Nick Moore

Good point Bill, more hardware to carry north on my next flight! So that's one H bracket, two cone locating plates, two bonnet latches, two latch hooks, and two hinge bushes. Until they're fitted we won't know where we stand. Now I've seen the panels for myself, I'm starting to see how the cones and catches change the shape.

I dropped in to Joe's yesterday to see how close he's got the various panel gaps. Close, but not there yet... The gap between the bulkhead and rear edge of the bonnet is nice and even, but the gaps between bonnet and doors are a bit wonky. On the left side, the wing behind the wheel arch is a bit flat. That'll be easy to sort out once he fits bonnet cones and latches, as the latches should push the wing outwards slightly. On the right side, the gap is larger, and the wing may need some reshaping. I warned him not to close up the gaps too much as there's a danger of the door hitting the rear edge of the wing. It doesn't help that he's been using the wrong bolts in the front hinges 🤔 I've got new hinge bushes on order. I'll be flying back up in January, and will take up latches for the doors and tailgate, bonnet catches and bulkhead locating plates for the cones (I'd forgotten that unlike Heralds, GT6 cones mount in the bonnet and need locating plates). But it was the first time I'd seen the body tub in colour, and even under the dust, it looks pretty good. Once the panels have been cut back, it really will look like green glass.

Thanks Marcus. He doesn't have any cones yet, so that may be causing some of the problems and letting the bonnet move around. Still, I would have thought that it is better to set the panel gaps without cones, so that the panels aren't being twisted, and then set the cones to locate the bonnet in the 'relaxed' position? Hopefully the body and chassis haven't sagged (although most bodies seem to after 40 years). I'm blaming the extensive straightening that every part of the bonnet required. Poor thing had been bashed, dented and bodged  

Just rang Joe the Painter to get an idea when he thinks the GT6 might be ready for shipping south. He refused to commit to a date (typically), as he's fighting with the bonnet. He's got a perfect 1/4" gap around the rear edges and bottoms of both doors, which is about what they were before. For a car with a lot of dents, it still had good panel gaps. However, while the gap between the front edge of the left door and bonnet is 1/4", the gap between the right door's front edge and bonnet is 3/8", which offends his sense of order. The bonnet may have been twisted slightly when he was straightening out the dents. I tried to reassure him that Triumph were happy with 3/8" panel gaps but he insists that he can do better. The joys of hiring a perfectionist!

I'm loving it Nick looks fantastic the colour and those 4 spoke wheels black center and polished rim look is class mate Cherrs mate all the best Hugh

I posted a few photos on my blog of the GT6 outside the paint shop. My brother was passing through Mackay and stopped to see it. The photo was taken on his phone, and he says the camera doesn't do it justice. Joe the painter wants to have it finished by Christmas, and I've got a trucking firm lined up to bring it down to Brisbane. First step - install a winch in my garage! My drive slopes up steeply from the road, and I've bought a 12V winch to bolt to the garage floor. And because the garage floor also slopes toward the road, the car will stay hooked up. If it starts moving, it'll be across the street in about five seconds   The final spec for the car keeps changing. At one point it was going to be 2L and Sapphire Blue. After my trip to the UK last year, it changed to 2.5L and Mallard greenish. Another detail I've decided to change is the gearbox. Gearbox Plan A was a Ford type 9. They feel nice and conversion kits are easily available. But I'm in Australia. Sierras were never sold here, Ford instead built Cortinas with 4L straight sixes (dizzy) So I picked up a Sierra 'box in New Zealand, carried it back to Oz and bought a conversion kit. I've now found out with Roy (Scottie)'s help that my Sierra box has a short input shaft and will need to be rebuilt with a longer one. Which I'll have to get from the UK, and then find a gearbox specialist to swap them. Gearbox Plan B is to fit a J-type overdrive box from a saloon. Pros - they're strong, it retains more of the Triumph pedigree, and it's nice to flick in and out of overdrive. Cons - there are varying reports of how much chassis choppage is required, the ratios might need changing to Dolly Sprint, and I'll need a TR6 engine backplate and flywheel. As I haven't started building the engine yet, this is the time to make the decision. Time to decide. Hmmm....

