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As Advertised, 1970 Triumph GT6+.
(06-22-08) I spotted this 1970 Triumph GT6+ on the Denver Craigslist. After exchanging a few emails I decided to make the trip out to Denver to check it out and drive it home if I liked it. Needless to say, what's not to like! There were a few things wrong with the car but nothing that can't be fixed and with the other 1970 GT6+ rust bucket in the shed I had a good source for spare bits. In anticipation of driving the unproven car 1000 miles back to Wisconsin I checked one bag, full of tools, new plugs, points, condenser, some wire, soldering gun, Voltmeter and the Workshop Manual. After checking it over thoroughly, well, as thorough as you can in a hotel parking lot, I picked up a couple of quarts of oil, a gallon of antifreeze, a 12 pack of Diet coke and a couple of bags of chips and I was set to go. Except for a nice discussion with a Colorado State Trooper about 4:00 AM pointing out the various features and benefits of Lucas electrics and their affect on the intensity of tail lamp bulbs, the trip was pretty uneventful. I made good time, not having to stop too much even though I drank most of the 12 pack of Diet Coke and 3 liters of water. The sauna like atmosphere of the GT6+ let me dispense with the excess fluids through my pores rather than having to stop. I completed the trip home in almost exactly 16 hours, covering 996 miles at an average speed of 62.5 mph. I was pleasantly surprised when I calculated the fuel mileage and found I got 36 mpg overall for the trip. With today's high cost for gas, it will do just fine for a daily driver.
(07-04-08) I replaced all the bushings in the front suspension with new poly pieces along with replacing the ball joints, rebuilding the trunnions and replacing all the fasteners. I found the ball joints to be
pretty worn out and mounted with carriage bolts. The bushings weren't too bad but the car has an obnoxious squeak in the front end and hopefully the new bushings will cure that. I found that the left front lower
wishbone was badly damaged from an apparent trunnion failure in an earlier life. I can only guess that it was towed for some distance that way, grinding a good bit off the lower wishbone. A trip down to the shed to
grab the left front lower wishbone from the 1963 Sport6 parts car and I was back on the road. I replaced the exhaust with a PaceSetter Monza system I had bought for the other GT6+ as well.
The GT6's left front wishbone - severely damaged.
With the Herald in the shop, I had to work on the GT6 in the garage. A pain having to run for tools all the time.
(07-09-08) I spent the evening cutting and fitting some foil backed insulation to the floor pan, bulkhead and tunnel cover. Refitted the carpet and the cabin is a lot cooler than before. I discovered some rust on the car as well. The battery box is rotted out. But, I just happened to have a replacement battery box that again, was bought for the other GT6 so I fitted that and the bulkhead is airtight again.
(07-11-08) One other oddity of the car is the mismatched carburetors. The front carb was an older style Stromberg CDS and I couldn't for the life of me get it setup right. So again, the GT6 in the shed sarificed
another part. I rebuilt the correct front CDSE150 and put it on. Not much flexibility in tuning with the CDSEs but the car started right up and once I got the carbs balanced it idles fine and picks up the throttle
with no hesitation.
The newly rebuilt CDSE150 and the original CDS mismatched carb.
Newly rebuilt CDSE150 on the car.
(07-13-08) The rebuild of the front suspension didn't cure the squeak - it's back!! I spent some time searching for it and with a squirt bottle of water I found it!! The lower spring seat on the right front. This weekend I pulled the right front apart again, tore down the spring/shock assembly and fitted a rubber boot to lower spring seat. The squeak is gone and hopefully the rubber boot will last until I need to replace the shocks. I still have some wiring issues with the car as the horn and hazard flashers circuit dosen't work and keeps blowing the fuse. That will be the next project along with installing a decent sound system and upgrading the lights. I think LED tail lamps would be just the thing to cure the dim taillight issue and halogen headlamps will surely light up the road ahead better.
(07-18-08) This last week the gear selector lever got very sloppy. My wife likened it to a 'stick in a bucket of worms'. It was pretty obvious that the gear lever bushings gave up. Again, I had a rebuild kit in the drawer that was intended
for the 'other' car but will get put to better use in this car. With the new kit installed the shifter works much better than it ever has.
The old gear lever bush as found on the floor.
(07-20-08) I finally got the horn working. I checked the horns and the high note works fine when power is applied but the low note just gives a single 'clunk'. I'll pulled the low note horn and replaced it with the one off the 'other' car. I also found that applying an earth connection to the horn relay sounded the horn but the wire from the horn button won't supply an earth connection. I found the horn wire disconnected under the dash, reconnected that and still had no earth connection. I pulled the horn button and found the wire in the spring connector broken. I took the connector assembly out, disassembled it, replaced the wire, tried to reassemble the connector, removed the wire and then reassembled the connector so I could resolder the wire with the connector assembled. I am still trying to sort out the high beam flash and the hazard switch wiring. I am making some progress as I am not constantly blowing the fuse anymore.
