67 Mk1 GT6 restoration

[Steve AKA vitessesteve]

Great pictures.  Was interested to see your overdrive cover has a flange on it.  The cover on my Vitesse is just a simple section of the transmission tunnel.    

[byakk0]

glad to post it as a reference for ya! Here's another.

forgot to post the instrument panel.
Walnut veneered marine grade ply. I just coated it in clear and sealed the back and sides.
Still needs the metal trim strips and the grab bar.

As you can see, the boss approves. She rarely joins me when I work on my car, so this was a bonus!

[daedalusminos]

Quoted from byakk0

glad to post it as a reference for ya! Here's another.

forgot to post the instrument panel.
Walnut veneered marine grade ply. I just coated it in clear and sealed the back and sides.
Still needs the metal trim strips and the grab bar.

As you can see, the boss approves. She rarely joins me when I work on my car, so this was a bonus!

You've put the veneer on the wrong side! 😉

[byakk0]

lol. Wasn't me, but my car prefers it that way.

[John Bonnett]

I just wondered if you are going to add a few more fuses Hazen which would be easy at this stage. Your refurbed bits look really good. You are certainly putting the hours in.

regards

John

[byakk0]

I plan on it. Part of me wants to just get it working as it was before, before I start making alterations. I have a HD headlight harness with 2 relays to add to it too.

The bulkhead is mostly from a donor car, and I did not bother to check the fuse block hole dimensions, and it is too wide, so It will need some modification before I get truly road ready. Good time to add the extra fuses. I was thinking an 8 fuse block.

[John Bonnett]

A simple and easy way to upgrade would be to separate the wires that are ganged up to the various fuses and assign an individual fuse to each one.

[byakk0]

that is precisely what I plan on, John. Turns out the hole the fusebox fits in is odd sized.  I have a donor bulkhead from a 65 spitfire, and seem to have overlooked checking the hole size for the fuse box. I've got that area painted now, and patching it and resizing it would be a pain, though I could do it. But if I go that route I'll probably just make do for now until I get the parts to add circuits and do it then so I only have to once.

[byakk0]

haven't done much with the GT6 this week as I changed the clutch in my truck, and that took all of last Friday and Saturday. That's a job I wanted to pay someone else to do, but the funds just didn't happen like I wanted.
Anyway, with that job under my belt I was able to tackle some fun stuff--getting the engine wired for running.
Abby even gave me a hand!



Of course, it wasn't without it's own trials.
I first tested it without fuel just to simply verify it would crank over. This was a success. Then I plumbed in the fuel, and discovered last time I messed with it I must have cross-threaded the output side of the fuel pump and it was leaking badly. Hopefully I can can fix this, or I will have to tear apart my spare pump and make a good one out of the two. I've got a new rebuild kit for it anyway.

At first it wouldn't fire, so I did a quick spark check and all was good, as was firing order. Then it turned out the battery was low on juice. I had to borrow it from my pickup that has mostly been sitting since October (that's when the clutch went out), Being too large of a battery, I had to set it on the suspension. Anyway, you will notice partway through jumper cables appear on the scene.

enjoy the video!
https://youtu.be/5Dmz1oM68dk

(Ignore the sound. Exhaust not yet connected, and silly me, when I checked to see if it was getting spark I pulled the #1 and forgot to reattach it. Didn't discover that till I was cleaning up shop for the day.

[RogerD]

What a wonderful picture! That child will go far and accomplish great deeds in the future! 😀

[John Bonnett]

Well done Hazen; a great step forward and a wonderful feeling that greets the first start-up. I envy your team of mechanics 🙂

[byakk0]

lol. I'm the most experienced, and I'm an amateur! Learn as you go.


