely painted the chassis in red oxide and just finished painting one side with chassis paint. We have also sent the suspension off to be sand blasted. The tub has also been cleaned out ready for sand blasting and repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Caswell Posted March 28, 2016 Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 Hi looks a brave project. Have noticed the side rails on Vitesse's normally have a reinforcing box cap on the inside at the back for about 10 inches. Which I assume braces the chassis. I know you have it painted but they would be easier to make up and fit now. All the best Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted March 29, 2016 Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 And when it comes to fitting a 40year old body onto a 40yr old chassis use as much packing on the body mounts as needed,, it needs solid mounts at the two front outriggers and two on the diff crossmember all thebrest are rubber pad plus any packers. 25mm is not uncommon especially the rear tub check the width across the waist at the rear tub B post , if youmhave body spread now is the time to pull it in, or the bottom of the doors will always stick out proud. recall 46.5" across the flange on top of the waist but thats a guess. if you have spread there is some wonderous methods to oik it back Make some wooden spacers to maintant the door gaps when refitting the two tubs the balkhead to front outrigger is the only sized location mount all others are very moveable as you tightennall down the door gap closes up keeping it wedged apart makes it easier we added to sized bolt holes in the sill to maintain the finished gaps pleanty of sealer on the front to rear overlap and a rubber strip across under this joint. if I find my wooden spaces I will add the lengths later pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiow Posted March 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 Hi Ben, Where are these reinforcing box caps? Do you have any examples or pictures of them? Thanks Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiow Posted March 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 Hi Pete, Many thanks for the advice on the mounts for the body. That is something that I would never of thought of doing. Although the body was cleaned up, we will not be in a position to spray it for a long time. We will just focus on getting all the suspension and engine attached to the chassis before sending the body off to be prepared and sprayed. Is there anyone else on here who has documented the entire rebuild of a vitesse. It would be interesting to read another persons experience. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 30, 2016 Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 It is an absolute must that you get the body completely fitted and check gaps etc before painting anything. Sure, get the suspension fitted and get the chassis rolling, but then get all the bodywork fitted. All too easy to assume it will all fit when the reality can mean cutting and welding, and other forms of brutality. As to siderail boxing, you can just about make it out in the diagram below: http://www.canleyclassics.com/triumph-vitesse-mkii-chassis Talking of chassis, I hope you have thoroughly tested the whole thing with a hammer. One I had looked ok, but both main rails were so thin a light hammer opened it up. Now is the time to check everything is good, don't be afraid of what you find now, so much easier than 2 years down the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted March 30, 2016 Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 Richiow, You NEVER do "repairs", on a steel shell, in GRP. To do so is a bodge. On steel, GRP is for 'making good', smoothing whe you have beaten out dents as far as poss, or to hide welded seams. Steve, AFAIK, Honeybourne still have the bonnet mould but it is so old they will not use it. Unless you say you are racing with it, as they know that races are not so worried about fit! No one makes doors - that's why I did! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lewis Posted March 30, 2016 Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 try and get a copy of lindsay porters triumph purchase and restoration guide--you can usually pick a copy up on ebay or amazon. it has loads of info. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve C Posted March 30, 2016 Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 Hi Rich There is an excellent time-lapse here of a complete rebuild, done by Peter Dunne. See also other videos posted by jademuttley on YouTube for individual jobs. Peter is one of the most meticulous and skilled guys out there, so if you follow his methods, you won't go far wrong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fzj-dW5ALU John - know what you mean about the bonnets - I had one and sold it on to a guy from London who collected it in a van full of veg at 11pm on a Saturday night! Floppy and horrible, but their valances, sills and boot lids are OK if you want to shed weight and are prepared to do some fettling and modifying to fit. This really needs to be taken as a given with GRP panels in general. Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiow Posted March 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 Richiow, You NEVER do "repairs", on a steel shell, in GRP. To do so is a bodge. On steel, GRP is for 'making good', smoothing whe you have beaten out dents as far as poss, or to hide welded seams. Steve, AFAIK, Honeybourne still have the bonnet mould but it is so old they will not use it. Unless you say you are racing with it, as they know that races are not so worried about fit! No one makes doors - that's why I did! John Hi John, I would not do a GRP repair on steel. I was just saying that i wish the repairs were in GRP as my welding is not as good as my laminating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 while youre on suspension do remove the 4 front lower wishbone pivot brackets its only one nut , its important to check these for corrosion inside the rails some studs rot so thin you snap them removing the inboard nut hopefully all is ok but its a quick and simple check worth doing so you know they are OK door gap gauge mine was a length of 2x1 timber with slot each end to drop between the seal flanges , the ends being cut at an angle or you cant insert them these are angle to drop in and then positioned horizontal the gap between slots on mine ( not to say thats right ) is 40.25" if you make them longer you can adjust the angle to change the gap witdths they fit in with or without the doors on . the body manual uses wedges whacked in the door shuts , didnt find that very intuative Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 tub spread many use straps and tourniquet the tension we made up some odds and sods with a 10mm studding to wind the tops in,, lots of creaks and cracks had to over pull buy about 1.5" to reduce a 5/8" tub spread the rear deck panel stiffens all this operation, so its easier on a saloon than a coupe if you pull too far then the rear deck can start to buckle keep an eye on this . it takes a lot real lot of load to correct the spread ... so lets hope the doors dont stick out at the bottom if they do this is whats needed something strong lots of tea and a will to beat the basket Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 Hi John, I would not do a GRP repair on steel. I was just saying that i wish the repairs were in GRP as my welding is not as good as my laminating. Fine, Richiow! You know rightly! Do you have a welder? Because you will need one, and now is the time to start practising on scraps, not when you need to use it on the car. OR, find if your local College of Knowledge does welding courses - well worth it for the practice and teaching you will get. Cunning and precise adjuster, Pete. Another way is to use a 3-4" wide ratchet tensioning strap, right around the rear tub (take out the rear light clusters). Over tension it, to close up the B-post more than required. Leave it overnight, release, leave it overnight and repeat until they are back in place. Worked for me! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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