Making space for the PI & starting of system install

Another job was to make space around the engine to allow the new exhaust manifold and PI inlets to fit properly. This meant the heater control cable was shortened, the under manifold heater pipe changed and a new clutch hose made.


For some reason I had a core plug that was failing, not around the edge/join, but leaking through it. Fortunately I had another one in my spares, so that was changed quickly enough.



The following day the fuel lines were all made up and complete to the metering unit, so the carb. dissy drive had been removed along with the fuel pump, which has been blanked off. It's all a bit tight round there, but fortunately does still fit in.


Around the other side the exhaust manifold is part on there for a trial fit, I needed to wind out the studs from the head to replace them with cap head bolts to fit the manifolds as the space looked tight for getting a spanner on and the inlet manifolds also required a longer fixing to mount them.


In the boot, the fuel pumps are piped-up and wired in, via relays. I want to get a fuel swirl pot in there eventually, but this should do for a start.

More PI preparations

Another job was to get the main fuel lines for the PI system fitted. I decided to use proper braided hoses instead of the original spec push-on plastic hoses One added complication was how to support and run the hoses. In the end I chose to make up some clamps to run down the outside of the chassis rail, which meant a bit of this X10.
and then a bit of lathe work with two pieces of alloy clamped together and drilled through to accept the hoses and through a different side for a mounting/clamping bolt. Ideally I would have drilled the chassis and used rivnuts, but due to lack of space (can't get the drill in straight) nuts were welded on the chassis rail and recesses made in the underside of the clamp to make it sit flush.

A good day was then spent fitting the clamps to the chassis, each one having to be fettled slightly to sit over the weld and also support the brake line.


The un-supported copper pipe is the existing fuel supply to the carbs. fitted up just to keep the car mobile as work proceeds.

Then up front, just before the toe board outrigger, a couple of supports have been welded on for the right angle hose fittings, which take the fuel to/from the metering unit.

PI preparations

Some progress has been made towards the PI conversion for the GT6 with new seals fitted to the metering unit pedestal and new O rings and seal for the Lucas fuel pump, which was then run-in on the bench under no load, watching the current drawn go down from around 2 to 1.35amp.




Meanwhile I had another trial fit of the exhaust manifold and inlets to check for any obstructions. The last time this was done the car was not complete and on the road, so things such as the clutch and heater return hose are now in place and will need to be moved. This should be no great problem as I had intended to replace both items anyway.

New wheels, well almost.

Yesterday I picked up my alloy wheels from the re-conditioners, the wheels having been shot blasted, any repairs required made and then sealed and painted.
Prior to this the wheels were looking quite grotty, were a pain to keep clear and had a propensity to leak air. It has been my plan for a while to fit better tyres, but I felt it was not worth it until the wheels could hold air better. It took them a few goes to get the colour powder coat to lay on the spokes right, as when I first went to pick them up there was a bit of a overhang on the spokes, but they offered straight away to re-do them free of charge.
I'll be keen to see how they look once back on the car as we did spend a bit of time with colour charts to try and get a colour which did not stand out too much or look boy racer'ish. Well recommended. http://www.thewheelspecialist.co.uk


Perhaps they need some centre caps still though? will have to look into what is available and might fit.

Meanwhile back on the car I've been doing a bit of tin bashing or to be correct aluminium bashing. This has been to make up a shroud for the radiator to divert air from the grille to the radiator core. Quite some time was spent with various cardboard templates before committing to aluminium, but I am quite pleased with the results and hope that come the warmer weather it all ought to help. The next job will be to get some etch primer and then top coat, not sure which colour to go for at the moment, same yellow as the engine? too bright perhaps? or a light grey to blend in?



After this first five months or so of having the GT6 back on the road I have been quite happy with it and it has been great to be able to appreciate every improvement I have made since then. Getting the Megajolt working, fitting the better suspension and getting the car tracked has probably made the most significant improvements to the drive so far.

I've got quite a list of minor jobs to finish off, such as fitting the foot rest to the gearbox tunnel and putting in a six-way connector for the speedo, but the next area to look at again should be the braking system. The braking system has bee quite adequate so far, but with plans to tune the engine further, I feel more improvements could be made yet, probably with Mintex pads, braided hoses and better brake fluid.

The art of suspen...sion

With the GT6 running something like right, I decided to turn my attention to the suspension; the car was sitting too high for my liking, felt a bit too wobbly and did not corner as ell as it should have. Part of the problem was down to there being positive camber on the front wheels and what looked to be a new rear spring, fitted by a previous owner, causing the rear to sit quite high. These two problems were solved quite quickly, with the addition of three extra wishbone shims to each front suspension mounting point and a one-inch spacer block fitted between the rear spring and differential.
While I was there, the rear spring mounting studs were also replaced, with Spitfire cylinder head studs, not the suppliers recommended plated studs, why fit weakened plated studs on important suspension components?