Thanks Roger. Gotta start her out right, you know . (and don't worry, the battery wasn't connected! )

Quoted from RogerD

What a wonderful picture! That child will go far and accomplish great deeds in the future! 😀

[byakk0]

Working on the engine least week I wanted to get the clutch operating so I could not only verify it still works after18 years, but so I could pull it in and out of the garage under its own power. I knew the brake and clutch master's leaked, so it was a definite long shot, but I needed to get the slave at least operating so I hooked up the lines. Sure enough, it leaked. Fortunately it freed up nicely.
Last Friday I ordered rebuild kids from spitbits. Interestingly enough, the rebuild kits were nearly identical. The brake master had a new spring, the clutch had new gaskets for the cap and a new circlip. The 2 rubber seals are the same. (This may be different on later models)

I found the brake seals gummy and nearly gone, but the clutch master was in excellent shape. The slave seals were cracked and very worn.





Replacement was simple, really. The slave just came apart, but I had to use air to get the masters apart. I don't have a compressor, so I connected my bike tire pump via a flexible brake hose, plugged the inlet hole in the reservoir with a finger, and pumped it a few times and the popped free. (They were already free as I had loosened them up back when I popped the pistons or of the calipers)

The slave is straight forward. Just swap the seals and your done. Lubricate the bore and seals and carefully reassemble.

The masters were a little more involved, but not difficult. The brass cup by the largest seal has a small tab you need to lift, then the whole assembly comes apart. Swap the seals with new and reverse process.



Now to test them...

[byakk0]

Got the masters and the slave installed, and got the clutch bled. From what I can tell it still operates. Haven't been able to test it yet as haven't been able to start the engine. Left the battery connected and discovered I have a drain somewhere-good thing I discovered that now. I located the circuit, now I just have to chase it. Barely anything is hooked up right now anyway.

Played with the fuel pump and discovered I had accidentally installed the wrong one a year or so back when I was having starting issues on my test cart. I put in a straight levered pump from my spare KC engine instead of the curved lever from my KD engine...That has been fun trying to sort out as I didn't realize there was a difference. I haven't gotten it working correctly just yet, but I'm making progress, if only I can get a good seal and get some suction out of it.
You can read more about my adventures here:http://www.triumphexp.com/phorum/read.php?8,1297689 as there is too much to duplicate.

[byakk0]

You'll enjoy these. I found some old negatives, one of which is the only shot of me driving my car. It was on a figure-8 time trial track. Not sure what I ran, but it wasn't that great.



These were taken back in 95 at British Field Day in Salt Lake City, back when it was held at St. Michael's.

It really was kind of ratty looking. I even forgot I gave it that little flame pattern on the bonnet. Grey primer over yellow. I had to do something...
You can see the front end, banged up bumper, beat up nose, those goofy flares behind the front wheels...yeah. Fun times those were.



I don't recall who the kid was. Just someone's boy who enjoyed my car. That was my first attempt at doing the interior. Blue and black automotive carpet glued to 1/8" hardboard.

[RobPearce]

Quoted from byakk0

Played with the fuel pump and discovered I had accidentally installed the wrong one a year or so back when I was having starting issues on my test cart. I put in a straight levered pump from my spare KC engine instead of the curved lever from my KD engine...That has been fun trying to sort out as I didn't realize there was a difference.

I also hadn't realised until I tried to refit the pump to my rebuilt Vitesse engine. It's not a KC vs. KD thing, though. The change happened when they moved the pump lower down the block, with the change of casting to commonise main journal sizes with the 2500, at KC5000 (HC5000 on the 'tesse)

[byakk0]

The lowered location is (was) indeed the problem. My KC engine is 174E or something close. As you can see it has a blanking plate next to the fuel pump.

Quoted from RobPearce

I also hadn't realised until I tried to refit the pump to my rebuilt Vitesse engine. It's not a KC vs. KD thing, though. The change happened when they moved the pump lower down the block, with the change of casting to commonise main journal sizes with the 2500, at KC5000 (HC5000 on the 'tesse)

[byakk0]

Call me crazy.
It was 105^O F (@ 40.5 ^OC ) or so here today, and I was out in the driveway. I had to take a break for an hour or so and cuddle with Abby.

