Colin Lindsay

Different vertical links for early and late models, but the early ones used the same upright for drum or disc brakes. I think the actual steering arm is the same size in both. I can't find any difference in steering racks, the track certainly differed between 48 and 49 inches but none of the manuals I have make any reference to different sizes, procedures or fitting - I'm wondering is this new rack has been built up using the spec from another model, and no-one has informed the vendor / manufacturer? It wouldn't be the first component manufactured incorrectly but no-one ever told the maker, and oftimes they're glad to be told so they can correct their assembly.

Not to mention when it freezes into solid ice whilst draining, so stops hissing... just until the cat goes over to explore then it goes bang again with an almighty hiss and the poor cat leaps up to the roof. I must admit to forgetting to drain the compressor for a few days or so, and the water build-up is amazing. (Just ran out and drained it after this morning's work!)

T D Fitchett sell rear overriders on eBay, I presume pressed on the original tooling, £75 each £9 postage "never been fitted, OE part". There's also a company called 'Chromeworld' selling what I presume are rechromed versions, but the wording of the ad "Real nice" puts me off. I think my boot carpet was Newtown Commercial so yes £75 +. Another option for the boot mat is to buy one of the large luggage-area rubber mats, about £15, and trim to size, but obviously not carpet. That eBay handle looks correct, Herald versions are very plain with no embossing or other embellishment, such as the Morris Minor has, but that one is the same shape as three of mine.

A little bit of info on spring types and rates per model:

Most Heralds were 130, very late ones were 160 as the number of wheelbox teeth changed too.

They're been recommended for years and they do work, but pressure is not required as you don't have to use the grease nipple for fluid oil. Any cheap oil can will fill a trunnion to sufficient pressure where the oil comes out the top of the rubber boot; my £1 oil can works just as well. trunnion.mov

As we say locally: fill us in! I always like to hear about different makes of old car, there's actually a thread for non-Triumph cars on the forum. It helps us realise we're not alone when it comes to car problems and they're not all just Triumphs.

Propshaft bolts fit mine, the perfect length of unthreaded shank when used with washers. I've replaced the driver's seat with the passenger side (which I suspect was the original mix-up) and it's a perfect alignment, and very supportive, even without rubber blocks to raise the rear. I'd forgotten the extra rearward movement in the saloon as opposed to the convertible. I'll get out later and replace what is now the passenger seat, and see how that lines up with the rails and if the sole surviving clip keeps things properly situated.

They usually fail at low speeds anyway, when there's more pressure on the trunnion during low-speed cornering, for example. As the gang have posted, go for good parts from a trusted supplier, it's worth the peace of mind, and don't go for an expensive oil gun to refill the trunnions, that's a waste of money.

My local bodyshop made me an offer of full respray of the 13/60 for £2000, that was just a rub-down and respray of existing paint plus treatment of any paintwork requiring filling or tidying, no bodywork. I politely declined - didn't completely refuse - but there is work needed to some areas before I consider the paint, and as I'd just rebuilt a few bits and added the interior trim I didn't want to undo it all again.

That sounds logical; I'm replacing seat frames that have been out of the car for twenty years and while they both have the twin-hole mounting points for the clamps I can't remember if they both had them actually fitted, back in the day. Some of the mounting frames are substantially different, too, so apart from the very early versions, with the black knob on the adjuster, I'm trying to keep things functional rather than original and get the seats to a useable spot. If I'm fitting them correctly and the adjuster handle should be to the inside ie closest to the tunnel then my 13/60 driver's side has a clip fitted, which causes more confusion...

My problem being tall is getting my legs under the wheel, so I'll drop the front of the seat but have started to wonder how the seats clip into place if I use the adjustable rubber blocks - at the highest setting, to raise the rear of the seat to the highest point, the rail will be out of the clamp altogether. As usual I'm thinking out loud here before investigating possibilities in the garage, as to be honest there should be NO lateral movement at all so I suspect either wear or too-small bolts which are allowing the rails to pivot where they shouldn't. I'll know when I get the seats out, but the notion of the clamp not actually reaching the rail at highest setting came to me whilst reading the posts.

