Colin Lindsay

Hi Bob - I know you say the switches etc were checked but check again; I had this before on overdrive cars and the switches were not making full contact with the operating cam. One was half-worn away and the other was in a bent bracket. The O/d appeared to come on as normal but every so often would give a miss; revs up and down, but when it finally settled down it worked fine, maybe due to something expanding with heat and therefore keeping a better contact. Once I lined up the switches properly the problem went away. It's just a thought, but maybe worth a look at the operation.

Even the plastic bits.... but make sure you topcoat the etch-primer, otherwise it will start to rust, itself.

Petrol works!! Obviously much more easily on a tub that is upside down, but it really takes the stuff off. My other half says things like: "Why don't you just buy a Triumph and drive it?" Shows how little she knows...

Might need one to get 'Er Indoors off the sofa. Or two. Anyway: back to the underseal. Headed off this morning and bought a fiver of diesel as a test (the test was: can you still buy £5 of fuel anywhere?). I'd already made a start with scraper, wire brush, scraper wheel on grinder etc, but was impressed by the petrol: Tried the diesel and to be honest it was much slower. Am I meant to leave it to soak? Pressed on with the petrol, it really freezes your fingers through rubber gloves, but the stuff runs off like runny tar and a wipe with an old sweatshirt cleaned it up nicely. That's about half an hour's worth. I'll clean up the welds and seams with a wire brush and more petrol, but with cheap metal scouring pads and plenty of old cloths to mop up the runny underseal it's working fine. Other wheelarch to do then I can start on the floorpans. One thing to watch: it softens, can be scrubbed into black soup with a scouring pad, but if you leave it - the petrol evaporates and it all hardens again. Wonder what the chances are of getting the cloths through the wash unnoticed, so I can reuse them again?

I lost two on the way to MOT the Herald... obviously they weren't on quite right. One I found - it overtook me like a frisbee so I saw where it went; the other.... no. Better tight than loose. Anyway you might need one of these to remove them easily and without damage...

No, I'm past that stage. Just resigned, now. There ain't no quick fix.

Are you doing your own spraying?

Probably as many as TR6s. Used to be common, now rarer and quite expensive.

Like the female who repeatedly claimed that I had changed the plans for the garage - three times she sent out queries and warning letters until I managed to get her and the builder at the same time. That window is THERE - and that window is THERE - and there they are on the plans. She didn't even have the grace to apologise. Anyway - back roughly on thread - going to try Clive's recommendation of diesel this morning for underseal removal and report back. The curved faces of the inner wheelarch do not lend themselves to any kind of easy scraping.

Ever see those big stones in hot countries with the hole in, that people were supposed to put their hands into to see if they were telling the truth, and the gods would punish them if they lied? I can just see some wee guy hiding behind with a big pair of shears.... is he telling porkies... yes... no... yes... SNIP...

It follows the curve of the spine (roughly) for driver comfort. The other way round, it would be like sitting at the Dentist's all the time...

Yes, today is shaping up to be another mild spring day so I'll be doing the same. Which curry? Had a great Dansak last night, but the open garage door is in no way related. It's to clear petrol fumes from the underseal removal. Honest!

For only £5 difference they'd be worth a try... wonder how they look regarding shininess in comparison to chrome? Hard to tell form the photo but at least (hopefully) rust would be a thing of the past.

Ok, so we need to rewrite basic Building Regulations which says I had to have two due to the size of the garage. There are actually three, one in the upstairs room as well. Otherwise: no signing off on the build, plus they had to be installed by a competent technician too. It's a domestic garage which to be honest probably didn't envisage welding or grinding when they were installed. They'll go off if there's a fire, which is good. They're hardwired, run off the mains, and have a natty little green light which looks great in the dark. All I need to do is open the door at one end and the window at the other, and they stay off. It was just too windy the other day....

In my younger days I could get into a car in less than 30 seconds - legally too. Haven't tried since in twenty years, though...

Smoke alarms are mains-powered and very high up in the roof so can't reach them, even if I could poke a button or something and turn them off. It's all the builder's fault, he insisted on them. I must admit, as with Pete's post, it's so much easier on an upside-down tub. I've found this morning that petrol on an old cloth takes most of it off quite easily.

I've a photo of that one taken some years back at a local show but it was never a local car, nor a local Police vehicle - the RUC used mostly Fords (although they did have TR6 'Q' cars.) Must have a quick rummage for that photo... got it:

I've got a lot of strangely elongated pennies, though... plus I was looking for chrome stick-on letters that match the font of the Herald bonnet lettering. When I bought the car it was a Trumiph Herlad and I'd like to rearrange the letters accordingly...

The bodywork continues. The bodyshop that was supposed to do the work has not made contact, I'm too thran (a good Ulster word meaning stubborn) to go chasing them so I'm going to cut out as many bits as is safe then let them tidy the rest. If I don't replace the bits myself out of sheer boredom during this never-ending lockdown. I've removed most of the the boot side closing panel, that was actually two welded together. Even a small amount of trimming has allowed the rear wing to sit at the proper profile, to line up with the rear quarter valences. I need to shave a few mm more off one edge and tidy up the wheelarch; the intention is that once the wing is at the correct profile, then I can weld everything else to suit. Or: get someone else to weld it. From the inside, it doesn't look much better. Inches of underseal are hiding weld after weld and patch after patch and the more I clean off, the more I find. I suppose I should be glad that even though it's unsightly, it's solid. I'll trim whatever I can, grind down what is safe, and remove as much underseal as I can stand before getting bored. This is the first time I've managed to see inside the boot floor reinforcing plates... I think some Jenolite will help here. Nothing that good grinding and cleaning won't sort. If only it wasn't Sunday... roll on tomorrow and dig out the ear defenders.

I did, for too many years, hence the new garage and bits of old carpet to lie on... but the underseal and bodgery is the same! I must post a few pics of the current nightmare that is my Herald rear tub. You've been there! It cheers me up to see I'm not alone. As for the smell of weld... it sets off my smoke alarms every time. Not that the neighbours ever came running with buckets of water...

GKV17D seems to be popular, you can buy a jigsaw puzzle of it...

Rivetted probably means reconditioned, by someone who is professional enough to want their mark on the block, maybe as a guarantee. It might even just stand for 'Triumph Engine'. It looks like a MK2 engine, probably Vitesse if that is an 'H' beside the rivetted plate; probably HC. Interesting shade of green...

Still used by most of us, though - it's the first name you'll get if you ask generally. I also use Degrip All and for heavily rusted bits, Innotec Deblock Oil... and 90% of people go: 'what?' Other uses include removing chewing gum and adhesive stickers, and lessening friction on metal-stringed musical instruments...

Penetrating oil, WD40 to most of us.

The NASA scientists who have just landed the Perseverance Rover on Mars have just realised they didn't pack any planks with which to adjust the extreme toe-in it seems to suffer from....