Triumph GT6 Mk3 (1973)
Discussion
Evening all, thought this may be of interest to some.
After moving into my own place in 2015 I gained a small but usable garage. It was way to small for my daily and putting my daily in a tiny (by modern standards) garage with an up and over garage door is only going to lead to back pain and being constantly 10 mins late for everything. So before it got filled up with clutter and other peoples furniture they don't have room for I thought best fill it with a car.
I knew I wanted some sort of classic, just wasn't sure what. Although something like a gt junior would be amazing they were out of budget, although I did seriously consider a fulvia at one point. Anyway after weeks of looking around not really taken with anything, was sure I wasn't taken by a MGB, my Dad suggest a I take a look at a GT6, he owned one in what is referred to as 'period', much to his annoyance. They hadn't really appeared on my search but was exactly the sort of car I had been looking for.
We found a promising sounding example for sale locally and headed off one Saturday to have a gander. The interior was fresh having been recently restored, however having watched the vendor struggle to get it started, I set off on a test drive, with the chap, with a growing sense of unease. Sure enough it wasn't running well and stopped maneuvering off the drive. A look under the bonnet confirmed the worst, the engine was really sick. It wasn't for us and we politely made our excuses and left feeling a little down.
We hit the internet again and a smart looking example popped up about 30 miles away at a small dealer. I went to have a look after and found a car which at some point in the past had been restored and resprayed from green to a bright yellow. A photo appeared to confirm this. The exterior looked good although the yellow dash panel was a bit of a surprise. The car also appear to have first been registered nearby on what was my Dad's 18th birthday. The interior was original but was looking a little tired with the sunvisors drooping down and a small hole in the driver's seat. Overall it looked good, a test drive was swiftly arranged. This past without hitch although the ride was fairly firm and bordering on crashy from the rear. A deal was done and we agreed to pick up the car the following weekend.
After what felt like the longest week, I was like a teenager with a sniff of a date, we excitedly headed to the dealer for the start of our classic motoring adventure. Waving bye to our taxi we completed the sale and headed off into the sunset for trips to village pubs, rides out and standing about at shows. We were grinning from ear to ear like two escaped 70's loons as we pulled onto the A46 and headed home. Enjoying the sound of the straight 6 coupled to a sports exhaust we barely noticed as we crashed over the pre-cast concrete sections of misery that pass for a road in our part of the world. All seemed well with the world and we continued to congratulate ourselves for our marvellous purchase as we pulled off the duel carriageway onto a large roundabout. As we braked and changed down though it became clear, like a dark cloud over a beer garden, that all was not well. The gruff straight 6 had turned into a clattering 3 and a stall soon followed. A swift attempt to restart our progress was met with nothing more than a cough and silence. Our classic adventure, reached a significant milestone as I attempted to push the stranded car out of harm's way. Such an activity is conspicuous at the best of times, a bright yellow old sports car it turns out is particularly unsubtle. Our fellow motorists were certainly not amused by our plight and let us know. Safely out of the way, an investigation revealed nothing obviously untoward, a quick spray of WD40 across the HT leads and we were back to a full complement of Coventry's finest. After adding expert mechanics to our list of accolades we headed off back into the sun. Joy was once again short lived as we spluttered to a halt just outside the village. The crowd this time was fortunately small for my next round of pushing so we stopped for refreshment at our local. I had been pushing for about 2 miles so later the car had to suffer the ignominy of being towed the rest of the way home by my mother's ridiculous and much mocked soft roader. Our first day of classic ownership has been a somewhat chastening one.
The car was laid up for a few weeks before investigations of the fault could begin in earnest. The rotor arm was found to be running freely and the distributor appeared new. The coil was creating a strong spark so we were at a loss as to what could be causing the fault. It was tricky to track down as appeared to be very intermittent, the car would run well until the revs slowed and it stalled. After a frustrating few months we gave up and ordered a whole new distributor cap online. This was fitted and the car was running like a dream. With hindsight we could see that the original distributor cap was fractionally the incorrect size and had been sparking across a gap to the rotor arm. We had spent months trying to fix something that was never going to work. I assume the pre-cast A46 combined with poor ride shook loose whatever was used to make it work previously.
The distributor of pain:
The car was sent to it's first MOT (with us) and passed although it was noted that the rear shocks were well past their past. These were replaced easily and for the princely sum of £9.80 per side. The ride was improved no end and the crashy feeling was resigned to a memory with a few easy strokes of a spanner.
