Anything and everything GT6.

Hi,
I'm a long standing Triumph owner since 1986.
I've had three Herald saloons, two Spitfire 1500s and a GT6 Mk 3.
Two Heralds were rust buckets, one was great and extensively modified by me. The first spitfire did 13,000 miles a year in all weathers and needed a lot of work to keep it running, my current car is a fabulous 1500 genuine 30,000 miles that now lives garaged in Devon and is used on dry days only (ROK 226R).
Anyway to cut to the chase... I'm contemplating getting another GT6 to keep in Birmingham to use during the week around town. Unfortunately the year I owned the last GT6 was the worst experience I've had with a car and I wonder if this was 'all' down to misfortune/stupidity or whether the GT6 is fatally flawed.....

I bought a non-rotoflex Mk3 from a TSSC member in 1990. he had 'restored' the car and I failed to see beyond the shiny red paint and naively parted with Â£4000. I was conned.....

The problems:
1. Front suspension wear: the front springs had collapsed, the trunnions worn out and the bearings were shot - Do GT6's carry too much weight at the front?

2. O/D - in spite of replacing the propshaft UJs, the solenoid, electrics and eventually the OD itself(!) the OD persistently 'slipped' at around 80-85mph. Is it up to the job?

3. The exhaust - repeatedly ripped the mounts from the rear of the boot floor. Too heavy, or just a very rotten boot floor?

4. Heat !! - in spite of replacing the crumbling cardboard tunnel with a plastic item, lagged inside and well sealed, the heat in the footwell on a summer run was enough to burn the skin - insufficient engine-bay cooling??

5 Leaks - apart from the fibreglass rear wings the rear door and windscreen surround left pools of water every time it rained - more leak prone than a spitfire with a hard-top?

6 The brake servo - decided to burn all the brake fluid via the engine and was difficult to get repaired.

... Ohh yes - I won't mention the ant's nest.......

In the end after spending another Â£3000, I sold the car on at a big loss. Does anyone have any good reports of their GT6 on these issues, as I'd really like to get another one 17 years later.....?
Many thanks

1. It probably was just worn out, I don't think 6-pots wear the suspension any quicker.

2. A J-type will handle the power/torque of a Stag/TR so should be more than man enough for a GT6. A D-type my be a bit weak. The J-type can be uprated (higher pressure)

3. Was it a twin box system??? Extra weight hanging in non-standard places, especially if not bolted to the diff. If standard system, they can also rip the brackets out of teh floor, but only as as the rot sets in.

4. Join the GT6 shorts wearing club! They are all like that. Plenty of the foil backed insulation and teh tunnel totally taped helps matters.

5. Probably just needed new seals.

6. Dump the servo, not required. Just make sure everything is in good nick. Plenty of places to get a decent rebuild on a Girling servo for about Â£150 if you really want to keep one. Or get a Lockheed one.

Cheers

Colin

should've bought an MG.........sorry i will wash my mouth out.

The GT6 is not, and was not designed as an 'about town car'.
Get another herald.

Brendan

1/ the front suspension is no more or less durable than on heralds - did you fix it yourself?

2/ that "slipping" of the transmission sounds like gearbox oil on the clutch plate - which is why your other transmission work didn't cure it

3/ try your second thought

4/ they are all like that Sir! if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the ........

5/ leaks - fiberglass rear wings???!!!

6/ brake servo - not an intrinsic fault with GT6's but more an intrinsic fault with the man who fixes them

The GT6 is not an about town car, as has been previously ststed, for all except the most determined! The only person I would buy a 30 or 40 yr old car off is myself as they cannot be expected to be as reliable as modern cars and knowledge of the history of the car is of paramount importance

jonathan

Thanks for the replies.

The moral of the story is not to buy a car with an unknown history and obvious faults. I fixed the front suspension myself, but had the O'D and gearbox worked on - seems like they missed the obvious? Interestingly, the car was 'kept' by my girlfriend of the time when we split up (we'd bought it jointly) - she also took all my Cowboy Junkies CDs... Anyway about a month later the clutch failed completely, so maybe that was the issue all along. I missed the car more than the girlfriend, but it really needed a complete proper rebuild and we'd paid about Â£3000 too much for it.......

