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GT6 MK2 1969 restoration


Longstrider

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Okay so the plan this weekend is to remove rear seat and all the parts stored in the rear to get a better look at what needs to be done. Also doing some preparation on the bonnet.

I am also looking to purchase the rear ns wing, who would be the best company to buy from regards best fit?

Plus looking at the best deal I can get on a mig 190, although not sure how this particular investment will get through the rigorous finance checks that my wife will not doubt think of, being as she thinks the GT6 is a pile of rubbish and I should just go out and buy a new mx5;-)

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For the wing, get a heritage panel, don't bother buying a cheaper copy, as it will be more faffing trying to fit it, worth the extra for a good quality wing.
Also investing lots of mole grips, or other grips/clamps to hold all the panels in place, test fit all before doing any welding, easier to jiggle them about now, than once you have welded.

As for the welder, do you really need a 190? Are you planning to weld other things (bigger) if it's just for the gt6 look at smaller welders, unless you can get the 190 for a good price. But then again you can always sell it on after.
Are you looking at new or second hand? New ones come with a cheapo welding trigger/lead, if get a good second hand one, then buy a euro trigger! The feel is completely different and will improve the welding no end!

I have a 190 but I weld all sorts of things, but I started out with a 130 many many moons ago.
Also invest in a decent automatic mask, keep it clean and it will last for many years, I have just bought a new one, my old was more than 15 years old, it still works, but was easier/cheaper to buy a new one than fix up the old one.

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The sealey 190 is between £375-£400 with the euro trigger, but gas is on top, so just under the £500. There is a lot of panels and possibly the out riggers to weld.

I will go heritage on the wing, I thnk Rimmer does them for £185.  Thanks for the mole grip tip. I will start my collection this week, lol

I did mention the cost of the welder earlier today to my wife and got no response...  That's a yes right. ;-)

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8112 wrote:
.  That's a yes right. ;-)


If they say nothing, it's a go!!!!!  ;D

For the gas, there is a company that do rent free cylinders, can't remember there name now (google it) but there was a thread about this recently.

Go for argon, the welds are so much better, stronger, neater.

And practice on old scraps first! And perhaps watch a video or two so you get an idea.
Welding is the easy part, I can teach you to weld in 5 minutes! It's the prep work that ruins the job! You can't weld rust!  ;)

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This may sound crazy, but please stick with me.

The advice I have been given is to keep the body on the chassis whilst it is restored.  I fully understand that this is a good idea.  However it restricts my work to the the car body only.  I am considering buying an old chassis to bolt the body to and then building a wooden frame similar to another GT6 restoration of this forum and putting the body with a stripped down chassis above my original rolling chassis.  This would enable me to work on both parts of the project at once.  That way if I hit a low point or mental brick wall on either I have the option of walking away from the problem and for a time focusing on other "problems".  I am 100% sure that I want to restore/refurbish the original chassis so a swap to another chassis is out of the question.  I already feel that with all the panel work the body Tub requires its already akin to Triggers broom in only fools and horses. :-)

My questions are:
1. Does this sound feasible?
2. Its a Mk2 GT6, so do I need to restrict my self to a specific chassis/model or would any spitfire/GT6 chassis in reasonable condition do?
3. Are there any other options?
4. Anybody ever just shipped a chassis and have any idea what the costs are?

There is a MK3 chassis on ebay, but its in Yorkshire so location is an issue, I am sure it would sit on the roof of my cherokee which has upgraded suspension, but at 11 to the gallon around town a trip to yorkshire and back is not cheap.

many thanks

Brett

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Brett,
If you do not intend to use the chassis then any GT6 or spitfire will do as a mount, but if you want to mount the bonnet as well to check alignment etc then you need to stay away from GT6 Mk3 and Spitfire Mk4 as the bonnet mounts are different.
As for the welder why are you looking at a 190amp?  I use a 140 with Argon and that melts car body panels easy if you are not careful and will happily weld 3mm box beams so the 190 is a bit of an expense if you are not intending to weld RSJ's.  The Sealey supermig140 cost around £210 delivered but you will have to buy the adaptor pipe and bottle gauge as the disposable cans last only minuets.

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Thanks Phil,  I do not intend to use the chassis for the bonnet mounting, purely for keeping the shell straight whilst I weld.  I intend to run without front bumpers and have the brackets flush/sunk into the grill.  Not purist but hey.  The 190 was recommended by a friend, who uses one and it comes with the euro torch which he said was easier to use.  Hence the choice of the 190.  Mind you the cost of panels has now escalated to £1700, so I am hoping Ebay will be a better friend to me and do need to look at reducing the cost somehow.  I dread to think what the chassis and mechanicals will cost, then there is the electrics and interior and the paint. Still I want to be able to say I built it. :-)  Thanks for the heads up on the chassis front.

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How bad is the body? I ask because if you try lifting it from the chassis and it's weak, it will distort, that is why most repair them still attached to the chassis.
But I do see your reasoning, another solution, internally brace it, go over board, then it should be fine to lift off and onto another chassis.

Yes the cost can soon mount up! That is why most restorations are not done to make money! And also that is why they cost so much to do, have you seen an advert for a classic car wich states, full restoration of "x" amount!!!
When you see the cost of parts and labour then that explains it.

I am also just starting to look for panels for my mk3 and tot up the
List of other parts needed!  :o

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Sleepy, the tub is solid, but the welding is not pretty and I have a vision of a newly spayed tub with nice clean panels.  Fantasy I know, I will end up patching  some parts, but the floor has inserts welded in at the sill side, inner sills welded in two parts long ways. I want the shell to look great so I need to spend £1700 on panels, unless eBay comes up trumps. ;-) i get that is expensive, but I have always wanted to do a ground up on a gt6. I have a mate who has a restored one and 5k would probably get it. But he built it so it would be bought not built for me. Having just completed building my suspension lift on my jeep Cherokee I know the satisfaction of driving something you have spent cash, time and grazed knuckles on. I suspect the GT6 to be more rewarding and obscenely expensive. ;-) but hopefully does more to the gallon than 11. ;-)

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8112 wrote:
This may sound crazy, but please stick with me.

