Colin Lindsay

Matt is very nice, I've a great photo of a member's engine that was painted matt a few years back and it was seriously impressive. (Anyone recognise it? I don't have his name)

Yes, that was my Mk1 box when first bought but seemed to be running fine. I changed to an Overdrive box within two years and that box went off to Kenya for some exotic rally, so I never found out how it performed.

'Tripe to Stoneleigh..." Amazing to think that some of the cars there were actually brand new current models. Same as Classic Shows today, I suppose... Wonder how many of those Triumphs survive? Great post from Fungus, many thanks for sharing.

Yeah, mon. I'll agree.

DON'T DROP YOURS!

I painted my 1200 engine green due to buying two tins of BMC Green paint at Stafford around 1994. It has lasted very well and I'm not going back to black now! To be honest you can't really see the block once everything is attached. My Gt6 engine was originally red too, and the 6-cylinder is more easily seen but I replaced it with a rebuilt version in black. My Spitfire 1500 engine was gold, but that was the seller trying to convince me that it was a Gold Seal replacement.

You may be right, it might be to prevent corrosion and road dirt from damaging the threads, but if you think of the studs as bolts then the nut goes on the same side with those, too.

Look after that headlamp, have you seen the price of replacement PL700s?

Goes forward of, so that the engine can be lowered backwards into position. Yours looks correct. (Hope so as all mine are like that!!)

The place where 7/16 sockets go...

I've been doing a lot of reading on PDWAs due to this thread and never having had one actually fitted to a Triumph myself (I have rebuilt them, though) I can only go by what I've read - it seems there are certainly two types, one with two pistons and one with a single piston, but this post on another forum is interesting: The PDWA came in a number of different configurations. One of them has a set of sleeves that will slide with the piston during pressure imbalance, and almost completely blind the low pressure line. I have that PDWA on two of my 1980 Spitfires. This seems to point to a system that blanks off the side that is losing fluid; 90% of the other posts / forums and articles state that it's a warning system only, and all it does is activate the warning lamp. That one came from https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/spitfireinformationexchange/brake-master-and-pdwa-component-and-poor-brake-per-t4519.html

http://www.zen11896.zen.co.uk/vixen/parts/pdwa.html https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c6dec53b10f25d4edf0b3f7/t/5d019238b9af3e000109c65f/1560384058350/Overhauling+Master+Cylinder+%26+PDWA.pdf Two articles that may be of use. The first claims that there are two different sizes for the Spitfire; could this be the problem with the Paddock kit?

Yes it can be done; just mark where the gearlever needs to go, cut so as to allow full movement, then cover the exposed original hole with a curved plate of metal or even strong plastic held on by self-tappers. I've had a few like that in my time. It's not a huge hole so easily covered up. Some owners make a very nice plate with a rubber insert for the gearlever that looks very professional, but covers the whole rear area.

I had to rush out and check just now but I've used washers and flanged nuts on both Heralds; reason being that the flanged nuts will spin against the head as they're tightened and I'd rather have the 'cushion' to prevent wear or damage as they're tightened down. The original nuts press on the centre of the washer which is why the edges dish up, but this can't happen with the flanged versions so the load should be evenly spread. Maybe it's just my usual 'belt and braces' approach but they're both torqued up now so not coming off again!

My local Lidl has Parkside Inspection Cameras / Endoscopes from around £39 at present; anyone tried them?

Trunnions seem to break more easily at low speeds; only ever had one go but that was on a Herald back about 1994 and it hit the kerb when manoeuvring at low speed, so that didn't help. My father's Hillman Minx had a front wheel drop off, I think that was a sheared kingpin.

Discs are all the same throughout the production life of the Herald and Spitfire, not sure about the early Vitesse but GT6 is definitely larger. The hubs for both Spitfire and Herald were initially the same but when the Spitfire gained type 14 calipers the hubs had to be chamfered to clear the bigger calipers. Many Heralds with disc brakes will take type 12 but not 14 without work on the edge of the existing hub, or later replacement hubs where the outer edge has already been reduced slightly - you can see it if you compare the two (I thought I had a photo somewhere about but can't find it.)

The ones I have were all custom-made by Speedograph for Solex to Stromberg carb conversion, Pete. I can't find any details on them, period advertising or the like, but I have an SU carb from a Ford Anglia with an angled float chamber but don't have the associated manifold parts to confirm how it was fitted.

Perfectly adequate for a Herald! I hope that disc looks worse than it really is, but a few (careful) trips to get the pads bedded in will soon have it shiny again.

Interesting, given that back in 2016 he was supposedly one of those advocating for the forty-year exemption. https://blog.heritagepartscentre.com/blog/2016/08/24/calls-for-rolling-mot-exemption/ I wonder if he's now changed his mind?

Am I remembering incorrectly that it was at the request of, and under pressure from, 'Classic' Car Clubs / Historic Car Clubs, whichever you wish to call them?

Keep us updated, please!! I'll be experimenting with this setup later when I get a Herald back on the road, so will be interested in any pointers or experiences.

So effectively it had a certificate but no inspection... which would illustrate the fact that a well-maintained car with no MOT could be safer than one with a Certificate that has not actually been checked. Makes you think, doesn't it? Given that I have Boy-Racer 'Heaven' a quarter mile along my road, where the local youth gather round a mate's shed to have their cars lowered, widened, tinted and whatever, and have the doughnut marks on the tarmac at the entrance, I wonder which is truly safer: a Herald with no MOT that's well maintained and drives at a max of 60, or a modern VW Bora or Honda that comes straight from the MOT Centre with a certificate, then replaces the standard springs and wheels for souped-up versions for the next 12 months, and has speed tests on a main road...

So: just to do the same - why the did the GOV feel it necessary or desirable to allow historic vehicles to be MOT-exempt? As it's a paying service they're not losing any money. We're not all fully qualified mechanics, few owners are fully qualified engineers, so if it's so dangerous why on Earth was it permitted in the first place?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234059838550?epid=4037156096&hash=item367f0db456:g:ulYAAOSwnARg0Km8 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353585524852?hash=item525356f074:g:Y5QAAOSwDElg-UdS Both open to offers so worth a try?