Colin Lindsay

A layer of air under the thermostat will delay opening, so the small hole is really just to get any residual air out without affecting the operation, and the jiggle pin keeps it clear of blockages. Re oil: Comma Oil is good, and cheaper than some, but check Tescos, which can often be a source of surprisingly cheap Castrol GTX.

I'd guess that it probably had them when new. They were an optional extra in early cars before becoming standard in 1962, so I'd hardly see anyone in 1965 asking for a non-bumpered Herald as that would make it look dated instead of brand new. The front and rear valences that they fit over rust out, or get damaged, and replacements are usually supplied without the bumpers, so that the owner can add them or leave off as required. These days unless you want full originality, it's your choice whether to fit them or not.

I had Lumax spots on the 948, sold the car and kept the spots! They'll go on my 1200. Eventually.

All depends on whether you want period, or late period.... 60s ones can be pricey but 70s versions are more common, usually because they're plastic rather than chrome. I presume you want round rather than rectangular? (BTW for anyone in that particular area, the Micklegate Antiques shop in York, beside Micklegate Newsagents, had a lovely set of rectangular spots, boxed and new, last time I was there in early November. He was closed as I passed so couldn't check price.)

You could probably keep the cap in place with a couple of heavy-duty cable ties; they'll stop it moving or lifting but obviously will require cutting off when you obtain the correct clips...

You're a star, Tony, go to the top of the class. Sadly that posting means they're not hen's teeth and worth £££££££s. Ah well, back to the grind.

Happened to my other half; even though she was parked and 40 miles away at the time! A car hit the rear of another car, which was pushed across the road and hit an oncoming car who tried to swerve out of the way and hit her parked car. It was as you say a nightmare to sort out, made worse by the fact that her renewal was heavily loaded due to this impending claim, and even when it was sorted we were still out over £800 through no fault of our own.

Should be good for concours, then.. Chris, if your gauge is about a third along, that's correct and where I like mine to be. Half is slightly hotter than I'd prefer and anything above half gets me worried. They don't call them worry gauges for nothing.

That's as close as I've seen so far. Sadly all my searches are spoiled by results for modern Minis, or else wildly alternative wheels and trims, not originals. "Why do you want to fit those boring things, I've got Carlos Fandango Super Wide Wheels" etc yawn yawn. 💤 My sister-in-law had a brown Clubman, I don't remember ever working on the wheels but did replace her car radio, with the result that the first time she switched it on, the car ground to a halt on the road. Oops....

Terrible stuff once it starts to go but there's no real alternative; I've not read of anyone trying to plastic coat it or rebuild the original covering. Many owners just remove it all and paint the bare metal underneath. Some day I'll experiment with different alternative coatings to see what looks good, but for the moment it's Magnolia Hammerite as a fairly close match to the original.

Are you sure it's not off-set? It's not usually by much, but makes a difference to the fit of the key. I had to nip out to the garage and grab a spare, possibly from a 6 cylinder so there may be a difference, but even with a very crude measurement it looked to be slightly under 2mm off-set. It is possible, and very easily too, to get the distributor 180 degrees out, even if you think it isn't. I trust yours is flush with the mounting? Top pic shows full mesh, lower pic shows 180 degrees out and so won't drop in properly to the drive. Try a 180 degree rotation of the rotor arm with the clamp fully released and then see if it drops down any further. Good or new O rings on the distributor can require a little bit of pressure before it drops fully into place; lubricate with a bit of engine oil to make things easier.

Yep solder cracks, crimps get moisture, it's like Brexit, some are for, some against, so I'll just got for both. The heat of the solder will drive the moisture out of the crimp. Belt and braces. It also looks quite pretty when it drips onto rubber mats and makes a lovely silver splash, like a shiny snowflake...

Is it large enough to cover all my... eventualities?

I've just found that out of the total of 14 about six have a BL logo on the underside of the cap. I'm assuming the wheelnuts held on some kind of centre plastic trim, as in the Dolomite, and then the cap went over the nut, but am no further on so far.

I think I'll solder and crimp them, both, so that whichever one fails I've always got the other to fall back on.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Portable-Car-Heater-2-in-1-12V-Cars-Heating-Machine-Defroster-Demister-Q5T5/183463010423?hash=item2ab73f6077:g:khsAAOSwx5hbrjtg Might be a cheaper option, especially if you have a 12v socket; if not a couple of crocodile clips and cables to the battery might work as well....

These are open both ends so not strictly domed, if I understand the name correctly. One end is circular and curved / domed so that's the end that fits into the wheel; the other is flat but six-sided and threaded right through. I must try them on a Herald stud to see if they're the same size and thread.

JohnD, one for you?

The search goes on, then... no idea what car they came from, yes I had a 948 Mini City back in around 1982 but don't remember ever touching the wheels. Too many other things were wrong with it.

Most of the coloured ones are an 800 x 600 gif image and very fuzzy; however I've found a good semi-coloured one in 1600 x 1237 downloaded from a site called readyjetset.co - that's all there is and the domain appears to be unregistered, so no attached or linked site, but the image came up under a Bing search and is downloadable. It's a lot clearer than the workshop manual version. Now THIS one is interesting as it shows a double green connection to the brake switch, which the black and white one does not: So: THAT might just be the unattached green double connection that I found earlier. I'm going to study it over a few coffees and see where my other unattached wires may be missing from. As for fuses: haven't even got that far yet! I suspect I may be adding a few additional ones for safety reasons, and probably relays too - there seems to be a lot of heat from the headlamp switch.

Now more electrickery! The double green cable remains unidentified as yet, but I've found another errant and unconnected one, this time bearing the marks of excessive heat damage. Is this the missing green / slate cable? It's been cut and replaced (crimped bullets! - top centre of middle pic) so we'll see what it does once the battery is connected. I've also found a spare blue and white cable hanging free behind the dash (centre left of middle pic) - I thought this colour coding was for lighting? There's also evidence of great heat above the ignition barrel, where the headlamp flasher and control lever are, but no sign of damage to the cables themselves.

Hi all; anyone recognise these wheelnuts? I have sixteen, curved at one end and flat at the other, all with a plastic washer and there are also 14 plastic covers. I thought they were Triumph Dolomite from a 1500 I broke back in the early 1990s but now am not so sure. Anyone recognise them?

When I converted the MK1 GT6 to swing spring I used a 1500 Spitfire spring, which was woeful. Bottomed out far too easily. I bought a NOS late GT6 swing spring from Chic Doig and it was an entire transformation, despite being far thinner and straighter than the hefty curved 1500 version, so looks are very definitely deceptive.

Well you should, it's worth showing off! That's a really really nice place to work. The car is going to look good too!

It appeared quite long in the photo, I was wondering if Pete was just going to bend it 90 degrees and insert it straight into the pump.