That's very possible, given that I may want to raise the rear of the seat off the rail. Good idea!! That's started a whole train of thought, especially around fitting them to a thicker mounting plate than original. Thanks!

I'd experiment with threading the hole, maybe drill it out slightly and tap it, and thread a small threaded pipe attachment in. There's bound to be a small threaded attachment available somewhere that's the correct size.

I've come to realise that modern pumps are really only service items - replace every two years or so! In an attempt to make things last I had three of the early pumps refurbished, new bearings and seals professionally fitted, but the first one I used (about a year after they had been returned as fully reconditioned) leaked almost immediately, and so I didn't even try the other two.

I use different suppliers depending on the availability of the part I require, but prices really do vary; one part I bought recently - a brass blanking plug - ranged from £23 down to £4, and it was just a simple part. I do prefer Paddocks though, have detoured a few times whilst passing Chester to collect items and if I'm not in the area, their postage rates are very good - sometimes 24 hour delivery from time of order which is amazing and always appreciated. Some suppliers try to impose huge tariffs for what they claim to be 'International' postage, or else just won't supply at all, even parts they're selling on eBay. Canleys are a close second, with body panels usually ordered from T D Fitchett.

Why not blue? Just asking!

Me too. I think more than a few owners have fitted twin exhausts then realised it's not what they actually wanted. It all depends on your intended use but you may find that it's not only the neighbours and pedestrians who suffer but the driver and passengers too, and the drive becomes less than pleasant.

Dream Car Fixers fitted theirs surprisingly easily (well edited, maybe??) but what surprised me was that they used Impact Adhesive to stick the front to the header rail, then announced they'd return next morning to further tension the material. I thought that once attached it could not be repositioned after so long a time? They also didn't show the fitting of the material around the side seals over the door glass but if I inspect the old hood as it's removed I may be able to replicate the fitting. Thankfully I have a spare hood still on an old frame so have two to use as reference as well as pilfering any parts that might be needed. The PVC hood is for the 'everyday' 13/60, the mohair will be kept for the 1200 convertible as more deserving of the better quality.

Can't find it in any of my manuals. That's given me a challenge for a Saturday evening!

When I had my TR7 I remember being told they didn't require maintenance so none listed! Even the Restoration Guide I bought shows maintenance to the rack, including greasing the rubbers, and doesn't mention one. However I think the manual says to replace the blanking plug with a 'suitable' grease nipple and from a quick Internet search I think that's a 3/8 UNF thread. Can't find a part number anywhere, though.