Last year I managed to pick up a pair of older design AVO coil over shock absorbers for the GT6, I'm particularly glad that I managed to get a pair of the old design considering the issues some people have been having with AVO bushes recently with them disintegrating after only a few thousand miles. Avo-bushes & boing-boing-zebedy


The shock absorbers are supplied to accept 2.5inch diameter springs, with the intention that on Triumphs the original top spring seat is used. I decided to copy Mr Sideways though, by using the AVO supplied top spring seats and fitting 2.25inch diameter springs. The advantage of doing this is to help keep weight down and reduce the cost of the springs, as now the free length of the spring only needs to be six inches.
The spring seats needed some machining to fit the new springs, but being alloy, it didn't take long on the lathe to take them down to size.


The difference was instantly noticeable, with the car cornering so much more flatly and not trying to dive into the ground under braking, but going to a spring rating of 600Lbs you would expect to feel some improvement, but fortunately the road noise and effect of poor road surfaces has not effected it too much.


Meanwhile at the back, a pair of Koni shock absorbers have been fitted, this time courtesy of Rimmer Bros, not somewhere I often buy from, but with their 20% off last month, it made them the cheapest for the Koni's.

One of the next jobs will be to check the adjusters on the rear radius arms still move, then arrange to get the whole car tracked, as it does feel as if the suspension is trying to fight itself.

Lightweight progress

Hmm.. 'bout time I updated this again. This have been relatively quiet car-wise up to Christmas, with me just going out for drives in the GT6, learning how the car behaves, identifying things that need to be done and running-in the new engine. Thoroughly enjoyable so far.
Christmas found me back in East Anglia with the MkI saloon, much more space inside and more comfortable with it. In between family socials I made time to go out visiting when ever possible, with a trip down to Preston Steam services for their Christmas get-together and a chance to see again I used to help crew on. Other days saw me take trips out to near Burton-upon-Trent for The Clay Mills Pumping Station, The Great Central Railway and into Kew for the Kew Bridge Steam Museum, with all distance covered by the old saloon without any complaint from it.

By the time I had got back to Wales, the new parabolic springs for the Lightweight had been delivered and work started on fitting them. Therefore, with signs of things going onto the new chassis, it was time to resume pulling parts from the old chassis. The rear axle was removed quite quickly once the U-bolts holding it to the springs had been cut off and it was soon up on the bench ready for cleaning and checking over.
The diff pan had gone a bit thin in places due to pitting, so a bit of time was spent building it up again prior to painting.

The weekend also saw the arrival of the (new) 2.5TDi engine for the Lightweight, which had come from a low'ish mileage 200 series Discovery, which was purchased just over six months ago. This has been mated up to a freshly re-built Series 2a Landrover gearbox, complete with Bearmach (Toro) overdrive.
My next job will be to remove, strip and clean the front axle, ready for when the diffs come back with new crown wheel and pinions, then we should be ready to get the chassis rolling and perhaps get the engine and gearbox dropped in.

Mostly good.

On Monday, the water pump I ordered last week was eventually delivered and the Triumph part company involved apologised for the delay and offered a goodwill gesture, more about this later. So the water pump was soon fitted, helped by the brilliant engine access on these small chassis Triumphs and the fact that the radiator on the GT6 is a reasonable distance forward of the engine, so there is no clearance issues when changing the pumps.
The old water pump had not leaked that_much, but it was certainly on its way out, with a notable increase in end float of the pump and quite noisy bearing. Certainly much better now with the new pump.

Over the weekend, I sent through the stores shed and picked through my collection of Lucas distributors to decide which one to fit. I decided to go for a Lucas 45D6 distributor, as while it doesn't have a vernier adjuster for the vacuum advance, I do happen to have a supply of good rotor arms from Rarebits, as they are the same as those used on the 2000 saloon.
As the chosen distributor had been sat in a box for some months, it was stripped down, cleaned up and lubricated as necessary before re-assembly and while I was in there, the wire from the coil to the points was re-soldered for good measure and the points cleaned up.

Although I should have done it some time ago, before starting the engine, the end float of the distributor drive has been set. This is done using thin shims between the distributor pedestal and the block, at only 4thou each they hardly seem thick enough to do anything.

A tax disc was also brought earlier on in the week; I've had to pay for it this time, as although the car was first registered before 1973, the taxation class of it has not been changed to historic vehicle yet. It seems that to change the taxation class of a vehicle now, you have to go to your 'Local DVLA office', which for me is in Bristol or Cardiff, though they are only open 9-5 during the week, which means finding a suitable time to go and see them could take a while and as I was keen to get out on the road. I decided to get a six month tax disc and then get a refund at the 'Local office' when I change the taxation class.

So that means I am fully legal on the road, so I have been out on the road for the past few evenings to see how it drives. It has been over a year since I have driven a small chassis Triumph for any distance and the fist time in a GT6, so it has been interesting to get used to the driving style.

The only problem I have had so far has been when after my fist evening out driving, the spherical bush which is used to locate the gear stick disintegrated, fortunately this finally gave way only when I got home. Luckily, for me, I had a useable second hand one, which was fitted later that evening.
This has planted a seed of doubt as to how long these bushes can last, so I contacted the company who offered to refund the cost of postage of the water pump as a goodwill gesture and asked if instead they could put another of these bushes in the post to me, which they agreed to do. After all, the bush was going to be more useful and it gets them off from having to back charge a payment to my credit card, so it all worked out for the best.