Bordfunker

Johny, I must admit I was thinking along similar lines myself, and given that the engine appears to have survived the last 70k miles in this config, I’m not sure a lack of gauze is a great concern. It’ll never do more than 3k miles per year, whenever it is up and running, and will have its oil changed at least annually, so probably not a big deal. Pete, the sump flange is lovely and straight, which further reinforces my suspicion that the current sump/pump config, is as it left the factory in 68, and hasn’t been messed with. NM, I used to have VW Beetle with a gauze oil filter, no separate disposable filter, and the gauze on that was a lot finer than what Triumph used, and that didn’t work that well either! So, I think I will leave as is, and simply reassemble everything in the same manner that I found it. Now do I need to use a gasket sealant, or is it just pressure that provides the seal? Thanks Karl

NM, thanks for that, that would make sense. But it does beg the question was it built like this, presumably so, or has the oil pump or sump been replaced at some point. If it was built like that, you would have thought that the factory would have made sure there was either a filter on the pump or the sump, not neither! Either that or one or the other has been swapped, I’m assuming it could have been the pump as the engine is relatively late. Whichever it is, it does leave me with the question of whether I add a gauze strainer, either by replacing the pump or the sump. Karl

With 3 days of DIY behind me, it's time to get into the garage. I was intending to be working on the chassis this week, but have managed to side track myself with the engine instead. Not helped by a care package from Paddocks arriving this morning. From left to right: new bottom end gaskets for the engine bumper rail repair section clutch slave cylinder windscreen gutters x 2 front and rear engine oil seals set or core plugs The engine has always leaked since I've had the car, from all the usual places, so seeing as the engine is out of the car and on a stand, I thought I might as well attend to the leaks. I've already cleaned up the engine with Gunk and the steam cleaner, and have started removing the timing chain cover, sump etc.. The timing cover was pretty much bereft of paint, so I simply gave it a clean up with a strip disc, and then gave it a coat of rust stopper. Followed by a coat of etch primer. That has been put to one side for now as I'll clean and prime all the other sub-components before I mix up a batch of engine black and paint everything as a job lot. I took the sump off last weekend, but given the sludge in the bottom of it, left the clean up till today. Half an hour with some Gunk and old paint brushes, and copious quantities of rags I got the interior of the sump clean, so that I could flip it over and start cleaning up the exterior. Despite the clean up, it took me a while to realise that the gasket was still in place, including bright yellow Stanpart branding, and wasn't showing any urgency in separating from the sump itself. Nothing for it, but to break out a razor blade, and carefully, (wearing two pairs of gloves!) remove the fossilised gasket. As I peeled the gasket back, I found pockets of oil trapped under the gasket in the dimples of sump flange pressing. Nothing unusual in that, and most were black and gunky, obviously, but weirdly, several contained clean fresh oil! I felt like a archaeologist, peeling back the layers and finding this! Even after the razor blade treatment there were still pieces of gasket clinging to the sump, so out came the strip disc again, to take the sump flange back to bare metal, without damaging the flange itself. With the risk of spreading 50 year old oily muck everywhere, it was time to start on the exterior. I'm not going to go mad over cleaning up the sump, after all, it's a sump, but the aim is to remove any loose paint and get the surface fit for a coat of primer. Now, while in the sump region, (ooh err Matron!) I noticed something which struck me as strange. The oil pump pick up is centre of shot, and here's a closer look. I was expecting to find a gauze filter over the intake, but there is nothing, just a plain opening. As you can see from the proceeding photos of the sump, there is nothing in the sump to act as filter, so I am therefore somewhat baffled. Is this normal? Every other oil pump appears to have a filter attached. Thoughts from the hive mind appreciated. Karl

Definitely looks factory! Very nice. Karl

Thanks Colin. Now I know I don’t need to weld the bracket back on, as it was never attached to the sump in the first place. I’m off this week, but currently tied up with DIY before I get back into the garage. Karl

Thanks for the insights guys. Matt, that would make sense, as I can’t see that the bracket was welded to the sump pan at all. Casper, I think you are right as although my car does have the drain tube, it looks to have been left just hanging by the exhaust down pipe, rather than being attached at the lower end to anything. Thanks Karl

Chris, normal Gunk is still very good, but this time I switched to Gunk Green, as it’s more environmentally friendly and a lot less stinky. Surprisingly, it’s no less effective than the old formula, and leaves you a lot less objectionable when you leave the garage. Karl

