Bradley1500

339 wrote: Bradley The gearing will be rubbish with the type 9 and a 3.63:1 diff.  I know this because i had that setup.  With the 3.27 I can cruise at 90mph doing 4000rpm with a top end of about 120mph.  The 3.27 did affect the acceleration a little but that just means you need more power!!!  Now I have EFI I don't find the acceleration too bad at all.  Have a look at the "Royvoy to prescott" thread for some video action of my GT6 Thanks for the reply, Tim. Good to hear from someone who's actually done and run a car with the mod. From your experience I think I won't risk it and will go with the 3:27 probably with a Quaife. I saw Smithy's video off your car taking off, bleeding quick get away, surprised me. Bradley.

Glen, I was only joking, I like to see any classics on the road. There are quite a few Morris Minors that go to shows around my area, most are fantastically restored and have mirrors under them to see how clean they are. I don't like the car and wouldn't have one but just love to see them on the road and in that condition. :) Clive, You'll have to let me know how you get on and what you decide on doing. I suspect your Zetec Spit will be pretty quick so if the brakes are good enough for that I think they'll be good enough for me. Steve, Thanks for the picture, all quite tight in there. John, It seems the Capri discs are a well trodden path, thinking this will probably be the best route. It's good to hear another opinion on the Quaifie diff, although it's expensive it sounds a great piece of kit and defiantly well built from your story. Bradley.

Glen, Must of got some duff info on the capri discs then, I reckon these up front with MGFs on the rear should do well. Let me know how you get on at Spa. I think I must get the enthusiasm and love for cars from my Dad and his side of the family, they're all into them. Unfortunately though my uncle is into MGs and has 2 MGBs at the moment. ??) :P It is a shame about the insurance. I checked last October for prices on the Spitfire (pretending I was 17) and all the quotes were around £1000. I was quite shocked at the £3000+ I was getting quoted this April. I'll looking forward to this project now though, I'm itching to get an engine and get going. Bradley.

Gt6s wrote: Bradley the Quaife replaces the actual diferential gear assy which is the common failure on small Triumph diffs you bolt your crown wheel to it. The 3.63 is the strongest CWP Triumph built. It is more reliable because it is capable of taking quite a bit of grunt and abuse without exploding. How do I know this ? I see now thanks for the info, this defiantly seems like a good route although expensive. Mind you I guess this is balanced out by not having to cough up for recon diffs all the time. What would the gearing be like with a 3.63, type 9 and 2500? Bradley.

Really? Must be a bit of a squeeze? Where have you heard about the Subaru diff from it would defiantly be interesting and worth finding out about. I hadn't held a spanner in my life until I got the Spitfire but have picked up a little bit of knowledge already, hopefully with a couple of manuals, help from forums like this and local meets/members I should be able to pull it off. I won't know until I try. ;) I'm probably under-estimating how difficult it'll all be but I'm hoping I'll find it interesting and fun. I think a lot of satisfaction will come from it as well once it's finished. Bradley.

Few different opinions here, 3.27 or 3.63? I haven't got a clue so I'll leave it for you lot to sort out. :P Laurence, Quaife sounds interesting, I take it you rebuild the existing Triumph diff with the Quaife in it? Basically turning it into a Triumph LSD? How does this make it more reliable, I don't quite understand, probably just being dim. Certainly not cheap though as you say. http://quaife.co.uk/shop/search/results/taxonomy%3A410%2C433 Clive, I've read up on the Subaru but all sounds a bit complex at the moment, not something for the home mechanic. If there were a kit at a reasonable price then I would certainly consider it, I'm sure many others would too. We'll have to see what happens in the coming months. Xanita discs, will these fit under 13inch wheels? I was looking into Capri disc but you need 15s. I like the look of 15s on the later square tail cars but not so sure about the earlier cars. I was hoping 21. It might end up that I finish the resto by the time I'm 21 see I can't afford insurance again and sell it. ;D Tim, From your signature I see you run a GT6 with a 2500 EFI'd lump, type 9 and a 3.27 diff. Is the 3.27 standard or have you done anything to it? What's it been like since you've fitted EFI? Lots of good knowledge on this forum. :) Bradley.

Thanks for the advice AJP. Don't worry I'm taking everything on board. Trouble is different people have different views, so I think I'm going to stick with the 2500 lump. I might regret it, but I don't know until I try it. Lots of people run 2500 in GT6s so they can't be all that bad. ;) Good advice on more driving to find out what I like. I think I might go to a few Triumph events/track day, at least I'll get a better feel for what I want. At the moment I'm just looking for a 'fast road engine'. I think I've decided roughly on the specs I'm going for. Lightened/balanced bottom end, ported unleaded head, TR5 profile cam, lightened flywheel, 6-3-1 manifold, spin-on oil filter conversion and running on EFI. This will be connected to a type9 5 speed. I'm still undecided on the rear end, what's the best Triumph diff that can handle the 2500 lump? I'm going to use red poly bushes all round, MGF rear brakes, not sure on the fronts yet. What's that set up sounding like now? Any comments are welcome, I'm a novice so experience from others will defiantly help. Bradley.

