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John Bonnett

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  1. John Bonnett
    It's sad really but I always find it quite exciting to to fit the parts that I have made and have been powder coated; everything is clean and shiny and fits perfectly (or should do) Here are a couple of pictures of the Golf radiator installation with the new stainless steel frame for the fans and the newly powder coated ducting.
  2. John Bonnett
    And to finish
  3. John Bonnett
    242 wrote: Where did you get the protectors from? RR I made them and at the risk of boring everybody, here's how I did it Starting with a cardboard template the aluminium, in this case 1.2mm 1050A pure aluminium is cut to size allowing for any returns and safe edges that need to be added. I cut two pieces of marine ply to the shape of the template and clamped the aluminium between the two. Clamping is vitally important and you can never have enough G clamps. The curved return following the line of the sill can be tapped over using a soft face mallet or wooden chaser progressively and bring it down together. Where the metal curves it needs to shrink and it will go into itself and any wrinkles will disappear so long as you have a soft face on one side and a hard one on the other. If both faces are hard then the material will stretch. The safe edges are treated in the same way turning them at right angles. Once the panel has been removed from the wooden backing it is clamped to a flat surface and the edge turned the rest of the way. It will bend along the line of the fold. Just tap it over gently a bit at a time. A little bit of hand forming was needed to produce the slope of the front of the sill. It just needs fixing holes to be punched in.
  4. John Bonnett
    One more picture
  5. John Bonnett
    Protectors fitted
  6. John Bonnett
    I've just collected the panels and parts from the painters and I'm really pleased with them They have been powder coated in gloss black which just adds the professional touch (in my opinion  ;)) and all for £48.
  7. John Bonnett
    royboy66 wrote:Nice Rad combo !  ;D Have a Great trip John !  8) Thank you Roy. The rad installation I owe to you and I'm very grateful for for the pictures and the information you provided which made the job so much easier. The Golf rad and the Astra header tank fit in so well they look like they have been designed for the job. We are really looking forward to our second trip this year down to Duras (noted for its wine) where, during our last trip we met a Triumph owner who lives  in the town. He has a superb workshop occupying the whole area under his house. This accommodates all his machinery as well as two 2500 Estates, a Stag and a TR6. My car is still waiting for a new interior but mechanically, it should be as good as it can possibly be although having said that I'm sure some gremlin will pop up at the eleventh hour. We are running a 3.27 diff and overdrive which is ideal for this kind of journey but may make the car a bit pedestrian at Goodwood!
  8. John Bonnett
    rotoflex wrote:Enjoy your road trip!  The 2.0 engine is just beautiful on the road, isn't it? It gives me a grin from ear to ear Bill
  9. John Bonnett
    I have to say how much I'm enjoying the car. It is every bit as good as I hoped it would be; lovely to look at and the wonderful sound of the engine on song is out of this world. We are off to Southwest France again in September and are planning to visit three Triumph friendly garages on the way down. I'll pass this information on as it could be of interest and use to anyone with a Triumph taking a similar route to us. Going South from Brittany, here are the links; ASA56 (Gildas Dréan) 4 ZA Zone de Mane-Lenn 56950 Crac'h http://www.ville-crach.fr/fr-asa-56,136,109.html Garage Aumonier (Lionel Aumonier) 630 route de Niort 79230 Aiffres http://www.garage-aumonier.com/ Garage J J Ert (Jean-Jacques Ert) 5 av Joseph Henri Lainé 33650 Saucats tel 05 56 72 21 96 Just a little update.The car now has a reconditioned gearbox which is really nice; quiet, positive and a big improvement. Really well worth doing. I shall shortly be fitting new vertical links just for peace of mind. The ones on the car, originals as far as I know may be perfectly sound but I don't know that for certain so new ones will take away that concern. I've decided to remove the servo which I don't think is doing any favours. The pedal is spongy and working only on the front wheels, I believe this is what is causing the dive under very hard braking. It will be interesting to see what difference it does make. The Golf radiator works very well and the new Pacet electric fan is impressive shifting around 1000cfm of air. I've just ditched the dreaded "Universal Mounts" which I was never happy with and made a frame to mount the fans on. Picture attached. The frame does mask some of the radiator  but I hoping it will not be critical. If it does prove to be a problem I can always drill it full of holes but being stainless steel I hope I don't need to. I took a load of bits across to the painters yesterday for powder coating. These include the radiator ducting, the new vertical links, alternator bracket and the bulkhead/sill end protectors. I'm very keen on powder coating partly because of the quality and the durability of the  finish and mainly because I don't have to do any painting which really suits me.   I'll post some pictures when they are fitted. My son Chris and I have entered the CT Goodwood track day in November which is something I'm really looking forward to. I competed in the Goodwood Championship two seasons running back in the 90s so it will be nice to drive it again. So, the car is being used and enjoyed which is what it's all about isn't it. John
  10. John Bonnett
    My new vertical links arrived today. Like Mr Elsie, I've been worried for some time that one or the other is going to break and I feel that the only sure way to avoid it is to buy new. Fit and forget, I hope!
  11. John Bonnett
    4545 wrote:JOhn, it has to be the last job that took place has the responsibility. Therefore whoever removed and replaced the box didn't do it correctly, sounds like it needs to be redone. Jason You are quite right Jason and so far they seem to be accepting responsibility. The car was collected yesterday upon their instructions so, so so far, so good. Here is a sad bit of video. Sad, because tomorrow we were due to take the car on a 2000 mile round trip to the Outer Isles. Sadly not this time but we do have the French holiday under the belt which was a fantastic experience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0igVRi6qlIA
  12. John Bonnett
    796 wrote:Did you put some copper washers onto the top bolts / studs on the od,!!! these go inside the OD, and can leak if not sealed. M I didn't do the job Marcus so I don't know.
