Mjit

Depending which supplier the gaiters came from you might not want to over-tighten the outer ends. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's spent ages fighting to get a new gaiter over the end of the steering rack, secured both ends...only for them to pull of at the steering rack end at the first turn of the wheels!

I might be wrong but I think you have a tiny oil leak there, Colin

At a guess float valve jammed while you were driving and started dumping fuel into the air filter - when then got sucked through along with the air going into the engine, in addition to the fuel beeing added by the carb and you ended up with too rick a mixture to burn - like leaving the choke pulled out. Come the morning the excess fuel in the air cleaner would have evaporated so the engine restarted.

Working up the gearstick from bottom to top you have a chromed, tapered nut with 2 slights flats on it, then the main body of the knob, then a second nut with just cuts into it's top face, then the plastic cap with the switch in it. What I do is: Pop off the plastic cover as Pete said. Just crack off the bottom chromed nut so the pressure's off. The top nut will also now be loose and you can use a small screwdriver or similar in the slots to spin it off. Once free you can just pull both the top nut and knob body off (body isn't threaded, just slots in groves cut through the threads on the gear stick). Refitting what I do is: Bottom chromed nut screwed all the way down the stick. Drop on the knob and top screw. Use screwdriver/etc to screw top nut down until it's flush with the top of the gear stick. Screw the bottom, chromed nut back up the stick until you get to the knob, then just a quick nip up of the bottom nut with a spanner to lock everything in place.

In most cases "A" frame towing frames are illegal for towing cars. The "A" frame technically classifies the towed vehicles as a trailer and the max weight for an unbrakes trailer is 750KG. Wikipedia has a Herald 1200 convertible down as 725kg so just about OK but looks like even a Herald 1200 saloon is 838kg so over the limit. One site had a Herald Coupe at 749kg so you might want to empty the ashtray on one of those

No reason not to take it from the ignition switch. Looking at you could also piggy-back off of the light switch feed. Or you can just grab another bit of wire and some bullet connectors and extend the switch's purple wire so it reaches where-ever you want.

See

Looks like at least Rimmer's will sell you new ones (which might be a better option than second hand anyway - even the youngest one would be 43 years old so contain 43 year old foam...).

Yea, in this day and age it's really just a technical requirement, at least for driving in the EU and you'd really have to have pissed on some local policeman's chips to get written up for it - which is probably only a fine anyway.

I've always used a magnetic one on my MkIV, slapped on the top surface of the boot lid. Technically an invalid position but I think the only truely valid one for a MkIV/1500 is a modern number plate with incorporated UK letters!

I've had one of 'their' SS bumpers (all suppliers source from Harrington I believe) on my Mk IV for 5+ years now and very happy with it and it looks as good as the day it went on. Fit isn't perfect, requiring a little stack of washers on each end mounting bolt - but 'slightly too wide' better than 'slightly too narrow' and as likely to be down to my at least twice restored car being narrower than when it left the factory as the bumper itself being too wide! Mk3 bumper isn't the same but as general feedback - one happy customer here.

Where's that centre console from...?

Check your policy - for the European cover as many will include a hire car for you to continue your journey.

I've done about 15 trips to Le Mans for the 24hrs, along with a few summer holiday trips to Burgundy in either my Spitfire or 2000 and would echo cliff.b's list. Take the escential fluids, a good bag of tools, ignition service items, some electrical crimp contectors and a buntch of cable ties. I know some people will be heading off for the Le Mans Classic right now with more spares in the boot than camping equipment but generally if you keep your car in good order there's no reason it should break down and if it's more than just a running repair, well that's what the breakdown cover's there for!

I'm not sure you'd want to use a thread sealent on a sump plug, sounds like you'd just be making your next oil change harder! If it's just a slight weep I'd try wrapping the plug with a few loops of PTFE tape and refitting it. PTFE tape is a thread lubricant so lets you tighten the plug more than it is now but using less force than you already have, so it goes in tighter but with less risk of damaging the sump.

