GT6 delivered and time to move on

A couple of weeks ago I delivered the GT6 to the new owner in Swindon, who then drove it the rest of the way to London, so for the first time in almost 19 years I am without a Triumph.

I have a few parts left, such as a set on new +60 pistons and a complete bottom end in bits to move on soon, but most of the parts I accumulated over the years have found a new home.

It's been a blast, but over the past few years I just haven't had the time for it due to the Steamship Freshspring project, which I am currently a Trustee of. We have just received major funding to save the ship and move her to Bideford from the Heritage Memorial Fund, so I'll be pretty busy with that for the next few months.

You can follow the project on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SSFreshspringSociety/
Our website - http://www.ssfreshspring.co.uk/
and Twitter - http://twitter.com/ss_freshspring
A recent article in the North Devon Journal - northdevonjournal.co.uk/Historic-steamship-finds-new-home-Bideford

GT6 - Now sold

This car is now sold

The time has come for me to part ways with my GT6, so it is now up for sale. The advert follows;

This vehicle was recently the subject of a long term full body off restoration and has been extensively developed from the original factory specification for improved reliability and driveability whilst retaining the essential character of a forty-three year old classic.

Engine - Triumph two litre straight six engine with worked cylinder head, performance camshaft, Lucas mechanical injection system with earlier CP inlet manifolds, Megajolt programmable ignition system, hight torque starter.
Custom exhaust system with 6-3-1 manifold, splitting again under the car to two pipes to a one off silencer that looks very similar to the original, but allows the engine the breathe properly without excessive noise, allowing you to take part in track days without supplementary silencers.
Engine has covered approx 22,000 miles since being rebuilt, gearbox and clutch have covered less.
I had planned to build up a fully balanced bottom end for further performance, parts for this are available at cost under separate negotiation, including NOS crank, Vandervell bearings and new pistons.

Cooling system - uprated with modern alloy radiator, alloy waterpump housing, electric fan, swirl pot and header tank

Fuel system - uses a low pressure pump Facet to a swirl pot that feeds the Lucas pump, pumps have dedicated fuses and relays to reduce current drop. This setup has operated faultlessly even when sat in hot traffic.

Drivetrain and suspension - Four speed gearbox with the desirable optional overdrive operating on 3rd and 4th gears. Uprated mainshaft using later single rail gearsets in an early three rail case for added strength.
Engine and gearbox moved six inches back in the chassis to aid weight distribution
3.63:1 differential at rear with Jones/Bowler CV conversion utilising modern bearing packs for rear wheels. Larger M12 wheel studs. Alloy wheels made by 100+ were refurbished April 2009 and is a complete set of five wheels.
Adjustable AVO shocks at front, Koni on rear. 3/4" front anti-roll bar with rose jointed ends
Polybushes fitted throughout suspension components.

Interior - Electronic programmable speedo, modern fuse and relay box in glovebox, re-veneered dash, Mazda RX7 seats replace the originals for improved comfort on longer journeys.

Body and chassis – During 2011 the chassis was shot blasted and painted using Rust Bullet Black shell. The bodyshell was replaced with another that I had previously stripped of paint and had the left rear wing and inner wheel arch replaced prior to painting. The underside was also bare metalled and coated with Rust Bullet. Both chassis and body have been regularly treated with dynax S50 anti-corrosion cavity wax for increased protection against rust.
Following an accident a new bonnet assembly, front cross-member, radiator and front bumper was fitted November 2013

This is a very well modified car which, whilst perhaps not for the originality purist will have strong appeal as a striking and highly useable classic. There are extensive photos available of the restoration process.

Now sold

 

Rear end stripped down and back together again

Time to get this up to date again. Some weeks ago I stripped out the rear spring and driveshafts from the GT6.

First part of the refurb was to pull the transverse leaf apart, so it could be cleaned, lubricated and wrapped with denso tape. It was quite easy to pull apart, fortunately there were no seized fasteners as the spring is probably only ten years old. No pictures of the finished spring, but here is one of it with all of the leaves separated.

Then I was onto the CV's to search for the slack. Upon stripping the CV's down it appears that detritus has got into them, pitting the bearing surfaces and balls, hence the slack.

The entire CV's were replaced with better clips on the boots to prevent a reoccurance and following a suggestion from Nick Jones, the CV's are now held even better in place on the driveshafts with the addition of bearing lock and the appropriate number of washers between the CV and securing circlip.

