Heavy Duty Angle Drives

Two angle drives repaired, replacing the weak cable input bit with solid 1/8 inch steel bar to make them "heavy duty"... I had one that I modified like this fitted for 25 years and it was far better, only issue was that I made the protrusion too short to work with the improved connection bush on the overdrive which was a bit longer and the protrusion didn't engage with the drive pinion. The ones I've just built have a longer protrusion.

Temporary Speedo until I can get mine fixed

So the Speedo packed up again and trashed another angle drive. I took the speedo out and tried operating it with a speedo cable and drill and although it does function it's noisy and vibrates so it's definitely in need of attention and I'm going to need to send it away to get it reconditioned. As my car is due on the club triumph stand at the NEC classic show early next month I'll wait until after that. In the meantime I'll use a GPS Speedo to keep the car road legal.

GPS Speedo as a temporary measure 

woo hoo it works at last

Speedo works again, now to put the car back together.

Speedo Head un seized ready for replacement.

Following finding that the Speedo was seized, I had to take it apart and managed to free it up with a judicial application of penetrating oil at the input part and it freed up .

To take the speedo apart I removed the two screws at the rear and then pried the retaining tabs on the bezel back slightly to allow me to release the bezel which is a bayonet fit. This was quite hard as it was corroded on.

Remove these two screws from the rear to start taking the speedo apart

Pry the 6 retaining tabs out a bit to allow the bezel to twist and remove

I then removed the glass and an inner bezel and carefully removed the speedometer innards to allow me to sparingly lubricate it.

Picture 11 after removing the glass remove the inner bezel

After removing the glass remove the inner bezel

Innards removed

I carefully reassembled the unit cleaning everything as I went. I then tested the unit with a speedo cable and a hand drill to make sure it operated correctly.

This activity is aimed at getting the car back on the road, in the meantime I'll look around for a secondhand speedo and get one refurbished by one of the specialist Smiths Instruments reconditioning companies as new speedometers are no longer available for the GT6, although there is a rarely available new unit on ebay at the moment it is for a non overdrive car and has a different ratio and the milometer and speed readings would be inaccurate.

One step forward two steps back!

So, what are the chances of two things being wrong with my speedo!  So fitted the new angle drive and got drive up to the top of the cable, great I thought. Then reconnected the cable to the speedo tried the car up the road and the speedo still didn't work. Then disconnected from the speedo and checked and had no drive at the top again, so removed the angle drive and it was buggered already! Then did what I should have done straight away and removed the speedo and tried to turn the input, it was seized! I have taken it apart and managed to free it up and it seems to work but need yet another angle drive so more expense and delay, bugger! Especially as it's the weekend now so if I place an order with Moss it wont get processed until Monday and I wont get the part until at least Tuesday.

Angle Drive may be the issue after all

 I think I may have sussed the issue with the speedo. The new connector bush from overdrive spares is an improved design with a bit more thread so the angle drive face is 2 or 3 mm further away from the pinion. My modified angle drive with a solid 1/8 bar that I did back in the 90s has a shorter protrusion than a proper angle drive so I don't think it's reaching the pinion drive. 

My Modified Angle Drive with a solid 1/8 bar in place of the weak flexi drive has a shorter protrusion than standard

Standard Angle Drive has a longer protrusion

New angle drive just ordered from Moss. I in previous times I'd have driven up there to get it but they are in the ULEZ zone and my daily driver BMW would cost £12.50 as it's not ULEZ compliant. Although the triumph is exempt as it's registered historic  it's in bits and the bike is also exempt as historic registered but the weather is shit, so ordered by post. Bloody Sadiq Khan!

Speedo still not working.

 I spoke too soo, took it up the road and still not working, needs further investigation. The cable still isn't turning at the speedo end but the cable is new and the angle drive was working. I'll probably need to take the drive pinion out of the overdrive to check that. could be tricky to do in situ but I don't want to take the gearbox out if I can help it! First check will be to disconnect the speedo from the angle drive and see if the angle drive is turning, it could be that it's the square bit worn where the cable pushes in, if that's the case its just a new angle drive. If not I need to take the angle drive out and see if I can see whether the pinion is turning, to do this I'll need to jack up the rear wheels and get the car running in gear. If the pinion does need replacing then I'll have to drain the gearbox oil first, I replaced the oil just before the RBRR so I'll try and reuse it if possible rather than replace with new again.