Worth checking out/price comparing with mytyres.co.uk. I've used them happily in the past and generally found them to be cheaper than Blackcircles for the same tyre.

Herald, so 'early' and fitted with a drain tap. 1500 will be in the same location but just a bolt head.

Yep, that's where it is. Early cars had a tap but some time before we got to the 1500 it had become just a big (something like 11/16 sized) plug. Drain the rest of the system and stand well to the side before removing it (especially if you don't have the side screens fitted)!

Needs more pictures - https://www.lazerhelmets.com/lean-spark-plug-chart/

Think I've got one of every "solo brake bleeder" ever made on a shelf in my garage...and it's the <£5 Visibleed that I always end up going back to/having the most success with!

If it's for show rather than go, find the shiniest one you can find and just cut it off under the dash?

I've just been having some fun with a slow starter trying to awake my Spitfire from its winter slumber. Day 1: Battery was new last year but trying to start only got a very slow, 120RPM. Battery off and plugged in to charger, illuminating all the charge LEDs (has 0% to 100% LEDs rather than a needle gauge). Leave overnight. Day 2: Come back and all lights off so refit battery and engine (eventually) starts. Day 3: My car is MegaJolted and while it runs great it's never been a fan of starting. Re-reading the docs. lead me to the "Cranking Advance" setting that kicks in below about 450RPM and defaults to 12° but Googling suggest modern cars go as low at 5°, so I wanted to check mine/try dropping it. Jump in car, ignition on, connect laptop and yes cranking advance is at 12° so drop to 10°, go for start and just get a single "Hurmp". Assume getting it going yesterday took all the juice - which is odd as it's a way over-sized Yuasa HSB075 - so pull it again and connect back to the charger. Which does nothing. Pop out to buy a new charger assuming mine's just died, hook up and needle flicks to the 'empty' side. Leave overnight. Day 4: Needle now on 'full' side so refit and another single "Hurmp". Pop to Halfords who test battery and say it's a little low but generally seems happy - but happily do a warranty swap anyway. Get home, fit battery and...a single "Hurmp" again. Out of interest connect to battery charger and...needle doesn't move. Now the odds of the new battery being duff are slim (tested before it was handed over too) and remembering I still have the old starter on the shelf swap new, 'improved' high torque one for old one, jump in and with new 10° cranking advance starts instantly - then stalls because I've got zero choke ATM, expecting either nothing or a lot of crankking before any action happend. Pull a little choke and key again - to be greeted by another instant start and with a little choke keeps running this time. So what have we learnt... The expensive high torque started, fitted to avoid starting issue was the cause of them. I don't know if there was something wrong with the old battery or not. Certainly something was killing battery chargers!

LED bulb by any chance? I changed all my bulbs to LED, took the car for a test drive in the dark and almost blinded myself when I came to the end of the road and went to turn left! All the others are still LED but the indicitor repeater got swapped back to incandescent

It was?!? My experience has always been a royal PITA, having to slacking off the top mounting, so you can remove the little wire hiding strup, so you can fight to get the new wires to go down the correct path, all while wedged uncomfortably in the footwell. Never had an issue with the indicators...but frequently give other classic car drivers a friendly single wipe of the windscreen as they drive past 😐

If your indicator switch is one of the new ones on the market the last couple of years you might want to inspect it - my original switch failed (after the best part of 50 years service) but the new one that replaced it barely lasted a year, and the one that replaced that was threatening to do the same in a matter of months. In both cases the 2 sprung cancellation arms were held in place by cheap metal rivets pressed into soft plastic. But soft plastics creep, so the rivets come loose, everything falls apart, and in the first case one of the springs went walkabout. Think I glued the rivets in place on the second one and so far that's help together. And when you say "never worked very well" do you mean "wasn't very good/reliable at cancelling" or something else? If the former for the current new ones I've found the cancellation arms are on the short side and you really need to maximise how close to the steering column you can get them when tightening the 2 mounting screws to get a reliable contact between the arms and trigger collar.