AJP, I could afford the insurance but it would work out too much money every month. My wages would just be paying insurance and petrol. It is just ridiculous. I've already coughed up for insurance on a modern, not as fun but cheap and no hassle. Tim, like I just said to AJP insurance is just too much money. The cheapest quote I could find with adequate cover was £2700. Whereas it's £1000 on the modern. The car I wanted to begin with was a GT6 MK2, I think they look fantastic. I'm planning to restore the car over a long period ready for around the time I turn 21, hopefully by then the insurance shouldn't be so mad. This is why I want to build the car to the spec I want. I have thought about suspension/braking the reason I haven't mentioned it because I think I have a clearer idea of what I'm going to do. I've never built an engine before so this will be a steep learning curve with a lot of questions asked. Hence why I'm asking now, I didn't want to go in all guns blazing buy and then ruin an engine. But I think with the advice I've got here and other places I've decided on what to do with the engine. Bradley.

3122 wrote: Oh fair enough. Shame you'll never get to drive it though, I've just got back home from school in some rather heavy rain and loved every second of it!  8) Don't worry I've driven it. I had provisional insurance on her for 5 weeks whilst I was learning, long story short the insurance company wanted another £2100 which I can't afford. I was out nearly every night. I also used the car for my prom at the end of school and drove in myself. Been to a couple of shows with Dad driving. So it hasn't been a complete loss. I've also learnt a fair bit whilst working on her, I'd never held a spanner in my life before hand. We'll just have to see how much money I lose when I sell her on. Bradley.

Hi Nick, Thanks for the advice. I read your thread on 'porting' the head, very interesting, thanks for the link. What CR would you recommend for this type of engine then? I think I'll probably go for a TR5 profile cam as I don't want anything too wild. I might have to pick your brains on the EFI when I get stuck into it. I'm going to start making a parts list so I can start collecting the bits. Bradley.

Phil, that's good then I'm sure I'll have a lot of help from family and friends. It's sounding better already, are there any workshop manuals/engine building guides you'd recommend? I defiantly need to read up on what is do-able at home. If 'flowing' the head yourself is possible at home then I'll defiantly give it a go. EFI will be the next thing I need to research better, making a parts list will probably be a start. I've read a few threads on here and a couple of blogs about this as well. I've seen the car advertised here and eBay but to be honest I'm set on a MK2 GT6. It does look to be a good price though, I'm surprised it hasn't sold already. Colin, As Richard says this will make any rear end mods the same as Jango's difficult then. I didn't realise this was a problem. Aaron, Nope same person, same car. It wasn't defiantly accident damage but something defiantly isn't right. I've had a good look around and nothing seems to be seriously wrong. The chassis is well coated in underseal so it is hard to see but no signs of a shunt or a bad repair. No history of a shunt either. This is why the car isn't for sale yet though, I want to find and sort the problem (along with a couple of others) before she's sold. :) Bradley.

Going back to the budget again, I'm going to be doing most of the work myself, so I won't have as much labour costs. At my college they do an engineering course and have professional MIG and TIG welders. I've been told I can use these whenever I want and can be taught by the tutor when he's around as well. Also at my previous work they had MIG and TIG welders. The bloke who did all the welding had a GT6 with 2500 lump in it. He said he'll give me a hand and teach me to weld too. As well my uncle use to run his own body repair business. Anything from a full respray to getting rid of car park dings. I'm pretty sure he still has some of kit he used for his personal projects and I'm sure he can help me do the bodywork and paint the car. Hopefully this will make the 6k-8k seem more realistic, probably not though. Bradley.

The car is going to be a very long term restoration. I bought the Spitfire I have at the moment when I was 15 and did a sort of 'rolling restoration' on it ready for when I was 17. I'm 17 now and passed my test but can't afford the insurance on the car, so I'm selling it. I've decided to get the car I wanted to start with a GT6 MK2 and rebuild the whole thing to the spec I want. Hopefully by the time I am finished I'll be able to afford the insurance! Because of this and the fact I'm in no rush to get the car on the road I think I'll going EFI straight away. I don't think I'll go the webers route, EFI is defiantly the better choice. At the moment I'm just getting ideas and planning on what to do whilst I finish off the Spitfire and sell it. Once this is done then I'll start looking into buying a car and the bits I need to get going. I thought I had most of the drivetrain ideas in the my head and knew what was going to work, the engine was the only bit I was struggling on but think I might need to rethink a couple of ideas. I thought I would ask about the engine now so I knew what to start looking for and budgeting for. I'll start looking out for a TR5/early TR6 engine. Thanks everyone for the replies. :) Bradley.