Mrs B was away last week, which would usually signal several days of working in the garage, but it was mid-week, so instead I spent the time working. Apparently it’s frowned upon to work on your ageing Triumph when you ought to doing the departmental budgets for 2023! I did however get into the garage Wednesday evening and attack the engine with Gunk, a scrubbing brush, and the steam cleaner. it really is amazing how much crud an engine accumulates over 50 years, particularly one as prone to leaking as the SC! The engine stand really has come into its own, allowing me to tilt the engine over to get into all the nooks and crannies. However the removal of said filth has raised a number of questions, such as, is this supposed to be attached to the sump? For clarity it’s the bracket at the bottom of the crankcase breather vent tube. Or what is this bracket for? The aim is to clean up and repaint the engine and associated sub-assemblies before reassembling everything with new gaskets and seals, which are on order from Paddocks. The engine was running well before I took the car off the road, so I won’t be trying to fix what ain’t broke, just cure the oil leaks. Karl

Pete, thanks for that, good to know it’s not just me! I’m inclined to finish off redoing all the main welds on the chassis, then set the tub and bulkhead up on the chassis getting the best alignment I can with the mounts as is, then put the doors and roof on. Once they are on, and I’m happy everything fits, I’ll then look at amending the remaining mounting points so that they fit. It’ll be a faff, but worth it longer term. I did actually managed to get something meaningful done yesterday, finishing off the last few bits of welding on the boot outriggers. Aside from redoing my original chassis welds, I also need to replace the passenger side end of the front bumper rail, as I’ve noted it’s sporting a few perforations. Karl

I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I had my concerns around how accurate my reconstruction of the chassis and tub had been, due to a number of the mounting points not quite aligning. So first order of business this weekend was going to be checking all of the key measurement points against the values in the WSM. Cue much use of garden twine and screw drivers to create my own large scale cat's cradle. First up, getting a centre line. Note very technical use of pliers to keep the tape measure in place! I took the bulk of the measurements from the line between the two rear turret mounting bolts, as this looked to be what the WSM was suggesting. Was my interpretation correct? I then used the twine to mark out the position of the various measuring points at 90 degrees to the central datum line. Note the motley collection of screwdrivers being used to hold the twine in position. By this point it was looking like I was trying to create my own pentagram and summon some demons! The result of all this mucking around with string was, as suspected, many of the mounting points were not where the WSM said they ought to be. Some were out on the WSM value by up to 12mm, whilst most were within 2-5mm. Worst was the rear most chassis mounting point on the outriggers, which is 179cm from the front datum point, rather than the 177.8cm stated in the WSM. Given this, I expected the locating point for the drag link mount for the rear suspension to be out, but compared to the WSM figure it was spot on. So I know: that the bulkhead and tub fit the chassis without issue, so that there are no gross issues with key elements of the body fitting within the confines of the chassis itself, the critical rear suspension mount is in the correct place, not surprising really as the suspension was in situ when I welded these in. All of which suggests, to this novice at least, that the chassis is generally OK, but it's the detail of the mounting points that I need to address. Consequently I am assuming that being repro panels, not all the mounting points may be in the right place. Therefore my current thinking is, if I enlarged the mounting points, including the crush tubes, so that they are maybe double the width, with perhaps a little fettling of the tub mounting brackets, I should gain sufficient wiggle room to get everything bolted up. Does this make sense? Or is this just evidence of shoddy workmanship on my part? All suggestions very welcome. Karl

Looking forwards to seeing your progress on the Mayflower. We don’t see many on the forum, and even fewer restorations. Karl

I've not managed to do anything on the Herald the last couple of weekends, as I have been away on business this week, and last weekend was spent getting ready to fly out to South Africa, and today is recovery time having landed at 5.00! I work in IT, but in the mining industry for a large multi-national, with a large chunk of my team, based out in SA, this was my first opportunity to meet my team, including my boss, face to face due to Covid. I spent the first couple of days travelling to mine sites in the North-West of the country, meeting the IT teams that my team deal with and getting their feedback, but which also meant a mine site tour! This is one of the mine pits, and it's a kilometre across! The trucks look tiny, but are in fact full size haul trucks capable of carrying 300 tons of ore! This next shot is of an abandoned pit which is being used as a resevoir. It's about 300 metres down to the level of the water, and the the water is another 60-90 metres deep, though this pit isn't as wide as the first pic.. No trip to a mine site is complete without getting up close and personal with the hardware. This is Papa Truck, Mama Truck and little Truck. But you only get an idea of scale when you get up close and personal. This is full size haul truck, like in the photo of the mine site above, which makes you appreciate the scale of that hole in the ground. I'm never moaning about changing a tire again. We even had a look in the workshops, where this monster was awaiting re-fitting. These truck are packed full of IT kit, much of which is provided by the vendors that my team manage, so great to understand how it actually gets used in the field, and the conditions it has to operate under. Despite a packed week of travelling, meetings, and team conferences, I did get some downtime, and my boss very kindly took me around a local game reserve before I flew out on Saturday evening. This was actually taken on the way to the mine site, and just shows how close the big game get to industrial operations in SA. At the game reserve we got to see a whole raft of animals, from Meerkats to Gnu, but the Rhino and the Buffalo were definitely the most impressive, particularly as we got up close. Overall an amazing, but very tiring week, and now looking forward to getting back to the Herald. Karl