(08-21-08) I received the registration plates for the car this week and dutifully mounted the rear one. There were no mounting brackets for the front and I figured the front had a cleaner look without the plate. Well the local constabulary advised me today that I am required by law in Wisconsin to display the registration plates on both the front and rear of the vehicle. I got a number of suggestions and offers of 'factory' mounting brackets but figured I'd take the simple approach and just made up a couple of angle brackets and bolted them to the front valence.
All nice and legal now. Never noticed it before but it looks like the bonnet or bumper is a bit skewed. I'll have to try to adjust that. Please ignore the oil puddle under the car. That will have to wait until this winter when the engine work is done.
There is at least one bad valve guide seal that needs replacement and I haven't even bothered to figure out where the leak is coming from.
My keep it simple brackets.
(09-20-08) This week the left front shock broke so the car was laid up for few days while parts were on order. I figured I might as well replace all four shocks and rebuild the rear suspension while I have the car back on the jack stands. The fronts went on in short order and then it was on to the rear. The right side took me almost three hours to reassemble and having learned a trick or two got the left side back together in 30 minutes. I located and corrected the source of the 'clunk' in the rear as well. The inner bushing for the left lower control arm was a real piece of work. A homebuilt bushing carved out of something that almost fit. The outside diameter was snug but the inner diameter was about 1/8 inch too large in diameter. The sleeve was a two piece affair that actually fit the bolt but was still far too small for the bushing, allowing the mounting to easily rattle around on the bolt. With new KYB Gas-Adjust shocks all around and all new poly bushings the car handles like new.
The homebuilt bushing.
(09-30-08) The car has been puffing a bit more blue smoke under acceleration lately so tonight I did another compression test. The readings are a little different since the test in Denver but still seem reasonable. The readings dry/wet are: #1 170/200; #2 165/195; #3 165/205; #4 155/205; #5 160/190; #6 155/185. I'll pull the head this winter and fix the sloppy guide and reseat the valves. Hopefully that is all it will need besides finding and fixing the oil leak that is now constantly seaping from somewhere down low.
(01-07-09) The quick fix of the cylinder head has undergone project creep and is now a complete port and polish job of the spare cylinder head from the donor GT6. The ports have been cleaned up and matched and as soon as my Standard Abrasives CrossBuff Kit shows up I will be able to finish the polishing of the intake and exhaust runners. Then it will be a quick lap in of the new SS valves, clean up, paint, reassembly and it will be ready to swap in on KC79650L. If the weather would warm up just a bit I'll start pulling the half shafts and prop shaft and replace all the U-joints. I am trying to locate a small diameter resonator can I can put in the exhaust pipe to try to tone down the PaceSetter Monza setup just a bit. I am still messing with the wiring but that will be sorted out before the snow is gone.
(04-12-09) I finished the head work a few weeks ago and the weather has finally warmed to a point that I could do some more meaningful work out in the garage. I pulled the old head, installed the rebuilt head and got the car up and running. Compression came up nicely on most of the cylinders but #5 is still hanging a bit lower than the rest. After rebuild I measured: #1 175; #2 175; #3 180; #4 180; #5 155; #6 170. Not seriously low but I'll check it again after a few hundred miles and see if it comes up at all. All of the electrics are working properly now as well. With the arrival of the warmer weather and the salt gone from the roads, it's back together just in time to enjoy the car again.
Cylinder Head Replacment 04-11-09. You can see the old head in the upper right of some of these photos. While I still had the valve spring compressor on loan, I removed all the valves so I can refresh it later.
Tear down started
Ready for cleanup
Ready for reassembly
Rebuilt head bolted down
Running again!!
(Summer 2009) I picked up a set of minilites and Sumitomo HTR200's to replace the shabby looking stock wheels. I also managed to push the Hazard Switch right out of the dash. I guess I was a little too enthusiastic when I hit the switch. I managed to strip the mounting screws right out of the backside of the dash. The repair took a bit of work to locate and drill the dash for through-hole mounting screws but all is well again. I located the 'clunk' in the rearend - a perished wheel bearing on the right rear and while I was in there I replaced the half shaft u-joints and the rotoflex couplings which were starting to tear. The car has never driven so smooth and quiet as now.
New Minilites and Sumitomos
Repairing Hazard Switch Mounting
New Hazard Switch Mounting
Raar Axle Rotoflex and U-joint Refurb
