Colin Lindsay

I remember confusing someone a few years ago by asking how Beetle owners flushed their radiator when their engine used no water...

Wooden steering wheel! It had always transmitted road noise straight through my fingers, however, the difference was amazing when the solid joint was fitted and became really uncomfortable, so even with a replacement padded wheel I still went back to the old joint. I have one or two NOS ones bought from Stoneleigh over the years to fit when the current ones fail.

I used the solid joint once and went straight back to the original. Sometimes I find that retailers extol the virtues of replacement parts over the originals simply because it's what they sell. Too much road noise and vibration transferred up the column. Keep your eye on eBay or specialist suppliers like Mick Dolphin for an original replacement.

Remove the spark plug and push a length of rope into the chamber while the piston is at the lowest point - feed it in until the chamber is full then turn the engine over. This may help push the head up and off while damaging nothing.

Wing nuts are a good idea, never thought of that!!

Put a grille in the wall opposite the doors, the air will blow straight through taking the moisture with it. One of those sealable ones means you can open or close the vent as required.

The wiper motor is permanently live, with the current broken by the park mechanism or the switch. Even if you wire it back to front - as I've done - this melted the loom and the motor was ok afterwards. I'd be surprised if merely reconnecting it while switched on has caused any serious damage; it may be just the mechanism sticking, especially the wiper cable mechanism which can sometimes stick at a point where it doesn't want to go backwards or forwards. Remove the motor from the wiper assembly and make sure the wipers themselves are moving smoothly under hand pressure. Once you get them moving freely again the motor might just start to work normally.

I haven't read it in years but always felt that eventually they were going to run out of material... I never thought that meant the actual paper! (and Lord I remember Izal bog paper... forerunner to Teflon I think.)

You can still find radio pods / consoles on eBay, if a good period 1960 / 1970s one comes up they look the part. Mini ones are quite easy to find and have good supports attached for mounting to the underside of the dash: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Classic-mini-black-under-dash-radio-housing-genuine-rover-/182022609893?hash=item2a61649be5:g:0mkAAOSwDuJWvms8 You can also find stainless steel, brushed steel or black modern versions available on eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Herald-or-Vitesse-Black-Modern-CD-Radio-Twin-gauge-Mounting-Console-/161976868258?hash=item25b692dda2:g:qJ0AAMXQH-pRBluD

I'm just about to try cleaning a modern matrix that blows warm air to the screen but cold (freezing!!) air to the feet... I suspect the lower half of the matrix is full of crud. Flaps are working as you can feel the air to the feet stop when switched to screen. Flusher hasn't improved anything so it's the long thin wire approach next. If the Herald heater isn't working I'll agree it's a blockage of some sort, start with the valve, work along the pipes and finally try the matrix.

Never mind the spring or the spring buttons, I need the clamps and bolts that hold them all together... are these readily available for Herald springs?

You can buy shrouds for the front, to direct more air through the radiator core. One for the fan might be interesting, it would protect the fingers when running but no idea if it would be more efficient or not... you wouldn't want to block any air from the core as you'd cancel out any cooling gains made by channelling more air through the restricted space. If the air is being drawn through the core you want it to escape readily, so any shroud would need to allow a good flow of air once it's cleared the fan.

That's why I sold my first Spitfire and bought a GT6..... the roof keeps the rain off better than the hood did. I don't recognise that Herald, but am wondering if it's around the Richhill / Aghorey area - I was contacted a while ago by a man who had bought a Herald, but I couldn't find his house to check it out... Has the price dropped? Now £1995.. but I trust the debris around the front wheels is leaves, and not masses of rust from the arches....

The saloon flywheels and GT6 flywheels are different in weight; I used a saloon one in my GT6 for some years and it made the engine a lot smoother. I still have it but sadly carriage to you would be horrendous, otherwise you're welcome to it.

Love clear headlamps on the GT6 although for shows I might retain the original units on my Herald - just to please the anoraks! I also recently used a Meguiars headlamp cleaning kit on headlamps on a Renault clio and a Hyundai where the plastic had become opaque and the transformation was amazing - you don't realise how much cloudy plastic dims the beam until you clean it off.

Heralds started with the twin-bulb lenses; for a time, around 1961 they changed to small single bulb lenses - probably to appeal to the American market. They went back to the twin-bulb lamps again, I think around 1962. You could buy adaptor plates to change early to late and late to early depending on your preference. I have both peaked and rounded lenses and if it wasn't raining so hard I'd nip out to the garage and try to confirm part numbers from the boxes. The small single lens is the same as GT6 late-model MK2 and Jaguar reversing lights.

It's to do with the legality of posting things against traders, no matter how right you are. Unless we're talking about the result of a successful Court case for fraud or other criminal act, it boils down to opinion and therefore libel, and the trader can sue the club for allowing it to be publicly available on the club website. So: the club is already in the 21st Century and abiding by the law. By the way - in the last week alone I've bought items from two eBay traders who had to refund my money due to not having the item in the first place, but presumably sourcing it from suppliers once it had been purchased, and failing. Its not good practice.

Which car?

http://betterparts.org/photo/triumph-herald-1360-14.html I couldn't be bothered joining up to correct them. Still a good looking car by any standards though.

There should be a long spring from the arm to the front outrigger of the chassis.... possibly two, one long and one short. If yours is missing or lost tension this may explain why the pedal rocks about.

Hasn't happened to me, other than when I clear all the cookies from my computer and have to re-sign in. (NEVER use Triavago, Trip Advisor or any air line site without clearing cookies afterwards - the amount of junk mail is unbelievable.) Do you have some sort of anti-virus or other cleaning program running that deletes or doesn't accept cookies? If so you might want to mark the TSSC ones for saving rather than deleting.

It's fairly obvious - to me at least - that whoever dropped this, threw it or otherwise abused the package must have known; that would take a fairly solid impact. If it left you in good condition I'd assume - and again it's an assumption on my part - that you'd have a good case against the carrier; it's up to them to show that packaging was inadequate and in order to do that a) they'll have to admit that they damaged it and it looks like a substantial impact, not really the due care and attention of parcels that you'd expect. Sadly with two carriers involved it may be far from simple. It's also pretty poor work, as jamesdennison says, for a refurbishment company to work on a head with that sort of damage and not point it out to you or the club - what's the point of refurbishing a head that can't be used due to other damage? The good news appears to be that that's repairable - get a quote for repairs and then weigh that against the cost of a replacement s/h head from someone like Chic Doig. I have two axles to post on Monday and am in the process of trying to find packaging that will keep them safe but won't weigh more than the parts themselves...

I don't know what size of feet you have, Pete, but none of my socks will double as an outdoor cover.

I'd use it. If it's not needed, then it's superfluous - belt and braces type of thing. If it's needed - then it's already there and helping avoid damage. As JohnD says, for the sake of the price of a tin compared to the price of potential engine damage or wear...

I use a trolley jack at the intersection of the side outriggers and main rails; a flat rubber or wooden pad protects the paint and spreads the load. I wouldn't try to jack at the outer end of the outrigger i.e. the mounting bolt point; this is just personal choice but I find the outrigger prone to bend or distort if you use an aftermarket jack - if you have an original then by all means use the factory-recommended point. Remember to use axle stands for any kind of prolonged work or and under-car work. Mine always seems to spend so much time up on jacks these days!