Since then the GT6 has been out for a couple of runs, including to a local classic car gathering and has performed beautifully, proving that the works were successful. Unfortunately I've not had much time for the car since then as I am heavily involved with a much larger restoration project and wonder if it's time to look for a new home for it?

Driveshaft investigations

For the first time since it's MOT a few months ago I've been spending some time on the GT6 (SS Freshspring has been keeping me pretty busy recently) First off was a clean and wax, which it hadn't had for far too long, then it was onto a bit of investigations.

One of the reasons that I have not used the GT6 much was due to a noise from the rear I could not identify at the time. Initial investigations showed some slack in the inner CV joints, so a replacement pair have been sourced and this weekend I got the back end up in the air to remind myself what was involved in the task. As the weight came off the back end I could hear that previously unknown noise coming from the rear transverse spring, ah, that'll be cause of the noise then. I could just spray a mass of oil at it, but seeing as it would not last and I need to disconnect the spring to remove the driveshafts, I may as well pull the spring all of the way out, service it and cover with denso tape to prevent a repeat of the problem.
The reason for doing this investigatory work is that the last time I had to dismantle the rear hubs the trunnions were seized, creating much more work and bush replacement. Fortunately they proved not to be seized this time, proving that the anti-seize compound I used last time has worked.

Next step is to strip it all the way down, find the right lubricant for the spring and source some denso tape.

Still alive

It's been a few months since I last ran up the GT6 so the battery charger went on midday Friday and after work that day and quite a bit of cranking to get the fuel back through to the injectors she fired up. Just a quick run around the block but enough to free off the brakes and get up to temperature.
And the reason for leaving the GT6 for so long? I'd noticed that the inner CV's were starting to get noisy and slack, so I have not been keen on going too far until they have been replaced, that and I've been increasing busy with SS Freshspring.

I have another pair of CV's to fit once I have checked them, there is space in the workshop and I can find a clear day or two to fit them.

One day I'll get around to building up a new balanced bottom end for the engine using the brand new crank, VP bearings and +60 pistons I have ready and waiting, but for now it seems to be holding up quite well as I've not pushed it for too long at the upper rev range.

And it's back

A couple of weeks ago, approximately two months after the accident, I collected the GT6 from Backwell near Bristol. The car was not exactly as it was prior to the accident, but I never expected it would be. Having spent many hours over the years getting just how I wanted it, I'd have been pleasantly surprised if it was put back to its former self.
Just to complicate things, I sent the GT6 to the garage on my spare steel wheels (with older tyres fitted) so I could clean up the alloys while it was being repaired, this meant I had to re-fit the alloys before I could drive anywhere and would have to fit the four steel wheels into the back of the car, not too had really. However, my plan was to drive from Bristol to Cambridge for a steam weekend at the Cambridge Museum of Technology, so that's an over 400 mile round trip in a car that has only just been repaired and hardly run for the past two months, fingers crossed eh?

With the wheels changed over, the car given a once over and the paperwork signed off, my first stop was to the petrol station as the tank was very low. The mile long trip was a little peculiar feeling, having been in that modern spaceship of a car the previous two months, and the engine was not running right, it felt as if it was not firing on all cylinders at lower revs, but was OK once opened up. Once safely at the petrol station and with a fresh tank of fuel, I had the bonnet up with the engine running and felt along the injector lines to find that No.5 line was not pulsing like the others, ah, that'll be a partially blocked or air ridden injector and easily solved by withdrawing the injector and flicking the end of it until the steady spray pattern comes out. All reassembled, I set back on the road with the engine much happier, heading for the M5, M4 and Chippenham as I had another stop to make before I got to Cambridge.
A week or two before the planned trip to Cambridge, thinking I would still have the hire car, I offered to collect a Triumph 2000 door from Bill in Chippenham and bring it Cambridge for Pete to pick up. So somehow, Bill and I managed to fit the door into the back of the GT6, along with the four steel wheels and all of the odds and sods I needed for the weekend.

The rest of journey to Cambridge then back home to Wales was fairly uneventful, though I did have to stop a few times to re-adjust the bonnet cones, as the bonnet catches would come undone, allowing the bonnet to rise and wag around at speed, also there was the need to re-position the wiper arms as they were hitting the bottom of the screen and not clearing the rest of it properly. Mind you, I was glad for a reason to stop more often as going back into a manual steering car after a long break; I was getting pains in the side of my neck and upper arm.

