Bordfunker

If you are binning it anyway, I would simply cut it and remove it, as from experience on my Herald it’s a pain in the arse to get past the cable channels on the rear of the chassis. Karl

Bit of a hiatus in progress over the last month, as work on the car has been put to one side, due to my mother being diagnosed with cancer, so progress is likely to be slow over the next few months. Having said that I did manage to get into the garage this afternoon for a couple of hours, cleaning up the smaller brake components and reassembling the passenger side hub. The brake adjuster was siezed almost solid, so had to be soaked in Gunk, and then stripped and cleaned before reassembly. As were the springs and shoe retainers. So next I finally got around to attaching the hub to the passenger side driveshaft and backplate, first remembering to insert the new Woodruff key, and tuning over the locking tabs on the backplate retaining bolts. All of which went swimmingly, so I decided to add the flange bolts and new nylocs to both driveshafts, as much as a way of making sure I don't lose either! Remember this? It's the heater valve for the Delaney Gallay heater, which I have slowly been cleaning up ahead of refitting, and which is naturally bare metal and so will get a coat of clear lacquer before it is re-fitted to the heater. Karl

Tony, in the end I decided that I just couldn't leave it unpainted, so gave it a coat of FE123 rust stopper, followed by a quick blast of primer. As you can see I managed to remove one of the sets of jaws but not the other, the aim being to make masking easier. Next step will be a coat of Hammerite Smooth or something of a similar ilk. I'm not looking for pristine just tidy, as it will no doubt end up covered in scratches and scrapes. And this is the point at which the old vice had failed! Not pretty! As well as faffing around with the vices, both old and new, I cleaned all the old paint of the propshaft flange, masked it up, and primed and painted. Guess I better get on and order a new UJ from the club shop to replace the one I broke. Karl

Judging from the marks on mine, it certainly looks like it can be used as an anvil. Whether you are supposed to is a very different question! Karl

Fortunately the seller sent it via DPD's collections service, so I ended up collecting the vice from my local Sainsburys, but I did take pity on the poor woman behind the collections counter, and offered to get the package off the shelf for her given the weight! Since the last update I've managed to get nothing done on the car due to having to work most of the last 2 weekends, one of the joys of working in procurement at the end of a financial quarter, so the vice had sat in the garage since collection gathering dust. It didn't help that my modern, the C1, had developed an annoying rattle at certain revs, no doubt the result of a deep wading exercise on the M40 last week due to lanes 2 & 3 flooding to a depth of 6 inches during rush hour. So the first part of my afternoon was spent crawling around under the dimunitive Citroen looking for anything loose, which did at least uncover that I had a loose cover over the brake and fuel lines where they run under the front passenger seat area, which was probably the source of the rattle, and a blowing exhaust joint where the new back box had been fitted. The first I fixed with some cable ties, the second will need a return visit to Kwik-fit, as the clamp they have fitted looks to be the wrong size, and will never seal the joint properly! With that out of the way, I could finally lug the vice out of the garage and take a good look at my latest acquisition. A bit rusty, but everything moves nice and freely, and is certainly less notchy than my old Chinese vice. I started clean up with a selection of wire wheels and strip discs in a powerdrill. As expected, the rust was totally superficial, and came off over the next hour, leaving me with this. The handle still needs some work, but unsure if I will bother painting the vice, or just oil it up. to protect it. And that's where I left it for today. Tomorrow is Bicester Scramble, so a morning of classic cars in the lovely surrounds of a 1930's RAF base. Karl

Talking of vices, mine’s tall busty brunettes! Who said the 70’s were dead! Should have the Record 3 on Wednesday, all 11Kg of it! Which definitely will not go through the letterbox. Better warn Mrs B as I’ll be in London on Wednesday! Mark, that sounds a bit of a monster, but no doubt required on a fishing boat. Karl

I won! Another rusty piece of metal to clean up before I can use it, which will in turn allow me to clean multiple other pieces of rusty metal for eventual reuse. Tony, thanks for the direct. Karl

Tony, I’ve put a bid in for the one you flagged, as the price and postage are very reasonable. Fingers crossed as it only got 4 and a half hours left to run. Karl

Tony, that’s a good point, given my experience with ‘chineseum’ bearing splitter! Thanks for the link, as I’m a bit stuck without a vice. Karl