Hi Phil, I think you may be right on the budget. This will be the first ever restoration I'll be taking on so if things don't quite add up it's just me being unrealistic. I wasn't planning on going mad on the engine. I was thinking of balancing/lightened bottom end, unleaded head, 6-3-1 manifold, different cam and EFI as a start but wanted to see what others recommended as well. I think moving the engine back will be a worthwhile job. All GT6 MK2s as far as I know are standard rotoflex. I think that CV joints, MGF rear brakes/bearing will be the best way to go here. The diff is the thing I really need to think about as the rest should cope fine. I think I need to speak with gripper diffs. I would love to say sod the budget but I'm a student working part time so can't do that. The reason I've started asking is because I've recently started a new job and am getting paid double what I use so am putting money aside ready. :) Bradley.

More food for thought. As said earlier, I'll be going the type 9 route. For the diff/rear end I would really like the 'Jango' sierra LSD/independent rear suspension set up, but think I'm dreaming a bit here. I'll have a look at Gripper Diffs, the TR6 diff they make is quoted at £720, so I'm guessing it'll be around that price. For the propshaft I'm pretty sure you can use a Land Rover one that is beefier, so will have to look into this to see which one is suitable. For the rear end/driveshafts it'll probably be a rotoflex rear end with CV joints, MGF rear brakes/bearings etc. Good advice on the bottom end, I think once I've found a suitable engine this will be where I start. I want to do most of the engine work myself to save money but most of all learn. Obviously there will be a limit as to what I can do in the garage. I think a GT6/Vitesse flywheel will probably be the way to go as I don't have to play around with it myself, just balance and fit. Not sure on how far to go with the head yet, I defiantly need some 'bed time' reading on all of this so I understand it all a bit better. When I first thought about the idea I really fancied triple webers. The look of them under the bonnet and the induction noise they make is fantastic; but thought about the cost and maintenance of these and have decided against it. EFI I think is a much better way to go, although there will be more faffing to begin with. I was thinking about taking mechanical driven bits off the engine and replacing with electric but things like the engine driven fan I think are good because they're constantly going circulating the air around the engine. I think I need to think more on this. Haha, you're probably right! I've only ever driven Spitfires and it feels like you're doing a 100 when you're only going at 60. I think this is a good thing though as you get all the thrills without loosing your driving license. I'll have to see what this engine can do once its finished, a long way off yet! I've never built/taken an engine apart before so this is going to be a very steep learning curve and I'm sure a lot more question will be asked. Bradley.

I was thinking about the TR5/early TR6 engine just because they produce the most power/torque to start with. The engine is going to be mated to a type9 5 speed, not sure on what diff though yet? Any suggestions? I've read his restoration of his car and what he's done, I believe he got an entire exhaust system made up? Also a lot of bulkhead modification is going to be needed. Bradley.

The engine will be going into a GT6 MK2, I would also like to fit the engine further back to improve the weight balance. At first I was thinking of triple webers but have decided against this now. I'm thinking either PI or EFI. The budget at the moment will be around 6k-8k for the whole car, but doubt I'll stay within the budget. I'm not sure what cam to go for, what are others running or would recommend? I don't want anything too wild as I still want the car to be nice and drivable. Bradley.

I haven't got an engine yet because I'm not sure of what one to go with. I've decided on a 2500 6 pot but not sure which variant of this engine to go with. One from a TR6, 2.5PI Saloon etc. Sorry if I didn't make this clear to start with. :) Bradley.

I'm looking into building a fast road engine and have decided on a 2500 lump. Question is, which one to start with? I've read a couple of engine building/tuning guides but are there any books/websites people recommend that give step by step instructions? I want to learn and know as much as possible before diving in. Finally, what have people done with their engines and what power/torque figures are given? Also what are these engines like to drive? I don't want to go all out power and end up with an engine that isn't really drivable on normal roads. Bradley.

Looking forward to seeing the photos. I'll have you know my Spitfire's a beast

Thanks Nick. Would you not recommend them then? I think they look great and fancied a set for my Spit. Bradley.

The car's looking great, love the colour. Wondering where you got your wheels from? Wouldn't be this place would it? http://www.tyresave.co.uk/revoroad.html Bradley.