Anyway, the fuel pump is behaving well enough to run. I'll need to tap out the fuel outlet to a slightly larger fitting in order to correct the cross threading.

On to the carbs. Got the engine to fire today under it's own power (ie no started fluid) after replacing all the o-rings in the jets. They were new 18 years ago, and only have ran a few times, but still old enough to be cracked and leaking. Engine fired right up when I had that issue sorted, but no matter what I tried I couldn't get the idle to stay below 2000 on it's own. The rear carb is affected when I lift the piston slightly but the front there is no affect.

Hear and see it running here, with demonstration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KdPx8ex8WM




I pulled the front carb to have a better look and double check the float height, which is correct at 17mm. Before I reinstalled it I removed the GT6+(mk2) throttle bracket I had put on it a few years back. It was in my spares and I was mistaken in thinking I needed it. I thinking it was causing some air leakage, because when I fired it up once more, it was affected slightly when I lifted the piston. Now to sort that particular issue. Feel free to give me some ideas.

Additionally, I put the doors on today. Looking more and more like a car again!

[byakk0]

Drove it out of the garage today, mostly just because I could. Still only have just the handbrake, so I have to be careful.
Did a compression test and got 1-4 around 150 and 5 & 6 around 140.
Then it started raining on me but I couldn't get the engine to fire (fuel pump issue) so I had to enlist the help of my son.

[byakk0]

It's come to my attention that the little clips on the early Mk1 GT6 head that hold the intake and exhaust manifolds on are missing. I've wondered why there are only one bolt at the end of each. To be honest, I don't recall ever removing those so many years ago, and last night as I was prepping the block to recieve them the little pockets the ends of the clamps fit in were so full of crud and gunk, I wonder if they were ever on the car for the duration of the 2 years I drove it!
(see 20-24)

Anyway, I've been digging through my parts and all I was able to locate was one complete clamp set and one missing the bolt, so I'm down 4. Thankfully a friend with a Mk2 was able to supply a set someone gave him that he is unable to use-I'm just waiting on the post for those.

I'm wondering if that is part of my carburetor troubles...We'll see. I haven't fired it up since making that discovery.

In the mean time, I decided it was high time to replace the exhaust manifold studs in my spare manifold, as it is better than the original, which although it has 2 good studs, one is missing and the hole drilled out such that it is elongated. Currently using a bolt and nut there.
I don't have an acetylene torch to remove them, so I searched around town and I got removal quotes from $60-$120. Found a neighbor with a torch today and in 10 minutes had them out.  He said I could pay him with a 6 pack if I felt so inclined.
I had a little helper replacing the studs. She knew right where it went.



As an interesting side note, when I opened the garage to work on the car, I had Abby in my arms. She looked at the GT6 and said "I wanna drive", so I plopped her down in the driver seat. Have a watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8xjRTrwM8c

[byakk0]

First drive in 18 years.
Lots of work left, though
[Urlhttps://youtu.be/uhrDHwu4nx4[/url]

[byakk0]

I figured out my throttle issues.
The center attachment isn't a Mk1 setup anyway, so I pursued the connection at the rear carburetor. I had to find the correct lever arm as the one I was using stuck up at nearly a 45 degree angle instead of straight out. The gas pedal now successfully operates the carbs. I need to shorten the rod a little, but for now I am happy with it. (sorry, no pics at the moment)

Up to now I have been trying to make use of a Mk2 GT6 center throttle linkage but no luck.


This is the arm I switched to. You can see the other in the background.


Perusing GT6 stuff on the web this week I came across something interesting. Turns out the oil filler cap comes apart and there is a piece of wadding of some sort inside. It's a breather. Who knew!
Popped the top off of mine expecting to see it completely clogged up. Not so. It was actually relatively clean. I soaked it in solvent anyway and put it back together.