We enjoyed a summer of trouble free motoring last year although a few simple issues came to light before it was placed away for winter. A colder spring here combined with a local council intent on gritting any ferrous substance into the history books has meant that the winter hibernation has been extended slightly but with an MOT due now we are back out again.
I hope to keep the forum posted with progress as we aim to slowly restore/ improve the interior and hopefully head out to enjoy the car.
After moving into my own place in 2015 I gained a small but usable garage. It was way to small for my daily and putting my daily in a tiny (by modern standards) garage with an up and over garage door is only going to lead to back pain and being constantly 10 mins late for everything. So before it got filled up with clutter and other peoples furniture they don't have room for I thought best fill it with a car.
I knew I wanted some sort of classic, just wasn't sure what. Although something like a gt junior would be amazing they were out of budget, although I did seriously consider a fulvia at one point. Anyway after weeks of looking around not really taken with anything, was sure I wasn't taken by a MGB, my Dad suggest a I take a look at a GT6, he owned one in what is referred to as 'period', much to his annoyance. They hadn't really appeared on my search but was exactly the sort of car I had been looking for.
We found a promising sounding example for sale locally and headed off one Saturday to have a gander. The interior was fresh having been recently restored, however having watched the vendor struggle to get it started, I set off on a test drive, with the chap, with a growing sense of unease. Sure enough it wasn't running well and stopped maneuvering off the drive. A look under the bonnet confirmed the worst, the engine was really sick. It wasn't for us and we politely made our excuses and left feeling a little down.
We hit the internet again and a smart looking example popped up about 30 miles away at a small dealer. I went to have a look after and found a car which at some point in the past had been restored and resprayed from green to a bright yellow. A photo appeared to confirm this. The exterior looked good although the yellow dash panel was a bit of a surprise. The car also appear to have first been registered nearby on what was my Dad's 18th birthday. The interior was original but was looking a little tired with the sunvisors drooping down and a small hole in the driver's seat. Overall it looked good, a test drive was swiftly arranged. This past without hitch although the ride was fairly firm and bordering on crashy from the rear. A deal was done and we agreed to pick up the car the following weekend.
After what felt like the longest week, I was like a teenager with a sniff of a date, we excitedly headed to the dealer for the start of our classic motoring adventure. Waving bye to our taxi we completed the sale and headed off into the sunset for trips to village pubs, rides out and standing about at shows. We were grinning from ear to ear like two escaped 70's loons as we pulled onto the A46 and headed home. Enjoying the sound of the straight 6 coupled to a sports exhaust we barely noticed as we crashed over the pre-cast concrete sections of misery that pass for a road in our part of the world. All seemed well with the world and we continued to congratulate ourselves for our marvellous purchase as we pulled off the duel carriageway onto a large roundabout. As we braked and changed down though it became clear, like a dark cloud over a beer garden, that all was not well. The gruff straight 6 had turned into a clattering 3 and a stall soon followed. A swift attempt to restart our progress was met with nothing more than a cough and silence. Our classic adventure, reached a significant milestone as I attempted to push the stranded car out of harm's way. Such an activity is conspicuous at the best of times, a bright yellow old sports car it turns out is particularly unsubtle. Our fellow motorists were certainly not amused by our plight and let us know. Safely out of the way, an investigation revealed nothing obviously untoward, a quick spray of WD40 across the HT leads and we were back to a full complement of Coventry's finest. After adding expert mechanics to our list of accolades we headed off back into the sun. Joy was once again short lived as we spluttered to a halt just outside the village. The crowd this time was fortunately small for my next round of pushing so we stopped for refreshment at our local. I had been pushing for about 2 miles so later the car had to suffer the ignominy of being towed the rest of the way home by my mother's ridiculous and much mocked soft roader. Our first day of classic ownership has been a somewhat chastening one.
The car was laid up for a few weeks before investigations of the fault could begin in earnest. The rotor arm was found to be running freely and the distributor appeared new. The coil was creating a strong spark so we were at a loss as to what could be causing the fault. It was tricky to track down as appeared to be very intermittent, the car would run well until the revs slowed and it stalled. After a frustrating few months we gave up and ordered a whole new distributor cap online. This was fitted and the car was running like a dream. With hindsight we could see that the original distributor cap was fractionally the incorrect size and had been sparking across a gap to the rotor arm. We had spent months trying to fix something that was never going to work. I assume the pre-cast A46 combined with poor ride shook loose whatever was used to make it work previously.
The distributor of pain:
The car was sent to it's first MOT (with us) and passed although it was noted that the rear shocks were well past their past. These were replaced easily and for the princely sum of £9.80 per side. The ride was improved no end and the crashy feeling was resigned to a memory with a few easy strokes of a spanner.