  I am considering buying an old chassis to bolt the body to and then building a wooden frame similar to another GT6 restoration of this forum and putting the body with a stripped down chassis above my original rolling chassis.  This would enable me to work on both parts of the project at once.  That way if I hit a low point or mental brick wall on either I have the option of walking away from the problem and for a time focusing on other "problems".  




That would be me. I got the idea From Andre's GT6 restoration. Just get good quality casters and screws to hold the casters in place. I used 4 1 5/8" gold grabber screws and one wheel came loose while I was pushing it into the garage with the tub on it the first time. It is now only moveable with my floor jack underneath whilst I devise a method to retrofit the caster without removing the tub and inverting the frame.
http://www.triumphexperience.com/journal/byakk0&PageID=1#jid-10074

http://www.gt6.ca/photos/03/0110/index.html

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4058 wrote:


Yes the cost can soon mount up! That is why most restorations are not done to make money! And also that is why they cost so much to do, have you seen an advert for a classic car wich states, full restoration of "x" amount!!!
When you see the cost of parts and labour then that explains it.

I am also just starting to look for panels for my mk3 and tot up the
List of other parts needed!  :o

Tell me about it..... My mk 3 will end up having cost me about £22,000 in the end, but it will be better than new in important places, but original 'NOS' in most.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not much to update on the restoration front. I have looked at the front wings and the near side front may be salvageable, this is not an issue as i have two new ones, but may save some time and its an original panel.  I also sourced a new steel craft floor panel off Ebay for the near side. The chap was restoring a spitfire mk3, but the patter of tiny feet put paid to the project.  He did say he has some other panels one being an off side sill, so just waiting to see if that comes off and if he has anything else I need.

Still no nearer buying welder, but this is rather a mute point until I get some panels together. Really the sticking point is the cash out lay having just spent out in service parts the jeep.

I also attended the North London Monthly meeting last Monday. I met a few people and One of the chaps I met recommended smith and arrow poly disc for paint removal, so have ordered two this morning.  The YouTube video looks impressive, so lets see what the performance is like for £16.:-(

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  • 2 weeks later...

This weekend was spent stripping and rubbing the bonnet top down and removing the rear seat. One seatbelt came out okay the driver side seems reluctant to be removed. Typical it's the last part to be removed except the dash. :-( I have enclosed a couple of pictures of the bonnet. The photos were taken early today and since then I have rubbed down one third of the bonnet with a fine sanding block. Hopefully a few more hours this week and into primer. I have discovered the nose cone has been repaired and needs some attention. Still it's progress.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The bonnet top rub down continues with work on the vents. Hoping to finish tomorrow, but a busy weekend may delay this to next week.
The photo attached is the top of the roof, one tiny hole the rest is rock solid, which is very pleasing. Removal of the webcasts and rub down of the roof to bare metal is underway. Feeling the love for the car this week.[img][/

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Nick,
Yes looks like some lead loading was carried out on the bonnet, so you can imagine my surprise to find the roof line across the windscreen in such fine condition. It must me down to the copious amounts of filler that covers the whole car, lol.
Thinking a brake upgrade could also be useful along side the bowsprit for ensuring the front does not get out of shape again.;-)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, I seem to be having a bit of a wobble re the restoration. Not managed anything in the last 3 weeks.  This is really down to workload and the lack of a welder and a rear wing.

However, what seems to be more apparent since I sold my Astra convertible and just using the Jeep is That i do need another vehicle to get about. The jeep only does 10.9 to the gallon and being as I built it for the bad weather I am not prepared to sell it, coupled with the fact I just love it too much.

Borrowing my wife's car is also not practical unless I have to pick her up from a night out ;-)
And i have been told that I cannot buy another car unless either the 6 or the jeep goes.....

I suspect that my wife's dislike of the GT6 ( this goes back to an episode of oil fumes pouring into the cockpit after a disasterous oil change many years ago on my first GT6) drives the constant statements  that I could have purchased a TR7 that's on the road and drivable and still get my classic Triumph fix.
Also she loved my two previous TR7's as much as I did. ;-)

So I have spent the last few weeks considering the sale of the GT6 and the parts and have been monitoring the adverts for a Decent yet relatively cheap TR7 FHC.  It's a tough decision, but not driving a car is just doing my head in... Time for a beer to aid the thinking process.

I enclose a picture of the jeep ;-) not a Triumph but...


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8112 wrote:


So I have spent the last few weeks considering the sale of the GT6 and the parts and have been monitoring the adverts for a Decent yet relatively cheap TR7 FHC.  It's a tough decision, but not driving a car is just doing my head in... Time for a beer to aid the thinking process.



Ah a restoration low point, we all go though them (apart from sheepy who likes rust) at that stage, i haven't done much to the other project for a few months as i keep finding things i wish i hadn't, but i'll keep with it, if i sold it i'd never forgive myself.
So keep the faith it will happen, sooner or later...
RR

ps,
why don't you buy her another car? then you can keep the toys?  ;)

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Hi

Don't rush into any decisions. Mull the various options over and you will end up making the right one. I know what you mean about missing out on driving the car. When I was restoring our Stag we ended up purchasing our GT6 after about 6 months. When it became time to do the GT6 I was using the Stag as my daily driver so didn't miss out on a driving fix.

Regards

Bruce

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