Scott Janzen's 1968 Triumph GT6 Race Car
Owner: Scott JanzenCity: Wyndmoor Pennsylvania
Model: 1968 Triumph GT6
Engine: Triumph 2.0L inline six
Restored and race prepared by: Randy Lamp / Scott Janzen¹
Scott Janzen's Triumph GT6
This racecar's SCCA logbooks go back to June 10, 1972. At that time the car was owned by
Tom Hall who lived and raced in the Pacific Northwest region. Hall raced the GT6 at Portland
International Raceway, at Laguna Seca in an SCCA national race on June 23, 1972, and at
other locations and events.
Bill Davis bought the Triumph GT6 and brought it to the East coast. Starting in March 1973,
Davis raced the car at Virginia International Raceway, Road Atlanta, Summit Point, and Charlotte.
Davis then loaned the GT6 to W. David Bailey. Bailey's first race was September 10, 1976 at
Nelson Ledges, followed by a race the following weekend at Summit Point. He continued
with it for several more races.
In July 1978 the car was sold to Jim Clipper who ran an SCCA regional in October of that
year. Clipper continued to enter SCCA regionals through September 1981, particularly racing
at Summit Point and Watkins Glen. He reportedly barrel-rolled the GT6 coming out of turn three
during his last regional at Summit Point. He was seen that night drinking heavily with
the driver of a Sprite whose hood he barely cleared in executing the barrel roll. The
car's racing history, if any, is fuzzy from the end of 1981 through 1995.
Randy Lamp acquired the GT6 and restored it in the mid 1990's. The body remains in
substantially unchanged condition now. It still sports the same paint job Randy applied
before selling the car to John Lehman.
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John Lehman enjoyed vintage racing the GT6 for three seasons, from 1997 through 1999.
Unfortunately, John died of a heart attack at a relatively young age.
Drew Brown of Connecticut bought the GT6 from the Lehman estate in 2002, reportedly ran it
once, and then sold it to Barry Young of Pennsylvania. Barry never drove it, decided he had
too many projects, and sold it to Scott Janzen in September 2003. Scott has enjoyed updating
and race prepping the GT6 to keep it safe, reliable, and fun for vintage racecar.
We met Scott and viewed his handsome Triumph GT6 at Summit Point Motorsports Park, where
he was participating in Vintage Racer Group's "Turkey Bowl 2009". We noted that the GT6
was running great, and that its well-tuned six cylinder engine makes a particularly glorious
sound.
Features and Specifications
| Engine: | Stock block GT6 engine (1998cc), bored 0.010" over.
Balanced and nitrided crankshaft.
Carrillo rods.
Venolia pistons.
ARP fasteners.
Cylinder head ported by Jack Drews.
Custom grind cam (Wishbone Classics).
220# valvesprings.
Stock valves.
Flat lifters.
Tubular pushrods.
Adjustable timing gear.
Ford 6-cylinder vibration damper adapted to front of crankshaft.
Cogged belt drive for (stock Triumph) water pump and alternator.
Stock Triumph oil pump.
External oil plumbing to all internal bearings (crank and camshaft).
Remote Canton oil filter.
Accusump.
Triumphtune intake manifolds.
Triple Weber 40DCOE carbs.
K&N air filters.
Mallory dual point distributor.
Magnecor Electrosports 80 spark plug wires.
Bosch "blue" ignition coil. |
| Cooling: | custom aluminum crossflow radiator.
Electric fan.
Corvette (Harrison) header tank.
185 degree thermostat.
Stock water pump.
Oil cooler. |
| Exhaust: | custom 6-2-1 header (Jet-Hot coated) into 2.5" exhaust.
Dynaflo muffler. |
| Transmission: | stock Triumph 4-speed transmission, rebuilt by Quantum Mechanics with TR7 gears, upgraded bushings, etc.²
Redline oil.
Aluminum flywheel.
Stock clutch.
Stock hydraulic clutch actuation.
Stock propshaft (balanced). |
| Rear End: | stock 3.89:1 differential, welded/locked and mounted on aluminum spacers to the frame.
Custom Spicer halfshafts with full inner and outer u-joints (no Roto-flex donuts).
Modified uprights (as shown below). |
| Front Susp.: | stock A-arms and uprights.
ChromeMoly stub axles.
Carrera coilover shock absorbers (single adjustable).
Eibach 550# springs.
Delrin bushings throughout.
Stock rack and pinion.
Front anti-roll bar with rod ends. |
| Rear Susp.: | stock configuration with transverse leaf spring, etc.
Spax adjustable shock absorbers, mounted on relocated mounts.
Inner rubber A-arm mounts replaced with a Heim joints.
Trailing link rubber bushings replaced with Heim joints.
Rod bearings installed in leafspring eyes.
Lowered with a spacer block between leafspring and differential.