Thanks all, I think you are right re a roller being trapped under the bearing cup, as I now have half a roller, so assuming the other half was under the cup! I’m not surprised the vice has failed given the abuse it took while trying to remove the passenger side hub from the driveshaft, but looking on the MachineMart site they have some heavier duty ones that I can afford, so may well replace it with one of those. Karl

Today was supposed to see the last UJ installed in the propshaft, allowing me to pack it all up and put it away. Best laid plans and all that. I was trying to get the final bearing cap into position, as it just wasn't budging, so stuck it in the vice and applied pressure.... ....at which point the vice destroyed itself! OK, not the end of the world, time to break out the bearing remover, and set up my little rig. Finally the bearing cap shifted, moving down onto the UJ pivot, just a bit too much, and with a sickening crack! I probably should have removed the circlip on the opposing bearing cap, but figured it would only move until it met the restraining circlip! Whoops. This meant stripping down the UJ all over again, utilising the bearing remover jig again. The drive flange will need painting again after all the abuse, and the propshaft needs a few areas of touch up. Oh well, it's not as if I don't know what I'm doing now, that and looking for a new vice! Karl

Is that a euphemism for something Doug? I know things head south as we age, but holding them up with screws is extreme! I think I need to get myself a box of starlock circlips. I’m assuming I could get away with a pack of metric ones? Karl

Taking full advantage of the good weather today I sanded back the primer on the drive flange and propshaft, in preparation for a top coat of gloss black. Looks messy, but after a sand with 1200 grade wet and dry, and a coat of Halford's finest gloss black, I was left with this. I know, the rattlecan paint is shinier than the epoxy mastic, but given that this will be under the car I'm not going to stress about it. That lot will be left to harden off for week, before I fit the last remaining UJ to the front end of the propshaft, after which everything will get packaged up, and stowed away in the garage loft. I still need to finish off the heater assembly, which means painting the fan motor, which I did the other week, but wasn't happy about the finish, so set about sanding it back today. Before giving it another coat of primer. Next week it will get another flatting back, followed by a coat of gloss silver. With that done, I just need to source a circlip to go on the end of the motor shaft, and the heater can go back together. Karl

After last week's trials and tribulations, today went much more smoothly, starting off with fitting the UJ to the driveshaft. For Colin's benefit, this is how the UJ is supposed to be oriented. And the whole ensemble, including the diff drive flange went on without a fight, even the circlips. Note the grease niple blanking plug which I rescued from one of the discarded UJ's, however interestingly none of the other two UJs had a blanking screw fitted, which probably goes some way to explaining the lack of grease in these! With the hard bit done, I then set about rebuilding the hub on the other end of the driveshaft, which again proceeded without issue, leaving me with this. Note that the nuts attaching the backplate to the trunnion will be refitted with the correct locking tabs, once I have got around to ordering another one, as when I ordered them first time around, I forgot to order 2. D'oh! Grease nipple blanking plugs will also be part of that order, after which everything will get a few pumps with the grease gun, once I can find it that is! The propshaft got another coat of primer today ahead of a coat of gloss black tomorrow, but no pics as I figured we all know what primer looks like! Karl

Colin, the grease nipple needs to face away from the drive flange, as it’s the raised web that sits between the UJ knuckle that it fouls against. On the propshaft itself, the corresponding area is deeply dished so doesn’t have the same issue. Karl

My parcel from the club shop turned up this week, containing 3 new UJs, and a bearing rebuild kit for the passenger side driveshaft. I went with the standard UJs, which should be more than adequate for the limited power, and limited mileage of my Herald. Just so you can all remember what a UJ looks like! What you can't see in the picture above, is the bulge on the back of the UJ, where the grease nipple screws in, and which needs to be facing the right direction in order for the UJ to still move freely. Can you guess what I did? Yes, like a muppet I put it in the wrong way round, and the had to strip the joint again, which proved a pain in the posterior, as I ended up damaging my carefully applied paint in the process. I therefore had to clean up the damaged areas on both the propshaft and flange ready for new paint. Primer applied. Again! The aim is to get it looking like the other end, which having learnt my lesson the hardway, went swimmingly. And that was it for this weekend. Not a great deal of progress, at least one end of the propshaft is done, even if the other needs painting again. Next week I'll repaint the propshaft, and assemble the driveshaft. Karl