Speedo fix well underway

 I received the part I needed from Overdrive Spares, not only much cheaper than any other supplier that had stock for a new part but also arrived the next day after ordering. Their website is down but I contacted them via their facebook account and they responded out of hours confirming they had the part and suggesting I call them in the morning which I did.  I'd definitely recommend them, but if you want to use them pick up the phone or use facebook messenger to make contact.

Speedo Connector Bush supplied by Overdrive Spares

I then needed to remove the old connector bush, it has a section with flats to allow using a spanner for removal, however with it in situ it wasn't possible to get an open ended spanner on it due to lack of space. So I purchased a set of crows foot spanner sockets next day from Amazon. However the spanner section was too thick to fit in the slot around the flatted section. I used my bench grinder to grind away some of the crows foot open ended section to reduce the thickness from 8mm to 5mm so it would fit.

Crows Foot Spanner Socket with Thickness reduced using my bench grinder

Checking that the thinned out Crows Foot fits the connector bush.

I then used the Crows Foot Spanner socket to remove the old connector bush with a 3/8 drive ratchet and reinstalled the new one in place. All quire easy to do in situ with a modified crows foot spanner socket.

Removing the old connector bush

I then refitted the angle drive and although the speedo cable was OK it is old so I replaced it with a new one while I have access.

Angle Drive and Speedo Cable Fitted

Before I replace the tunnel I'll drive up the road to make sure the speedo now works. Just waiting for a break in the rain first as the car is open to the elements from the gearbox area with the tunnel removed. I'll also wait for a dry spell to replace the tunnel as it's a much easier job on the driveway with the doors wide open than in the garage.

Reversing lights working for the first time in 10 years

 I've had an issue with the reverse lights not working on my GT6 for many years, as it's not an MOT test requirement I hadn't bothered to fix it as it wasn't just blown bulbs.

Anyway I did a bit of investigation a few months back to try and sort the issue, strangely I was getting 12v at the reverse light in the rear cluster measured by my multimeter when in reverse but the bulbs were not lighting. I suspected a poor earth but cleaned everything up and it still didn't work. Then I bypassed the reversing light switch and it worked fine. I measured the resistance across the switch when it was in the on position and rather than zero ohms it was about 300 ohms, so basically the circuit was unable to pass enough current to light up the bulbs due to a faulty switch. 

As the gearbox tunnel has to come out to replace the switch I left it for now. Fortunately, reverse lights are not part of the MOT test in the UK so it wasn't a big deal that they didn't work. But with the issue I have with the speedo drive I've got the tunnel out and while waiting for a part from Overdrive Spares Ltd to arrive I decided to replace the reverse light switch. 

The switch is on top of the gearbox under the remote on my and needed the remote extension off to give decent access, I know some cars have it at the front of the remote opposite the overdrive inhibitor switch but mine has a different location for some reason.

Reverse Light Switch on top of the gearbox

Having replaced the switch and made up a reverse gearbox fresh wiring loom I went to replace the remote extension but had a few issues getting the gears to work. After asking some questions on facebook and messaging gearbox guru Mike Papwortth it turns out it was in 4th gear and I needed to get it into neutral to replace the remote. 

Gear selectors were in 4th position, I had to move the left selector backwards to align with the others to select neutral

I moved the selectors with a screwdriver to get them aligned in the neutral position and this allowed me to reinstall the remote extension to get the gears to select properly.  All sorted now and my reverse lights work for the first time in about 10 years. 

Speedo Fault diagnosed, but not a quick fix

So I got the tunnel out today and the issue is a loose angle drive where it attached to the gearbox. Only problem is it wouldn't tighten and it appears the thread is badly worn on the brass part where the angle drive attaches. I looked at the GT6 factory parts catalogue and it shows the part as "not serviced". However I've found that both Rimmers and Canleys list it although only Rimmers have stock and are over twice the price at nearly £36! 