Well, still not much on-going in the garage; (Not on the Heralds anyway, replaced the exhaust on the BMW, undersealed the Freelander and Fiesta both with oil changes on both as well) but in true Lindsay style I've gone backwards a bit, but hopefully not too much. The gearbox was refurbished by me a few years back; new bearings, seals and gaskets but all looking ok visually, so left alone. Now: on replacing the rear extension I couldn't get it to meet the main casing, there being a quarter-inch gap that would not close up. If I used force, it pushed the rear seal out of the end again. Eventually by dint of slightly different force I got it to fit but the front bearing was now sitting proud of the casing. A few gentle taps of a mallet got that back in... as for the cause: no idea. As for any damage caused inside... well only a running gearbox will tell for sure, and this gearbox has not run. I may be overthinking it a bit, there may be no problem, but only driving will tell. Thus the intention was to get the Herald running and to test the gearbox before the interior trim was replaced. Photos in the last post show the carpet loosely fitted over a loosely fitted tunnel cover; sadly I got carried away and fitted the tunnel cover permanently, followed by the remains of the carpet. This is a plastic-type cover, very well made and heavily insulated underneath. Fitted first time, too, no faffing about lining holes up. The gearlever gaiter is new too. Once that went in, back goes the carpet, and then the footwell carpets which are held in place by the front seat-rail bolts and the accelerator pedal. Again I was surprised at how easily the carpet fitted, (once I had realised I was fitting it back to front and the round hole was actually for the steering column) but it's a good carpet from Coverdale so eventually only slight trimming will be needed round the outer edges at the carpet strips and door seals. After that, a few ancillaries required fixing and fettling - I secured the fuse box in place, cleaned up various cables, and even managed to find the bracket for the trip-meter reset cable, which sadly screwed into place at an angle and despite the fact that no-one will ever see it, I know it's there. The long trim under the dash was also fitted and again amazingly fitted quite easily. I still cannot resist playing with the screenwashers, the only part that works with no battery fitted, and it's childish but fun, even if it does spray the back seat due to no screen actually being fitted. The dashboard is now complete, and I must admit it all looks so clean and new, with the 'correct' estate speedometer fitted and cleaned. Next logical step was to fit the final seat, the driver's seat. It's been stored for some years and sadly has not stored well - part of it appears to have been in bright sunlight so there is a faded strip across the front edge, and a tear to the rear which I'll have professionally repaired very soon as a stop-gap to recovering in the future. Fitting is not as easy as it would seem: the steering wheel gets in the way, and the door aperture was never designed for broad shoulders squeezed in sideways. The seat repeatedly fell down, squashing my ear quite painfully or crushing my fingers - it should be a two-man job, but not in my house. Eventually I got it fitted - let's have a trial sit-down. Couldn't get my legs under the steering wheel, and when I did the seat suddenly collapsed backwards. I found this somewhat odd, as if the seat has slipped off the base rails onto the floor - and I was right. It had. This means it must be at an angle to the base... The photo shows just how much the driver's seat is out of line towards the B-post, and the big gap at the handbrake. I think there's a possibility that I've fitted the seats on the wrong side, but I don't know how much difference that would make. The seats are meant to be angled, so they tilt inwards when raised, but that's a bit extreme. I'll have to explore a bit more. I need to buy seatbelts - QuickfitSBS are not playing ball with on-line ordering, so I'll have to try to explain which clips and brackets I require on which material, and there are two sets needed, one for the 13/60 in tan, with both having different fixings. I don't want them mixed up, or incorrectly made. I also need to make C-post seals, as original versions will not fit - the donor roof came from a 13/60 Estate back in the late 1990s, and the C-posts were badly rotted. I had them rebuilt, but the welder made them slightly too broad on the inner face; a nice, professional job but about 2mm too deep. I have three original NOS gaskets and they won't seat properly. If I can find rubber sheet of the correct thickness I'll make my own. That's all that's stopping me from refitting the roof and glass, bar having the interior complete so I don't have to squeeze inside under a roof for any other fiddly jobs. I bought estate side glass seals many years ago, here's hoping they're still fit to be used. I also made the mistake of watching 'Dream Car Fixers' last week, they replaced a Herald hood. I've both a mohair and a PVC hood stored away in boxes. How difficult can it be??? I'm tempted...

They're not all the same; mine was hard wired into the fuse box of the modern and has a red cable and yellow cable, one for permanent power and one for engine-controlled power; this was changed a while back (2016?) so that the original colours were now reversed and caused a bit of head scratching until I got it right. The cheapie version bought for another vehicle just plugs into the 12v power socket. Not had a USB-controlled one so far. Beware that some record audio and also ALL THE TIME so playback catches me talking to myself, swearing, singing and making comments on attractive pedestrians.

I've been messing about with fitting front seats in the Herald 1200 and I've found a lot of movement; possibly down to the fitting bolts being slightly smaller than intended - I thought 5/16 was fine, but the seat moved alarmingly once I sat in it and slipped off the rails at the rear. Fine tuning required but in the meantime I realised I'm missing the rail clamps from the runners. Anyone got any? Two preferred but more if available, for other seats in different cars. Might even take complete runners, early versions preferred. Colin

You could always have an under-slung radiator... improved cooling...