I must admit I always think black and white plates look a bit naff on moderns, and I know a 40 year car isn’t a modern, but just prefer the aesthetic of age appropriate design plates. That’s my two penneth! Karl

Colin, can you not bribe someone with biscuits to weld a reinforcing plate on the back of the bump stop mounting? As for the threaded portion of the bolt taking load, that’s just wrong! Karl

Colin, the fins on the heater matrix are so thin, that to straighten them up, you have to bend them over beyond straight, in order to overcome the natural ‘memory’ of the metal, so I can’t see how a comb would ever work. Good for maybe checking the straightness, or removing very minor kinks, but given the state of my matrix, and yours by the sounds of things, I can understand why you weren’t impressed with the comb. As for the missing screw, fortunately it is just one of the self tappers that retain the square outer cover, so shouldn’t be too too difficult to find a substitute. All of the screws for the motor mount, and bezel are safely tucked away, so thankfully no searching for the weird and wonderful. As for scratches, I think it’s just a case of trying to be a bit more careful, so I feel your pain. Karl

Colin that’s really annoying! Does the poly bump stop have a thicker stem than the original? Karl

Colin, I think any extra oomph from the air horns would be offset by the weight of the airtank in the boot! Talking of oomph, I was coming home the other night on the M25, and a new model Ford Mustang went past me with the registration 'V8 OOMF'. Absolutely inspired! Following on from the great UJ debate I have ordered 3 new UJs from the club shop, just the standard ones, as we are talking a 1200 Herald here, so heavy duty is probably overkill. I have also ordered the bearing set from the club shop as well, so next weekend the aim is to get both the propshaft and driveshaft rebuilt. So with no movement on that front planned this weekend, I decided to tackle the heater, the first item that I ever removed from the Herald 3 years ago. First order of business was to tackle the very battered looking heater matrix. This isn't damage that it has sustained since coming out of the heater, that is how it came out! The next hour was therefore spent sitting on the deck slowly straightening out, as much as was physically possible, each of the bent fins. Which raised the question, 'Is is still watertight?'. Out came the bucket of water and an airline connected to the compressor. One outlet was bunged, and then the matrix dropped in the bucket and air forced into the open outlet, which revealed no leaks. Happy days! The matrix was then dried off with a hot air gun, and then given a rub down with wire wool to remove the old flaky paint. Looking a lot more spruce now. First challenge was to work out the orientation of the matrix in the heater box, which was promptly solved by a quick google of Delaney Gallay heaters, allowing me to slot the matrix in, utilising the same felt that it came out with, and which I had stashed away 3 years ago. Amazing that I knew where I'd put it really! At this point I had already fitted the fan housing, but soon realised that I needed to remove it in order to fit the front cover of the heater box, but not before I'd managed to put a couple of scratches in it trying to fit it over the curved heater outlet. Nothing that can't be polished out thankfully as they are very shallow. You can see the scratches by each of the outlet holes in the pic below. Obviously there isn't a mark on the back, the bit that no one will ever see! I still need to fit the fan and motor, but first the motor needs a coat of paint, starting with the primer. If memory serves this was bare metal when it came off the car, probably protected by a coat of clear lacquer, however I will be giving it coat of silver, followed by a clear coat. The only thing that I am now missing is the starclip that goes over the end of the motor shaft, and holds the fan in position, so a trawl of ebay may be in order, as there wasn't one on there when I removed it, as it was simply held on with rust and muck! I'm also missing one of the screws that holds the front cover on, so tomorrow I will take a look through the many boxes of old screws that I have acquired over the years to see what I can find as a replacement. It feels really good to get the heater back together, and despite the scratches, I am very pleased with how this turning out. Karl

I’m with Colin on the confusion, as looking in the club catalogue, the heavy duty UJs look much bigger than the standard ones, both in terms of the width of the central spider, and the bearing cups which are both deeper and a larger diameter. Am I missing something, or do I need to file this under ‘Blonde Moments’, and post accordingly? Karl

I’m sure I could fit the compressor in the boot to power the air horns! Karl

Tony, I don’t think it’s that old if memory serves, mid 60s I think, so definitely more diesel than steam! And you are right, I’m treating painting all the little bits as practise for when I finally get around to painting the bodywork. Karl

Wait till I fit the twin airhorns to the roof to go with the lamp! Karl