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Late / Mid-Life Crisis


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Just a quick note to introduce myself:

Having owned both a Vitesse 2L and a GT6 Mk1 back in the days of my youth, I have returned to the fold having bought SVO123R. This car has had numerous owners and started life as a Spit 1500. At some point it was in the hands of Yorkshire Triumphs and re-emerged as a 2L with a very odd engine number - PDR 001. I guess this was from a reconditioning shop but I have no idea which one. Anyway, it has a nasty fibre glass bonnet similar to that of a Mk3 GT6. The plate says it is a 72K (pimento red) but has been resprayed by Yorkshire Triumphs in "Red". My intention is to fit a proper bonnet but the carbs have been replaced with HS6 and K&N filters which foul the inner wing. Got to sort that out first!

Jimmer is the 'monicker' that I was given by the locals when I first moved to Upper Stratton - part of Stratton St Margaret which is itself part of Swindon in Wiltshire. I answer to any of the following: Jim, Jimmer, James, Hey You etc. etc. At heart however, I am a proud Black Country man hailing from the centre of the universe or Wednesbury as we call it.

Vitesse 2L Cornwall 1977.JPG

Jim working on the GT6 Summer 1978 RPK 67F.jpg

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welcome aboard, so there's work to be done 

ask away the results may drift to alternatie forums dark places , very mixed banter and the occasional 

Triumph related help 

you have come to the right place  even if it a sixfire  or a spitsix  theres lots of help and 'other'   on here 

lets get the smile going 

Pete

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2 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

I wish i was at a mid life crisis not an end of life crisis

Pete

I'm in full time crisis. I'm not sure if this forum is the cure or the cause.

Jim, you'll soon get the measure of us. Well most of us - some are beyond measuring 😱

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6 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

I wish i was at a mid life crisis not an end of life crisis

Pete

That was a joke I remember reading some years back; the neo-natal ward of a hospital had a photo of a premature baby on a poster requesting donations with the words: "the first three minutes of life can be the most dangerous."

Someone had written underneath: "the last three can be pretty hairy as well..."

BTW welcome Jim, sorry for hi-jacking your thread already! Do you remember the VRM of your MK1 GT6?

 

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21 minutes ago, Mathew said:

Come to think of it, my mid life crisis started when i was 26, im 52 now, should i be worried!

Hello Mathew

                        You started late and have a long way to go yet! (75)

I still have 3 Motorcycles(Velocette's) 3 Triumphs and a Morris Minor Traveller!

I did sell a Vitesse a few weeks ago so that's a start? and a few parts!

Roger

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41 minutes ago, rogerguzzi said:

Hello Mathew

                        You started late and have a long way to go yet! (75)

I still have 3 Motorcycles(Velocette's) 3 Triumphs and a Morris Minor Traveller!

I did sell a Vitesse a few weeks ago so that's a start? and a few parts!

Roger

Had 14 spitfires, still have 2. 3 2000s have 1 now. Had a tr7 two gt6s and a Herald 13/60. So i am well down the rabit hole!

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Thanks for all of the welcomes. I got a small detail wrong in my original spiel. The engine number is PBR 001. I also have a couple of motorbikes - Inevitably, a Triumph Sprint St 955i, a Kawasaki ZX6R and a Honda CG125. In the past I have had a Velocette Venom Clubman's, a BSA B175 Bantam and a Triumph T100S plus a number of Japanese machines. There was also an Aerial Arrow engined drag bike back in the early 70s. Sorry Colin but apart from the registration, I have no further details of the GT6 other than I sold it to a guy in the RAF who had a beaten up Mk2 and he canabilised my (far superior condition) Mk1 for spares. Incidentally, both of my brothers also own Spitfires. Tom is a member of the club, lives in Uttoxeter and he and his wife Lorna have a very smart 1500. Youngest brother Bob has a Mk3 which he rescued from a trip to a German scrapyard while based over there with the RAF. It goes pretty well but is a work in progress. He still works for a living! I will post a few photos of the Sixfire later for your delectation. For info, "Pimp my Vit", I'm in Upper Stratton about twenty minutes from Kempsford and similarly, if you want a hand with anything...

All best

Jim.

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Oh yes, forgot to say that the GT6 was RPK67F. Plans include changing the fibre glass bonnet for a steel one, similarly the boot lid. Getting rid of those K&Ns on the HS6 carbs - they would foul the inner wing which has been cut away on the present fibre glass version. I'm saving up the £1500 for a TD Fitchett bonnet!

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+1 to rid the SU  i always say strip SU and Stroms on a clean paper and look at the engineering and components involved 

one is meccano  one is proper   leave you to guess which   yes they can all do a good job 

why fit SU i have 2 are cars that had been molested to SU and they were terrible , replaced with   stroms and air box  and ye ha  back to drivable

Pete

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  • 3 months later...

Having had plenty of time to think about it, I have decided to get shot of the HS6 carbs and replace them with either a pair of CD150 Strombergs or if these prove to be difficult to get, a pair of HS4 SUs. The GT6 that I now have has HS4s and runs pretty well on them. The HS6s are physically too big for a steel bonnet to fit without hacking away the inner wing in the same way that the current glass fibre bonnet has been 'modified'. Perhaps there's someone out there who would like to do a swap? Of course, I would also need to source an airbox if I get Strombergs!

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as SU were never fitted to Vitesse or GT6 spec engines so using them is a guess at the needle spec and generally ongoing headaches

use what was developed with weeks of testing and recording as Triumph did and with Strombergs you get the designed and desired result 

aim for a pair of CDS   ie no emission frills to add  and simple base jet adjustment .the std set up is a choke /starting valve is on front only with a fuel tube link to the rear unit 

pete

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Thanks Pete. I'm sure that is very sound advice and I have never had any issues with Strombergs in the past so would be very happy to have another pair. Mind you the ones I did have were not the CDS versions. So is there anyone out there who would like to swap a pair of HS6s for a pair of CDS 150s?

 

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  • 8 months later...
On 23/05/2021 at 09:48, Stratton Jimmer said:

The engine number is PBR 001.

It has been suggested that this should be PBD 001 and relates to "Pete Buckles Developments". The person who suggested this via a mutual friend reckoned that Yorkshire Triumphs got this engine with a 2.5 head on it. It had been lightened and balanced but the head was over skimmed and unusable. YT then fitted a more appropriate 2L head. 

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  • 1 month later...

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