Posts about my 1967 Triumph GT6 Mk1 sports car
After closing off so many of the projects on my list at Dave’s Place a few weeks ago, it was time to go back for the more critical issues we identified, namely replacing rubber motor mounts (probably original ones) and the rubber knuckles in the steering coupling (also probably original), both of which were very deteriorated from 55 years of use, grease, weather, etc.
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Last week, I took the Triumph up to Henderson where my new friend, Dave, has a garage. He specializes in Triumphs and is generally viewed as the specialist in central North Carolina. My goal was to have him spend a couple hours looking over the car to inspect it, identify any things that may need to be addressed, and help me build out a prioritized list of projects. I already have a running project list with about a dozen items on it, but I knew a skilled eye would likely find new ones.
I contacted Dave before we headed out for our fall vacation and was very excited when he got back to me. I already realize how important this step is in taking over the maintenance of the GT6 and understanding what needs to be done and where I should focus, especially given the difference in approach between my dad for the past 37 years (focused mostly on mechanical problems, keeping car running) and me (includes restoration, originality).
He explained to me that his customers tend to run a wide range of willingness to be involved with their own project cars — some want him to do all the work, whereas others want to learn and do as much of it as they can — we knew I was somewhere in the middle, and he said he likes to teach, so we started looking the car over together. It would be hard to explain how much I learned over the next two eight hours.
After spending some time scanning photos the last few weeks, I’ve started working on other things my Dad had that were related to the Triumph GT6. This includes a packet of 14 handwritten pages my grandfather wrote out for my dad in 1985 during the last few days of his life. He mentioned a couple of times in his notes that he was “doing this from memory,” so it’s pretty obvious he had realized at this point that he was not coming home from the hospital.
My grandfather, I believe, focused more and more on this car after my grandmother passed away in 1976. He was meticulous in how he maintained the vehicle and knew where every single part was, when he had last worked on it, and so on. His notes to my father describe every single part, what shelf to find it on, and when to install it.
If it was something that my grandfather had rebuilt, he noted the mileage when he did it and when to keep an eye out for the need to do it again. He told Dad to look under the living room couch for extra windows and in the refrigerator for rebuilt master cylinders, coated in brake fluid to preserve them. These notes are just incredible.
I have a list of things I need to do with the GT6 to make it ready and safe to drive on the road. It’s roadworthy and legal, but there are a couple of things I’d like to check off before taking it anywhere farther than the neighborhood. For example, I want to change the oil since I don’t know when my Dad last did this. And I’d like to have the brakes looked at — they seem mushy — because I feel like they should stop me faster if I put the brakes on hard.
Today, I set out to do the oil change. And I failed.
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