Saturday, May 21, 2011

GT6 body repair progress

Good news, Joe is making progress on the GT6 body tub, working through a long list of RHD alterations, rust repairs and old accident damage. He's fixed the creases in the roof which were probably made by someone's backside, and pulled out all the small dents in the rear wings and rear valence. A skim of filler and they'll be ready to paint.

The bulkhead has taken a fair amount of work. Firstly he's spot-welded in the battery box, and temporarily fitted the pedal shelf with self-tapping screws.

Battery box

The most impressive bit of work is where he's moved the recess for the long tandem master brake cylinder from the left hand side to the right. Tandem brakes are a US-spec feature I wanted to keep, but the cylinder's a lot longer than the more common single circuit variety. Job done, and brilliantly executed.

Where the recess used to be

And where it is now

The bulkhead braces haven't been fitted yet, and I found that the position of the new brake cylinder recess means that I'll have to relocate the inboard brace to the left of the clutch cylinder. Doesn't matter, it'll still look stock, and Triumph nutters are far too polite to comment ;-)

The floor patches have also been fitted with self-tappers. I think Joe is planning to overlap the join for added strength, a good thing as the seat will be bolted to the pan here.

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Wolfang Peak

Monday was a James May kind of day: jump in a classic car, roar out to the airfield and putter around for an hour in an old plane. I can't think of a better way to enjoy a public holiday, and the Herald seemed to enjoy the trip as well. At least, nothing fell off...

Trips around rural Queensland always take a while - the round trip to Clermont, the next town, is 152 miles. 152 very bumpy miles, as the road is potholed and rutted by 70-tonne road trains. The flight was much smoother, which is a blessing as the thermals can throw a Cessna around like a paper plate (it weighs less than the Herald).

I stopped on the way back at Wolfang Peak, a volcanic plug left over as part of the Peak Range. Apparently there's a walking track up it!