Colin Lindsay

I use these guys; bit nasty looking but they crimp superbly.

First of all don't pull it off the stands! That's the most important thing. If it's stuck, heat will work; penetrating oil may not be much use if it simply runs off. Give it a few minutes with a blowtorch but make sure the penetrating oil has dried and so won't catch fire. Watch out for fuel lines. I also find that hitting the end gently but firmly with a hammer can break any seal, so try that - shock it, but don't damage anything. A couple or three good firm whacks square on may break the rust. also: tightening it rather than loosening it can also break the seal. Try the opposite direction and see if it shifts at all, then loosen. If it's rounded off, you can file one side down so that it fits a smaller spanner but remember that the more metal it has the more you have to work with, and the longer the spanner you use, or if you can fit any kind of extension, will give better leverage. A little bit of copper grease on replacement will help next time.

Last time I fitted a Herald bonnet I put an old quilt over the engine and rested the bonnet on that. As it was quite thick, but easily moulded, there was no paint damage and I was able to get the bonnet sitting perfectly whilst resting by sliding it about, dropping a bit here and raising there by smoothing or compressing the quilt, and only then fitted and tightened the bolts. I have to do the same again later with the Estate but that's the way I'll do it. Make sure you have the long scuttle seal fitted to give it something else to rest on, but if you have access to an old quilt that's going to the dump, it's worth a try. (By the time that quilt reached the local skips it was so covered in oil, grease, dirt and paint I'm sure the Council Workers all wondered what the bed looked like, and what on earth I'd been doing in it... )

Never found that it takes much pressure; I do mine with a cheap oil can that has a pointed plastic nozzle and the oil overflows out from under the rubber cap easily enough. The grease nipple is only there - as far as I'm concerned - to confuse new owners and keep dirt out. I wouldn't have thought that there should be much movement in the trunnion anyway - I mean up and down - as the threads should be tight to each other; the bottom of the threaded section should not be so tight to the bottom of the trunnion that it prevents oil from flowing, and don't forget that it pumps up into the trunnion rather than flowing down.

On remanufactured versions there's a definite section of raised metal round the lock; I can't find any good clear photos of an old panel to confirm that this is the way they were, originally.

Amen, Brother Peter!

I've decided not to use that one as it's suspect, despite being newly remanufactured about ten years ago. However we do have problems still... Firstly: we put the driver's side lower wishbone on the passenger side, by being absent minded... Less than twenty minutes sorted that out. All has now been built up and ready to be torqued once lowered, but there's a problem with the passenger side. The hub will not tighten up fully. If I try to tighten it up as per the manual - tighten up to 5 ft/lbs with no oil seal, then mark where it goes, I can tighten it almost to the end of the threads and it still rotates freely. If I put the felt oil seal in the hub, I can lock it fully, but on releasing it back one flat it seizes on the caliper and is locked solid. The wheel rotates with the caliper off, but not with it on, and it's seizing against the outer edge of the disc slot in the caliper, as if the hub is not seated far enough down the stub axle. I'm just not happy with it. I'm going to redo another vertical link, which means cleaning, repainting and refurbishing, and see if that helps any. I hope it's not poorly made bearings sticking on the stub axle, yet they came off easily enough when the hub was removed again. I'll get to the bottom of it - I'm not in any hurry; Lockdown won't let me on the road, and besides I've the bodywork to do once the suspension is finished. In any case, to let things bed in, I've lowered it back onto four wheels as is - tight front wheel and all - and will work on the problem tomorrow. This will now free up the ramp for other things, so the Herald may be sidelined... again...

I drove from Stranraer to London in one go, seven hours I think... and that was after driving from home to the ferry, about 90 miles in those days... but that was in a Rover. I drove a 948 coupe from Southend on Sea to Stranraer in one go, too. The M25 was entertaining...

That's the style I have on the MK1 GT6 rear lights; the loom came from Autosparks back about 2001 and I think they were soldered on. They just fit into a curled metal contact which will expand round larger bullets or can be tightened (gently!) for smaller.

As many of the guys here are advising, check your own spring first and see what you have fitted - even if it's the correct Vitesse spring it may be worth replacing anyway due to age and wear. My GT6 bottomed out at any bump when I converted to swing spring, using a Spitfire leaf spring, and had to change it to an original late MK3 GT6 swing-spring version. The difference was amazing. I wouldn't have believed that it made so much difference, given that the replacement spring was far thinner, but it really sorted the ride.

That works; get someone to move the steering from lock to lock as you do so and it'll take quite a goodly amount of grease. Better than none at all!

I took a photo of mine a few days ago, whilst it was on the lift... you can see the gap between the bonnet and valence when fully open. How does this compare with yours? It's not easy to see, being white on white, but the rubber bumpers are fitted and you can see a good gap between them and the edge of the bonnet. Lowering the front valence is not easy as it rests on two fixed brackets; there's a bit of fore and aft movement, but not up or down. Going by your photo it's quite far forward, is there any possibility of sliding it backwards - just the top edge - on the slots where it connects to the brackets? It should move backwards without affecting any of the other planes.