As for 'about town' - it depends what you're used too. I used the GT6 for a year round Bristol - a real pleasure. I've also used Spitfires as 'daily use' for about 8 years of my 25 years driving. No problem. I've owned three BMWs, an MGF, MGTF and now a Saab 93 1.9 TiD as well. The Saab does a weekly 400 mile return trip Birmingham- Devon that I wouldn't put my spitfire through as its only done 30,000 miles from new. In my experience the GT6 and the spitfire are great for 25-30 mile trips on A roads and country lanes as well as shorter trips round town, neither are good when you just want to get from A-B on a 3 hour trip, fast and as 'fresh' as possible.

I've run my GT6 for 19 years now the only real issue I suffer from on your list is the cabin heat, as Binman say's they are all like that Sir.....

No problems with water leaks in my footwells since the restoration, probably down to the new rubber seals but after a few good showers recently (with the GT6 evicted to the yard due to three Heralds in the garage) the footwells are totally dry.
Front suspension should be adequate provided it's regularly checked and serviced; remember these are 1960s vehicles when drivers were a lot more hands-on than today.
Footwell heat should not be excessive; I'd suspect your exhaust particularly as it fell off. You'll maybe find it was touching the floor and transmitting the heat by conduction. You get used to driving with the window down even as the snow falls... apart from which it dries the footwells out if they ever do start to leak...
I'm using a J type overdrive, fitted after purchase by myself with no problems whatsoever.
I've never had an ant's nest, however I do have the "cowshit in the wheelarches" version.
Sadly I think you were swindled with this particular car, I know of owners who have great fun with theirs and few problems over a period of years. I might too if I could leave it alone and stop breaking or removing bits.
Colin

This Friday my GT6 is going to be FLOORED all the way up to Scotland - La Carrera Caledonian no less!

By the way I now have enough exhaust heat wrap to extend it past the tunnel...when I fit it I'll let you know what the difference is.

There's a thread on this site that I followed what was said and I have found that I haven't had any problems to speak of since. Oh and having a webasto sunroof fitted helps too!! Went to Classic Le Mans last year and was cool as a cucumber.

It was posted By : James Carruthers , 24-Jun-2004, 3:33pm. He used Thermo Guard from www.agriemach.co.uk along with
their heavy duty adhesive spray to attach it. He used this in conjunction with rubber sound deadening pads from Frost and the "Thermo-Guard" on top and said it worked great, such that the gearbox tunnel became only mildly warm as opposed to hot... and didn't seem to be giving off heat...

He also said, "top tip is to roll it on to the inside of the tunnel with the short edge of the insulation along the bottom edge of the tunnel... if that makes sense...

Check out their catalogue - they have some great products...

http://www.agriemach.com/product_info.php?products...

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8...

(you need 3 deadening pads - and one 24" x 48" of the Thermo-Guard to cover the tunnel)

It is totally quiet now... all I get is a load of wind noise and the exhaust burbling out the back.

Another thing I'd suggest - that I didnt do, but realised afterwards... is to put some tape on the matting side of the thermo-guard - the sticky side facing the same way as the alu - then stick the matting side down to the inside of the tunnel - and put the tape around the edge of the matting and stick it on to the alu side... (alu tape would be great for this) the felty matting stuff is exposed at the moment on mine (see pic) and it might start absorbing water... and go a bit yuck..."

There was a lot of debate on the subject so you may want to trawl around this and earlier threads?

Tim (Oxford Dreamers).

Another solution is to use the lagging from a hot water tank. Cut it s to size then and rivet it to the inside of the tunnel with big washers. Make sure the cover is flame resistant. I did this a few years ago and there is no heat fro the tunnel at all.

Ian h

Well,
I've done it! Bought a GT6 Mk III late.
Its A1+ (genuine) Sapphire blue, and was subject to a documented body off restoration in the late 90's, with reconditioning of the original engine. Recently its had recon gearbox, OD, propshaft, diff , new springs and shocks. If anyone saw it, it was in Rimmers showroom for a bit last year.
It drives superbly....
The only problem on the way back from wales is that the seats are completely knackered support wise and the split wiper box seals have let water damage the glove box trays. New leather seats and some renewed trim will be sorted!
I'll post some pictures when I get time to wash the mud off it again!

I've seen that car! Congratulations, I think you've done very well!

Mark

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GT6 - flawed or not??

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