Part way through putting the GT6 back together I decided to start it up as it hadn’t been run for a week or so but found the battery was KO’d. I thought that the battery was only a couple of years old and it was a high quality Bosch one so thought I’d dig out the receipt and take it back under warranty. When I found the receipt it turned out it was actually just under 4 years since I bought it. I wasn’t sure whether it had a 3, 4 or 5 year warranty and couldn’t find any paper work or signs on the battery to give any clues. So I went back to Costco the cash & carry where I bought it, the good news was it had a 4 year warranty, the bad news was they wouldn’t do an exchange but were happy to give a refund so having been refunded off I went to their tyre and battery dept to get a new one. Battery’s have gone up a lot in the last 4 years, the last one cost me £32 from Costco, the new one was £56 but having checked out Halfords the same Bosch battery is £104 so I’m reasonably happy.
I got home put the new battery in and started the car up no problems. I then finished putting it back together and bled the brakes etc. Then went to start the car out to take it for a test run and found that the starter was KO’d! So now I need a new starter, maybe it was on the way out and that killed the old battery. Ideally I’d change it for a high torque starter conversion but I’m in a hurry and can get a good old reconditioned Lucas LR101 locally tomorrow
All being well the car will be back in one price by tomorrow night ready to take back to the MOT centre for some welding and a re-test….
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Thursday, 11 February 2010
MOT Issues :-(
It's been a long time since my GT6 had any problems passing the MOT, 2001 was the last time I had a MOT failure so I was probably about due for another one!
One of the rear wheel bearings had excess play, the brake pipe across the rear of the chassis had signs of corrosion and there were 3 areas of corrosion underneath. The most serious being a hole about 1 inch x 1/2 inch that the tester managed to poke in a front out rigger. The other two are pretty minor a very small split in the passenger floor pan near a seat mounting and a small split at the edge of the boot floor. The last two are not in a particularly structural position but were within 30cm of a load bearing area so are a failure under the MOT regulations.
I'll get the corrosion plated by the MOT place just to get a quick pass.
I took the halfshaft out last night and rebuilt it tonight with a new bearing and a new genuine metalastik rotoflex coupling that I was lucky to pick up cheap on ebay. It's been a long time since I've done a wheel bearing on the GT6, I did have a stock of shims and spacers for setting up the end float but I can't find them anywhere in my Aladdin’s Cave of a Garage. Luckily though the existing spacer was the right size to give about 1 thou of end float which is within tolerance. I remember last time I replaced a bearing I had trouble getting the outer bearing off the hub as it disintegrated leaving the inner race in place. So this time around I treated myself to a bearing splitter tool, that certainly makes the job nice and easy.
So just need to change the brake pipe and put the halfshaft back in, I can then book the car in to get the corrosion plated and the car retested. I always take my car to a place that does free retests on principle, however they have now reduced their free retest time limit from 14 to 7 days and I'll probably miss the 7 day cut off which means I'll have to pay for the retest which is a pain....
One of the rear wheel bearings had excess play, the brake pipe across the rear of the chassis had signs of corrosion and there were 3 areas of corrosion underneath. The most serious being a hole about 1 inch x 1/2 inch that the tester managed to poke in a front out rigger. The other two are pretty minor a very small split in the passenger floor pan near a seat mounting and a small split at the edge of the boot floor. The last two are not in a particularly structural position but were within 30cm of a load bearing area so are a failure under the MOT regulations.
I'll get the corrosion plated by the MOT place just to get a quick pass.
I took the halfshaft out last night and rebuilt it tonight with a new bearing and a new genuine metalastik rotoflex coupling that I was lucky to pick up cheap on ebay. It's been a long time since I've done a wheel bearing on the GT6, I did have a stock of shims and spacers for setting up the end float but I can't find them anywhere in my Aladdin’s Cave of a Garage. Luckily though the existing spacer was the right size to give about 1 thou of end float which is within tolerance. I remember last time I replaced a bearing I had trouble getting the outer bearing off the hub as it disintegrated leaving the inner race in place. So this time around I treated myself to a bearing splitter tool, that certainly makes the job nice and easy.
So just need to change the brake pipe and put the halfshaft back in, I can then book the car in to get the corrosion plated and the car retested. I always take my car to a place that does free retests on principle, however they have now reduced their free retest time limit from 14 to 7 days and I'll probably miss the 7 day cut off which means I'll have to pay for the retest which is a pain....
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Christmas is Cancelled
Well at least our our local TSSC Christmas bash that was due to happen tonight is cancelled anyway.