I’ve used the Clarke air juggler/punch on my build, and as long as you crank the welding power up, it produces a very strong plug weld. Not sure what welder you are using, mine is a Clarke 150, so I usually do plug welds at power setting 3/min, and the wire speed set to about 6.5. This produces a very strong weld, I know because I have tested them to destruction, and it’s always the base metal sheet that fails before the weld itself. With regards the rear wing to light cluster junction, I would be inclined to get the rear valances and do a trial fit now before you weld it all in place. It’s a faff, but we’ll worth it as it avoids bigger issues down the road. Karl

Casper, many thanks for posting those articles, they have really satisfied my not so inner nerd! I had a vague recollection that the standard and 12/50 engines had been rationalised late in the production, but it was very vague. Thanks again Karl

Thanks everyone for the feedback, I’m particularly interested in the fact that I appear to have a 12/50 engine. What is the difference between the stock 1200 and the 12/50 engines? Sounds like I might need to look at getting a heritage certificate. Thanks Karl

Looking forward to seeing a ‘special’ being resurrected. Karl

Josef, that is interesting, as I always assume that any parts with what looks like non-factory markings have been recycled, as I always associate it with scrappys. No idea if mine is matching numbers, but the engine serial is GD113000HE, not sure where that fits in the production, though the car is a 68 model. Karl

I started this weekend exactly where I left off last, with the tub sitting back on the chassis, and with the rear end of the chassis rails ready to accept the boot outriggers that I had removed a couple of months back. First I needed to make some repairs to the outriggers, as I had gouged them about a bit in my efforts to remove them in one piece. This is the driver's side one looking a little scarred! Note cut marks, where I had to cut through the original sub par welding! 10 minutes with the welder and the grinder left me with something that had regained its structural rigidity, as well as its looks. This was pre-clean up, but you get the idea. I even welded up the forward joints, see that line of weld at the top, as these are just open and un-welded on the outriggers as supplied. Don't know it makes an ounce of difference, but it makes me feel better. With both outriggers, I welded on a 'tongue' which I could then weld into the side of the chassis rail. It's not quite 'factory', as I know the originals had a much more complex pressing on the end of the outrigger, but I figure this is better than simply butt welding the outrigger to the end of the chassis rails. And after all, I did go to the trouble of cutting those nice ovals into the main chassis rails! Here it is slid into position, and bolted to the boot floor in the correct position this time. A quick wave of the welder on the top and side, just enough to hold it in position for now, I'll sort out the final welding when the chassis is bare again, and I have unfettered access. Both sides received the same treatment, but I won't show you the driver's side, as I am sure you can imagine the above in reverse! So next, I unbolted the tub, of which more later, leaving me with a semi-bare chassis. Boot outriggers in place, and awaiting final welding and clean up. Now about that tub. For anyone who has followed this rambling thread at all, you will know that to date I have replaced all of the chassis outriggers, as well as large chunks of the tub floor, particularly the various body to chassis mounting points. As result, not everything is lining up as it should, with a couple of instances where bolts won't pass through the chassis to the receiving mount above. Don't get me wrong, we're not talking the level of mis-match that Colin suffered, only a few mm in this instance, but enough, so next week I will be measuring my chassis again, just to be on the safe side. Finally, I had the steam cleaner out on Sunday morning, cleaning, again, the sofa that the dog had vomited on, and having achieved that task, and with steam to spare, attacked the engine with it, revealing this. '47' hand painted in yellow, which I assume refers to 1147, but which does suggest this might not be the original engine. Some research is required. Given that I was expecting the boot outriggers to take a couple of weeks, I am well chuffed withy this weekend's progress. Karl