I'd just make the holes longer. Once the frame is bolted through the panels to the chassis it won't move about.

Mallard is Triumph colour 106, offered from late 1972. My GT's an early 1972 car so Mallard wouldn't have been available when she hit the road. I think the Green option in early '72 was Emerald. I don't think many Mallard GTs were made, but I don't care, it still looks good. I'm flying up to take a look at her tomorrow, unless Queensland's next cyclone gets there first...

Ha ha! It took about three weeks with stripper wheels to get it back to bare metal. Fortunately I got it done before the wet season, so the steel didn't even start to turn orange. But no, it'll get properly welded up and painted. The right rear wing alone had one small dent (it didn't pull out with a bath plunger dammit), a hole just above the flare where it got skewered by a forklift (verymad) and several small 'bullet' holes just behind the door shut where a 19th century dent puller had been used. Battle scars indeed. The left wing was much the same, thankfully minus the forklift hole. Even the roof had ripples, probably from someone standing on it. The tailgate was the only undented panel, probably because it rusted first. Despite all that the door shuts were even and tight! Like a few ladies her age, she looks better with her clothes on. PS I do like those Libre wheels. If I come across a set I may have to find a Triumph to put them on!

It's getting 15" 5-spoke Revolutions. They looked a bit like clown shoes when I first put them on, but once its suspension is sitting properly it should look OK.

That's what it looks like, anyway. My GT6 has been at the paint shop for the last four months, and finally some of the panels have been painted. When I stripped off all the paint, I found previously repaired dents in every panel. The poor car had had a hard life, apparently, and many dents had been repaired by drilling holes for a dent puller, roughly pulling the dents out and then smoothing the landscape with filler. Both doors looked like they'd been shot, and the nose cone was a piece of sculpture! Since September Joe the painter has worked on each panel in turn, pulling out the remaining dents with an electric welding puller, and welding up all the 'bullet' holes. He's also cut and wire-rolled some bonnet vents - apologies to the purists, but I want to be able to drive this car in the tropics. My brother had a few hours to kill in Mackay this week, and so went to the shop to see (a) what a GT6 looks like and (b) what mine looks like. The photos are from his phone, but even so I'm impressed. The colour is Mallard, which looks green here but is actually a bluey-green. I'm delighted with the apparent finish off the gun. It's 2-pack and is so shiny that it looks as though the car's been dipped in liquid glass. Joe hasn't done much to the body tub yet. It needs two new floorpans welded in, a RHD dashboard frame fitted and new pedal mount and battery box panels welded into the bulkhead. I'll have to fly up sometime and make sure he gets it right - he's brilliant but hasn't ever worked on a Triumph before! It's a big change from the sun-scorched, dented and rusty wreck I bought two years ago.

Will these teflon buttons work in a rotoflex spring?

Good luck, Tim. Sadly I don't think it'll be possible to get the gearstick in exactly the same position as the original box's no matter what you do, and that Jigsaw have pulled a swifty on you. I've bought an adapter from Mike Bestard - http://gt6-efi.blogspot.com/2008/09/type-9-job-done.html - he's moved his gearstick as far forward as possible and it's still 35mm rearward of the original position. Nick

I've often wondered what the rate is for Canley's swing spring conversion for Heralds. Put it this way, I have 450lb springs at the front, and the rear feels harder!

Spring spacers are available from Canley Classics and Jigsaw Racing Services, and probably other UK suppliers as well. They can also supply rear shock absorbers.

So, Dave and Gareth, if you were designing a brake system from scratch for a souped-up Spittie or Herald, would you stick with single circuit brakes (with or without an inline booster according to taste) or go for tandem circuit (using Triumph or after-market parts) for safety? Single circuit is simpler to set up and maintain, tandem circuit is safer in the event of failure.