Colin Lindsay

That's why I was being cagey and not committing myself that Imperial UNF fittings were definitely required!

These are the pistons from the later 1967 engine; the early ones are still in the block until work progresses that far. These are the ones that I need to replace more urgently once block boring work is complete. If, as Dan says, I can use later pistons on all then that sounds good; if they were strengthened to reflect the power increase caused by the other modifications that they should in theory be suitable for all whereas the earlier pistons won't last in the newer engines. Makes sense. The interesting thing is that one seller selling sets of Hepolites on eBay has two sets for Herald and Spitfire, one early and one late, but yet he is showing the same label for each sale; earlies are £80 and lates are £60 for the set - see the lower pic for what they look like boxed. It's a substantial saving over what the engine-work companies are charging me if they supply, but only if they'll fit a GA229***HE block. The earlier block is GA119***HE which going by Pete's post would be split skirt, but I now assuming can be changed to solid easily enough?

I've just ordered two sets of these from Nigel; red for the Estate and black for the convertible and he had them manufactured almost immediately. I'll have to road test them to see how the sound quality stands; as I have already two door speakers in the convertible I'll use these more as bass woofers to resonate back from the bodywork behind - effectively it means that I can have four speakers for the CD player but all in front, none behind. Incidentally I also found a speaker unit fitted to a Herald when looking for something totally different, as always happens. You can see how snugly it fits but it also gets in the way of the heater ducts...

Remember those are metric ends, so you may have to source Imperial versions. I bought 25 feet of Kunifer pipe recently for £14, more than enough for a car. (I see the price has gone up in this relisted product!) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-16-25-FT-LONG-CUPRO-NICKEL-KUNIFER-BRAKE-FUEL-PIPE-ROLL-25FT-BS-EN12449/271597859816?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 If you're only doing one car or just a couple of pipes it's probably most cost-effective to get someone to do it all for you or buy a ready-made pipe; if you want to try it yourself you'll need pipe, bending and flaring tools. Brake pipe benders are quite a variation; I bought the small club-supplied version but find it fiddly and sometimes prone to kink pipes, however the larger type I also use (£13 - 15) does not provide tight bends, plus you need to think ahead as to where you want the actual bend to be - bend at that spot and the large radius actually means the bend will be an inch away from where you require it, so it takes a little bit of practice to have the pipe at the right spot so that you know the bend will end up exactly where you need it. Flaring tools also vary; I used to use the hand-held version (£36 approx) however at a show a few years back I bought one of the professional vice-mounted flaring tools and it's a real doddle. Perfect flares every time, as Uncle Ben would say, cost me £40 second-hand, but it has really paid for itself ever since. Tot the price up - pipes, flaring and bending tools work out at about £65, less if you go for the cheaper items, and with a little bit of practice you've acquired a skill. With copper-only kits around £70 on eBay and over £80 from suppliers doing it yourself might not be much greater expense, plus you've always got the tools.

I'm working on two Herald engines at present, one from 1962 and one from 1967. I've already found substantial differences in the heads but whilst researching pistons I've found that some dealers will sell pistons as suitable for 1961 - 1965, and others as a one size fits all from 1961 - 1970. I've found hints of changes at GA80000 - prior to this is referred to by some as the 39bhp engine - whilst others will sell parts up to pre 1966 or post 1966. I'm nearly certain this only affects the head, which was redesigned regarding coolant flow etc. I'm keeping like for like regarding original heads with blocks, camshafts etc so it's only the lower end that's causing doubt. I can't find any reference of changes to the block or lower engine, but I just want to make sure before I commit to purchase; does anyone know if there were any changes that might affect the piston required?

Two that I came across earlier today:

We had a local radio channel test driving an electric car on Thursday; they started off with 167 miles range and by the time they had finished a 12 mile journey they had 177 miles range, thanks to regenerative braking recharging the battery. This appears to indicate that if you drive with the handbrake on the car never requires recharging. The biggest problem they had was arriving at a charging bay to find a car full of yobs eating burgers, who told them to f*** off when asked to move.

Ok so I meant the brake pipe end rather than olive. Early morning. Ate an olive once, it was like eating an eyeball. Never again.

Last time we drove in Greece our local driver kept up a constant litany of 'Oh my God! Oh my God!"which really impressed her. She also has a very bad habit on narrow country roads of coming to a complete stop everytime she meets an oncoming car, no matter how wide the road is, which means she gets an earful from me as well.

