Colin Lindsay

Some suppliers supply modern metric equivalents that seem loose on the pipe. For peace of mind I managed to find original olives that seemed to seat better and certainly sealed with little effort.

One is silver, one is chrome. I suspect one will turn out to be a light grey but dull plastic and the other as in the photo, highly reflective. I've just checked and Canleys have photos of both on their website: As for which is best? It may come down to personal choice in the end.

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know when I'm out of my depth and to get an expert in.

With my height I'm half way there already...

Hi Paul! As Pete says price doesn't indicate quality; most suppliers get theirs from exactly the same place. Best option is to go with a good supplier who you can at least talk to, Canleys are good and I'm very fond of James Paddock at present - some of the engine gaskets can be a woeful fit and may tear when being applied. I fitted an engine oil seal recently, had to remove it when I dropped a part down behind it, and on removal found that the gasket had come apart in behind as the screws were tightened. I fitted a spare which was totally different and the holes at least lined up, so don't settle for poor quality.

Well we both got here and if I've timed this right it's my 10,000th post, so I wanted a momentous occasion to mark it. Piston rings arrived this morning - thanks again to excellent service from James Paddock - so as I only required one no2 ring the piston has been fitted with gudgeon pin, new circlips and new rings, well greased, and slid into place with what seemed like indecent ease. The Herald engine now has all four pistons, crankshaft and camshaft fitted, and we're all systems go for fitting everything else, getting it back into the car, and running the engine for the first time since 2003. As all of the other mechanical bits have long been overhauled, we should see this Herald Estate moving under its' own steam before the end of 2021. I never thought I'd say it but: THANK YOU LOCKDOWN. I don't think I'd have had the spare time otherwise. I've also found that despite advancing years I can still lift a complete engine block - okay, minus head - off the bench and set it down onto a trolley without breaking, straining or tearing anything. Not bad for a pensioner!

I should hope so. People have been locked up for less... I found a group of boys peeing up the end wall of my garage a few years back, trying to see who could pee the highest. I hit the roof!

That's what I meant, sorry if it wasn't clear but I meant the blower. I was just wondering if this is more electrical than temperature-related, along the lines of a voltmeter where the needle drops when more electrical units are switched on.

Nice of them to remind you. Bet round the next corner there's another one which says 'crackers' and then round the next corner, 'wine'....

We organised a trip to Chics some years ago; a large party of NI TSSC members travelled across in a Triumph convoy and stayed at various B&Bs or hotels in Kircaldy in the mid 1990s. He had a huge place, masses of cars and parts stacked high around the walls. I've still got some great video of the place. He then downsized to Jamphlars Road and I remember him saying he had to throw so much good stuff out, into skips, as there was just no room for it. I was in contact last week and they've now relocated to his home place in the wilds; substantial enough with barns full of spares but presumably fewer overheads. I hope he's not another casualty of 'progress', never mind lockdown...

The replacement 2 1/8" core plug has arrived from Core Plugs International, good service at under 24 hours delivery and a perfect fit. Now all we need to do is to make sure all the suppliers update their kits.

Yes I was in contact with Chic... 'remember that convertible tub you sold me?'... he was very very helpful with repair sections and sent me a range of photos of assorted bits I may need, including a complete floor section, but the carriage alone was £225 plus VAT. I think I'll just use my local bodyworker and we'll see what we can salvage. In the meantime lockdown sort of still on-going, it's time to test my engine skills. I've got a block bored out to +30, +30 oversize pistons, +30 oversize rings, new bolts by the dozen and complete sets of bearing shells... so let's have a go. Gallons of assembly lube later... The crank is in, plus a new rear oil seal - different to the earlier 1200 engine in that it uses a plastic oil seal - and torqued up to 55 ft / lbs. It turns, so I'm happy. Next, in no particular order, was the camshaft - slid in, well lubricated, and loosely clamped in place using the original front clamp. At the rear... there's a hole! I remember removing the core plug here before the block was sent off to be bored, however there's a slight problem. The Parts Manual lists 148353, core plug, bucket... it can't be bucket as there's not enough depth to seat it. The dished version is supposedly 44473, 2" dished welch plug and yes I have some of those... except they're too small. Every Parts Manual and every supplier lists a 2" core plug, but 2" just falls out again by a wide margin. A quick check with good calipers reveals it's actually 2 1/8" - the photo below shows the larger one set under the recommended version for comparison. Thanks to Core Plugs International who supplied the correct version which fitted first time. So: why are late 1200 engines (1967) different, and are other engines similar? Now to the business end. Brand new County pistons, VanderVell Old Stock tri-metal bearings, new circlips and gudgeon pins, new rings plus a nice set of piston ring compressors that I bought at Stafford for £1 many years ago, just in case. Start at no4, make sure front is front in which case the con rod faces in that direction... assemble it all together, lots of assembly lube, trial fit it. Then take it all apart and put the con rod in the correct direction. A little bit of faffing about with the piston rings. I've bought piston ring pliers but found they may be a little... brutal... for the rings: One down at the first hurdle. The rest went on easily enough by hand, just be gentle and don't bend anything. There are good instructions and little colour-coded markers to show the rings are on correctly, and of course top means top. A little bit tricky getting the ring compressors on, and the rings down into the bore by very gentle pressure so as not to bend, scratch or damage anything, and the first one was away. THEN I remembered to fit the bearing to the con rod. Jumping the gun a bit... No 4 back in, tightened gently. Why is the word 'FRONT' at an angle? I couldn't work out why so left it in favour of the next two, but by the time they're fitted it seems they're all at the same angle. So: no worries. So: three down, and a new set of +30 piston rings ordered at a total cost of £44. I'll not do that again. I'll now have to wait until tomorrow for the new rings, but that'll be the crank and camshaft fitted and all pistons in. I must remember to torque the bolts once they're all in place. Oil pump next. One thing I did notice, and it's a bit of a let-down - the new front sealing block I bought last week is too thick. Trial fitting to the block reveals it's proud by at least a millimetre, and the sump gasket will never seal in a month of years. I can either have it faced /skimmed, or use the old one which seems flat enough on inspection. It's a pity but at least I'm not completely stuck. Once the sump goes on I'll have a stab at the timing. That's going to be fun...

