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Considering Purchase! Advice Please

R2daICKY

Freshman Member
Offline
Hey all,

I am a new member so hopefully this is being posted in the right place. I have always been a fan of these little cars and I have finally found one that a *think* might be worth buying in my area. It is a 1968 Triumph GT6+, and, like and like any 43 year old car, it has its issues. From what I can see:

The good:
1. Runs and drives (dry-rotted tired so I can't confirm the drives part, but it shifts into gear nicely)

2. Solid body (very, very limited rust, the only place that failed the magnet test was the doors, which the owner was up front about)

So this seems like a good start!

The bad:
1. The interior. It is shot, and will need to be completely gutted along with the wiring. I am no stranger to an engine but I have not had to rewire a car before

2. Front bonnet alignment: looks like this car was "tapped" on the front passenger side, and the bonnet has somewhat of a gap where it lines up with the passenger door

3. Other odds and ends are missing/junk and will need replacement.

I have attached a youtube video of the car provided by the owner. Feel free to take a look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z22x0rrgFTg

I have talked the seller down to ~$2500 from $4000, but he doesn't seem willing to go any further. So my question is this: given the condition of the car, is it a good candidate for a freshening up? Am I insane for considering this price? I am mostly concerned with driving it, I'm not planning to bring this to concourse level.
 
Thanks Andrew! If I could convince him to $2000 I think it would be a pretty good deal. The car, mechanically, appears sound. There are no leaks from the engine, transmission, differential, etc. I just wish I could drive it to check the clutch and the diff for rattles.

The body is solid (frame and floor pans are perfect, as is firewall and rocker panels, no sign of welding here). However, there is some "bubbling" in the paint starting to show through on the sheet metal in front of the driver side door. The car was definitely rust repaired and repainted in the past, which I need to take into consideration. Who knows what lurks beneath the shiny paint...
 
By no means am I an expert but hear is what I noticed.
It looks like some body mods were done to it. Its missing the rear vents behind the rear quarter windows, that was an feature of the GT6+ to help cool it down in the cockpit. Furflex seals for the rear quarter windows $85.00. I just purchased a new molded carpet kit, headliner, and bottom seat straps for my GT6+ and spent just over $800.00. There are cheaper carpet kits out there for under $300. Seat foam looks iffy, if you sculpt it yourself its not too bad, but I'm shocked what seat foam sells for. Interior panels kits at TRF on sale now are $300.00. Its missing the center arm rest and dash support. The wheels aren't stock but nice! Its the bits and bobs that quickly add up.
I would agree with Andrew $2000 or maybe a little lower still, would be better. I can see you dropping another $2000 to $3000 in it, depending how nice you want it.
Ultimately, you need to decide.
 
Well, I'm still at work and still can't see the video. But with Rob's comments, I'm now wondering what the car is. If it's truly a '68, it's NOT a 6+, and that would explain the lack of vents behind the quarter windows.

What's the bumper setup in front, and what front side/flasher lamp(s) does it have?

(Darn my worksite's filters! :D)
 
Rob, take extra time to REALLY inspect the frame. Lift the bonnet and check how many shims are in the front suspension: if one side is shimmed significantly more than the other, it may be a bent frame.

A bent frame is a game stopper, and can be very difficult and expensive to repair. These cars were generally run pretty hard (it IS a sexy sports car, after all! :yesnod:), and as a result, many have collision damage.

Check the frame, get the car up in the air and really check it. Use lots of lighting, look closely for bad repairs, rust, etc.

Sorry if I seem like an alarmist, but I've been there before, had to repair the frame on an otherwise very nice GT6.

Not fun. :cryin:

Good luck, let us know.
 
I would get the engine and vin number. It looks like a gt6+ from the dash but it should have the rear vents. You may be looking at a car that has some other changes to it. I see the front bumper is gone and some after market overrides are there.

Everything says 69 or 70 gt6+ but the missing vents in the rear throw me. Also the turn signals and stuff are a gt6+.

