Colin Lindsay

I've been thrown a bit of a curveball in that the engineer who was to do my block work has had a close family member taken ill - it's going to be a long term thing so they're not taking in any new work as of now. The other company I'm now looking at - Comiskey Engineering, Portadown http://www.comiskeyengineeringworks.com/services/ have quoted me £200 to bore the Herald engine block BUT - when they offered to supply pistons and rings, and I mentioned that I had NOS originals, they informed me that the price would be higher if I used my own. I've no idea why, but if they supply pistons and rings the price for boring is lower but then they add the cost of the other bits; if I supply my own their price goes up. They'll only give me a final price once I commit to bringing them the block. It's a bit of a Catch 22. I don't want a full rebuild that will end up costing me more than a short block bought off a supplier, but then it's the original engine, which I want to keep with the car, and if the Engineers are going to quibble I'll end up getting crank etc all done at their demand, so it will balloon.

At 6'4 and 16 stone I find the GT6 a tight squeeze, especially to get out of after a long run. No problem whilst driving but I sometimes fall out onto the ground after some distance. For ease of getting in and out I'd stick with the Vitesse / Herald camp, I've had no problems in or out (or whilst driving) saloons.

The line in that ad: "Does not wrinkle when cold" is very accurate; I used some on a rocker cover ten or so years back and ne'er a wrinkle did I see. You need a warm dry area in which to spray for the proper effect.

THAT'S because it's NOT the bolt I was thinking of - when the OP stated it held the back plate on, then I assumed it was one of the four small bolts that held the brake backplate to the vertical link, as in early Heralds (and indeed I the TR7 I'm currently working on). This was cleared up in later posts (when Ian posted a photo), that it's a through-bolt to the steering arm. So you're correct that I wouldn't use stainless in this application.

Oh Gawd... I'll get it for you.

You're right! As I said, I couldn't tell the differences from the photos... apologies to the OP but glad it's cleared up.

Plenty of those round here... If that's just a bolt seized in the arm, not into threads, then plenty of heat and try to drive it out. Is there much left to play with?

Sometimes an attempt at humour is just wasted. I was intending to make the point that he had based his replica on a wrecked vehicle... and built it to an 'after' state rather than a 'before'... Think about it. I'll hide back in my corner again... whose round is it?

That Prison regime works every time!! HMP Porridge!

If it's a Vitesse and it's the bolt I'm thinking of, that holds a backplate like the one in the illustration then there are four, same as the GT6, that screw into the vertical link unless Pete and I are thinking of entirely different bolts? It's threaded so drill out very carefully and retap, but you can replace with anything including good stainless - they're not structural; remember to use a lock-washer on each.

Rimmers show two different part numbers: 807136 and 811676, so there must be a difference even if quite small. Mk3 is the lower in the photo below but any differences must be minimal as I can't tell from the photos! Canleys are the same and there is a price of a tenner between the two - MK1 / 2 being higher - so that definitely points to differences.

It's the look he was trying to copy, but could only afford a Spitfire to start with. He almost got the wheels right.

+1 on that; I have a pile of old carry-out containers - the plastic ones with lids - all sitting in a corner from my Herald engine rebuild, and labelled with black marker, otherwise I'd never remember where all the bolts go. Plus - take lots of photos if you can. Even remembering how little brackets fit, or if they go on the fourth bolt along, rather than the third, makes things a lot easier.

It's a 200litre Sip Airmate, runs on a 13 amp plug too. more than enough air for anything, it could fuel the UK's inflation.

I thought maybe given the boat in the background it was a very small life jacket...

I'm on my second cabinet; the first I built back in the late 1990s but had a chance to buy a professional cabinet a few years ago and switched to that. It was being replaced as part of a tax dodge by a local firm so sold off very cheaply. I find the gun is the most important part; mine cost me about £80 but is a professional blast gun - there's no trigger, it's meant to be run from a footpedal - which I do have but never use. It's pointless under 100psi but get to about 120 or 130 and the paint just flies off - hence the problem with the compressor not reaching proper pressure. It's a large compressor so it keeps running and in fact fills faster than the gun can empty it. As you can see it makes short work of metal bits - l all I need is some good music on headphones to drown out the compressor and the time flies by.

I've found the car it was based on...

Nice looking job but I have to tell you - that halfshaft does NOT go there...

Morning team, must add my bit to the thread, just to update or clarify a few things since Pete has resurrected it again! The compressor has been working well since I shortened the wiring and cleaned up the contacts; there's no longer any heat given off in the thermal cutoff box so that appears to have sorted that problem out. Grateful thanks to John and Iain. The fuse-blowing on startup was cured by a thinner oil; not SIP compressor oil any more, which regularly blew the 13amp fuse on cold startup, but now I'm using standard 30w engine oil. How this affects the piston and block remains to be seen but it's running away nicely and I have not had to replace the fuse in an age. The most recent problem was the lack of restart when pressure dropped; this was cured within the last few days by the fitting of a new pressure switch - the old one being of poor manufacture meant that it cutoff alright, but when the pressure dropped the copper contacts were sticking in the open position and not returning to closed. Initially it could be cured by teaching it manners in the shape of a rubber hammer but then it progressed to manual resetting with a screwdriver very time, and finally total failure. I bought a replacement for £12 on Monday, of far superior quality even from visual inspection, and it's been working well ever since. I had another mammoth two-hour sandblasting session yesterday - bellhousings, suspension wishbones and heater boxes, and it's been running perfectly. Reference starting against pressure: I drain it after use every time, the amount of water that comes out is amazing and many times on startup I let the air drain out of the drain tap before closing it, but even by itself, with the drain tap closed, it will hiss for some time before pressure snaps the automatic pressure release closed and it builds up pressure as normal. This is perfectly normal and shows it's now working as it should - for which I'm grateful as between the sandblaster and impact wrench it gets a lot of use.

He's right!! Give that man a cigar!

Early Spitfires used the same pattern of wheel as the Herald; from the 1300 Mkiv onwards they used the Dunlop oval hole versions. I don't know if the oval holed versions were any different during their manufacture, other than the width eg 3.5J, 4.5J etc but you'll find people these days selling TR7 wheels as 'rectangular slot' Spitfire wheels.

Aw... nightmare!! Hope all okay. Happened to me back in 1998, lost all the electrical equipment in the house but in my case it had two happy endings (for me at least.) I hope it's all working out in the aftermath, but it's a really unpleasant experience. The GT6 will indeed be low priority but at least something to take you mind off everything else.

Surely he'd be okay with rubber boots on?

I had a Renault Laguna once, the tyres were so low profile that everytime you hit a pothole they just went flat. I hated them, as it was usually on the way home from work in the dark. More than once I drove the last few miles on a flat tyre. I've just changed cars and the last Mondeo had lower profile tyres on standard alloy wheels; the handling was dreadful and my wife refused to drive it. The current one has taller tyres on exactly the same style of alloy wheel and the car is much less wandery and responds much better to the road surface. That could be down to a lot of things, I suppose, but the different tyres have certainly helped.

True, on any system. However I don't think the aerial connection will burn my car down because I soldered it, nor the wire to the steering wheel control. The red and yellow power cables are bullet-connectors inside a plastic sheath, and fused. (I've just remembered that I soldered the speakers in the Tr7 too.) It's not a one-size-fits-all solution; there are wires that can be safely soldered, and some that can't.