The part shown as "Not Serviced" in the Factory parts catalogue

This is the part on Rimmers Website

Overdrive Spares website is down so I've sent them a facebook message to see if they have one, Overdrive Repair Services only list the part as a complete Assembly with the bearing and seal which I don't think I'll be able to replace in situ very easily so I've sent them an email to see if they can just do the brass adaptor.

I'll follow up with phone calls to both overdrive companies if I don't receive a reply tomorrow, it's past closing time to call them now. 

 If the worse comes to the worse I'll have to bite the bullet and order from Rimmers but I'll try and get it elsewhere for a decent price first out of principle.

TBH it is a past bodge catching up with me that I'd forgotten about from the last time I had the gearbox out for a new clutch which would have been in 2010. The tread was a bit knackered then and I got round it by using some PTFE tape, but it's deteriorated beyond that working as a bodge now!.

Post RBRR Repairs started

 I replaced the faulty ignition switch today, I managed to do it in situ without removing the steering column which was a result. I've now removed my hotwire repair that I did down in Cornwall.

I've replaced the Oil Pressure switch which packed up on the run, this is an easy 5 minute job.

The Wipers were overshooting and not going back to the normal low park place, I sussed out that was just that the nut holding the wiper rack to the motor  had worked loose. So an easy fix.

Next job will be to sort the speedo out. I've disconnected  the cable at the top end and driven up the road and it's not rotating so it's the cable or angle drive. I did pull the speedo inner cable out and it doesn't look broken at the far end so it's either the angle drive broken or may even be just something that's worked loose. I'm waiting for a couple of dry days to do this as the gearbox tunnel needs to come out to investigate and fix, this is easiest to do outside on the drive with the doors open than in the garage.

One of the eyeball air vent hoses has also come off, but that has to come out when taking the tunnel out so I'll wait to do that.

The car is now more usable though and thanks to a digital GPS speedo that Glynn loaned me it's even legal to drive !

Video Footage from the Round Britain Run 2023 taken from the GT6

A few Video Clips taken from the GT6 on a gopro during the RBRR

1. Leaving the Start at Knebworth on Friday evening.

2. Right at the top of Scotland in the middle, on the A836 at Bettyhill on Saturday morning. It was pretty wet as was the whole Scottish section of the RBRR this time.

3. Just after Leaving the Falls of Shin Checkpoint in the North of Scotland on the B864 on Saturday around lunchtime

4.  A few miles further on just after Bonar Bridge in the North of Scotland on the A836.

5. Finally, crossing Dartmoor on Sunday at around lunchtime on the B3357. AS we were back in England it was dry and sunny again!

Also a clip of us arriving at Monmouth taken by Mark Smith..

https://www.facebook.com/100007003366945/videos/376330161416507/?idorvanity=1040657908

RBRR 23 Post Run Report - Andy and Glynn GT6 KMX433K

 

The Route, checkpoints are the red markers

So having fully prepped the GT6 I left on Friday at about 10:15 for the start point at Knebwoth and picked up co-driver Glynn on the way through, he had travelled down to Kings Langley Station just of the M25 so it was on my route.

Car all Prepared

Car Packed with Tools and Spares

As we were a little early we went and had lunch near to Knebworth at a TGI Fridays in Stevenage.

We arrived at the start just about when it was opening at 2pm and spent the next few hours watching everyone line up and talking to friends in the other crews until the event start took place at 6pm.

GT6 lined up ready for the start

Cars lined up ready at Knebworth

Cars lined up ready at Knebworth

We and made our way out of Knebwoth park to the A1M and we were within the first 10 cars to leave.

Then we cruised up the A1M and A1 to the first control point at Wetherby Services. Refuelling on the way a few miles south.

Then it was up the A1M to the A68 and along the A68 through Northumbria into Scotland. Andy drove this section . We stopped at Jedburgh for a driver change and refuel. At Knebworth it had been a beautiful sunny afternoon but up in Scotland the weather was awful with heavy rain which would continue right through the night and until we got back into England on Saturday evening.

Refuelling at Jedburgh

Glynn then drove up to the second check point, Kinross Services between Edinburgh and Perth and on to Perth Tesco Express for a refuel and driver change.