Adjustable anti-roll bar. |
| Brakes: | (master) dual Girling master cylinders with Tilton bias bar, on custom bracket. (front) stock calipers, with stainless steel pistons. Stock rotors. Hawk HT10 pads. (rear) stock drum brakes. Porterfield shoes. |
| Wheels/Tires: | Cosmic Mk2 aluminum wheels (13x6, 4x3.75) with Toyo Proxes R888 tires (205/60R13). |
| Electrical: | Nippondenso alternator.
Lead/acid battery mounted in a marine battery box. |
| Instruments: | (left to right)
Smiths tachometer (0-7000rpm),
voltmeter (8-17 volts),
Stewart Warner oil pressure (0-100psi),
Stewart Warner water temperature (100-265F),
Stewart Warner fuel pressure (0-10psi).
(Note: a Zeitronix ZT-2 wideband air/fuel ratio datalogging system is also installed, but read remotely.)
|
| Fuel System: | Fuel Safe fuel cell.
Facet electronic fuel pump.
Fram racing fuel filter.
Holley fuel pressure regulator. |
| Safety Eqmt: | roll cage with driver's-side door bars, under-dash hoop, and extensions to front suspension.
Kirkey aluminum racing seat.
Pyrotech safety harness.
Quick release steering wheel hub.
SPA Design AFFF (Aqueous Film Forming Foam) centralized fire suppression system. |
| Weight: | approximately 1750#. |
| Racing Class: | under two-liter vintage. |
Engine Installation
Stock block GT6 engine (1998cc), bored 0.010" over.
Mallory dual point distributor, Magnecor Electrosports 80 spark plug wires, and Bosch "blue" ignition coil.
Dual Girling master cylinders with Tilton bias bar, on custom bracket.
External oil plumbing lines to all internal bearings (both crank and camshaft) in the engine block.
Canton Racing Products "CM Filters" CM-45 remote mounted canister oil filter.
Nippondenso alternator.
This new custom aluminum crossflow radiator was made to the same dimensions as the Chevrolet Corvette
radiator that was in the car when Scott acquired it.
Electric cooling fan.
Harrison (Corvette style) coolant header tank.
Coolant overflow tank.
Triple Weber 40DCOE carbs with K&N air filters, mounted on Triumphtune intake manifolds. Scott explains:
"The car had two 1-3/4" SUs when I acquired it, but I couldn't get them to deliver enough fuel without flooding."
Close-up view of one of the three Weber 40DCOE 151 carburetors.
Holley fuel pressure regulator. (Underneath it is a nozzle for the fire suppression system.)
Front Suspension
Carrera coilover shock absorbers with adjustable rebound valves. Eibach 550# springs.
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Rear Suspension
Heim joints ("rod ends") on the trailing links eliminate compliance and provide precision length adjustment.
Inner A-arm connections have also been converted from rubber bushes to beefy Heim joints.
The rear upright castings were modified by a prior owner to accept larger bearings and stronger Chevy Corvair
stub axles. Stub axle flanges have been turned and drilled for the Triumph bolt pattern. Original halfshafts
with Rotoflex donuts have been upgraded to heavy duty units with Spicer U-joints and splined couplings.
Adjustable rear anti-sway bar, and "Dynaflo muffler at rear 'cuz the driver is loosing his hearing!"
Interior
The rollcage includes driver-side door bars, an under-dash hoop, and extensions to the front suspension.
(Note also the removeable transmission cover, which is a typical Triumph design feature.)
Kirkey aluminum racing seat.
Pyrotech safety harness.
Roll cage construction details.
Note the SPA Design AFFF (Aqueous Film Forming Foam) centralized fire suppression system.
Footbox and pedal details.
More roll cage construction details... and lead/acid battery mounted in a marine battery box.
Fuel Safe fuel cell.
Facet electronic fuel pump. Fram racing fuel filter.
Exterior
Giovanni Michelotti was hired in 1963 to style the Triumph GT6 model, which was produced from 1966
through 1973. He had previously styled the Triumph Spitfire model (1962-1980) that it's based on.
Although all Spitfires had four cylinder engines, a four cylinder GT variant was never produced.
Michelotti's initial ("M") is cast into the chromed bonnet latches.
Emergency kill switch.
Founded in 1620, Wirsbo was a Swedish company that manufactured radiant heating systems.
They're now a "global company" - and (regretably) they changed their name to "Uponor" in 2006.
Triumph GT6 rear badges.
Cosmic Mk2 aluminum wheels (13x6, 4x3.75) with Toyo Proxes R888 tires (205/60R13).
These classic Cosmic wheels are similar to wheels offered by Lotus on the Europa model.
| Notes: | |||||||
| (1) |
Scott wrote: In it's current configuration, it was substantially restored by Randy Lamp of Ohio in the mid-1990s.
I have completed a complete mechanical restoration over the past five years, but it seems never-ending!
| ||||||
| (2) |
Scott wrote: I still managed to strip the teeth off the input gear on a launch two years ago.
| ||||||
All photos shown here are from November 2009 when we viewed the car at the VRG's Turkey Bowl
at Summit Point Motorsports Park, West Virginia. Photos by Curtis Jacobson for BritishRaceCar.com,
copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
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