So what next? The GT6 could do with a service as the engine still occasionally stumbles a bit at low revs, and then there is the rev counter, which looks to have failed in the impact. I was given another one as we noticed it had failed when I went to pick up the car, but I will need to change the internals around again to have a GT6 rev counter with the required indicator lamps built in, along with the electronic rev counter. The bonnet fit could be a little better, as it is bit high at the front, but cannot go any further down until the radiator shroud is repositioned. If we have a warmish day I ought to get some Dynax rust protection into the bonnet and new chassis parts before it has a chance to rust.

And longer term? I feel I have fallen out of love a bit with the GT6 and have a few times considered selling it, though I'm not sure what I would buy next, TR6? 80's Range Rover? The issue is that I use the GT6 as an everyday car and could do with a bit more space inside for moving things around and have a more comfortable driving position with better road presence.
I wonder if a Herald estate would suit the bill as a second car? ample space, simple (and familiar to me) mechanicals, with the possibility of an engine change or electronic injection for better driveability and economy.

Damage assessment

So it's almost three weeks after the accident and things appear to be moving on fairly well. I've had a quote for repairs to the car, been visited by the insurance assessor and have been told that it will be repaired by Ian at CCR, who did the paint and panel work a couple of years ago.

The GT6 replacement/repair list stands at;
Bonnet assembly,
a new headlight and surround for one side.
Both front plastic overriders are broken,
the bonnet hinge boxes and ends of the front chassis member have been distorted.
Bumper is scrap.
Both front 1/4 valances are slightly distorted on the top rear edge where they have impacted with the wheel, but may straighten out.
The drivers door has been knocked as the bonnet has hit it.
There are small paint chips on the bulkhead from the impacting bonnet and a slight dent on the drivers side bulkhead below the windscreen on the corner where the bonnet has hit it with more force.
Radiator and the coolant swirl pot is mangled.

One thing which has come to light is the personal effect it has had on me, with the usual whiplash injuries (neck, back and arm ache) but my breathing capacity also seems to have been reduced, in part I believe due to the seatbelt.
In my GT6 I have the standard static seatbelts, which I was quite happy to use, having had problems with the recoil belts in my old Spitfire. I am now seriously considering fitting recoil seatbelts as per the later Spitfires in an attempt to reduce any possible future injuries, it will need an extra hole and strengthening plate in the rear wheel arch, but should be worth it should something similar happen again.

So I'm just waiting on arrangements for the GT6 to be taken over to Ian and hopefully by the time it has been repaired I'll be in a better condition to handle the manual steering and brakes. While I wait for my car to be repaired and returned I have been supplied with a hire car, a Citroen DS5. The Citroen is a veritable space ship in comparison to my 40 year old Triumph, packed with various electrical and electronic gizmo's such as auto lights and wipers, reversing camera, built in sat nav and electric handbrake, the last of which I have still not fully got to grip with.

It's been a while

It's been over a year since I updated this blog, mainly because I haven't had much to say. In that time the GT6 took me to my first autosolo at Bovingdon and a track day at Goodwood. All was going well until I took a trip to the motor museum at Gaydon, only to find a catastrophic failure of the water pump when  I tried to head home, so that meant waiting around for a few hours on a cold February evening.

I've tried to take a break from working on the car, instead just enjoying it for what it is. My latest project is an old steam ship called Freshspring, which I seem to have got involved with as an active volunteer and society secretary amongst other roles. If you want to know more about the ship, there is a website, http://www.ssfreshspring.co.uk/ and a Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/SSFreshspringSociety

Unfortunately, while driving to the ship last night I was coming around a corner to find a courier van coming straight towards me on my side of the road. Brakes were fully applied ( I don't remember doing it, but I must have) but there was contact.

The insurance company has been informed and I'm now waiting on a quote for repairs.

A dashing time and Bovingdon Autosolo

The workshop I sometimes use was free for a week, so I set about making a start on the dash. Previously it looked like this;

The left and right panels are from different Spitfires and there was a redundant hole for the hazard warning light on the middle panel. The panels were removed from the car and all the switches moved as required, on this centre panel you can see where the hazard light was.