Is this a rotoflex rear end? Does it have the rubber donuts on the drive shafts?

It isn't uncommon for these cars to be bits and pieces of several cars.

To get the interior back up to snuff I would guess you will spend about 2 grand, and then to pick up the other bits and pieces you will spend another grand.

The hood is a +, the dash is a + the seat covers are a +, the lighting is a +.

To some the gt6+ is the more desired car but to others it isn't. It just looks like some major body work was done as some point or someone took a top off a mk1 gt6 and put it on this GT6+.

As for price I say if you feel it is fare and are happy with it then go for it. It was me I would say more like 2 grand.
 
Thanks, all, for the responses! The car has clearly been repainted at some point which makes me very nervous regarding what might lie under the paint. I will probably be heading up this weekend to take another look at it, with more time spent with magnets and jacks. Last time the owner was on a bit of a short timeframe.

I did notice that certain things seem "out of place" for a GT6+, particularly the rear louvers you all mentioned. I will absolutely pull all the serial numbers and see what I can dig up. I will also check for shims in the suspension. The owner mentions in the video that the car "wasn't hit hard" and in person he mentioned that a mechanic told him it was a matter or realigning the hood hinges (doubtful, but who knows). What this, along with the wonky rear bumper and missing tail light, suggests is that the car may have been "tapped" at least once. It does have the (dry-rotted) rotoflex rear-end though.

I actually priced out most of the repairs I can readily see (replacement interior, rewiring, new rubber in the engine bay and suspension, fluids, brakes, new interior etc. and the total cost came to around $5000, on top of the price of the car. Frankly, if it runs and drives and I can have a little fun on nice days while I am fixing it up, I don't mind. Like I said, this car will not be "concourse level" when I'm done with it, so perfect matching parts aren't a necessity. But I also don't want to end up buying an Albatross.

Another question: Is the dash currently in the car correct for any year model GT6? The other exmaples I have seen, the dash tapers up on the passenger side.
 
And one more: I just talked to the owner who had the gap between the hood and the passenger side door looked at. He said it actually looks like the passenger side door might need to come forward. My guess is, with the missing tail light and tweaked rear bumper, maybe it got rear-ended. Is there anything I can look for (like suspension shims) in the rear of the car that would indicate a bent frame?
 
Well, I've now watched the YouTube video: 10:04 of my life I'll never get back. My personal opinion: RUN. RUN FAST AND FAR...AWAY from this car. What I can see scares me enough that I don't want to know about what I can't see.

It's basically a '70, or at least carries a significant number of '70 details. I like '70 GT6+ cars...and honestly, that about the nicest thing I can say about this one. Sorry!
 
Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the brutally honest response. I am both a skeptic and a dreamer at the same time, so while I want this car, I'm sort of on the same page as you...That's why I'm asking second (and third, and fourth) opinions.

I know it ain't pretty and I certainly don't want to bite off more than I can chew...That said, care to elaborate? Aside from the obvious clusterf*** that is the wiring and the interior, what else is alarming? Mechanically it appears to be "all there" and the body/frame seem to be solid from a rust standpoint.

Would be good to know if there is something that you're seeing, that I'm not seeing. What are the major deal-breakers in your book?
 
Ok, briefly...the potential for various hidden disasters in and around the body is a big turnoff. The video is just good enough to show bubbling paint/filler, seams filled that shouldn't be, shapes and contours that don't look as they should, the "custom" rear lamp treatment, the missing louvers (kinda wondering if a "Mk1" rear body or parts thereof have been grafted on) and that hideous bonnet alignment with the cowl/bulkhead area. The whole dash area, including the wiring, is beyond scary.

Bottom line: one way or another, the car seems to have been "redone" (and I use that term very loosely) once or twice already, likely by someone who had a bit of imagination and the barest of skills but no Triumph expertise and no attention to a workshop manual or anything that might have guided him/her to repair rather than trash and try-to-replace/recreate techniques.