Andy then drove the next section up through the Scottish highlands to the next checkpoint at Skiach Services North of Inverness arriving at around 5am. Part way through the section the Speedo stopped working so we had to rely on the SatNav, just as well we had that as there are around 70 miles of average speed cameras on the A9 between Perth and Inverness. We changed drivers and refuelled at Skiach.

Glynn then drove the next section along the Eastern coast of Scotland up to John O’Groats for a full English breakfast with the other crews at the Seaview Hotel which is also a checkpoint.

Parked near the Seaview Hotel John O'Groats

After breakfast we went for the obligatory photo shoot at the first and last house John O’Groats posing by the iconic signpost. 

At the Famous Sign Post

Andy then dove the next leg, across the North coast of Scotland and down through the remote single track roads along Loch Naver to the next checkpoint the Falls of Shin near Lairg. It was pretty desolate at the Falls of Shin as the café has closed down so no tea or coffee break or burgers from the café like in previous runs. We were there over an hour early  so had to hang around for the control to open and allow our signed roadbook to be returned. While we were there we heard from Glynn’s wife Anne Marie that there was a road closure near Glen Coe due to flooding and a landslide , reports also came through of a further road closure due to a fallen tree near Loch Ness. The route in the roadbook is however only advisory so we took a decision to go back down the A9 rather than along Loch Ness, through Fort William and Glen Coe. A few of the crews did go down the advised route with diversions around the closures but with the heavy rain we thought it best not to risk getting stuck. Several other crews did the same.

Picture Falls of Shin Checkpoint

At a very Soggy Falls of Shin Checkpoint

Glynn drove the next section, we called in at Skiach services again for a refuel and headed South along the A9. We decided we would stop off part way and pulled off the A9 into Pitlochry to find a tea and Coffee stop. In Pitlochry we saw a sign for Lochside Hotel and Café so decided to check them out. Having driven down a narrow road we could see a very posh Hotel but no café so assumed the café must be part of the hotel and went into the Green Park Hotel. The guy behind the reception said the café was further down the narrow road but said that the hotel guests have complimentary Tea and Coffee and asked his boss if he could let us have some which she agreed to. So we had a very nice free Tea and Coffee in a posh hotel lounge. We were really impressed with their hospitality.

The Green Park Hotel, Pitlochry, it was rather wetter than this when we visited!

Andy then took over the driving onto the next checkpoint. The SatNav picked up that there was  a large traffic jam on the M9 the most direct route so we went a little further East to the M90 in order to miss out the issue.  We then arrived at the next checkpoint, Gartosh Social Club on the outskirts of Glasgow. A rather dodgy looking working men’s type social club, the type of place where you expect to see Rab C Nesbit an a string vest at the bar! Anyway we checked in and local Scottish Club Triumph member, Jim, had laid on a very welcome feast  of Scotch Pies, Sausage Rolls and Sandwiches with Tea and Coffee.

In the Car Park at Gartosh Social Club Checkpoint

Glynn then took over the driving and we headed South and back across the border into England, once in England the torrential rain that we had experienced through out Scotland  actually stopped!

The next checkpoint was on the M6 at Tebay Services on the M6. It was nice to be greeted by East Berks TSSC member and GT6 owner Malcolm Thomas who was up in the area for the weekend as he also has a house up there.

Tebay Services Checkpoint

Andy then took over the next Stint to Gledrid Services near Oswestry, always busy and a place for a refuel and driver change before going through the twisty welsh section across the Brecon Beacons during the night.

Gledrid Services Checkpoint, Oswestry

Gledrid Services Checkpoint, Oswestry

Gledrid Services Checkpoint, Oswestry

Glynn drove through the challenging Welsh Section and we avoided an accident with some sharp braking after he went straight on at a hairpin bend, no damage done but it was a worrying moment. At the next Check point, Monmouth Services, Mark Smith our friend, previous RBRR co-driver and serial Triumph collector was there to greet us. He had made the journey across from Warwickshire just to see us in the early hours of the night, that’s dedication for you.