Drop it in boiling water; it should expand enough to get it over the pipe. Once on, unless it's an amazingly solid grip, the nut should move it fully into place when tightened. This is a problem I'm encountering more and more when suppliers try to mix metric and imperial fittings; with brakes for example the pipe is often the original 3/8 but the olive is metric so either so tight that it doesn't fit, or else so loose that it leaks.

Does she make dimples in the floor with her imaginary brake pedals? Mine has two phrases, closely linked - 'WATCH OUT!' at full volume followed by another phrase which usually starts 'Well, I thought...' as in 'Well, I thought he was coming out in front of us' or 'Well, I thought you hadn't seen him...'

Page three has the rear leaf spring eye bushes/ kit, bottom left, and one row above that to the right is the rectangular pad for inside the swing-spring mounting box. Stabilising arm I'm assuming that's what I call the rear radius arm, the kit is the one directly above the rectangular pad.

Last time I drove on the M6 I was too frightened to nod off. Over here the best device for keeping you awake is called the East European Driver. The other half also screams her head off if another car comes within half a mile, so I need to adjust her settings to a more reasonable distance.

Does it fit at any angle? They don't have to sit with the filter at the bottom; any quality anti-drain filter will allow a different angle with no detriment to oil flow. You can also use smaller oil filters; there's a thread on here somewhere about it.

It was actually removing the mechanical engine fan and replacing it with an electric version - one of the first Herald / Triumph-related books I bought back in the early 1990s claimed that you could boost engine power, between 5 and 8hp and maybe even greater, by this simple mod; never tried it myself, but I'm wondering how much truth was in it?

You've been on that other site again, haven't you?

It does make a change from someone trying to get £10000000000000000000 out of some African country or other and asking for your bank account details so they can give it all to you. We still have a lot of the on-line dating scams over here, where Brad Pitt talks some poor lonely woman into funding his air fares, travel insurance, bank debts and medical fees and then when she finally realises it's a scam and he looks like John D's avatar, he's gone. Some local women lost over £80,000 recently. Personally, if any potential partner costs more than a couple of drinks, they're not a good investment.

Oh, and another myth debunked - boiling them in soapy water or soap powder doesn't make any difference whatsoever.

Looks like the same way I do mine, kitchen sink and Fairy Liquid.

We've gone through two machines in four years due to door locks not opening. The water level sensor sends a signal to the door when the machine's empty, and when it fails the door won't open at all. I bought an old model off Gumtree for £80 and it worked superbly until some idiot put a hair bobble through it and broke the pump. Being the only short-haired one in the house it wasn't mine...

Coded speakers? Oh Lord not something else to go wrong... If they stole my car they'd probably return the CDs as completely useless to anyone else..

Found that once removed. The dash display shows everything, from a small model of the car which indicates lights, doors open etc and when the radio is on, station, or CD track and a lot of other detail, seven or eight drop-down menu selections. Once I removed the head unit it was all gone bar two. I like my music, and nothing annoys me more than some kind of sound imperfection that I can't fix. You just know it's wrong, but can do nothing about it!

Just make sure it does drop down under control, as it's quite a weight to get on the forehead if you're under it! As Mjit advocates, I too remove the propshaft from under the car, leaving just enough room under the car to get in and get access with spanners, one end at a time, then I could use my knees to support the weight and it drops out under control.

First thing I did, Ludwig, and amazingly I was able to do it quite simply with only small wiring connectors required! All four replaced and it made a massive difference to the muffled crackling that passed for sound when I bought it. I'd love to be able to add USB connectivity to it, as the jack input for iPods is terrible, and I have a lot of music on USB stick. Sadly I don't have the funds for one of those super duper double-din USB and Bluetooth players that might be easier to fit than my JVC.

I've given up on playing with modern cars... too many weird things. When I slow at junctions or traffic lights the wipers go from 'on' to 'intermittent' until I drive off again, and the sound from the radio fades as the engine revs drop, unless the eco setting is on and the engine stops altogether. I had to admit defeat when trying to connect a replacement head unit to the Mondeo - connect to bluetooth, connect to steering wheel controls, power for the ariels, Fakra adaptor, loom adaptor... then when it was finally in it wouldn't work at all so the original has gone back in and sod the sound quality, which is sadly quite poor. Apparently there's already a USB socket hidden behind the glovebox so I'll explore that for USB stick connectivity. It's getting positively scary. You no longer feel that you're in control; it's either the car or the manufacturer who decides things these days.