  13. John Bonnett
    4545 wrote:JOhn, didn't you have a new box fitted? Why is there a problem? I always found the overdrive a good indicator that I should add oil to my box when it stopped working :) :) Yes Jason, it is a new box and it lost most of its oil on a 220 miles journey. I have a feeling that it was leaking as a spray from the overdrive. Marcus, I'm sure you are right, the last bit of the journey was indeed downhill to our house so that explains that. One odd thing I have noticed is that the overdrive solenoid is now only operating intermittently. The relay is clicking and I believe power is reaching the solenoid but have not confirmed that. Is there any mechanical rather than electrical reason why this should happen? Thank you for your replies John
  14. John Bonnett
    michael_charlton wrote:It shouldnt have The O/Drive has a lower casing than the gearbox so the majority of the time there is generally more oil in the O/D unit than the box. The question should really be more directed to "would the low oil level have affected the box"............and I would doubt it Thank you for your positive reply. For reasons I'll not go into I'm not worried about the box, my only concern is the well being of the overdrive so fingers crossed you are right. John
  15. John Bonnett
    I drove 220 miles with the gearbox oil leaking. On checking there was one about an inch of oil left in the gearbox and the overdrive stopped working. Will this have done any lasting damage to the overdrive? John
  16. John Bonnett
    Good news and some very bad news. We put the car on a four post lift last night and found the diff is leaktight. The whole of the chassis rear of the gearbox was coated in oil and the brand new exchange gearbox freshly fitted the day before had only an inch of oil in the bottom after a 220 mile journey. This could explain why the overdrive stopped working  :(
  17. John Bonnett
    herald948 wrote:Much or all of the leak might be nothing more than a plugged vent causing internal pressure. Check out this thread: Sorry , link no longer available Thank you Andy, a really good point that I hadn't thought of. I'll be sure to check the breather is clear before needlessly changing the seal.
  18. John Bonnett
    490 wrote:Did it myself two years ago John and never looked back. I had converted to swing spring from Mk1 fixed spring using the Spitfire spring, but after a few years of bottoming out I bought a NOS GT6 spring from Chic Doig which cured the ride problems completely. Despite getting older and larger ever since I can still go over bumps knowing I'll still have an exhaust at the other side... Isn't it a nice feeling when you do a mod and the benefits are measurable and lasting
  19. John Bonnett
    2133 wrote:Should be do able in the car, sure the Haynes manual describes it done that way actually. Get it high and very secure, preferably on ramps, as the torque required to do up and undo the pinion nut is fairly large. To undo it I used a long length of angle iron with two holes in so it can be bolted to the flange, stopping it turning as you undo the nut and vice versa. The most awkward bit is probably going to be removing the split pin, but it should be fine in the car. Tim that really is good news, thank you for that. I've ordered the seal.
  20. John Bonnett
    The oil seal on the diff drive flange is leaking. Can a new seal be fitted with the diff in situ or does the whole thing have to be removed, stripped and rebuilt? I'm expecting to hear the worst but will be very happy if you can offer good news. Thank you John
  21. John Bonnett
    Just to complete the story, Canley's made in Sheffield spring part number 159654 is now fitted and what a difference it has made not only to the bottoming out problem but also in reducing  understeer to a level that is quite acceptable. I'm really pleased that I bit the bullet and did the swap. John
  22. John Bonnett
    5458 wrote:You could fit an oil cooler to the transmission.  I've heard of it being done....although I guess it wouldn't be easy what with no pump and you'd have to tap the transmission too.  All very frightening. I'd prefer to solve the problem at source if possible
  23. John Bonnett
    339 wrote:I have glued heat reflective material to the underside of the tunnel (fiberglass), REMOVED the exhaust wrap as it does nothing! made sure that ALL of the holes in the bulkhead are plugged and made sure that the tunnel is properly sealed and then gaffer taped just to make sure.  I have also used aluminium sheet fixed to the underside of the chassis to deflect any heat from the exhaust system.  My GT6 Mk3 cabin is much cooler now and will even blow cool air inside if i use the cold setting on the heater controls!  I think I would eliminate the heat issue altogether if i was to put heat reflective material on the inside of the bulkhead and  floors. I'm not too concerned with the cabin temperature. I am worried about all the components in the tunnel area that may be reaching temperatures that they were never designed to see
  24. John Bonnett
    Thank you all for your replies especially JohnD for his in depth consideration of the theory of airflow. My concern is only when the car is stationary in very hot conditions.  Whilst on the move the tunnel area is reasonably cool because there is sufficient airflow to take the heat away. However once stationary the electric fans are not able to get the heat any further than the tunnel and as an indication of the temperature in the tunnel, the gear stick and gear knob are too hot to touch. This cannot be good for the oil in the gearbox and overdrive or the reverse and overdrive inhibitor switches. I absolutely agree with john that the main contributor to the heat is the radiator and not the exhaust. My idea is to duct the air out of the side of the engine bay using the motor cycle fan before it reaches the tunnel. If I do manage to fit the Golf fan which is on the nearside, then if what John and I believe to be correct, the extractor fan will also go on the nearside. John
  25. John Bonnett
    I just wonder if anyone has tried this. I've found a 5.5 inch bike fan which I'm going to install in a side valence on the manifold side of the engine. This will be switched on when the car is stationary by the thermo switch. Here's a picture of the fan.
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