Andy then took over the driving over the Severn bridge back into England. Then it was along the M5 through Somerset and A30 through Devon to the next check point at Okehampton. Andy was pretty tired and  getting drowsy so got Glynn to take over at around Taunton.

Glynn continued the driving after Oakhampton down along the A30 all the way to Lands End for our next breakfast stop. Our mate Paul Bodiam who lives in my town, Fleet was marshalling at the checkpoint so it was good to see a friendly face.

Lands End Breakfast Stop and Check Point

Lands End Breakfast Stop and Check Point

Andy drove the next section up to the control point at Bude Castle, after refuelling at Penzance the car conked out seemed to be an ignition switch issue and wriggling the switch got it going. We did miss a turn on the section and ended up going through Andy’s  Mum’s old home town of Bodmin which was nice! Andy was careful on this section as on the last RBRR he had got a speeding ticket on the A30 so certainly didn’t want a repeat!

We then got to Bude checkpoint in the Castle Grounds which are quite Picturesque.

Bude Castle Checkpoint

After Bude Glynn took over the driving and the car conked out again in Bude by a fuel station. Andy got the car going again but it conked out a couple of miles later. Having investigated the issue was definitely the ignition switch so Andy used some cable and crimp connectors from the spares stash and hot wired the car bypassing the switch to allow us to continue the journey. The only issue with this fix was that the car would continue running after the key was taken out and we had to open the bonnet and disconnect the hotwire to stop it!

The Green wire is a Hotwire to bypass the ignition switch

The Green wire is a Hotwire to bypass the ignition switch

The Green wire is a Hotwire to bypass the ignition switch

We then continued the picturesque drive across Dartmoor to the next checkpoint at Dartmeet.

Dartmeet Checkpoint, bonnet is open to remove the hotwire to stop the engine!

Andy took over the driving for the next bit and unfortunately missed a turn off for the A30 at Exeter on the M5, it was a long way to the next junction. Also by now the SatNav was playing up so Andy strapped his phone to the SatNav and used the Waze App to turn the phone into a SatNav. To get back on track we had to head North to Taunton on the M5 and then across on the A358 to get back on track to the A303. When Andy checked on Google maps though it hadn’t really added any distance and we were soon amongst the other crews on the A303.

We were snapped as we drove along the A303

The next checkpoint was quite close to home at Popham Airfield and it was good to be greeted by friends Dave Lucas and Geoff Heskins who had turned out to support us.

Popham Airfield Checkpoint

Leaving Popham Airfield

Glynn then drove the last section back to Knebworth that went up the M3 to within a couple of miles of Andy’s house in Fleet, no time to stop though and we continued up to the M25 and got stuck in the usual heavy traffic jams near Heathrow. We arrived at the final finish checkpoint at 8pm, 50 hours after leaving and well within 48 hours on the road.

Andy and Glynn "Triumphant at the Finish

Andy used google maps to work out distances with our diversions and we did 1999 miles so near as dammit the 2000, we used £445.41 of fuel, 256L. We averaged 34.74 mpg.

Table of Fuel usage, mileage is estimated from Google Maps due to faulty Speedo

RBRR 23 Fuel
Location	Cost	Mileage (Est)	Total from start	Day	Litres
Esso Garage A1 Skellow (inc 5L can)	£45.42	298	298	Friday	25.53
Shell Jedburgh	£36.53	100	398.48	Saturday	21.5
Perth Tesco	£20.18	96	494.48	Saturday	12.39
Skiach Services	£29.95	128	622.48	Saturday	17.54
Wick Tesco	£13.66	86	708.48	Saturday	8.76
Skiach Services	£36.10	140	848.48	Saturday	21.5
Roadchef Annandale Water Services	£63.35	243	1091.48	Saturday	32.67
Gledrid	£37.42	197	1288.48	Saturday	21.77
Monmouth Services	£34.81	110	1398.48	Sunday	19.35
Tesco Penzance	£47.06	257	1655.48	Sunday	28.71
Esso Halden Hill A38	£40.83	139	1794.48	Sunday	23.21
BP Stevange (plus the 5L can)	£40.10	205	1999.48	Monday	23.19
Totals	£445.41	1,999			256.1
MPG	34.74