Despite Heavy Snow in North Hampshire this evening I did try and drive through the snow to be there, after all I was organising the meal. However after just a couple of miles of slithering about in the Jag it was obvious that it was not a good idea. A few other members also threw in the towell and reluctantly there was no option but to cancel.
I think we'll have to organise another meal in a few weeks as a belated celebration.
Despite Heavy Snow in North Hampshire this evening I did try and drive through the snow to be there, after all I was organising the meal. However after just a couple of miles of slithering about in the Jag it was obvious that it was not a good idea. A few other members also threw in the towell and reluctantly there was no option but to cancel.
I think we'll have to organise another meal in a few weeks as a belated celebration.
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Nice Way to Spend the last day of 2009
I went along to the informal CT meal down at the Bridge Inn near Amesbury today. A nice way to end the Triumph year. A 100 mile round trip out down the M3 and A303 to give the GT6 a rare reasonably long run out for this time of year, only issue was that the overdrive packed up due to an electrical fault.
Had a nice meal , and good conversation with like minded Triumphers at the pub and a chance to take some photo’s afterwards beside the River Avon .
My Boy James enjoyed himself as well although he did eat the majority of the Baileys Rice Pudding desert we had agreed to share!
Joined up Panoramic picture of the Triumph’s.
Mark caught on camera pumping up his flat tyre!
Had a nice meal , and good conversation with like minded Triumphers at the pub and a chance to take some photo’s afterwards beside the River Avon .
My Boy James enjoyed himself as well although he did eat the majority of the Baileys Rice Pudding desert we had agreed to share!
Joined up Panoramic picture of the Triumph’s.
Mark caught on camera pumping up his flat tyre!
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Entry in for the CT Round Britain Reliability Run 2010
My entry is in now for the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run (RBRR) which is taking place first weekend in 2010. This time around I'm co-driving for Mark Bland in his 2500S Saloon rather than using the GT6. Well that's the plan anyway, last time I was down as a Co-Driver for Jason in his Vitesse he broke it on the way over to pick me up for the event and we used my GT6 at the last minute.
Photo below is of RBRR 2010 team 30, not sure whther we'll be wearing the team shirts for the run though, it get's a bit chilly for Hawaien shirts at John O'Groats in October!
Photo below is of RBRR 2010 team 30, not sure whther we'll be wearing the team shirts for the run though, it get's a bit chilly for Hawaien shirts at John O'Groats in October!
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Starting issues tonight but fixed quickly
Over the last few week’s my GT6 has been taking longer to start. It’s never actually failed to fire but need a lot of turning over before it would start to run.
Tonight was worse though, it would turn over and almost catch but wouldn’t actually start. Of course it was one of those nights when I really wanted to use it as it was our local TSSC meeting.
As soon as I opened the bonnet though I saw what was wrong straight away. On twin stromberg carburettors only one carb actually has a choke mechanism. There is a little plastic tube that joins the choke on one carb to the inlet of the other which provides a richer mixture on the carb that has no choke. I saw straight away that the tube had come away from the carb with no choke. So One carb would have had choke whilst the other one would have been running weak. Diagnosis in about 30 seconds flat! I can only assume that over the last few weeks the tube was just starting to fall off which was why it had become more difficult to start.
Only problem was the tube had hardened with age and wouldn’t go back on. No problem though, I shortened my washer bottle tube slightly and used the piece of tube that I cut off to replace the tube between the carbs. Job done!!
Tonight was worse though, it would turn over and almost catch but wouldn’t actually start. Of course it was one of those nights when I really wanted to use it as it was our local TSSC meeting.
As soon as I opened the bonnet though I saw what was wrong straight away. On twin stromberg carburettors only one carb actually has a choke mechanism. There is a little plastic tube that joins the choke on one carb to the inlet of the other which provides a richer mixture on the carb that has no choke. I saw straight away that the tube had come away from the carb with no choke. So One carb would have had choke whilst the other one would have been running weak. Diagnosis in about 30 seconds flat! I can only assume that over the last few weeks the tube was just starting to fall off which was why it had become more difficult to start.
Only problem was the tube had hardened with age and wouldn’t go back on. No problem though, I shortened my washer bottle tube slightly and used the piece of tube that I cut off to replace the tube between the carbs. Job done!!
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Diff Post Mortem Result!
Just got the result back from Canley’s strip down of my old diff as this impacts how much of a refund I got on the exchange deposit. Seems it broke in a big way, the note from Canley’s states; “Lost Tooth, hole in rear case – scrap, Run without oil – carrier scrap!”. Obviously the run without oil was due to the oil escaping from the hole in the case as I had only topped it up 1500 miles before it broke!
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