We entrusted Vintage Racing Services of Stratford, Conn., with the important task of restoring the engine for our Group 44 GT6+.
Detail work continues on our Group 44 Inc. Triumph GT6+ as we scramble to get it ready for Amelia Island.
The experts at Nisonger cleaned, lubricated and rebuilt the original Smiths chronometric tachometer. We will finish the dash and instruments this weekend.
To improve cooling—yet keep the car’s original appearance—we had Griffin build a perfect duplicate of an original GT6+ radiator. The difference? This unit weighs half as much as the stock piece at 8.75 lbs. Plus, it will better cool the car due to superior cooling tubes and fins—and more of them.
The original Group 44 Inc. pressurized surge tank came with our car. We have cleaned up this stainless steel tank and mounted it in the original position. The rest of our wiring and brake plumbing is also nearly complete. The engine and transmission arrive Wednesday, and we hope to have everything ready to drop the assembly right in.
We entrusted Vintage Racing Services of Stratford, Conn., with the important task of restoring the engine for our Group Inc. 44 GT6+. VRS’s main engine man, Harvey Thompson, shown in the slideshow making final adjustments before initial startup on our engine, was there when our car was new. He took a GT6+ to the SCCA Runoffs in 1974 with a Group 44 engine in it. Not only was he able to build the engine exactly the way it would have been built in 1969, but he was able to get us the identical 162 horsepower this engine configuration had when it won the ARRC in 1969.
We will feature a very interesting look at modern versus vintage engines in an upcoming issue of Classic Motorsports, as well as full details concerning how this engine was assembled. In the meantime, the slideshow contains a shot of Peter Vargosko of Valley Auto machine, Inc., balancing the crank to within one tenth of a gram. On these inline-six engines, balancing is the key to longevity.
We even shot a little video of our engine running for the first time.
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