Colin Lindsay

Just bought two FIAMM off eBay, ex Mercedes so at £8 they should be good enough. On the GT6 - where the horn clicks until you rotate the steering column (earthing problem?) - the horns are on the inside of the bonnet and bolted through to the space behind the sidelights; I'll put the new ones in there out of sight and leave the old ones in place for the sake of form. I have a set of Maserati air horns for the 1200 convertible and they're definitely loud enough. I still want to get some modicum of success with the old ones, though... top adjusting screws are all seized solid and some of the internals are just solid rust however what I don't get is that they spark, and click, before dismantling; I don't touch the electrics, which are generally good, but on reassembly, or even bench testing the 'points' with a battery connected to the terminals, there's nothing. No spark, no click. Lot of headscratching going on...

The FIAMM ones look the part; I decided against the PIAA models after seeing the price...

Yes, it should be tight to the line of the wing and treadplates. Don't worry too much about it; get the lines of the treadplates and doors etc right, all in line with the sill. There's a lot of movement in those mountings when you come to fit the bolts, that's why there's such a large hole in them, and you may be alright as is.

Ok so dived out to the garage yet again and found two; I think(!) the smaller one is four cylinder; the bigger lightweight version is definitely 6 cylinder and hangs lower on the block.

As Magnus Magnusson would have said:? I've started so I'll finish. This one is in quite good nick inside but doesn't click or spark at all. No idea why, as nothing is broken or rusted. This one does spark and click but you can see why there's no hoot. When I tried to make one out of the two, the bitser neither clicked nor hooted either. I'm doing something wrong again...

Are the 6 cylinder and the 4 cylinder versions the same? Can't remember, too lazy to run out and look.

I thought you couldn't breed if the horn didn't work... 😮 Not so much bored, Rob, as guilty about throwing things like this out. All of the top screw adjusters are solid, so might need serious freeing-up at least as a first step. I'll start with the ones that at least click and spark and see how things go. As a precaution I'll start to look for modern lookalikes, too...

Lockdown is making work for idle hands and I've just found a huge box of Lucas horns; out of the ten in the picture only the four on the left even click if attached to a battery and there isn't a doot out of any of them. Are these worth stripping down and restoring? Drilling out six rivets will open the case, but is there much inside that's user-serviceable? I've never seen spare parts or any kind of service kit. As with all old bits I'll feel very guilty throwing them in the bin if I don't at least try... What modern alternatives are we using? I don't mean Dukes of Hazzard thingies that look like the organ in the Royal Albert Hall and require half the national grid to run them; just two standard spade connectors will do. I can't get out anywhere to see what's on the shelves these days...

Ever put a 5p in behind someone's wheel trim? They'll go mad looking for the source of the rattling tinny noise... until finally they take the wheel off...

So how come the female prospective buyer in the ad looks into the Herald in the showroom and says: "Oh look, it's even got coathooks?"

That's the way I did mine back in the day. You'll find the now empty control box very handy for spare keys, spare bulbs, even a few coins taped inside for emergency phonecalls.

2 inch outer diameter, 1.5 inch inner diameter and 1/8 inch thick. It fits so neatly that it just looks right, but I've not seen one anywhere else nor does it appear in any manuals that I have. The top seal is from the caliper adaptors, they're still available (at least I'll know when the two I bought yesterday arrive), the middle/ right is the felt from a hub seal compacted and hardened so much it might as well be rubber, but the bottom seal is the mystery.

I'm working on a series of vertical links for early Heralds some of which have not been dismantled in decades, if ever. Whilst the link differs from the later versions I'm assuming the stub axle, the hub, and therefore the hub felt seal are all the same as later cars (very minor differences but generally interchangeable) as you can swap hubs between type 12 and type 14 calipers. The early links do not have any kind of water sealing cup, as on the later links, into which the felt seal fits, but on one I've found a very neat rubber seal which would match the position of the felt seal on the hub and which would face against the felt. I can't find any record of it on any parts diagram or in any manual. Has any one seen these before? First photo is the rubber seal which remained when the hub and felt seal were removed; second is the remains of the more common felt seal on a different upright with no rubber ring. I'm wondering if it makes any difference to the sealing of the bearings etc, so might be worth obtaining more? Without this the felt seal will just mate to the metal of the link and this rubber one looks to be an exact fit, almost as if factory supplied, as an additional seal. Any thoughts?