We enjoyed a summer of trouble free motoring last year although a few simple issues came to light before it was placed away for winter. A colder spring here combined with a local council intent on gritting any ferrous substance into the history books has meant that the winter hibernation has been extended slightly but with an MOT due now we are back out again.
I hope to keep the forum posted with progress as we aim to slowly restore/ improve the interior and hopefully head out to enjoy the car.
So today was MOT day for the GT6. With a quick polish after the winter break, a check of the electrics and suspension my Dad trundled down to our local testing centre this after. The morning started badly as it appears that our garage door has become the local dogs' lavatory.
Blowing out a winter rest:
Worse was to come as the car was deemed to have failed the test in 4 different ways. 2 split ball joint covers and a split steering rack gaiter accounting for the 1st 3 but most worrying was a corroded chassis outrigger.
Investigation back at base revealed the following:
The corrosion in question
The split steering gaiter
Somewhere in all this grease is a split ball joint cover
An assault on the debit card on Rimmer bro's website this evening and all the parts required are on their way. Not the best day but the Triumph will return stronger later this month. Now to find out who's pissing up my door.
Blowing out a winter rest:
Worse was to come as the car was deemed to have failed the test in 4 different ways. 2 split ball joint covers and a split steering rack gaiter accounting for the 1st 3 but most worrying was a corroded chassis outrigger.
Investigation back at base revealed the following:
The corrosion in question
The split steering gaiter
Somewhere in all this grease is a split ball joint cover
An assault on the debit card on Rimmer bro's website this evening and all the parts required are on their way. Not the best day but the Triumph will return stronger later this month. Now to find out who's pissing up my door.
gforceg said:
Good grief, it has Goodyear NCT2s on it! How old are those? May be worth investing in some 21st Century rubber.
That said, lovely car OP, that's another one I've liked since my teens.
We know they are old and I've had each off and inspected them. They look in very good condition to say they were new before I started primary school! That said, lovely car OP, that's another one I've liked since my teens.
While we were waiting for the parts to arrive this weekend we found time to fit some interior parts which were knocking about over the winter. The sunvisors have been dropping down since we've owned the car and were generally showing their age.
The metal hinges were then fitted with a bit of grease and the result looks great.
The worn ash tray didn't look great, amazingly exact replacements are available online. Easiest update ever.
Not exactly the greatest of pistonhead's restorations, no shells on rotisseries or mad engine swaps here, but deeply satisfyingly none the less.
This parcel arrived at Panda Towers this morning so we'll see if we can get down to some proper work this week.
The metal hinges were then fitted with a bit of grease and the result looks great.
The worn ash tray didn't look great, amazingly exact replacements are available online. Easiest update ever.
Not exactly the greatest of pistonhead's restorations, no shells on rotisseries or mad engine swaps here, but deeply satisfyingly none the less.
This parcel arrived at Panda Towers this morning so we'll see if we can get down to some proper work this week.
Funky Panda said:
We know they are old and I've had each off and inspected them. They look in very good condition to say they were new before I started primary school!
Brilliant! Now you're making me feel old. I used to have them on a Golf GTI back when they were new tyres and they were bloody good.It's nice to see the difference even small changes can make to the overall look of a car. Keep the updates coming.
My first car as a mk2 gt6 when I was 18, on the first drive (obviously no tax / mot / insurance because I was 18 and immortal!). I can remember the car driving a bit peculiarly but put it down to "classic British sports car" handling, Nevt The whole rear wheel and half shaft parted company from the car, (I seem to remember a rubber donut that wasn't up to it's duties) never to be seen again, apologies if you happened to be impaled while travelling down the A303 on your summer hols to Cornwall.
We finished up on the central reservation and were fortunately recovered before plod showed up.
We finished up on the central reservation and were fortunately recovered before plod showed up.
Bit of an update of this one. I've been really busy the last couple of months finishing a few other projects and getting my house girlfriend ready. My only free weekend from work and life admin I did manage an away trip with a couple of mates here:
It was brilliant and even managed to get my Focus into the Pistonheads area of the Classic British Welcome which was awesome. Really hoping to find the time to take the GT6 to the Le Mans Classic next year.
Anyway I found myself with the day off work this morning so got on with the long awaited post MOT work, whilst enjoying some TMS on the radio. First I replaced the upper ball joint on the front suspension where the gaiter had split then removed the track rod end to change the split steering arm gaiter as well. Finally replaced the track rod ends on either side whilst they are off. Next job is to check the tracking on my race set up bars as it's never really looked right.
