Colin Lindsay

Not sure if you mean washers in addition to rubber or canvas mounting pads, Pete. Even after nearly three decades of Herald ownership I'm still confused at to what goes where. Some suppliers supply two metal pads (aluminium) with the kits and I've been told that solid mounts - with NO rubber pads - were used only on the two points above the diff and then possibly only on early cars (I still can't find the definitive answer to that); but some others have stated that the front outrigger pads must be solid and not rubber - this I think is incorrect for the Herald - might be correct for Spitfire? - but hard to confirm. All others were canvas / rubber mounting pads with additional metal shims to space the gaps.The shims differ in thickness and are used for adjustment; the mounting pads are all the same thickness. The WSM states that pads are 1/4 inch thick but in some cases - and it doesn't say why - two pads of 1/8 inch thick are used, but it does not say exactly where they go, and the Service Training Notes make no mention of them at all! I haven't managed to find a good illustration showing the pads - bolts and washers, yes, but not the pads.

Make sure he's a good friend that can laugh when you bring him back a handful of bits. In my experience three legged pullers (or two legged too) rarely exert enough pull, especially on a hub, before something goes bang - and I'm the King of cheapie three legged autojumble-stall puller buyers. Good quality ones are a different matter, but cost accordingly.

Ah got ya now. Not the spindle but the flat surfaces. Carry on!

I'd expect it would require a rebush; surely if you grind either the body or tube you'll create a bigger gap?

This is Ulster / Northern Ireland, Pete! There has to be a long and protracted conversation before any negotiating is done... anyone who gets straight to the point is suspect. I've spoken to a few people over the weekend in the course of conversations and they've all - without exception - recommended the family I was going to (and they are a family - father and two sons both in the business) but that's no longer an option; at least, not for the foreseeable future. Comiskey's was represented by a fairly elderly gentleman (apologies!! He may just have had a hard paper round) who was grinding a massive crank on a lathe as we spoke - he knew what he was talking about and I know I'll get a proper job from them. But it's like the old song: the pistons connected to the con rod... the con rods connected to the crankshaft... and so on. If they do the block and supply pistons, will they quibble if I use the same big ends, and if I get those reground, will they now need to do the crankshaft too? I'm on a budget here and yes it would be nice to drop the entire engine over to them and say: 'work away' but at what final price? I need something to aim for, or to decide that £2000 worth of engine work in a £1000 car is a bit disproportionate...

Can't they just push a plastic liner down the inside these days? It would be a lot less bother and the cast iron outer would help protect against errant drills etc... just a thought, ignoring tradition, current procedures and common sense of course.

True. I'll happily replace the bigger bearings - axles and pinion, plus oil seals - but even there, setting the preload is something I'll take to someone else once the unit is reassembled. I know it's not a reconditioning by any means but often it's only an oil leak that's the bother; no whining or other strange noises mean I'm happy to soldier on for another few thousand miles. When my GT6 was last on the road there was a clonk on taking up the drive and especially when reversing; it's not diff internals, but probably either mountings - gearbox or diff - or UJs, which have now been in almost 20 years. Modern mountings are very soft and seem to need replacing quite often.

If you've got the room to have parts sitting for a while, lay them out in the order they were removed and mark accordingly; this is the top of an old washing machine and I can write on it with black marker as the parts are removed, and indicate the order in which they go. Helps a fading memory very well!

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...