Pablo Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 Hello everyone. This is my first foray into the world of classic cars, and it's not been the usual process. The owner of this this beautiful little car passed away a few months ago, and I was given the opportunity to buy it. I don't know much about it, other than it's been owned by two people (mother and then daughter) and it was restored by SW Classics in Devon. The owner had the car MOTd every year, as far back as I can see on the DVLA site. Neighbours tell me that she wasn't able to drive due to her age, but had it collected, MOTd and serviced every year. It's covered about 300 miles since 2006, and shows 27000 on the clock. I assume that's 27k since restoration? The car has been garaged and the condition is excellent. Solicitors are trying to find the paperwork and keys in her property, so I don't have any paperwork or history but I'm hoping this will turn up in due course. Someone told me about reading the three numbers on the ignition, so I ordered a key and it worked. The car started, but it was a bit lumpy, as you might expect. My next step is to get the car checked over, serviced, and to get it roadworthy. It might even been ready to go! I've no idea about the fuel and whether it's been converted to run with unleaded, or whether I need an additive. Without taking the head off, is there a way to tell? It won't be my daily drive, but I hope to get it out and about as much as I can. She's such a little beauty. If anyone has any words of advice, pointers in the right direction, or even just a friendly hello, many thanks in advance. The car is in Devon so some of you might see her out and about before too long. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 Hi welcome to the Forum , were a friendly bunch with lots of experts ready to help . Re fuel I use Tesco Momentum 99 Ron in my Vitesse and don’t use additives . If I can’t find a Tesco station I use 95 Ron with an Octane additive Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 Welcome, Pablo! What a find! And it runs too! Wow! You are a lucky man! I'm sure you're gong to follow the previous owner and dget it MoTd every year, howver much work you need to do yourself, which may not be much, or anything, given that history. You don't mention your own expertise with cars, except that this is your first classic. On the 'correct' fuel, these are, of course from the leaded era, but many have found that unless the engine is caned or used on motorways, the "lead memory" embedded in the valves and seats continues to protect them. If you can, or can learn to, check the rocker gaps then this will tell you if the seat are wearing away when you run on modern fuel. If they start to close up, then beware. You could add lead substitute, but it's a faff, and expensive, and as I say, many have found unnecessary. Meanwhile run on high octane fuel - I use Shell V-power, 99 octane. It may also be wise to renew all the rubber hose that carries fuel. Modern alcohol spiked petrol is corrosive to old rubbers. The main Triumph parts suppliers sell it, for instance "Gates Barricade". Good luck! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qu1ckn1ck Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 Hi and welcome ! You certainly appear to have found a beauty there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Posted October 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 Great, thanks for the replies. And very helpful info about running high-octane fuel. There's a shell and a tesco within a mile or so. I don't have much experience with cars. Nowadays I drive new cars and let the garage do everything. I built a Westfield kit car from scratch in my early 20s so I have some mechanical knowledge, but that was 20 years ago I'm a little rusty! I'm not sure there's much I'll need to do on this car really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 when things return to normal Devon have a very active group of memebers see the are directory on the main site as for unleaded the castings have many years of lead memory absorbed over the years so addatives are not realy needed just a decent 97+ ron fuel and you can keep close to factory settings for timing etc. the only way to tell if its been converted ( thats just the exhaust seats ) would be a reiept to say so or get an endoscope inside down a spark plug hole and try to examine the exh. seats for any signs of a added ring inserted . Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Posted October 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 Thanks Pete. I look forward to meeting some Devon members at some point, even if just from afar. Sue from the local group kindly helped me a few months ago with some information on a valuation, which was very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave.vitesse Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 Welcome Pablo to the forum. I agree with Paul's advice re the fuel as the Vitesse 6 was designed to run on 98 octane and will pink on the standard 95 unleaded. Most Club Areas have a good social side as well as having people who will help with the technical matters. This forum also contain a great deal of useful knowledge. It's good to see your very smart Vitesse 6. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Cooper Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 Welcome Pablo, What a gorgeous car! One thing to check is the age of the tyres. The advice is to change them if they are more than 7 years old, regardless of tread depth, condition etc (the date of manufacture is marked on the tyre) Beyond 7 years the rubber tends to harden and grip is significantly reduced, and the fact that the car has sat in one position between one MOT and the next could have created 'flat spots' that may cause a vibration when you are driving. If it were my car I would change the brake seals, fluid and flexible hoses too. I agree with the opinions of my learned colleagues about unleaded fuel and I've had no problems with my original head in more than 40,000 miles of spirited driving. Use it and enjoy it! Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Posted October 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 Very good point about the tyres. They look perfect, but then they would do. A good idea to get them replaced right away. The car was restored, I believe in the mid 90s, and I assume resprayed. Does anyone know if this might be the original colours? It's a greeny browny vomity colour, and I've grown to love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 That greeny brown vomit colour is Olive, argueably one of the best colours Triumph ever offered, and the stripe is Cactus. The interior is also Cactus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Posted October 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 Olive and cactus. Perfect. And a much better name than mine. This might mean the restorer stayed faithful to the original colourway, which is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Posted October 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 My next job is to figure out what a few of the switches and dials do. There seem to be 2 or 3 extra added at some point. One is just below the bottom of the dash, and looks a little like a metal tyre valve cap and feels sprung. Anyone know what this might be? I'll get a photo at some point. It has a radio too, and it could be original. Did they come with radios back in '63, or would this have been added later? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Pablo said: One is just below the bottom of the dash, and looks a little like a metal tyre valve cap and feels sprung. Anyone know what this might be? I'll get a photo at some point. It has a radio too, and it could be original. Did they come with radios back in '63, or would this have been added later? That's the odometer / trip reset. Push in and turn, and watch the speedo! Radios were an optional extra; if you can post a photo we'll know if it's original, period, or aftermarket. Hopefully! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Posted October 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 35 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said: Radios were an optional extra; if you can post a photo we'll know if it's original, period, or aftermarket. Hopefully! Here we go... I dont have a pic of the whole thing yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 3 hours ago, Pablo said: Olive and cactus. Perfect. And a much better name than mine. This might mean the restorer stayed faithful to the original colourway, which is great. Have to say I am biased, I have a 63 2000 in Cactus over olive. it had an 8-track in it, not sure that is period, even came with some tapes, though have to say C&W is not my scene man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyman Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Pablo said: Here we go... I dont have a pic of the whole thing yet. It's a Radiomobile Pablo Triumph fitted those as standard mostly, two of mine have them. Good radio in the day, they can be converted to modern. Tony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Posted October 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 Great, thanks for that. I'll probably just keep it exactly as it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave1360 Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 Hi Pablo, I've got one of those Radiomobile Model 80 radios in my Vitesse 6 too, but they're actually an early 1970s model from what I've worked out. I still think it looks great and have no intention to replace it though. Great looking car too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 Looks to be same as mine; I'm using a period console to fit it in the 1200 Estate, since I don't have the proper version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Posted October 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 Excellent. That console looks good. I think mine has a speaker in the driver footwell area. Another q... has anyone discreetly wired in a 12v power point? I'm thinking it would be handy to have a USB point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 I've put one under the dash of my 13/60, others had 'hidden' one in the glove box. A useful addition, mine is used to power my 'period' (well it is quite old) nav sat unit occasionally and power the type pump. Lovely car by the way, we would love to see a full set of photos when you have them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Posted October 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 Just now, Chris A said: I've put one under the dash of my 13/60, others had 'hidden' one in the glove box. A useful addition, mine is used to power my 'period' (well it is quite old) nav sat unit occasionally and power the type pump. Lovely car by the way, we would love to see a full set of photos when you have them Excellent idea. Simple to wire in? Yep, I'll take a full set of photos when I get chance. The car is currently stored about 30 miles away in the garage where I originally discovered it. It was basically a garage find. I bought a block of garages and this car was in one of them. I then had to find the owner by knocking on doors in the neighbourhood. It turned out she was in her late 90s, with dementia, and in care home. After her passing in the middle of this year, the solicitor advised me that she had no family and the car had been left to a charity. They didn't want a car and would rather the money, so we agreed a figure. And that's how this little car came to be in my possession. I'll be moving it to my home soon, and then I'll take a full set of snaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Pablo said: Excellent idea. Simple to wire in? Yes, child's play. Mine is wired so it is permanently live so I can use it when the engine isn't running. I searched the bay for one with a waterproof cover, I have a convertible, for additional protection. It came complete with simple bracket. A wire to a suitable earth point, plenty of choice under the dash another with inline fuse to +ve on battery. Just make sure when connecting you put them the correct way round or you will blow the fuse when you first use it. Just saying this for info as I'm sure you wouldn't be clumsy enough to get it wrong unlike some people ( hangs head in shame) 🙄🙃 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave1360 Posted October 6, 2020 Report Share Posted October 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Chris A said: Just make sure when connecting you put them the correct way round or you will blow the fuse when you first use it. Particularly if the car is still positive earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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