Colin Lindsay

I'm assuming the axles don't have any kind of cut-out for a d-washer option?

That's the way I've routed mine.

There are actually small rollers inside these; if you squint down them you may be able to see them. They have rubber 'tyres' round them and if the tyres have come off them it's metal to metal and harder to slide. As Pete says good grease will help as will adding spacers to lift them off the carpet.

I've hit two slight headscratchers today, both on the front suspension. First was that my stainless brake pipe brackets for the front suspension turrets, bought a good few years ago, don't fit. I couldn't work it out until I remembered that I had two sets, bought a few years apart, and was able to compare them just to make sure it wasn't any mistake of mine. Right enough, the other set are longer and fit first time. I'll have to take a grinder to the shorter set and elongate the hole. It won't affect anything as there's masses of metal and they're solid enough to lose a few millimetres and not be weakened. The other more worrying puzzle concerned a new vertical link I bought way back when this restoration was first started - they were a lot cheaper then too! With the benefit of many more years familiarity with these I inspected the trunnion threads and found firstly that they appear to be chromed; which even after many years immersion in oil has started to come off, and secondly the threads are not a match for the original on the other side. There's a definite difference in the shape of the top of the threaded portion. This is the spot at which they always break and deserves close inspection. The threads seem to fade away here, as if not properly cut, and there is a slight difference in the shape of the unthreaded 'pedestal' where it joins to the rest of the link. This is something I'll have to confirm - I don't know how far the trunnion thread grips this section when fully fitted; it may be that there's no requirement for threads so far up, but I want to check to make sure. Last thing I want is for the car to hit the road for the first time in forty years and then crash due to a sheared vertical link or an incorrectly fitted trunnion. That's tomorrow's first job on the list, then.

This is what happens when someone uses a washer instead of the proper D washer; it rotates about and makes a mess of everything, resulting in a scrap stub axle.

That's why my Herald is now once again in bits... the solid mounts went on the bulkhead and soft mounts above the diff... and the roof wouldn't fit... simply because I was using my Spitfire as reference back in the 1990s.

Awwwww no! Don't DO that to me. Life was simpler a few minutes ago...

Not to be confused with those that have blue nylon for Metric and white for Imperial... that's the main method of telling them apart in my garage at present...

Different from the Herald then, my mistake - apologies. (the reason why my Herald roof wouldn't fit is because I put the metal washers at the front as well as the diff....) Interestingly enough all of the kits I've seen just now have only a solid washer at the front, not both solid and rubber.

Rubber only at the front; I found this the hard way on the Herald. Solid ones are above the diff as you say, but nowhere else.

Cooper pipe?? I've got one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180-Aluminum-Alloy-Pipe-Bender-3-in-1-Copper-Tube-Bending-Tool-Brake-Fuel-Pipe/223781491002?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D226426%26meid%3Dcb40d5361e0a456e851af8def7fd2a30%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D122209061011%26itm%3D223781491002%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithBBEV2bDemotion%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851 But not great for tight bends; you have to gauge where the bend is going to be and adjust accordingly as these can be up to two inches out when the bend is finally formed due to the size of the roller. I've also got a set of the club-supplied pliers, but very fiddly and the plastic inserts fall out at the worst times. As a result I have no kinks at all, but I will admit to having a vice or two...

Thank you! When I first did it, in copper with a ready-made kit, some of the bends were a bit... extravagant. Kunifer is much more forgiving for straight lines than copper, but much harder to get good bends with no kinks. I've practiced a lot since. That long front pipe was the hardest as it goes under both front suspension turrets, so unlike most of the others, which were shaped on the bench, that one had to be bent on the car. The entire thing worked first time, lovely bends, no kinks, perfect distances between, a real gem, then I got to the end, flared the final flare for the driver's side brake hose with a hand flare tool, and realised I hadn't put the pipe end on first... luckily my pipe cutter has a small insert for flared pipes so I only had to remove about a quarter inch, then do it properly. Now I have to replace the fuel pipe, which I think may be 1/4? It was originally steel but had pitted badly so it's been removed just short of the banjo bolt to allow a connection to the tank, and is definitely thicker than the brake pipe - I can actually put the brake pipe down into it. That will be today's job, plus rebuilding the front suspension.

I had a quick Net search when trying to answer YS' original post; they were fitted to quite a number of cars of the period; on Triumphs they were fitted for the USA and export markets much earlier than the UK, as Nick says, and fitted on other models such as the TR range, manufactured slightly earlier than the Spitfire. The poor Spitty was at the end of it's lifespan and competing with more modern setups such as the TR7 and was therefore improved using some of the same components.

Last time I did that it hadn't drained properly; you can still see the water stains on the ceiling below...

I've finally bitten the bullet and dismantled the entire front end of the Estate; the reason that this was a major step is because it will now be immobile on the lift until I replace everything, which as I've no sandblaster at present may be delayed slightly. The chassis and suspension area took a lot of cleaning; years in a garage have left an oily coating of black grease-like stuff everywhere, and it took a lot of scrubbing to get it off. In some areas it's left the fresh white paint looking very grey and lifeless, but I'll work on that as time permits. The main thing at present is to get the areas of paint damage - and there are a few - cleaned up and repaired before the suspension components go back on. I suppose the only parts requiring refurbishment are the front hubs which need blasted, repainted and new bearings; all else was finished long ago. I remade all of the brake pipes in Kunifer, the original copper from the last replacement was quite tarnished by now and not the best job, but I'm better at it now, twenty years later... I'm quite pleased with some of the bends and the flares were a doddle, even if the last one had to be flared in situ rather than on the bench. The only one remaining now is the long pipe to the master cylinder and I've completely forgotten how that one is routed, but there's plenty of time to search for reference photos. All in all another good day's work so bar a lot of cleaning - with a toothbrush! - we're getting there.

Are you sure? I always thought the spring-mounted end went to the sweep ring and the solid end to the horn; this is because the steering wheel and column may move up and down, but the horn end should be fixed.

The fact that you've raised the front of the body with spacers might affect it - slightly - can you post photos of this area around the front outriggers? It may have had a spacer when dismantled but that's no indication that it requires one in the same place now, so we may be able to spot something from photos of the area. It's the only thing I can think of, as the other end of the column is fixed and non-adjustable. (You haven't fitted the steering rack upside down? .. )

According to John Thomason, the dual line was fitted to the Spitfire 1500 from FH130000 onwards.

That's excellent! Looking forward to see how it ends up, if they can find the time to remake me one (at least....) I dropped the father-in-law's groceries off on Friday and sneakily left him a couple of small Herald parts, in case they're bored or short of jobs... so will have to build up the brownie points a bit!

Found some yesterday but can't for the life of me remember what I bought them for... I'm assuming they're metric, of course.

Thanks! That GT6 Mk1 tank looks amazing - I wonder at them making one of those, for a relatively rare car, but none for the Heralds and when you think of it, Vitesse too... I know some suppliers are still selling Herald tanks (saw one on Paddocks' site yesterday) but it's good to know the option is there. It's entirely possible with the higher mix of ethanol in fuel that the demands may rise in the future.

One for the 'adapted tools' section...

Count me in for four then, always good to have spares...

Entirely possible and makes a lot of sense. None of the manuals make reference to that in the adjustment sections; they must all assume that the clamp is tight to the tube.

Excellent job on that heater. I can't wait to get to that stage myself... but it'll be a while.