ian.osprey

Hi, Working on a Herald convertible, and looking to improve the current arrangement for the front seat belts. The top anchor point is currently the top of the B post, and does not include any reinforcing plate. I plan to remedy that, but think I should also install reinforcing straps from the b post to the wheel arch, as indicated by the red lines in the photos. Would this arrangement foul the hood/hood mechanism? (The hood is several miles away) Do you think this is sufficient, or should I simply reinstate the original mounts on the wheel arch?

Ian, Sorry, I haven't seen anything like that. If you have a look at http://www.canleyclassics.com/?xhtml=xhtml/diagram/vitessehydraulicpipes.html&xhtmlcatalogue=xhtml/catalogue/vitesse.html&category=brakes&xsl=diagram.xsl That will give you the route. Try that route with heavy copper wire until your happy, then use the wire as your template

An update. Fitting the bonnet didn't show anything new. I had to undo all my welding on the inner arch, b post and lower wing edge. Jacking up the rear tub then got everything very close, but showed that the top of the inner arches were pushing against the spring tunnel support thingy's. I removed a few mm from these, and all is now well. Apart from a huge gap from the boot floor to chassis, however all gaps are even, and the rear wing, door top and bonnet line up nicely. It appears to me that the rear inner arches are a slightly different shape from the originals. Yes, and I've only tacked the arches in place this time

Darren, When I stripped the car, it had the woven type strip on top of the chassis outriggers.

Chatted with one of the guys at Chic's place. He didn't seem too concerned. Reckoned it's the bulkhead that's changed shape over time, and trying to match up bulkhead and tub without the bonnet is pointless. Don't really follow the thought process, but he's the one in the know, and it makes me feel happier :-). I'll start again and see where we go.

Was over in Fife last week. Wish I'd thought of that.

Some help please. I am currently rebuilding a Herald 13/60 conv., and become stuck. I have taken the tub off, inverted it on stands and replaced rear floors, B post bottoms, rear arches and rear lower wings. This was done one side at a time, and one section at a time. Before replacing the boot floor I have tried to mock up the bulkhead and tub on the new chassis, and having a really hard time doing it. When the tub is bolted to the chassis above the diff (one spacer) it sits nicely on the rear outriggers, The rear floor mounts sit on the chassis, but the front floor mounts sit off the chassis, and the leading edge of the tub sits ~4 inches above the rear of the bulkhead floor. Bolting down the floor mounts and fitting the door gives a V shaped gap. No amount of shimming the bulkhead or adjusting hinges moves the gap at the top significantly. Loosening the diff mounts and lifting the rear of the tub gives show winning gaps J, but means I need 8 metal shims on top of the diff mounts and rear outriggers. Although, sighting along the rear wing gives a nice horizontal line along the door. I don’t understand what’s going on. The rear tub is, I believe, from a mark1 Herald, and has brackets under the rear floor resting on the chassis rather than bolting through the seat into the chassis. Only problem is, they don’t. I don’t know if this is significant. I have 2 thoughts The rear floor mounts are too tall, not letting the floor sit down properly. Perhaps(hopefully) they are different between early and late Heralds? I have really messed up and need to unpick my welds to align the B post. However, I cannot visualise how the new panels could possibly fit if the B post moves. Any ideas, pearls of wisdom, or shoulder to cry on? Ian

Found another issue with the mounting kit. The 8 bolts supplied to go through chassis are too long. With only a single spacer in place, the nut runs out of thread before it clamps the mount. Fortunately I had the equipment to extend the thread by 5mm.

Cheers, will try that. It's miles out just now. So frustrating, and it's only a mock up, it's all to come apart again. I WILL note what goes where before dismantling

Was at the Bigger show on Sunday and got some good photos of the channels on a a few Heralds. The were all the same so going with that. The head of my house key just fitted in the channel. Not much good for anyone else, but I'm sorted☺

Thanks Paul. The solid spacers above the diff is what was recommended when I did the Spitfire, so was heading they way with the Herald. It just seems that the body fitting kits don't seem to match with the service notes, even as a starting point. Ho Hum!

I asked a related question on the facebook page, but now can't find the responses. Sorry. I am trial fitting the rear tub and bulkhead to make sure I haven't distorted anything. The body training notes say 'Before assembling, body to chassis insulating pads are placed in position over mounting points, and are attached by adhesive'. This suggests to me that there should be a rubberised pad at every mounting point, i.e. I need 18, however the diagram only indicates pads in the areas that the rear tub attaches, but not on the mounts above the diff. Help. Ian

The initial clunk could have been the clutch freeing off after a winter of inactivity. I had a tooth missing on reverse, but for me, it was every time I tried to reverse, and it wasn't a clunk, the gear box leapt about with horrific bangs!! On another occasion, I also had a rotational clunk in reverse, but only when reversing with a lot of lock on, and only right lock. At the same time, I noticed that the inside of the front right alloy had gouges out of it. Turned out that the spot welds on the lower wishbone 'saddle' had come adrift, letting the lower wishbone move around and foul the wheel.

Terry, All of what Kevin says about the variability of seat height, and to confirm further what he says, I have a diagram from a period road test which shows the 1500 to have 5" ground clearance and either 7" or 11" seat hieght (the diagram is tiny!). Access is much easier with the hood stowed. Being old and fat, my technique with the hood up was, both feet out, then head and arms, followed by a frantic struggle to extricate the rest of me. My wife described as like a hermit crab!! Worth all the effort and jibes! Sports Car Supplies, Gateshead Chic Doig, Fife Mc Fadden Classic Sports Cars, Lanarkshire may have some leads (no affiliation) but you'll pay retail.

To summarise and continue some questions I had been asking via facebook. Q. Having seen drip channels welded on and others pop riveted, which is correct? A Welded. (Courtesy of Andy Brooker) Q Having seen the lower sections of the drip channels (ears) both opened out to meet up with the bulkhead gutter, and pushed in flush with the windscreen frame, which is correct? A. Early Heralds were opened out, later ones were pushed in.(Courtesy of Bill Davies) Latest question. Since the drip channels I removed were not original, how far should the channel protrude from the windscreen frame, and is the gap even all he way down? A photo would be very helpful if anyone has one to hand.

Is the historic information not available at all, in any format? I did data transformation for years. Although I no longer have access to the companys tools, there are freeware equivalents.

Andy, While browsing Canley's web site, as one does, I noticed they have a set of standard sized, original StanPart LC pistons. Don't know if the price they're asking is good, dear or indifferent. £70 the set http://www.canleyclassics.com/?xhtml=xhtml/product/lowcomppiston1500.html&xsl=product.xsl