Anyone Know Gtm's?

[ibrooks]

Hi Guys,

Anyone know anything about the older GTM's?. I'm interested in either a Coupe or Rossa (1 or 2) to replace my daily driver (and one of the Hoods). Has anyone on here had any experience of them or have one or know someone who has etc etc etc. Mechanically I know they're Mini's which suits me fine as I have two of those too so I know my way around the venerable A-series. What I'm interested in is would they make a good motorway tramper? (with a 5-speed box maybe - but if they're OK without that'd suit me just fine). Also how secure/weatherproof are the removeable tops on the Rossa's? as it would probably have to live outside.

 

Any info much appreciated. Looks, rides and drives would be even nicer.

 

Iain

[brumster]

Had a Mk.2 for quite a while and was quite active with the owners club.

 

Motorway cruiser - errm, well, this would depend on the diff with a 4 speed. A 3.44 would be fine (MG Metro) but a little tiring at high speeds, or you could go for a 3.1 which would improve things at the expense of acceleration... and these things aren't exactly rapid in the first place. 5 speed box will be rare, and expensive. Let's not beat about the bush, it's not what I would pick as a motorway slugger - nervous at speed and lacking in any serious grunt at that speed. Also had a tendency to overheat but this was only if they weren't sorted - so check it out, but don't worry as despite what anyone tells you, it is cureable!

 

Rear suspension needs to be in absolutely tip-top condition in order for the thing to handle remotely well, so look for tired bushes or worn components.

 

Soft top? Errm, mixed thoughts on that one. Mine was absolutely bloody useless, but some have had them fit absolutely fine. Leaving it permanently outside, though, I'm not so sure... YMMV. Personally I'd just stick with the removable hard top if you can live with it.

 

The crux of it - if you can push to a K3, make the effort, it will be money well spent.

[ibrooks]

Thanks for that.

 

Five speed boxes are available from Minisport at £1500 a pop - an expensive box but that's a brand new box and I'd be willing to spend the cash if it made the car useable (my insurance would save me a chunk of that - versus my Rover for the same usage is about £200 cheaper and what price a convertible versus a tin top). The motor I'm looking at is a Rossa which has an MG lump and box. Why are they nervous at speed? I would have thought they would be as good as a Mini from a handling point of view. It's also got both soft and hard tops - how quick/easy is it to remove/fit the hard-top? I'm just thinking that the soft-top would be quicker to use when out and about.

 

As for a K3 - not interested Rover K-Series nuff-said and yes that is from personal experience (also see Jim's post about them from a few weeks ago).

 

What's support like? either through the owners club or from GTM themselves?

 

Iain

[brumster]

Well, however you cut it, £1500 for a gearbox is ****ing expensive, but yes, it would improve matters. With a suitable final drive you could finally give the car a semi-decent turn of speed AND motorway usability.

 

Nervous at speed is just a nature of front-wheel drive geometry at the back of a car. In front wheel drive cars, it's called bump steer. No different here, you've just got it at the back instead of the front. Eek there are things you can do to improve it, like spherical rod ends, nylon bushes, etc. but IMHO the simple nature of design means it'll never be perfect.

 

Hard top removal/fitting is just a matter of a few minutes, no worries. Soft top is similar but the actual fitting of it takes a little longer. Once it's fitted as an assembly, putting it up/down is very quick indeed.

 

As for the K, you've clearly made your mind up there, so fair enough - but in short, the 1.4/1.6's are nowhere near as problematic.

 

GTMOC used to be great, I'm sure they still are, there's a yahoo groups for them (groups.yahoo.com/gtmoc from memory; I should know, I'm a moderator!! Oops!). GTM themselves are a great bunch of guys too, very helpful, although the Coupe/Rossa have long since left the ranch and are now handled by other guys.

 

Alan Britton took on the Rossa models, and he's a great chap, long standing club member so knows what's relevant still.

[ibrooks]

Thanks again for all that. Will post again if I make the jump.

 

Iain

[brumster]

No worries; enjoy! There's some stuff on the website (the brumster one) if you haven't seen it already...