Colin Lindsay

When I bought the Mk2 GT6 engine as a fully reconditioned unit (from a major suppliers) it was missing three of the oilway plugs. (No idea how they tested it without them...) I had to buy loose plugs and fit them myself; I just screwed them in until they were tight. I've no idea if they were taper fit or not but they simply screwed in then stopped at what looked like the correct place. I didn't use any sealer.

Things are not going well in the 1200 convertible department; I'm on a real downer this morning as nothing seems to be going right. The patching to the rear tub gets worse and worse, the more I look at it; the rear wings are welded on completely wrong, bulging out around the wheelarches before ending up an inch out of place towards the rear, and it seems at the B-post they were tacked on over the remains of the old wing and almost half an inch too far out, so the doors - when I get that far - will not align. It's a real cut-n-shut job, disguised by filler that the shotblasting has now removed. It wouldn't be so bad if I had not discarded the original tub which was ten times better than this and still scared me off, in favour of this one which was bought from a major restorer. I wasn't expecting brand new, but a good base from which to start would have been a bonus. I don't think this is even worth working on - it's going to need wings and wheelarches and even then I'm not sure how distorted and bodged the rest of the tub is, with regards to achieving anything even close to a good end result. So: the only thing to do is to trial fit the entire car to the chassis, and see what we end up with before commencing any major and more importantly expensive work. The bulkhead has been fitted and, as has already been seen, the mounts are quite a bit out from the chassis mounting points. This morning was the turn of the bonnet: Not an easy job for one person. The way to do it is to cover everything with old quilts, blankets etc then rest the bonnet on the seal across the front of the bulkhead. The rest will lie on the quilts, safely padded, until the bonnet links can be fitted and loosely tightened. Even here we have problems; the bonnet support tube is missing one of the front bushes, and the two tube ends, at rest, are almost two inches too far apart for the mounting brackets. I'm hoping the small amount of movement allowed in the wheelarch mounting points will allow some flex but it's still quite a bit to bend inwards. Luckily I have a spare tube so can remove the bush.... eventually. Both are solid and it seems my small bench vice isn't up to the job. Heat, penetrating oil and the vice have so far drawn a blank. I'll just have to keep going, in the hope that the bush shifts, it fits the tube, the tube fits the brackets, the bonnet fits the bulkhead and the car looks vaguely gappable. There are too many unknowns at this point, and the big fear is that when it's all on the chassis, it will not gap or sit properly due to too many variables when each component was restored, and we're back to square one. I'm scoring minor victories with the major ones as yet untouched. In the event: the bush fitted, albeit slightly loosely, and with all of the bonnet to tube securing bolts loosened I was able to get both tube ends fitted to their respective brackets and links. It's only roughly gapped, currently about 9/16 instead of 3/8; I can't tighten any of the bulkhead bolts, or shim any of the mounts, until I get the rear tub on, and that's definitely not a one-man job. Remind me never to restore a Herald from scratch ever again. As a cheer-me-up I drilled out the badge holes in the rear of the tub - not a difficult job, although I was worried that I wouldn't know where they went and so the badges would be off-line. I needn't have worried; this was originally an early Herald tub, that was used as a Vitesse tub, and from the holes in the floor, and the resulting cracks and damage, had a roll-over frame fitted so was probably used in banger racing too. It can't have gotten into that state otherwise. The holes for the flags had been filled with weld, so were easy to drill out again. I'll get the hole to the left, for the Vitesse trim, likewise filled in and covered over. In the meantime I'll have to try to find out what repair sections are available - not easy when some manufacturers aren't currently answering e-mails, and those that do are proving negative. Surely I can't be the only Herald owner that has ever needed these areas repaired?

Just to confirm - are they unique to Triumph overdrives (as in: is the Triumph version made specially for Triumphs only?) or do they differ between marques? I've found various other brands online, second-hand -Jaguar for one - so am wondering if one will fit any J-type or does the type of car matter?

Your other choice is to try the circuit with a horn you know to be working; if it sounds the circuit is fine. Probably even a test bulb will show that current is getting through. The horn is only another earth circuit that runs current via the horn to earth, so putting a car battery to the two horn terminals won't normally damage anything. I tested all of mine a few months back, most worked (quite loudly too) by just running two wires from the horn terminals to the battery terminals. If the horn has now stopped it's likely the internals were rusty or corroded.

+1 to that. Looks superb.

On Volvos, such as my T5, Volvo were very, very sneaky and made their bulbs just a fraction different to standard bulbs; if you used anything other than a genuine Volvo bulb it gave an error warning.

You can jack the sump if you spread the load so a suitable flat piece of hefty wood will help. You're only taking the weight, so be gentle and you won't distort it.

Haynes manual on the Rover 213S was also back to front regarding the lead order. The first time my GT6 rear halfshaft sheared (on the Mk3) the AA got me home at around 3am, and I asked the poor mechanic, who lived at the other end of the country and so still had to drive all the way back to his own bed, to have a look at my Rover while he was there. He sorted it in 30 seconds, having spotted the leads straightaway.

