Colin Lindsay

Shouldn't have made them bone shaped, then...

Now that I'll happily second! I do however remember being in SMW Volvo in Belfast listening to a woman who was getting a new motability Volvo; she stipulated leather trim, and larger alloy wheels with low profile tyres, plus an uprated sound / sat nav system, then complained that it left her very little of her allowance for fuel per month... but overall I will have to agree with Tony that it is one of the most abused benefit schemes available these days, and has gone far in excess of its' original remit.

Bought one, sold it again; I've no idea if it improved anything but out of the hundreds of advance curves they advertise, bear in mind you'll only use one... I replaced it with a rebuilt Delco version that I sent to H+H for refurbishment, they added electronic ignition, and it runs perfectly. I just don't know if the 123 was worth the extra expense.

...and THAT makes all the difference. (Don't start me on Motability cars...watched a disabled female park in a blue badge space yesterday and practically fall out of a HUGE brand new 4 x 4, how on earth she got back in is beyond me. If she could climb into that again she's fitter than I am.)

Standards have very definitely dropped! 'Er indoors bought a used Freelander in 2018, they charged extra for a 'dirt-proof' coating over the paint, and we picked it up looking like someone had poured tea over it. Long brown streaks everywhere, and the rubber mats were all soaking wet from a quick hosing down. Our first weekend was spent finding lego bricks amidst piles of beach sand under the rear seat - they don't seem to have realised that it tilted - and various coins down the sides of the front seat. The mistake the dealer made was asking for our opinions for an online survey.

General Data Protection Regulation. It's a minefield of 'what if's'.

I bought three 'similar' from Lidl a while back, used one for two hours (I had to put the GT6 outside while spraying other parts inside) - rain came right through it, it was totally useless. Two hours! Mine might come in handy as a dust cover but not much else. Check yours ( you haven't said where from or what they're like, but just in case!) before you try the Herald outdoors especially overnight.

I changed my Mk1 GT6 blades recently - after about 20 years it was long past due - and fitted old-stock sealed-packet Lucas WB5 blades; they are a straight fit for the original wiper arms and made a tremendous difference. They come up online all the time. I've just seen a set of classic Mini wipers which are the same, although can be 'sold as a 12-piece set'... TWELVE? For two wipers? Have to work that one out...

Part number 606242, in case you do manage to locate any. There's a used one on eBay for - Yikes!! - £25!! Jaguar and Morris Minor are fairly close, and Classic Minis use them - made by Linread - but should be cheaper than this one, which is close but not exact: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAGUAR-INTERIOR-COURTESY-LIGHT-SWITCH-FITS-E-TYPE-C16367/121421324949?hash=item1c45466295:g:SqoAAOxyc2pTbOTi A word of warning, though - be careful if you buy any kind of aftermarket switch, or a 'similar'-looking replacement. I had two brand new versions fitted to the 1200, then found only recently that I couldn't adjust the door gaps. It was only after hours of trying that I realised the courtesy switch was the wrong shape and was holding the door out by 1/2 an inch. You need the flat variety to the left of the photo, not the one with the offending neck on the right, which is still available from some suppliers but entirely the wrong shape. Vintage lamp parts are selling a NOS pair: http://vintagelampparts.net/2-nos-linread-courtesy-light-interior-lamp-switches-classic-mini-mk1-cooper/

It's not just me - it's ALL of them!!

Long edge goes to the front, but that one would look tidier with the overlap of the belt in behind.

If you look at my post further up, with the three photos from yesterday (23rd) at 12.45 - that's what you need. Two Y-pieces for the centre (they sit one on top of the other), and two belts for the other two points with the attachments that I've shown.

Very late cars, possibly. My 1200 Estate supplement for the WSM actually shows straps, which surprised me! I've got two rear seats in the garage, ran out to check - the red 13/60 seat has a diaphragm (so I've learned something!) and the earlier 1200 blue and black ones don't (which is not to say that they haven't fallen off! Need to get proper access and see what holes are in the frames, for straps, as I'm 100% certain the diaphragm won't be available these days).