You still Lucan for him? Shergars long gone, my cats ate him. Whiskas with... This lockdown thingy is becoming very handy; I'm finding things I'd forgotten I ever bought. If only I could get them on an actual car...

The one on the left is definitely Triumph; I suspect the other is from a tractor of the same period as the mounting holes are different, but it could probably be modified to fit. You can have the one on the left for the price of postage?

Even happier bunny now than in that last entry! I've been working on front vertical links, of which I have three. I'm convinced I actually have four but the fourth is proving elusive, plus I only have one brake disc shield. These are a design closer to the GT6 and Vitesse than the later Spitfire / Herald varieties, but are unique to the early cars so of course no-one makes them any more, and there is no chance of getting even mild steel versions let alone stainless. I want to use the correct early uprights - simply because I can - and this means using caliper adaptors, although I'll be using the bigger and better type 14 calipers as opposed to the original type 12s. I've got the adaptors - three of, again - and one still has the original rubber seal, although these are reputably still available so I've ordered two this very day. What is confusing me is that one of the vertical links has a very nice rubber seal around the stub axle, where the hub felt seal would run. This looks much too neat to be aftermarket, but doesn't appear in any parts manual. So: either it's an elusive part that no-one knows about, or it was added in place of, or to assist, the felt seal - but by the factory, or a previous owner?. These hubs have no water shield that you'll find in the later versions so I'm wondering if this was an early attempt to keep water out of the bearings? I wonder if I can find another, or even a new pair? However, things got better on an astronomical scale. During the search for the missing dust shield I rummaged through a box of new wheel trims and found... these: Two early Herald dust shields in laser cut stainless. Back about maybe ten years ago I contacted a manufacturer about the possibility of having these remade in stainless. He took my old one as a template - is that where it went? - and sent me back two of these for about £30. Stunningly beautiful and possibly unique. I can't remember if he returned the sample one I sent - it must be salted away in a different box - or else it explains why I've only got one. However that no longer matters... am I chuffed or what? That's what I call thinking ahead. If only I could remember who it was, to enquire if he can make more...

Is that the six bladed metal fan?

I had a full set of photos of that setup, no idea where they are now but it featured in The Courier a few years back, made by a local man called Frank Bell - it came to one of the local shows here in 2011. The headrests are a great touch.

This is the type I last used, on the left, reliable so far...

I like overdrive; it's like having a modern car with four gears when others have five or even six. I used to drive round town in third, just flicking overdrive in or out as the need arose without having to go near the gear lever, and of course at higher cruising speeds it drops the revs to a more comfortable level. It all depends on the car, and your intended usage, I felt that my GT6 needed it but none of my Heralds have it.

Maybe they should have named that ship 'The Strombergic'...

Most people prefer 'in behind the dash'... we're not all exhibitionists! Anyway are you stabilized? Do you have any kind of aid to stop your pointer waving about?

Problem with Herald convertibles is that for the rear seat, the only really good mounting point is the floor. This then leads to the problem of where to route the belts, if you're trying to use anything other than lap belts. If you're currently welding you may consider adding additional strengthening, but where exactly... here's a photo of a roll bar a local friend made for his car to accommodate rear belts, but you may not like it being so obvious?

If you mean earlier gauges have two 'legs' to screw in behind the dash and later gauges have a single bracket with the hole in the middle, it was probably ease of manufacture and fitting, or maybe just cost. By that time most gauges were stabilised so it's probably an evolution thing rather than any kind of identification. Now I'll have to go out later and check for myself..

I can hear the sound of tongue hitting cheek. Or else TR owners just have more money? Herald early single-bulb sidelights were also used on E-type Jaguars and the GT6 Mk2; you can buy them for the Herald, double the price for the GT6 and add a string of zeros for the Jaguar. All the same unit. Remember that movie 'Armageddon' where the Russian cosmonaut was trying to make the electronics work by punching them? "American component... Russian component... all made in Taiwan!"