Not sure about that one above.... reminds me of e-mails I get that start with ' Dear sir, pleaser click on the link to see how I can benefit you..." I would NOT click on the link until it's checked out.

I doubt if the modern electronic versions need to be fitted in any particular orientation; it may have been a requirement for the bi-metallic strip of the originals, but that no longer makes any difference. The word is probably kept on the replacements, as in the Rimmers photo, for purists who want the original look but the modern components.

Can't you mix it in with the paint? Keep them off the bonnet as you drive...

Keep a long, thin, but strong screwdriver or pry bar handy; once the gearbox end clears the body slide it in under, between the gearbox rear extension and across the car floor from side to side, to keep it raised. It means you're not resting things on whatever you jacked the gearbox up with, and there's less danger of it moving and slipping off once you start to undo the nut or pull the seal out.

You need to buy two cars, one original and unmolested, then you can match one to the other and see what goes where, what's missing, and what's been bodged.

If I'm correct (it's a while since I did my last doors) you can drop the glass down into the door and just leave it sitting on the door bottom; just mask off the areas that paint may get in through. When it comes to fitting the glass again, get it into the quarterlight runner first, slide it up a bit, then fit the other runner to the other edge, slide it up sufficiently out of the way, keeping it in the channels and right to the top, and prop it there with a length of wood. When you fit the winder mechanism let it drop down until you can engage the sliders / rollers.

I was going to ask: Is the spark on all four at the correct time? As in Dizzy 180 out? But maybe you've covered that. Other idea may be old / dead petrol?

The gearbox / engine unit is held to the chassis by two mounts at the rear of the gearbox and the main engine mounts on either side of the block. If you undo the rear mounts, and slacken off the engine mounting bolts to give a degree of movement, you can jack or lever the rear of the box up, without straining or twisting the engine mounts, so as to get straight access to the rear shaft nut. It's as simple as it sounds and believe me you'll have much better access. Just be careful of your fingers on the sharp edges of that tunnel - it can hurt or do a lot of damage.

If it was me, I'd refit the door and gap it, refit the quarterlight, gap the quarterlight properly to the A post, and then remove the assembly and respray (door with quarterlight fitted in final place.) All of the other ancillaries can be fairly easily fitted into a resprayed door with no damage.

Not to mention the missing stalks on the steering column... Bodges / poor workmanship is usually covered by the phrase: 'what do you expect from a car that's over 60 years old'... or 'this car is fifty years old and has some character, as you'd expect'. I did get positively alarmed with a Herald on eBay a while back which the owner was claiming that he regularly used to commute to work, and despite being positively crumbly in all areas was being sold as mot-exempt and fit to be driven straight away.

Did you fit tab washers on the fan bolts? If so, hopefully the correct way round...

Definitely not idle! That's some great work. What gauge steel are you using? I may have to start metalwork myself; no idea of what Chic Doig is actually doing as he isn't replying to e-mails and I can't be bothered trying to explain the bits I need over the phone, as I don't know the technical names for the relevant areas - I think his yard has closed and he's now working from the farm? To top it all off I've lost a repair section and cannot for the life of me find it anywhere in the garage; it was there earlier in the year but has gone AWOL since. I think I'm going to have to cheat and at the least buy a pair of inner wheelarches and one outer, but possibly also an entire wing - mine has been welded on completely wrong and covered up with loads of filler, which the shotblaster has now removed to reveal the true horrors. If you're making up any panels please post plenty of photos of the procedure; it's something I'd like to try (if the supply of sheet steel settles down over here - it's in short supply at present.)

I take a lot of photos - probably far too many - but with digital you can delete the unwanted ones. Many of mine are out of focus as I hold the camera where, like you, I can't get my head in, so usually can't see the viewfinder. It helps both with reassembly but also in working out how components are fitted or fastened. I can study them from the comfort of the computer and see what spares I need. That steering rack clamp; is it the same as Herald? If you want a spare unmolested fan extension there's a complete kit on eBay, fan, extension and all: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-TR2-TR3-TR4-Cooling-Fan-Pulley-Hub-and-Bolt/303929862544?hash=item46c3a1a990:g:lcsAAOSwuB1gMlac

Down in our village a resident has built a polytunnel / greenhouse-type thingie on a hill behind his house; it's a bit of an eyesore being visible for miles but we assumed it was for plants. I drove along under it today and he's got a boat sitting in it. That's the last thing I expected to see, but he must be happy that it's a solid construction and will stand the wind.

Never too late! It's all helping me immensely so that I'm more certain where it's meant to be, and what's out of place... I can pass it on to the bodyworker with certainty. He doesn't know Triumphs so will be relying on what I tell him.

You went for these guys? The outer sleeve is nowhere nearly as flexible as the rubber versions, so harder to fit. Plenty of lubrication and possible softening from hot water may help.

That's how the pressurised brake bleeders work; they just assist gravity a bit with no need for pumping.