I cut a piece of wood to fit in the redundant hole and left it overnight with glue and a clamp on it, which meant the following morning I could remove the thick varnish and previous layer of veneer.
The veneer came off quite easily, using a mix of sharp chisels and various grades of sandpaper discs on the angle grinder.

I'd bought some American walnut iron-on veneer the previous week, as apparently that was what they used originally. I'm no originality freak, but I'm just not all that keen on the burr or dark finishes you can see in some Triumphs.
Anyway, I followed the instructions which came with the veneer, leaving an edge all around the pieces, so the veneer is stuck onto the dash panels. As suggested, it was left for 24 hours for the adhesive to cure before I trim them to shape and give them their first coat of varnish.

Once cured, I could trim the veneer, this could be done using a very sharp knife, but it still took over an hour as any mistakes would be hard to hide.

Then I could start building up the layers of satin varnish, it had a total of five coats. In between varnishing, work started on modifying the wiring loom again, adding in wires for the rear fog light and wiring in the 12v lighter socket, map light and radio.
With the loom exposed I could also work out why the light for the ignition barrel was not working, it turned out that the original loom had two wires each from the fuse box for the roof and ignition barrel light and I had split them. This had the effect that the ignition barrel light would only come on when the ignition was on, not what you need really when it should come on as you open a door or switch them on on the dash.

The cured veneered and varnished dash pieces could then be fitted back into the car, followed by the gauges, steering column and gloveboxes. You can see in the picture below that a radio has been fitted also, originally I was not going to bother installing a radio, but as this is my only car I was starting to miss having one. I'm loathed to drill a hole in the bodywork for an aerial, but fortunately I noticed that my mobile phone has a FM radio built into it, which means I can connect it to the car radio instead.

All this work had to be completed by last Saturday at the latest as on the following day I was booked in for a Autosolo at Bovingdon, near Hemel Hempstead. Scrutineering ended at 8.45, so it meant I was on the road at 5.30 to get there in good time, but having travelled a few miles down the road I noticed that the indicators were not working, damn.
The next half an hour or so was spent checking fuses, switches and relays, trying to work out what was wrong. After a while I worked out that the flasher unit was not getting any power, despite the fuse being OK, so I found a piece of wire in my tool box to make a temporary connection, it worked so I could get on my way again.

It was my first attempt at a Autosolo, I thoroughly enjoyed it despite the early start and impromptu road-side repair. In my class I came 10th out of 15, though it probably would have been 12th if one car hadn't retired due to gearbox problems, but for a first try I can't complain at that.

The following day back home I could take another look at the indicators and with the wiring diagram at hand I managed to diagnose the problem fairly quickly. The power for the indicators passes through the hazard light switch, so they can be disconnected when the hazard lights are switched on, but the hazard light switch was not returning to the correct 'off' position, preventing a connection through for the indicators.
It was a quick fix to get everything working again by making an adjustment on the hazard light switch and a relief that I hadn't messed-up anything while working on the loom earlier in the week.

A change of face

Decided the job for a day last weekend was to sort out the rev counter, when I converted to Megajolt I fitted a rev counter from a 2500 saloon as it was electrically triggered, but it did not have indicator repeater and rear demist warning lamps built into it, unlike the original GT6 mechanical rev counter. As I have a couple of spare GT6 rev counters and knowing one of them was knackered, I set to pulling it and the saloon rev counter apart.

It all came to pieces quite easily, apart from the needle on the electronic counter, needing a bit more force to pull it free. First off, the mechanical dial face had to be re-drilled, as it's two mounting holes were 90 deg out. Then I could set about making new holes in the rear of the mechanical counter body for the connections and securing screws.

With it all installed, I tried it on the car, but the response to changing revs was not as smooth as it should have been and it was obviously not moving as high as it should have either. It turned out that I have bent the shaft slightly when trying to remove the pointer needle, but this was soon straightened out and the rev readings checked against the Megajolt on my computer.

Then it was just a matter of re-installing the glass and securing ring, changing the indicator bulb holder again and fitting it to the car.

It would have been even better if I could have had the right needle for the old dial, but unfortunately their spindles are different diameters. 