[byakk0]

My driver's side door has been giving me fits for years. It's one of those problems you toy with here and there and give up only to attack it later, hoping eventually you figure it out.
It all started with the replacement A-pillar I bought from Rimmers. Unfortunately, those don't include the internals or the jamb side. I had internals from a parts car and had to build the jamb (ok, my bro, aka time2triumph on this forum, built it).
We got something goofy as the hinge holes seemed to be in the wrong spot and I had to modify one of the captive nut plates so the holes would be spaced evenly with the other set of holes-otherwise the hinges would be off in relation to the other.
That this would be a potential problem was a worry to me but I figured I would wait to see, hoping it wouldn't be. Well, it certainly did cause a headache. When the time came, I could never get the door adjusted just right, no matter what I did. Again, the adjusting got shoved aside--for about 2 years. The last time I seriously worked on it was probably in the summer of '13. Since I put it all back together, I didn't bother with the adjustments as I just wanted the door on. I did notice the top of the door had no gap at the front. Granted a portion of this was because I did not bother with the cardboard spacers, but that gap should be about 1/4", not super tight.

Fast forward to Tuesday night (well, ok, it was early Weds morning. 2 am or something. Insomnia? nah, just a night job. Had to get myself back on schedule after 3 nights off).
Anyway, It came to my attention (why I never thought of it before? forehead slap) that the hinges are adjustable on the door itself. I had removed the door last week, so I just had to pull the hinges from the door, and freed up the captive nut plates. They are endowed with their fair share of rust. I'll be reskinning the suckers anyway, so I just hit them with PBblaster and put the hinges back on. Setting the door in place wasn't as much of a problem as it has been in past, but I did find when I removed the door last week that 2 of the holes needed re-tapping. Not sure when they got buggered, I'm sure I put good ones in when I built the A-pillar.
But, to sum it all up, I got the gap at the door just about right, and the gap all around looks good-I think. I'll have to move the car out of the driveway and have a good look at it, as where it is sitting I have barely 2 feet of clearance.

I then found the bonnet needed a minor adjustment as the cone was not seated-it was too far forward.

So, where are the pics? Well, silly me. The camera was dead. I did get it charged enough for the photo of the third brake light I am playing with, though.

[byakk0]

Oh, the tape holding the hatch down? That's another story--basically, the bit that holds the latch has not been welded back on yet.
additionally, I need to drill out 2 of the bolts holding the hatch to the hinge as they were broken since before I bought the car.

[byakk0]

Moving on...

I may have mentioned this before, but back when I was driving the GT6 I was at a stop sign and a guy in a jacked up Chevy Blazer rear-ended me. It was just a bump, but it hurt the back end a little, and seriously tweaked the licence plate lamp housing, and mangled the chromed bit. I didn't have the glass.
"Sorry bud, I didn't see you down there!" 😲

That revealed a bit of bondo on the backend as some of it cracked out... >_<

Anyway, digging through my spare bits I discovered I had good housing, and probably some 10 years ago now I bought a new chrome cover and glass off eBay from someone in Michigan.

Last night I broke down the better of the two, and stripped it of the nasty orange paint that car's PO had attempted-complete with overspray on the otherwise good rubber gasket. Judging from the state of my mangled housing, I'd venture to guess the PO's of the two cars were friends-and that they should never be allowed to paint anything ever again.





The inside of the good one was a little rusty, so once all the paint was gone from the important electrical contact points as well as the rest of the unit, it got put in the vinegar bath, where it will wait until later today or maybe tomorrow. (what day is it, anyway? I dunno, I work the night shift)

But, it's a good thing I took this route. Eventually I could rehab my old housing (the tan primered one), which I may do yet, but as you can see, the captive nuts on the backside are AWOL, and the connection for the power bullet connector is broken off, so using the better one will at least be simpler for this go around.