| Issue #10 - 2002 |
In this issue |
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| Page 1 |
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The lastest rantings from the editor. [more]
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| 'Flawed Diamonds' |
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John Wood on the Triumph Spitfire & GT6. [more]
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| Jonathan Crossley's GT6 Restoration |
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Jonathan sent me the details on his restoration in late 1999...[more]
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| Josh Hickey's GT6 Restoration |
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...and Josh sent me his in early 2000...[more]
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| Lola |
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...and Roger sent me the story on Lola in mid 2000...[more]
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| Graham Johnson's GT6 |
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...and Graham sent me his in early 2001.[more]
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- [back to new format] -
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| Triumph GT6 Ezine |
Jonathan Crossley's GT6 |
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Author: Jonathan Crossley Editor: Todd Wilson
You were probably thinking that my GT6 must almost be finished? No such luck I'm afraid. I was interested to read over one of the emails that I sent you back in August '99 and that I'd indicated the body would be coming off the chassis in about a week or so! Needless to say the body is still on the chassis!
So what on earth have I been doing? I've attached some pictures of progress so far...
The filenames of the pictures explain basically the stages of rebuild. Basically, NSR Wing removed, NSR Inner wing repaired, NS outer sill and sill strengthener removed, NS sill strengthener replaced, NS 'A' post patched, NS inner sill patched, NSR wing (genuine) spot welded on. I decided to buy one of those hand held spot-welders (you should be able to see it in some of the pictures) just for restoring the GT6. It cost approx. £230 and has been worth it's weight in gold - I can't recommend these highly enough for restoring these cars. There are PRO's and CON's though:
PRO's
Very fast welding
Only NEED to wear goggles (gauntlets may be a good idea too)
No welding distortion
No grinding/finishing of weld after welding
Authentic finish
CON's
All surfaces have to be clean, free from rust and paint
Not all areas accessible (I've had to buy additional 'jaws') - still a need for plug welds in places
Panels must have original flange
Bloody heavy in use!
Anyway, back to the restoration - that's about as far as it got. All work stopped whilst a new (triple berth) garage was built during the winter. I was getting fed up of pushing the GT6 inside when the great British weather decided to give the plants a drink and didn't want to risk the new panels rusting. The garage is at last finished, and the GT6 should be taking up it's new home this weekend and I should be able to work on it whatever the weather!
The first job will be body off and turned upside down. I've braced the inside/door opening with angle iron as both floor pans are being replaced (2 years outside with screens out and a holed cover had not been too kind on the floorpans). I'm just hoping I don't get any distortion as the NS outer sill is off (the OS one is a little rusty but relatively strong). I've decided to replace the NS inner sill even though I had patched it!
Hope the photos look OK, they've been grabbed from video footage
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Do you have a GT6, Spitfire or Hybrid? Send me some photos and a little blurb on the car and I'll put it up here.
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