Waterworks

It's been a while again since I've updated this, but I have mainly just been out and about enjoying the drive, though I have done a bit of tinkering and preparation for other work on the car.
A problem I have had for a while was getting a good seal on the bottom hose to the water pump housing. Despite using Mikalor clamps, I still couldn't get a full seal, probably not helped by the lack of a bead on the pump housing connection. I put feelers out for another pump housing, while at the same time looking at the alloy housings sold by Chris Witor and just as I was about to give-up and chance of finding a second-hand one at a good cost, James came up with an alloy housing.
A few days later I had the alloy housing and the cast one removed from the car as I went to transfer it over.

Things were going OK until I went to fit the connector on the back of the housing for the bypass tube, the original fitting and housing had a NPT thread, but the alloy housing had a UNF thread. The UNF thread was ony 40thou (1mm) smaller, but it was enough to prevent the fitting going in, so in the end I had that fitting re-tapped to UNF and now it fits together like it should.

Just as I was waiting for the pump housing to be delivered, the water pump decided to fail, it's done 30 months this time, better than the 6 months of the last one, still not very good. This time I have gone for one from Fitchetts, in the hope it would be better than the usual County stuff that most other people sell.

The water pipe work around the front of the car has been tidied-up a bit also, as it was before;

In that picture you can see a black pipe between the radiator and engine, some of that has now been replaced by an alloy pipe, running below the radiator at the same time, the bottom hose to the water pump has been replaced with a 45deg piece. These two changes tidy it up quite a bit and should give more space for the air filter box and hoses, which will sit beneath the radiator.

Updates and Prescott

It's been a while, so I guess it must be time for an update. First off, the BMW E21 has been sold and replaced with a Suzuki Bandit 600 as I couldn't justify having two cars, but it does mean that I can now travel over the Severn bridge for free when I take the bike.

The GT6 has been behaving itself and I have managed to find someone fairly local to me who can do TIG welding with a quick turn around, so having decided how I want to run the inlet pipes into the airbox, they have now welded the the pipes in position.

About an hour was spent smoothing out the internal welds on the pipes as much as I dare. Due to the angles of the pipes onto the box it was not possible to weld all the way around them externally.
It has been suggested to me that the airbox should have more holes in it to allow air to pass through it and back to atmosphere. The idea being that a free flow of air through it prevents the air stalling.

The next job will be to modify and fit the air filter assembly, which will sit below the radiator. To give me enough room to do this I will have to re-route one of the coolant pipes and replace it with an alloy pipe instead of rubber hose.

One of the problems I have is that I am too easily distracted by other jobs I would like to do on the car, so I have to keep on reminding myself what I really need to do next. In no particular order, I would like to:
make a restrictor to go in the swirl pot outlet
have more front castor
reduce front track width
fit the extra door seals around the bottom edges of the doors
fit a rear fog lamp and switch rescued from my old Dolomite
wire in a cigarette lighter socket
re-veneer the dash
fabricate or find another windscreen wash bottle
replace overdrive rear oil seal

Yesterday was the 2012 Standard Triumph Marque Day at Prescott hill climb circuit so I went along for the day, doing a couple of hours marshalling incoming traffic to the car parks and then onto the hill for a few runs. I had two and a half runs at the hill as on my first attempt the hill had to be closed after a TVR had an accident further up, probably quite an expensive day for someone.

It was my first go at something like this, so I took it fairly steady, but still gave it as much as I dared when I could.

Thanks to AndyGT6 for these next two pictures and further below should be some video I took of my two complete runs up the hill.

Back on the road again

A couple of weeks ago I had the MOT booked in and it passed with no advisories. The car is now road legal, but there is still plenty of finishing to be done. For some reason the reverse lights are not working, so I'll have to find a new switch for that.

A couple of days later, with the tracking done and the right pressure in the tyres, the car was running a lot better, so I took it out to the Gloucester TSSC meet on the following Monday, which is about an hours drive each way. I'm glad to say the run there and back was without incident, so I am happier to start re-fitting more of the trim and taking longer journeys with it.

A week ago I had a new silencer fitted, which required some alteration to the exhaust pipes under the car. Until recently it had two 49mm od pipes, which had to join together to fit into the standard type silencer. The new silencer now takes the two 49mm pipes straight in and exits through larger pipes also. The nice thing, for me, about this silencer is that it looks just like the original one, but is now quieter and allows the engine to make more power.

As mentioned above, I've decided to start fitting more trim, the door cards, complete with plastic screen behind them, were fitted once I'd adjusted the hinges, quarter light and glass to ensure a good seal all around.

