Colin Lindsay

It's funny but I've been trying to work it out and it seems to me that if you adjust the shoes, you'll actually have MORE loose handbrake cable which will require tightening. You'll have the same amount of slack cable as before, plus the movement required to move the shoes; tighten up the shoes, and that extra movement is no longer required so it's now spare cable. You still need to tighten the cable to remove this excess movement. Or am I calculating it wrong?

Flywheel bolt locking tabs are listed by Canleys as NLA, which may be why they didn't come with any... Last time I checked suppliers were recommending a superseded bolt which appears to be fitted with no locking tab, part number 138526.

I remember in the 1980s filling my car with three star and closer to payday, 2 star... We have a lot of dodgy fuel over here, agricultural stuff filtered through cat litter and the like and smuggled up through the border lands, so you need to use a trusted garage and stick to it. Even the large supermarket chains aren't immune - there was a bad batch came through one of them a while back and people's engines were giving up. As for additives, one of my Heralds came with a huge box of over 100 one-shot tubes of Castrol octane booster, so when that's gone, they'll get nowt.

If it works, go for it - I'm going to have to try some experimentation over the next week and report back. I always adjusted them hanging until Pete said not to, so ever since I've stood them on stands if the rest of the car is raised, and since they've passed MOT ever since I assumed that was correct. The manual says 'with the wheels free of the ground' so from that I could infer that they're hanging? (It also says that 'excessive travel of the lever is taken up when the rear brakes are adjusted' which I assume means that whoever is adjusting the rear brakes should automatically adjust the handbrake too.) Did you know that on early Heralds only one end of the cable was threaded, so only one end (usually the right) could be adjusted?

Last one I did was the Herald and they're on the chassis. If you raise the car with the wheels drooping you can see the cables tightening as the wheels drop further from the cable guides, and in order to get them even close to the brakedrum lever I had to raise the wheels. If I tighten them with the wheels drooping there's far too much movement at the handbrake lever, which goes away again if you lift the car.

Best line from Car SOS so far: Tim: The Triumph TR4 is the second best Triumph ever made. Fuzz: what's the first? Tim: The bra.

I'm NOT going to allow anyone an opportunity - okay then, I am. Half an inch of movement can make quite a difference. When my Herald is jacked up the axles rest on the chassis, which i hope doesn't happen when driving, so there is, as Pete says, more movement than in normal use.

Another legend gone, but never to be forgotten. What a life, what experiences he must have had and what knowledge has been lost with him. Sad news.

If you look at the rear suspension, with the axles drooping they hang lower so the cable is pulled further downwards. If you lower it to the ground the strain is taken off the cables so they become slacker. It's best to adjust with the weight of the car on the wheels / axles (I put axle stands under the drums) and conversely, if I'm raising the car by the chassis, I usually take the handbrake off to prevent stretching the cable.

Might be of use if you have time to go through the various models (I will later, but not at present) http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel/SolexCarbs/SolexCarb.htm

It worked that time. Brilliant stuff, worth hanging onto. I love it for the nostalgia factor as much as any information contained in it. There was a 1960s half-frame projector on eBay recently, minus bulb, for about £12. I've got an old overhead projector but no idea how slides would work on it. Do you remember the old projectors with the plate on the underside; it dropped down, you put a photo on it and then raised it again and it projected the image, usually upside down?

Yes, got one of those with the HVLP sprayer. Never used it!

Yes, I am!

Fitted to all of them (Mk1s at least), but hen's teeth and non available from anywhere - you'll have to get yours rechromed.

Sadly after fifty years or so there's often no way of knowing what's been changed by a PO. Best thing is to go by the carb, identify the model and buy the part that it requires, rather than the car. any photos of it?

Just been spraying for the last two hours with a HVLP system; a cheapie Sealey setup (HVLP2000 600w) which cost me less than £40 new including delivery from the Bay, but it's a real joy to use. I can't get used to how little paint it uses; you think it's nearly empty, open the container, and it's still half full. It sprays so little paint that it's difficult to get sags or runs unless you hold the gun too long in one place. Perfect for building up fine coats.

Someone on eBay at present selling rubber sump gaskets. Says they're 'refurbished'... refurbished what? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-HERALD-SPITFIRE-NEW-HEAVY-DUTY-PERFORATED-RUBBER-SUMP-GASKET-1958-ON/124047072067?hash=item1ce1c81b43%3Ag%3AQfgAAOSw5eBccISh&LH_ItemCondition=4

Awwww that's one of my illusions shattered. I half expected someone with an awfly-awfly accent talking about the various parts and pointing at a diagram with a very long cane. I have the books but not the films, and will be using the body section shortly to put a Herald back on the chassis. Or would be if this lockdown thing would blow over.

My early 1200 engine before I stripped it down...

Boiling it in washing powder does very little, so one more old wives garage-tip debunked... maybe I should have tried a full 60 degree wash cycle but for some reason, 'er indoors wouldn't let me.

Last one I renovated was solid, nothing would budge it, so had to very gently and gradually push the piston back in with a 2-legged puller! However every new bit of cylinder that was uncovered was cleaned and lubricated until eventually it wouldn't go back any further. I then stood it in a vice with the puller removed, filled it with WD40, and left it overnight. When I came back in next day the piston was sitting out of the cylinder. Unfortunately that used my last NOS cylinder spring - are they available anywhere?

We're getting close to superstar status here! They're not the Training Manual films are they? Those are the Holy Grail of Heralds as I've never seen them, and would love to watch.

I repainted the underside of the Herald wheelarches in Triumph White a few days ago; this was just over grey primer but it took an entire rattle can per side, built up in fine coats. Still a bit dull, I'll flat and polish it up but it'll be behind the rear wheels so not really noticeable. A bonnet or other body panels would be a different matter and will take a lot of cans. (I bought three tins of Code 19 from the TSSC in 1995... and just used two of them; the third will touch up the suspension turrets next week. They lasted well!)

I'd assume from past experience that it's the large c-shaped chrome / stainless cover that seems to cause a lot of bother?

I changed Herald guides recently, and to be honest the basic steel guides were the best, given the mileage I'll be doing, so if you're buying replacements consider the use your engine will be getting before you waste money on the bronze or even stainless versions.