You should have the inner sill / edge of floorpan.... otherwise there'll be nothing holding the car together... Don't forget there are three mounting points, the two I showed are an early convertible as the saloons are further along the top rail below the rear side window. Convertibles are top of b-post, bottom of b-post, centre tunnel; but it's the small variations from early to late that are important - early cars are through the floor, later are through the sides of the sills, early are top of centre tunnel and later are sides of centre tunnel and so through to the chassis. The top b-post mounting stayed the same at least for the earlier 1961 - 1966 cars approximately. Quickfit have all of the period brackets in chrome, stainless and brushed stainless. I've ordered the two lower brackets in the picture below - y-piece (you need two, one for each belt) and to the right of that one, top of b-post - plus the spring-catch version centre right for the floor attachment at the b-post.

Early set up is two holes in top of tunnel near the rear, close to the rear seat, that bolt through into a reinforcing plate underneath - as in your bottom photo: Late setup is two holes, one on each side of the gearbox tunnel but about half way down; these are large, maybe an inch in diameter, and the seatbelt eyes bolt through to brackets on the chassis underneath, with a hole for the b-post mounting on the sill below the rear of the door: The b-post base uses a large metal eye which screws into a reinforcing plate. The other holes in your photos with the rubber grommets are just drain holes. You can mix and match if you get the b-post brackets on the belts correctly made for the corresponding type of bracket, so that your belts are attached to the top of the tunnel with the Y-piece, but at the other end, down by the floor, you use eyes with reinforcing plates, rather than the metal loop through the floor into a plate underneath. Just make sure that whichever plate you use has solid metal round it and good reinforcement for the seatbelt mountings.

Quickfitsbs are still up and running, and busier than ever, but their web-based enquiry form is not working. I ordered a set of Herald belts from Graham yesterday; the e-mail info@quickfitsbs.com is working and should be answered, but if in a hurry give them a ring.

Estate rear seats don't have a diaphragm, just coil springs and lots of horse-hair-style stuffing, like an ancient mattress. I'm not sure at present (not near the garage) if you could even use straps due to the design of the seat base frame; I'll check later.

That's £2 cheaper than I paid but they're handy for a range of things.

Do you have the single rear attachment - the Y-piece - on top of the tunnel, or the two eyes at the sides? I've just been on the phone to Graham at Quickfit, they're had both phone and web problems and the e-mail I sent via the online form bounced straight back to me. I got him at sales@quickfitsbs.com; I've ordered Herald 1200 belts and confirmed the spec I need, by sending him a selection of photos by e-mail. Mine are centre tunnel y-piece via b-post brackets to loops in the floor and they're replicating them in silver-grey. He says he's had more enquiries and orders for Triumph Heralds in the last month than in the year before that.

Quickfit will remake belts from scratch to the original pattern in any colour; I've to phone them this morning and will update once I know that they're still open (haven't replied to e-mails) and secondly the cost.

It's actually very very solid and heavy; you can just make out a second inner plate on the front that supports the brake shoes, and it's very solid and unbending. Cost me £50 per backplate! It's just the scale of things that makes it look thinner, as it's all larger than Triumphs would be, but a lot simpler to assemble the brake shoes. I used plenty of copper grease on the studs; you can see it on the adjuster bracket to the left (no adjuster fitted yet). Of course, the Innotec that John recommended arrived today, but it's now available for the front brakes when I start those. Thanks for all your encouragement; it's great to be able to rant for a bit, then roll up the sleeves and back into the fray...

Getting these messages on a few of the forum areas - can someone put another 50p in the meter?

Unless it's a PO bodge, like this one... both sides, too!

I was squinting at the photo and it looked to me like 212359, before I read your post further down the page.

Told you it wouldn't defeat me! Had to buy another two sockets - second one, just in case - and it still took almost four hours of battering, oiling, heating and hammering. When it finally moved, from the colour of the threads it looks like someone has used a permanent threadlock on it; the other three were black. Backplate replaced and brakes now on, that part took twenty minutes at most. I'm going to take a long break before I check the front pair.