I've seen too many cars like this over the years...and I've always run from them (the one exception being one of my Herald convertibles, but that's only because it was originally a: in a fairly rare color and b: one of the earliest produced...and c: ridiculously cheap at the time)!
 
When I get that nervous feeling in my gut about a car that I'm that unsure of and the great advice you got here. What's that line in that great movie. Run Forest run!!!
 
Andrew is giving good advice to you. This car is a mess just kind of propped up to look good. I've bought a lot of cars over the years and this is one to stay away from, its too messed with. Look at the car again and try and see what we see from the video. Panel fit is the most important first indicator of a good or bad car. If its easy to fix , it would have been fixed. Good Luck !
 
I hate to discourage too, but at least be very wary about rust, if you look at where he says the door handle isn't staying on it looks like rust bubbles around the edges of the opening, if it is up there I would be very worried about the parts down lower on the car, and although it is hard to tell, the paint looks 'Thick' to me, the creases and edges don't look sharp, which says multiple layers of paint or worse underneath.

Interiors are very expensive to redo as others have noted, looks like the car has been mucked about with quite a bit.

I don't know what you should pay for it, but I am thinking you'd be money ahead waiting for something better.
 
I watched the video again, the owner said it was a five speed, GT6s were 4speed with optional overdrive (switched) I'd be curious as to the transmission. Perhaps thats the reason for the funky trans tunnel? As hard as he was selling the car, you think he'd say something about the 5 speed conversion... if it had one.
My grandfather used to say about cars " good deals are like busses, another one will come along". Buy with your head... not your heart.
I really don't mean to dog pile on you.
This one might be worth a look, not sure how far away it is from you
https://maine.craigslist.org/ctd/2660076953.html
Cheers,

Oops, just googled it 8 hrs, sorry
 
Thank you all! No need to apologize for providing your advice, it is exactly what I asked for, and this is EXACTLY the reason I asked. You all have been incredibly helpful! Sort of embarrassed that I missed the "five speed" remark though. You are all absolutely right. The more I look at it, the more it looks like two triumphs stuck together. The missing rear louvers, the 5-speed transmission, the funky tail lights, the big body gap, something just doesn't add up I've always loved these cars and I tend to see them through rose colored glasses, which is why I posted here in the first place. So thank you, all for helping me to dodge a bullet (or at least another trip to New Jersey).

Rob T - If only I lived closer to Maine! THAT is absolutely more along the lines of where I would be hoping to start (what with the intact dashboard and all). It does give me hope though, that another one might come along nearby.

I am certainly in the market, primarily for a GT6 (always been a fan of hard-top roadsters) but I will definitely keep looking as opposed to buying this one.
 
That blue car looks cool! Aren't you glad you found BCF?
 
R2daICKY said:
Rob T - If only I lived closer to Maine! THAT is absolutely more along the lines of where I would be hoping to start (what with the intact dashboard and all).
Don't get too excited about that one, either, as it appears to have some potentially very serious "issues" in the sill area. You can see an oddly shaped sill on the LH side in the Craigslist ad. Go to the web site in the ad for more pictures, including one of the car on a lift. It shows the "solid floors" to be sure, but you can plainly see on the RH side where some sheet metal appears to have been riveted in along the sill edge of the floor. Probably a minimum of inner - intermediate - outer sills and at least repair to the outer edges of both floor pans. Could be expensive.

On the good side, it does appear to be a mostly original, unmolested car otherwise, AND it supposedly has overdrive! (But I don't think that car is worth its asking price, either. I know, I'm tough, but....)
 
I came here because you guys are British car people, and I knew I would get some good advice.

Andrew, regardless of the condition of the one in Maine, it would be a bit of a hike to get up to look at it, let along get it halfway down the east coast, so I wont be looking at it either way.

But all of you have proven to be extremely helpful. It has certainly been educational, and I will know that much more next time I find one of these cars. Thank you all again!
 
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