Further inside, the handbrake was disconnected to fit the centre carpet, a better looking handbrake cover and the carpets to fit under the seats. I ended up with two sets of under seat carpets, one of which had been fitted the wrong way around, evident by the holes cut in it for the fasteners, and the other set did not have a hole for the seatbelt, peculiar eh?

With the good weather we have been having this week I treated the car to it's first wash after the re-spray, which was then followed up by being clayed, lightly polished, glazed and finally given a few coats of wax, though I admit there are still a few more fiddly areas of the car which still need to be waxed.

Getting ready for the MOT

Over the past month I've been quite busy recommissioning the GT6. The latest iteration of my fuel system is all together and has been pressurised successfully. The major components are the same as before, but I am gradually doing away with the basic rubber hoses held on with jubilee clips, in preference of braided hoses and JIC fittings.
You may be able to see in the pic below the two fuel return pipes in the fuel tank, these 1/4" pipes were welded in, once I has happy there was no vapours left in the tank.

To keep the fittings low profile and ensure good flow, the connection to the outlet of the fuel tank is now on a banjo fitting.

The main power cables are back in, this time the cables have been run through the sills where possible to keep them hidden away and away from the seat. The cables have been covered in spiral wrap as it passes through the sill to prevent chafing, before heading into the boot area, where the battery will be sited.

I had a couple of issues recently during the rebuild, first off was the master cylinder bracket. I could see while bleeding the systems that the bracket was flexing slightly more than I would have hoped, so I have added some extra strengthening pieces to it, which seems to have solved the problem.

The other issue I had was when I went to fit the silencer, for some reason the brackets on the underside of the boot floor pushed it too far over to the passenger side, this could be due to the brackets being in a different place on this body or that the body is in a slightly different position on the chassis.
To get around this, I cut a couple of spacers to keep the silencer in the right place. The plan is to do away with these when the new silencer is fitted.

Some time later, after lots of small jobs had been ticked off over, I was been able to start run and move the GT6 under it's own power. The list of jobs is starting to get smaller, but the trouble is that I keep having to add to it as I notice other things that need doing before the MOT.

Not the best of pics, but here you can see the new gearbox tunnel which follows the lines of the original one much more.

I know for sure that the tracking needs to be done as I can feel it crabbing as I went along the drive.
A couple more problems made themselves known though, the speedo was not working, this turned out to be the pick-up sensor position and once it was wound in a bit it was working fine. The other issue was that it was a little tighter than I would like to get in gear. Since it was last used on the road, the car has had a new gearbox, clutch and the gear linkage has been re-bushed also, but driving up and down the drive through the gears has loosened-up the gear linkage nicely.

Before the MOT I have to get some new wiper blades, replace the brake light switch, stop a blow on the silencer join and replace one bulb. With this in mind, I have booked it in for a MOT towards the end of the week.

And here it is out in the sun, a bit dusty and dirty, but it is getting there.

A new tunnel and parts back from the welders

Work has been a bit slow on this car in the recent months due to other commitments, but I have been able to chip away at a few jobs. One thing I was not looking forward to was making another gearbox tunnel as it takes a lot of fitting and re-fitting to make sure the fit is right, which involves a fair bit of time on my knees.

Just to complicate things, I wanted to make the new tunnel look more like the factory version, which means I should be able to fit the radio/dash support.

I started off by fabricating the rear-most section first, which needed relatively small diameters and a quick step up between them to give space for your hand to use the handbrake.

Than I moved forward to cut the piece which will hold the tunnel onto the bulkhead and welded a section onto this, along the inner profile and then carried on fabricating back along the passenger side.

And here it is in place for yet another trial fit.

With all the welding on the gearbox tunnel I set to painting it, here you can see the back piece is separate to allow removal of the tunnel without having to disconnect the hand brake.

This was finished over the course of a number of weekends, finally being painted and the inside covered with my perfered sound deadening and heat reflective material.

Eleswhere on the car, the surge pot has returned from the welders with the bosses I turned-up to allow me to use banjo bolts in the end of the pot, instead of the JB welded in 90degree fittings. The banjo bolts should be a lot easier to work with and seal better also.

Also coming back from the welders was the airbox, which I had cut the previous 50mm inlets off from and had them tack on one of the new 75mm inlets. It's only tacked on for now to let me work out where the second inlet, which goes further back, should be positioned.