Colin Lindsay

'Part Worn' tyres are a local thing over here - anyone else see them in their areas? Supposedly taken from accident-damaged vehicles, but can you really trust good tread on a tyre that may have had a serious impact? I have a mate sells tyres as a sideline but he claims to only use the spare tyre from cars they have picked up at accident sites or bought from auction, and I must admit to having used some in the past, within date and no visible wear at all, for about £15 each.

Well, according to members of the Morgan Owners Club, we don't do our own maintenance so therefore don't know what's right or wrong...

Superb!! Really suits that dash. I see a little business opportunity there.

I'd agree... even though being tighter than a duck's whatever would make me wince at the waste, but I'd treat it as degraded and use good modern oil for components. Still good for trunnions and rustproofing, though.

I always wanted a set of those, or the Cosmic equivalent. If anyone ever has any for sale, let me know.

Welcome back! The Vitesse bonnet will fool a few people, mine does!

Find a local autofactors with a paint mixing facility - there are plenty about. They'll scan and match paint from a sample. My white Herald was found to be an equivalent of modern-day VW Delftweiss so easily matched and mixed.

Used Floflex on my Herald, excellent fit with no problems. The entire kit for the car including some variations in size for differing models - now left over - was about £50 / £60, but I think it's gone up in price since.

I have a SIP 200 litre compressor, need it for sandblasting, but it runs any tool effortlessly. It doesn't run out of puff in the middle of blasting a lot of components, unlike a smaller one I used to have that constantly needed to refill. My welder was a SIP 130, now considered too small by the 'professionals' (despite being Practical Classics Best Buy in 1994!) so I reckon a 180 would do. A lot of the other tools I have were considered 'amateur' standard by the professional league but have lasted many years in my garage; you can overspend on garage tools that are designed for the everyday heavy use by the trade but never get that level of use at home. The best ones I have were either inherited or bought from charity / second-hand shops, ages old but solidly made. For spraying HVLP buy the all-in-one hot air kit like the Apollo - their Spraymate kit used to be about £100 and was perfectly adequate for car panels. Beware the cheaper electrical units that are only good for fence panels or spray tan.

The Stormont hotel in Belfast had a Grab-a-Granny night too, usually Tuesdays. That local Dolomite is more eaten away than it looks:

Well, tell him it's appreciated! A job well done.

This one may be a tad over-optimistic, selling locally to me but at £3100; might be a Sprint but the other pics show serious rust in places.: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/7139320766155787/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A6dbda887-0cb5-4d4b-ad9e-2766ebe49c26

Are we talking about the two large angled brackets that bolt to the bonnet skin on the Herald? Not horns but tube supports? These guys in the scanned shot from Canleys (one below the stiffener marked 10 and the other opposite):

Thanks for the excellent diagrams which actually helped me find them... Not the first time, neither!

Use silicone pipe from any Aquarium supplies; the stuff they sell by the metre for air pumps and filters. Doesn't go brittle like the 'proper' stuff.

Who used to have a Triumph listed in the V5 as 'Gusset Brown'? (Was it a 2000?)

Will keep an eye out and advise if any appear; if you're in a hurry try Chic Doig.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234075422384?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-153316-527457-8&mkcid=2&itemid=234075422384&targetid=4585307093462908&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=554648193&mkgroupid=1307320433942731&rlsatarget=pla-4585307093462908&abcId=9323209&merchantid=87779&msclkid=418b3f0c4b9b1483ede25ad08fa167d8 Might be worth a punt for somebody?

Yes, there's quite a difference in the originals and the remade versions. I had problems with the rear lights on the MK1 GT6 until I sourced originals from an eBay seller.

I repaired my threads with a 7/16 UNF tap, it worked fine and took the currently-available pipe fitting. The fuel pipe is 1/4, I had to make sure some I bought recently was not the current metric equivalent as there can be quite a difference leading to sealing problems.

Always ready to learn and be corrected, here. Even Graham Robson in his excellent book "Triumph Herald and Vitesse" states: "You get a special prize if you know what the crossed flags actually specify." My 13/60 has them on one side, but not the other... just in case.

That switch is quite short? These are also advertised as Laycock overdrive switches, may explain the 'short' bracket if these were used as reference by the manufacturer:

Almost as Casper says, but SV for Studio Vignale. They are nothing to do with the Herald's nautical connection (Alick Dick's boat) nor the Amphicar (which didn't have them), nor as some suggest do they stand for 'I am operating astern propulsion' or even 'I am in distress'.

Well, not much going on in the garage. I watched Bangers & Cash this morning, they were working on a Triumph MZ motorbike. On the wall they had this poster: Everyone here is into bikes and tractors, no interest in Triumphs. It's like a leper colony. I even have mates turning up in Hyundais. They walk past the Heralds, study the Z3, then go off to the kitchen and hash about Yamahas and Suzukis and what exotic tours they're going off on later. Doesn't give me much enthusiasm for going near the garage; plus the fact that the plasterers, painters, plumbers and digger drivers have now left the house and everything is covered in mud, dust and grime, so I've rediscovered the joys of DIY again. Still can't get enthusiastic about new curtains though - Triumphs have Signal Red, end of. Curtains have 30,000 shades of red and they all look alike, but they must be debated endlessly and compared in different lights. Yawn. In any case I have managed to slip away for a few small tasks, most notably the source of the oil leak previously mentioned - not sure if located, or not - and an unexpected water leak from the block of the 13/60. The block was refurbished in 2022 and loads of new bits added, including a brand new brass drain tap. This, like all things these days, has proved its' mettle by failing after two years. The system is simple, a brass cone held in place by the tension of a metal spring. Spring rusts amazingly easily, spring loses the tension, water leaks. Easiest option was to replace it with a brass drain plug; an amazing variation in online prices though: £18 from one supplier, £14 from another, and good old James Paddock at £4. Problem solved. I've already done that on the estate, but Paddocks had no more stock so the 1200 convertible will have to wait until one reappears. I also went in search of the oil leak, that puddle of oil which appears after every short period of engine running from who-knows-where. As we discussed earlier I suspected the drain tap - Pete H reckoned the threads - so I removed it and found that the sump threads were clear and sharp too. I replaced the sump plug but this one seemed to go in much further before tightening fully... or was it my Gorilla hands this time? I haven't really run the engine much since the plug replacement but will monitor carefully, especially with the price of good oil. Speaking of prices, I was able to buy a pair of Herald sills online at a bargain fee, required since I poached the 1200 convertible ones for the 13/60. I was intending to travel across to Chic Doig at some future stage when in that area and save postage, but these came up quite cheaply and certainly much less than a ferry ticket. They're old and seem to have been stored underwater, one being good and one quite crusty, but they're both useable. Salted away against the day. Final job of the month was the examination of a Spitfire gearbox I 'inherited' recently. A little bit scabby on the outside, it turned out to be mostly surface grime and dust although the top remote casing was badly corroded. It has responded well to a good cleaning and fresh oil, but I think the reverse gear has some chipping to the teeth. I think there's a spare gear in the roofspace, will check tomorrow. I'll store it away in case it's ever required. I think I have four others, anyway... but this one has reverse lights and four synchros, so could potentially be a Herald upgrade some day. Finally, the builders digging drains to the rear of the house found an ancient artifact, and asked me if it was anything important... you could say that I suppose, but only to me. Won't fit on a bike, so no-one else would be interested. Must be old, though - modern ones would have dissolved by now.

I've found that a simple way to tidy it up is to crimp the terminal correctly with a crimping tool, then slip about an inch of heatshrink tubing over the end and shrink to fit. That gives a lovely professional-looking finish.