I'll agree with that; I bought new ones that tore on fitting, but I replaced them with the rubber gaiters off a few older pre-used ones that were on the shelf - they're only held on by circlips - and they have lasted twenty years and are still flexible and useable. You can buy new gaiters separately; not sure yet if I'll go down the road of poly versions but even the photos of the stand-alone versions look to be better rubber than those supplied already fitted. Incidentally my early Stanpart versions have turned out to be for drum-brake uprights with the small 7/16 nyloc and so are too small for the later vertical links I'm using presently - I'll keep them for the other 1200.

The three stooges of the gauge world! I debated - very briefly - fitting an ammeter but the gauge of the wiring I needed, and I was given a huge roll for the job, put me off. I could see the dashboard blistering, and bubbling, before my very eyes... the three Dashtop gauges I have are temperature, ammeter and 'battery condition' which I take to mean voltmeter. I bought them as a set years ago before realising they couldn't all be fitted to the same car... I have a small period rev counter for the Herald convertible which is a pod on a stem, so it will go on the dashtop close to the screen pillar so that the cables can be routed down the side, and it will just be freestanding on top. Here's a few suggestions for Tom based on cars I've seen over the years:

Heralds require them to hold the radiator so we don't have the option. My Gt6 had none at all, (originals were cardboard) but I replaced them in aluminium for the bling factor.

I never liked putting them into the actual dash by cutting holes - too permanent, unless you either have an old dash that you can spare, or else can get one custom made. I used to have a row of three - oil pressure, voltmeter and vacuum gauge - in a mounting where the radio would hang under the dash, in front of the gearstick, and this is a very popular spot for additional gauges is you don't mind moving the radio elsewhere; but more recently I've used a pod that sits on top of the dash; if you use a 13/60 dash surround with the ashtray aperture on top you can put the cabling down through it, and attach the pod underneath, using brackets, without drilling; but if you don't have an ashtray on top you can pass the wires very discreetly down under the screen. In fact, you can even get gauges that use the ashtray slot, they just drop straight in and look very period, but sadly you can use only one at a time... which is why I bought three different ones...

I use Lithium 2, same as for the bearings. I got the balljoint tightened - never thought to use an ordinary nut, Peter, so must try to remember that tip for the next time - but had to use quite a lot of downward force. Ever tried tightening a locknut under a vertical link that you've got one foot up on? Circuses would pay money for someone who can contort like that... Of course, as per WSM I lowered the car back onto the wheels before trying to torque up to recommended figures and on most of them my torque wrench no longer fits... too long and the head is too big... but: another job done and car back on the wheels. Now all I need to do is to sort out the bearings, which are locking up far short of where they should be.

I'll try that, Dave, but the car is on all four wheels as per the WSM for torquing up some of the bolts, and I had hoped this would secure it in place. But no, it just revolves merrily... and I haven't even greased it yet!

Aha... thanks! I always assumed that a coil that gets hot is on the way out, in fact i had one that melted and spewed hot oil everywhere... Delco caps are held on only by the two wire clips, not as substantial as the Lucas variety, so can move about slightly.

He was 90!! Do you feel lucky, punk - can you make it to the loo unaided?

Just another small point re top ball joints - torque setting is supposed to be 38 - 42 ft/lb. "Ball pin to vertical link"? Having said that it also says that it's a 7/16 UNF when it's actually a 5/8 UNF, so it may be for an earlier model. Mine always start to spin round in the vertical link long before I get to that, even with the weight of the car on them, and so will not tighten anywhere near to the necessary torque. Any tips?

It means radiator out, waterpump housing and all attachments off, and awkward access to the front part of the engine in situ especially removing the crank pulley nut. I'd replace it now and then you'll know it's been done and should have no worries for a lot of miles to come. Otherwise, you'll wonder about every little rattle from the front end... and it'll niggle...

What's the problem that causes you to suspect the coil? Car not starting?

When you say the bonnet is catching on them is this when opened, or just whilst driving? Firstly: do you have the correct 1200 valence? It should be flat across the top; 13/60 or Vitesse versions are raised in the middle and use different mounting brackets, stepped up at the inner side, although the line of the bumpers should be the same. Even so it may be easier to drop the front valence slightly by bending the mounting brackets downwards very slightly. If you open the bonnet it shouldn't be that close to the front valence as it pivots that it's hitting the bumpers; this would mean that it's too far back and also too low, and if it's hitting them when closed then it's too low at the front. The slotted fittings behind the front overriders allow for upward movement at the front; loosen them off and see how they adjust; if you have an old quilt rest it on top of the engine and this will prevent damage to the underside if it hits anything during adjustment especially if it drops when the bolts are loosened. It will move upwards without having to move either backwards or forwards, but watch the door gaps as it's a juggling match trying to adjust the bonnet against the front valence, or the doors, without putting the alignment out elsewhere. You should be moving it only fractions of inches at most unless something is seriously out of place. Can you post any photos? It may help us spot anything amiss.

I know what you're thinking, punk - did it fire on all six cylinders, or only five?