The welding is booked in at a local garage and then we should be back out on the road to enjoy the end of the Summer.
Well and truly split:
Top ball joint off:
Job jobbed:
Hopefully will be able to make more progress over the next weeks.
Finally treated myself to a bit of this tonight, great day off work:
It was brilliant and even managed to get my Focus into the Pistonheads area of the Classic British Welcome which was awesome. Really hoping to find the time to take the GT6 to the Le Mans Classic next year.
Anyway I found myself with the day off work this morning so got on with the long awaited post MOT work, whilst enjoying some TMS on the radio. First I replaced the upper ball joint on the front suspension where the gaiter had split then removed the track rod end to change the split steering arm gaiter as well. Finally replaced the track rod ends on either side whilst they are off. Next job is to check the tracking on my race set up bars as it's never really looked right.
The welding is booked in at a local garage and then we should be back out on the road to enjoy the end of the Summer.
Well and truly split:
Top ball joint off:
Job jobbed:
Hopefully will be able to make more progress over the next weeks.
Finally treated myself to a bit of this tonight, great day off work:
your GT6 looks stunning. Over a year since my last update! I took a new job in January, moved away for a bit, so the GT6 didn't quite get the road time it deserves. However it was going to get a run out over the bank holiday weekend, however as I primed the fuel pump I could see that the front carb had sprung a leak. Further investigations showed that the plastic float chamber and rubber seal under the carb was the culprit.
The part was fairly easy to find and I hope has been delivered today so hopefully can get back on the road on Sunday.
The part was fairly easy to find and I hope has been delivered today so hopefully can get back on the road on Sunday.
Good write up, enjoying your journey with the GT6.
My second car ( the first being an Ex GPO/BT yellow Morris Minor van when I was a student in Dundee ) was a 71 Herald 13/60, which is a similar chassis as your GT6 IIRC.
I actually had 2 Heralds, bought an MOT failure for spares in 1981 for £48 ( even got a road tax refund off that as well !) and made a decent one out of 2.
The bonnet was worth a relative fortune even back then !
A few years later I was lucky enough to own a 1970 Lotus Elan, that had been very well restored by my Uncle.
The reason to mention my previous cars is that the front suspension on the Lotus was Triumph, complete with the famous/infamous Lower Trunions.
On my Elan, it was a routine service item to 'grease' the front suspension: I had an old fashioned grease gun but it was filled with gear oil ( IIRC!), as
apparently grease dries out in the trunion and leads to corrosion and inevitable results.
Just thought I would mention it but you may be well aware of it anyway.
Also there was a Herald rear suspension mod that would improve the handling in extremis ( something to do with a transverse spring or something ....it's all a bit hazy...as typing this with a wee bit of a hangover on a Saturday morning !!)
My Dad had a couple of Triumph 2000's ( a '66 followed by a '71 model ) and I seem to recollect that the 71 car had the straight 6 engine that is in your GT6....someone will correct me if wrong I am sure !)
Anyway, apologies for the interruption of your thread, it just brought back some memories !
Keep up the excellent write up and plenty of pics !
My second car ( the first being an Ex GPO/BT yellow Morris Minor van when I was a student in Dundee ) was a 71 Herald 13/60, which is a similar chassis as your GT6 IIRC.
I actually had 2 Heralds, bought an MOT failure for spares in 1981 for £48 ( even got a road tax refund off that as well !) and made a decent one out of 2.
The bonnet was worth a relative fortune even back then !
A few years later I was lucky enough to own a 1970 Lotus Elan, that had been very well restored by my Uncle.
The reason to mention my previous cars is that the front suspension on the Lotus was Triumph, complete with the famous/infamous Lower Trunions.
On my Elan, it was a routine service item to 'grease' the front suspension: I had an old fashioned grease gun but it was filled with gear oil ( IIRC!), as
apparently grease dries out in the trunion and leads to corrosion and inevitable results.
Just thought I would mention it but you may be well aware of it anyway.
Also there was a Herald rear suspension mod that would improve the handling in extremis ( something to do with a transverse spring or something ....it's all a bit hazy...as typing this with a wee bit of a hangover on a Saturday morning !!)
My Dad had a couple of Triumph 2000's ( a '66 followed by a '71 model ) and I seem to recollect that the 71 car had the straight 6 engine that is in your GT6....someone will correct me if wrong I am sure !)
Anyway, apologies for the interruption of your thread, it just brought back some memories !
Keep up the excellent write up and plenty of pics !
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