Costs

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The first thing I did was to start a spreadsheet with every invoice and part listed, with a column of which area of the car was the money spent on. Below is a bar graph from the spreadsheet giving each area in order of magnitude.

Having a budget, not unlike TV's 'Grand Designs' means that the budget is likely to be blown! First, when fixing a budget, you need an intimate knowledge of the prices of items, the items one anticipates are necessary, and any labour involved. Then a decision needs to be made as to whether to 'leave as' or refurbish/renew. In my case the only item I was definitely leaving was the engine, which I had rebuilt many years previously to a reasonable standard. Since then it has done nearly 25,000 miles, and still sounds good, with good oil pressure. However I have refurbished the cooling system (see below).

The first mistake I made, was underestimating how much needed to be spent on the bodywork. I had built up a collection over the years of panels, some purchased at a fraction of the cost of modern equivalents (e.g. a pair of Stanpart rear wings bought at £60 each, new 'Heritage' now £231 each from James Paddocks). EBay is also a good source of parts, I obtained a genuine Stanpart rear inner wheel arch with shock absorber mounting for £100. However when the car was at the bodyshop, and they stripped it down it was found that in order to do the job properly they needed a further £560 worth of panels, which I could not refuse as I wanted them to do the best job possible.

As the car has been re-assembled since it's respray, I have started replacing parts which were not faulty per se, but cosmetically poor as I want it to look good, not only outside, but under the bonnet, not forgetting the interior which I have not even started as I write! To be honest, the budget has been blown in any case, and I am in the enviable position where money is available, although not limitless! For example the pipe brazed to the radiator filler was very badly corroded, and in fact broke off when I tried to clean it up. I could have had another brazed on, but as GT6s can overheat, I decided to replace the whole radiator. I always fancied an aluminium one but I couldn't justify the £500+ cost, so settled for a rebuilt one, albeit with a better specification than standard. While this was off, I also ordered a new aluminium impellor housing, an item I always intended to fit at some stage as it would save some weight, but also because I thought the thermostat housing bolts were seized (I had already bought one in good condition from eBay). Another part I wanted to replace was the fan, a couple of years ago a wire got caught in it, since when it has wobbled. While doing all this I took off the alternator, which worked, but was filthy and only around 35 Amp Hour. A reconditioned exchange one turned out to be 60 Amp Hours, and about £60, so seemed a worthwhile improvement! Also the Hillman Imp fanbelt was getting frayed, and was only a stopgap replacement fitted when the engine was installed in 1980. Bespoke fanbelts are now easy to buy online (the Imp one was a bit too short and difficult to replace). In the end the following items were purchased:-

Cooling System
Item Supplier

Cost

Radiator

Triumph-Recycler £245
Alloy impellor housing Chris Witor £97
Water pump Chris Witor £35
Thermostat Leacy Classics £11
Fan belt (1150mm) Bearing King £6
Thermostat housing eBay £8
Radiator fan Traditional Old Motor Spares £50
Fan fitting kit ANG Classic Car Parts £12
TOTAL   £464