I'm related to all of my cars through blood donation.

Never tried that. Doesn't it make a mess of their socks?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40 I've looked it up to see what the 'official' records say: Water Displacement 40th formula (not War Department 1940 as some have claimed!!)

Mine runs great on Apple Mac but I've just this minute noticed that the header has been largely blanked out! No idea why or for how long, just noticed it.

The bulkhead has two bolts at the front, two per side, and a row of self tappers across the centre outriggers; probably these last have been removed when the tub was removed. If they're all removed then jacking would be my advice; spread the load with some good wooden baulks and jack up under the floorpans. Once you've jacked it a few good whacks with a rubber mallet or similar in the area of the offending bolt might free it off, but plenty of penetrating oil - NOT WD40 which is only a water displacement fluid - should help.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144066225886?hash=item218b0426de:g:xsQAAOSwj1RgvJWq One on eBay at present.

Looks like 2 1/8, so yes that'll fit. I've just ordered one online, will know by Wednesday.

So if you turn the heater on, the gauge drops from 'hot' to half way or thereabouts?

FC60122 was the Spitfire change. Rimmers lists every set of core plugs for each model of Spitfire and the large plug is listed as 148353, 2 inch for all. Canleys are the same, listing 2" bucket type for all. I have three of those! The dished type is 44473, again too small by quite a margin. I've managed a couple of photos, taken with the dished version set in backwards (the only way it will balance!), to show how great a margin there is. The gap is to the outer rim, not the smaller one you can just see which the cam is in.

I don't!! First time I ever changed those was on a GT6 engine which seized on first turn of the key. Seized solid after thirty seconds! We had just fitted a replacement gearbox, mate inside the car with a socket and me outside with a spanner for the other end of the bellhousing bolts. After a lot of headscratching a mate told me to whack the pulley with a lump of wood... and that freed the engine. It turned out the gearbox and crank weren't compatible - too long of a shaft tip for the end of the crank - so when they wouldn't join up completely the mate inside the car decided to pull them together by tightening the bolts. All that did was push the crank forward and immediately banjax the thrust washers. I removed the engine, turned it upside down and slid various sizes of thrust washers in and out until I reckoned I couldn't squeeze another one in. That was as precise as measurements got. We also cured the gearbox by cutting the end off the shaft with an angle grinder. It ran well until I upgraded both engine and gearbox about two years later.

I've just fitted two to the Herald engine... standard ones fitted, +5 thou didn't. They wouldn't even squeeze into the gap, not even one with a standard on the other size, so I had no choice at all.

Can't confirm with any accuracy at present, Johny, as my calipers gave up a while back. I'll borrow a professional set tomorrow morning and measure accurately.

Her's a photo from another angle; I'd agree dished as it's not deep enough for bucket but why on earth do they all sell core plugs that are undersized? Is it simply because so few people ever remove this one that the suppliers have all gotten away with it for years? I'll bet that this is the one that's always left over in the kit. I'll start with the In-Laws tomorrow to see if they have anything close in their workshops then I'll go with the supplier Johny recommended - that was one of two sites that came up in my searches and certainly looks good. I can't find one single reference photo of that part of the engine online; in fact if you search Bing for 'Triumph Herald engine block' a large percentage of the photos are of some guy who has fitted an MX5 engine and seems to dominate the search results with photos of the MX5 engine and nowt on the Herald...