1969 Triumph Vitesse Mk2 Convertible

[xgenerator]

Well here goes nothing!
I have owned my Triumph Vitesse for well over 10 years. When I first bought it I drove it until my heels were sore. I also owned a 69 Lotus Elan +2s at the time but that was left at home much preferring the Triumph's relaxed driving style to the stab and steer of the Elan.





My Vitesse was unfortunatly rotten from the bottom to 3 inches above. I had no garage at the time so it was taken to bits with the hope of restoring it. I had the misfortune of been married at the time and living in Manchester. No break in the rain ever came and the vitesse detioriated further. The body tub was beyond repair!! I obtained another tub from Triumph Nuts and got rid of the wife!

Two years later I have moved to the North East and have now got a garage to restore my baby! I intend to make her a car that I wan't to keep for life. In view of this I intend to update the Vitesse for this intention. I would like to replace the 6 lump with a Zetec and throttle bodies. The rear end will need to undertake surgery - this will hopefully involve a Sierra rear diff and wishbones. I have not decided wether to use coil over or go for inboard placing the coilovers over the diff. This will come at a later date as first I have to do something about the rot in the tub!


Rot cut out of the boot side and repair made to the stiffner plate- 5 different pieces in here - the white is Hilt Amber etch weld primer.


Repair section made up but not yet cut out.

The rest of the rot underside:








Enjoy.

[xgenerator]

I live in Sunniside near Crook, County Durham. It would be good to meet other people doing restorations/ mods on older cars, maybe a bit of mutual assistance and encouragment. I have only recently moved to the area.

Regards Mark

[mdh]

Why go Zetec? Tune the 6 pot! :-)

[xgenerator]

I could but it works out cheaper to put in the zetec. The zetec would be more reliable hopefully too!

[xgenerator]

I would really like my Vitesse to look like this but with wire wheels:



Sorry, for nicking the picture but it looks so good!

[xgenerator]

I'm a bit upset that I won't be able to do any work for 24 hours as I have just had an epidural for back pain .

I will get back on it(excuse the pun) as soon as possible - can't waste the Christmas holidays.

[Em]

Looks like you've got all the usual Triumph rust spots going on there!

Looks great in the top two pictures though, good luck with the work! Your plans sound interesting, look forward to watching this come together!

[xgenerator]

Thanks,
I am hoping to do something inbetween Jango's rear end and the one of the Locost USA website.

Jango website article:
www.sideways-technologies.co.uk/forum/Blah.pl?m-1246574930/s-30/


Ready to fit on a Triumph(Jango)


I really like the idea of been able to ubolt the suspension units and sliding them out all in one piece. Really worth reading this guys build as his work is something else:

www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=2142&start=45

It's going to be a long build though!

[jizzy gillespie]

great to meet you today mate, herald sounds interesting and should be a hoot when its done. pop into the shop anytime for a chinwag, I'm only not there mondays(my only day to work on my doka, and maybe the saab if its lucky ;D).

jack from defty,s

[xgenerator]

It was good to meet you as well Jack.

I had planned to go into the garage today but my adventure was cut short by an electricity cable brought down by the ice. Will get in tomorrow and get some more welding done!

[mdh]

Jango's rear end looks pretty neat, but I don't like that you have to chop the main rails.

With the ever more fascist rules governing car mods, I can see problems with that.

[xgenerator]

Yes, that's one of my concerns. I would really like to keep my plate but also do the mods. I wonder if there is any advantage to do one mod at a time - never experienced or even know the rules to be honest. I could mod the chassis and put the six pot back in to begin with. Any suggestions?

[mdh]

As soon as you mod the chassis you're into IVA territory.

If youve got an engine/box/diff swap too, I don't think you'll have enough points to keep your plate or your tax exemption.

Aceadvice is the guy who'll know for sure.

I plan to build a twinwishbone rear end for my vitesse, but not by chopping the chassis. one day.

[xgenerator]

You may find this of interest. Adds to the chassis without really chopping it!

www.triumphgt6.blogspot.com/

[mdh]

I really don't like his rear suspension design!

And what he's done takes him into IVA for sure, and loses him his plate.

I can never figure why people want to dump the six pot. Its the best bit of the car!

[xgenerator]

Reliability, weight and quite low powered for such a lump. The amount needing to be spent on tuning to achieve a decent bhp/weight ratio in comparison to using modern technology would be quite exhaustive on my budget.

Will keep all the parts though so it could be set back to original. Including the six pot . I have a spare chassis too.

[mdh]

Reliability? Never managed to break one in years of abuse!

Weight? Yes they are lardy.

Power? A 2litre will make 150bhp quite easily/cheaply

As a bonus you get a gorgeous sounding engine, rather that a farty ford four pot.

[xgenerator]

Must admit my main issue with the Vitesse is that terrible rear end. Truimph were half way there to having a fully independent coil over shock front and rear end aka Lotus Elan, why didn't they go that further mile to achieve this beats me. That rear spring is the arch-enemy of all Triumphs.

[mdh]

Yup, the rear end and the gear box are my two dislikes.

I plan to tackle the box as soon as the cars back on the road. A Toyota W58 box looks like the best option at the moment.

The rear end is a difficult problem. I want a stonger, higer ratio, limited slip diff but the Vitesse diff is tiny compared to BMW's and Fords.

[vitesseefi]

The mk2 rear end is not that bad - especially once you get rid of the horrible rotoflexes. The diff is a bit feeble but adequate for a 2L, even a tuned one. Bit marginal for 2.5 but can still live if you don't drag race too often. 3.63:1 and 3.27:1 ratios are available. The Datsun/Nissan/Subaru R160 can be swapped in without hacking the chassis and can even be lsd if you choose the right Subaru donor.

the tall 5th gear in a W58 box and 3.63 diff gives 70mph cruise at 3000 rpm - perfect for 2L. 3rd gear is good for 90.... (as tested at the 'ring officer)

Replacing the 6 with a rattly old Ford 4 would be wrong..... Even an internally standard Mk2 2L will manage about 120hp with the right plumbing.

Mine can be seen at www.triumphowners.com/registry.cgi?section=triumph&vehicleID=574&i=7

Ought to write it up on here....

Nick