That makes it alright then Pete! As some of you may be aware, the UK has been experiencing slightly warmer than usual weather over the last few days, and as result activity in the garage was a little more restricted than anticipated, particularly given the need to wear head to toe PPE whilst welding! I am always amazed at these programmes on TV where you see guys welding in a T-shirt and shorts, with no apparent thought given to UV or normal burns, and yet at the end of every show, there's the usual disclaimer that all health and safety regulations have been followed. Ant Anstead was the worst one for it on Wheeler Dealers, whereas at least Ed China was always fully covered. OK rant over. So as you have probably gathered, I did a bit more welding this weekend, focussing on finishing the repairs to the ends of the chassis main rails on the driver's side. As you can see the welding went well, despite the heat, and again was made so much easier by being able to flip the chassis over to get the optimum weld position. In the pic below, it looks as if the driver's side box section is larger than the passenger side. Not sure if that is a trick of the photo, or it really is wider, but given that everything has been aligned with the rest of the chassis rail, it ought to be all the same size. Either way the boot outriggers fit well enough. Now at this point I was soaked in sweat, and just wanted to head in for a shower, but when I went to push the dolly with the tub on top, into the garage, disaster, alright, minor annoyance, struck! Oops! scratch one wheel. Nothing for it but to call on number 2 son to give me a hand to lift the tub onto the chassis. At least that means it's all set up for trial fitting the boot outriggers and tacking them in next weekend. Which leaves a very sorry looking dolly out on the drive for now. I shouldn't complain as it was only supposed to last a few months, and here we are 4 years later, with it still in use! Anyway, that was my weekend, and now I'm off to go sit in front of the fan! Karl

Modern receipts are printed on a heat sensitive paper, which degrades and blackens with heat time, so you might want to have a backup copy! Karl

Peter, we have had 3 make it beyond 15 over the years, so I think life at Bordfunker towers suits Beagles. I do envy your lack of serious rot over there in Oz, but something has to balance out the wildlife that is trying to kill you at every turn! Karl

I’d forgotten I’d swapped to a battery with terminals at the front, it’s so long since the battery has been in the car! Karl

The Halfords battery finder search is absolutely useless. Tried it twice recently, first for the C1, and then for the C3 last month. Each time it directs you to a selection of batteries, none of which are apparently suitable for the vehicle in question! In both instances I’ve ended up going with a local factor as they were cheaper and could confirm the correct battery for the vehicle. Just checked the Herald’s battery, which I am assuming is the same for a Spitfire and it’s a Halfords HB038. Karl

You know when you have been looking forward to getting into the garage all week, and then it doesn't quite go to plan, that has been my weekend. After all the work over the last few weeks to get the garage sorted, and the car stripped down to a bare chassis, I was hoping to get a couple of welding sessions in over the weekend, however Friday evening our elderly Beagle, 15, started throwing up, including over me and the sofa. This continued into the night, which is not great when she sleeps on your bed, until we eventually decided it was time to take her to the vet, the time being 2 am! Long story short, dog taken to vet's. Dog left at vet's. Get home about 3.30, sleep till 6, at which point little Beagle wakes up, so I go and sleep on the smallest sofa with her till 8.30. Can't sleep on the bigger sofas, as older Beagle had managed to throw up on both of them! Took youngest son to work, and went shopping, before coming home to find Mrs B missing. Turned out old Beagle was doing fine, and could come home, but not after £550 had changed hands! So rather than spending Saturday afternoon welding, it was spent cleaning sofas and trying to get some sleep. The good news is that Willow, the old Beagle, is back to her old self, which mainly consists of sleeping while snoring loudly on the newly cleaned sofas, or shouting at little Beagle, Olive, for merely existing! At least everything is back to normal now. Well as normal as it gets in our house. So today I did actually manage to get into the garage to restart the chassis welding that had been put on hold when I had decided to refurb the garage, starting with the patch under the dip by the diff. This was the old patch that I had started welding in before giving up in disgust at trying to weld upside down, which was promptly cut and ground out. Now I had punched out holes for plug welding in the top section of the chassis rail, as I know I can't plug weld upside down, you really do need gravity's assistance for plug welding to work properly! Therefore I did my usual, and stuck a copper block behind the holes, before welding them up, and then grinding them smooth, as with the chassis wrong way up, gravity would be assisting me. Everything got a coat of zinc weld through primer, which dried in minutes in today's weather, before the patch was offered up, and welded in. This is following the first clean up with a flap disc, and before I straightened the inner edge, but I didn't go much further as I would rather leave more weld and have a stronger repair, that clean it up so that it was invisible, not that is likely to happen with my skills anyway. With the chassis flipped over, this was an absolute doddle, and I really wish that I had taken the plunge earlier and stripped the car back to a bare chassis before starting welding. Still you live and learn. Another lesson learned, is if its 29-30 degrees outside, it even warmer inside when you are using a welder and covered head to toe for safety's sake! Who knew? The chassis has been left inverted for now, as next weekend I need to finish of the repairs to the ends of the main chassis rail on the driver's side, though thankfully that will be markedly simpler than the passenger side, where as always, the rot was a lot worse. Karl

Colin, that’s a very good idea. I was thinking of getting a schutz type lance to force rust stopper into all the cavities, and could probably do something similar with primer as well. I was planning on using a rust inhibitor type wax product, but I won’t apply that until all the painting is done, as I don’t want any fish eyes in the paintwork. Karl