Made a few parts today and saved a few quid in the process....good result.

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Fabricated the two replacement front outriggers for the chassis out of 2mm mild steel plate, will remove the old ones to weld these in to place for the Ribble sub frame to mount into. Also made two front brake pipe stainless steel brackets that hold the copper brake pipe on to the flexi pipe. Original bracket on the left to compare, you may notice the original is slotted, i didn't slot the hole as Triumph did this i think as a tolerance measure for assembly, i measured the hole centers on the front uprights to make sure i only needed to drill a hole, better to be right first time.


Attachment 1136

Parcel arrived from Rimmer Bros for the rocker shaft re-build kit which hopefully i will get to rebuild at the weekend as work commitments prevail, can't speak highly enough for the superb service Rimmer Bros have provided, order placed online one day and delivered the next and i got to save 15% with a discount code, happy days.

Well that's it for now and i hope to have the type 9 gearbox soon so i can tick another job off the ever growing list, when will the list end ummm.

Not a great deal done today, made a carburetor heat shield from 1mm stainless plate, also done a little research into fitting the GT6 engine into the chassis which had a 1300 engine, it looks like i have to move the engine mounts in by 15mm per side other wise the engine sits too low in the chassis so another fabrication job on the list.

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Will make adjustments for the throttle cable linkage once fitted to the engine, most likely involve cutting away a section in the middle for clearance.

Good night for now and see you all soon.

Swifty - You are right, the new Navigator body shell is in a different league to the old Cordite one.

Based on how quickly you are fabricating things (and to a high standard) I can see you being on the road before I am!!

Good luck, Paul. :)

I don't know about being on the road before you Paul as my list just keeps on growing, buy hey it's enjoyable and that's all that counts.

Had a few spare minutes today so decided to make a new handle for the hand brake as well as some ally pads for the pedals.

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Handle machined from stock 30mm aluminum bar, not sure if i will leave the handle frame on show or cover with a leather shroud so machined a 5mm groove into the handle base. New stainless steel pivot pin made and fitted also fitted the red release button also have a black button in case i prefer.


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Pedal pads machined out of 3mm ally plate, used a chamfer tool to create the v grooves. Will have to come up with an idea to profile the plate to match the pedal curve as the plate is flat.

Tomorrow i hope to have the rocker shaft re assembled with the head fitted and may be the rotten out riggers removed. That's it for now as its time to go out for a few beers with the lads.

Wow impressed with the machining skills mate!!

How do you start? Do you have to draw it up and make note of measurements?

Thanks, after many years in engineering i can now use the skills for my own pleasure.

Hi Garyh Yes i start by looking at the part or parts that the new machined component will fix too then base the new part around those measurements, sometimes if its a simple job i will make and measure as i go along using my eye for judgment as i did with the hand brake ally handle.

The one time i do make a cad drawing is where the shape is less simple with PCD's etc, for example when i eventually make the adapter plate for the type 9 gearbox to attach to a GT6 bell housing i will measure accurately with no wastage as the cad drawing gives me information at the click of a mouse that would require various calculations done long hand using trig, the beauty of modern technology.

The cylinder head is now re-assembled and back on the engine so one more step closer.

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Rocker shaft parts laid out pre assembly to check the layout and then the Rocker shaft assembled ready to fit to the cylinder head, the rockers are handed left and right and there are spacer washers which have to be added to the shaft in the correct sequence, all in all a simple task.

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Valves in head with new springs ready to fit. The next image shows the valve spring compressing tool used to compress each valve spring so the retaining collect can be fitted.

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Another image of the valve compressing tool showing the point where the spring top seat and collect go onto the top of the valve stem. If you look at the valve on the right you can just make out the split taper collect that stops the valve popping off the valve stem, the compressed valve has the split Collete's fitted prior to releasing the tool.

More images of the cylinder head overhaul.

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These images show the difference between the inlet and outlet valve fittings, the left hand image has two components to the Collette retainer whilst the right hand image shows only one component.

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This images shows the hardened exhaust inlet valve seat, you can just make out the different colour metal ring. The next image shows the valve after the valve seat was lapped in, you need to see a gray colour band all the way around the valve taper seat.


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All the valves are now fitted to the cylinder head, valve stems and guide bores etc were lubed with engine oil prior to assembly, also the rocker shaft oil feed galley in the cylinder head was checked with compressed air to make sure its clear.

This section shows the wear on the old rocker shaft.

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The new rocker shaft at the top has deeper flats machined, i think this may be an improvement to help in lubing each rocker as they pivot on the shaft at this point. I have laid the old shaft next to the new so you can compare between old and new.

Attachment 1160

You can see the extreme wear on the rocker shaft where one of the rockers rotated, it looks like the shaft has been starved of oil at some point, just about all the rockers had picked up the same as this one, poor maintenance by a previous owner, so let this be a warning to regular checking and changing the engine oil.

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This shows the point where the rocker comes into contact with the valve stem (the point you put the feeler gauge in to adjust the gap, this images shows the rocker arm upside down), the valve stem has worn an indentation into the rocker toe. The second image shows what a new rocker looks like, no wear at all. Apparently this wear affects the angle at which the valve opens so effecting the performance of the engine.

Attachment 1163

The cylinder head fitted and torqued down, valve timing is checked to make sure its correct i did set the cam shaft up with a dial gauge on no 1 piston prior to fitting the cylinder head, then each valve gap is set to the correct tolerance. Made three new rocker box studs out of my favorite material, stainless steel.

Job done and the engine is beginning to come together, the real test will be when i start her up so fingers crossed all will be ok.

That's looking really good. Keep going!

Swifty, its so helpful to have the detailed descriptions. I will use these as ref. in my build.

Not a problem Garyh, if you ever need any advice drop me a line and if i can help i will.

Swifty - Your engine looks good from the outside & the inside!

Good luck, Paul. :)

Not a great deal done today, started to manufacture a bespoke coil cover, hopefully i will have it finished tomorrow, will then post some pictures.


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Made a couple of engine lifting brackets out of 3mm stainless and a stainless water pipe as the original steel pipe was rotten.

Cleared the garage out ready to wheel the chassis in to start stripping it down before i send it off to mates to be shot blasted and etch primed, was thinking of having the chassis galvanized but may just coat with a quality chassis paint and wax oil the internal parts.

Well that's it for now not much to talk about today see you soon.

Finally finished the ally coil cover so posted a few images, bored out from 80mm bar to suit the coil, made a ring cover to finish the open end when coil fitted. Hex machined with dividing head along with the end vent pattern.

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Also machined the fly wheel face which has some hard spots circled in red, could be poor material or work hardening you can just make them out in the photo, any way when i clocked the surface the hard spots were .02mm high which is ok.

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Nice work and glad to see the words Navigator on the coil cover and not the name of another ermmmm manufacturer!

Swifty - Your car is going to be full of really nice touches at this rate. :cool:

Good luck, Paul. :)