mpbarrett

Thanks for all the comments, very interesting. I like having a torquey engine rather than high revving engine, so will bare the comments in mind. Bit surprised by the cost of rebuilt engines so will probably do it myself. I thought that I could by a short engine but Ivor Searle will only sell full engines, I realise there are other sources but Searle are just up the road. Hope to get the head off tomorrow and see what it looks like inside. Means taking all the EFI off which is a shame as it was nicely setup and working well! Cheers mike

Clive do you think it is worth balancing the 1500 engine? cheers mike

Just back from a tour of Scotland, about 1700 miles over 4 days. I knew the engine was using a bit of oil but it has used over 4 Litres during the trip (full to empty or below at the end of each day. It was driven quite hard but seems to have enjoyed drinking the oil, apparently it was very noticeable when following it.... I have just done a compression test (cold) and get 150, 150, 140, 75, on the cylinders if I add some oil to No4 the compression goes up to 90. I have also noted a lot of oily smoke from the rocker cover breather and a very strong pulsing from it when the engine is running. The engine is, I think a 1500 MG engine (FP1326E) but with a very good condition Ivor Searle Stage 2 head on it. It also has full mapped EFI and ignition. I am assuming that it will need a rebore (rings gone on No4?) if so whats best? Strip it and do it myself or get a rebuilt rebored short block from someone like Ivor Searle? If I am doing this what other improvements are worth doing to the engine, balancing, different cam etc. I don't want to go for very peaky engine but a bit more power and ability to rev safely would be nice. The EFI has transformed the car much quicker and nicer to drive than when on SU's, I guess the fuelling is better over the whole speed range and the SU's were worn. I would really appreciate any comments and suggestions. I also need to fix the gearbox (no syncro on second and plenty of oil leaks) but that's another post! Cheers mike

I was doing this a tour of the North Coast 500. Excellent.

to be honest I was surprised how old the tyres were, I have had the car for a long time! Only noticed when I was doing some work on the car and checked the date code on the tyres. You can feel the difference in the rubber just by looking and touching it, yes the old one had plenty of tread and would have passed an MOT but the difference is noticeable. New tyres aren't that expensive but you need to look beyond the tread depth! Mike

Interesting discussion, I have just put Uniroyal Rainmaster on my Herald (165 13R). They did replace 9 year old tyres but the car just feels so much better. This in not pushing it just driving around, really surprised how different it feels. Now fully understand why you should change the tyres as they get old.... Cheers mike

nice story, car looked good (maybe a bit low at the front). Sad bit did he die shortly after seeing it? mike

Wonderful garage BUT not enough sockets! Think how many you need and then treble it. Also put some insulation on the roof it will make a lot of difference in the winter..... Mike

PITA! I used a block of wood to lift the pedal/bracket and then a couple of long bolts to get things started. Once you have one in its fairly easy! mike

Yep had a nice drive around yesterday and then meet my mate in the Red Lion, Histon for our regular Wednesday night pints. Old cars and beer seem to go together very well. Cheers mike

quick update. Clutch is much better, definitely disengaging when pressed so much easier thru the gears. Worth the time and effort. I think second gear sync is knackered but a bit of double declutching and all works. I will have to overhaul the gearbox at some stage but I can live with it for the moment at least until it has done Scotland! I also pulled the gear lever to bit and cleaned and greased everything and now have a nice smooth gear change, I had forgotten how nice it can be! Just makes me realise how much I have neglected the maintenance on the Herald... ;( Cheers Mike

OH, no sign of a D hole! I think it has been worn away. Actually I did look at it and thought this is not a good design, whats to stop the pin rotating? So the Triumph engineers did know what they were doing its just 50 years of use (**) that has broken the design! But I expect it was not designed to last for 50 years.... Mike ** just got a build certificate for the car, it was made on the 27 Dec 1967 and supplied to a garage in Jersey, and then back to the UK on 1 Mar 1971, hence the J reg. So quite on early 13/60, supplied with a heater and 520 *13 tyres.

PeteH I think you right. It needed doing, I have opened up the bushing in the pedal slightly and made a new shaft and added an anti rotation pin so that the pedal rotates on the shaft instead of the shaft rotating in the bracket. Also drilled out the pivot hole between the pedal and clutch master cylinder and made an oversize pivot pin. All back in and feels good. But havent had a chance to try it yet, we have cold wet snow here in Cambridge, yesterday 15C today 1C! mike

whoops that should be 1144 not 1155 pads! Still good though... Mike

1) Thanks Pete, might get back to you. I now think the problem is not the syncro on second gear but that the clutch is not disengaging completely, if I look at the clutch arm moving in the bell housing I can get more movement if I take the carpets out thus the pedal is moving further. I have taken the clutch pedal out and realise that the large pin was not turning in the bushing but in the bracket and has worn the bracket and the pin. The pivot point at the end of the arm where it drives the clutch master cylinder is also worn (the pin is fine as I remade some time ago). So basically I have a number of places where the mechanism is worn and I think I am not getting a full movement of the clutch master cylinder due to a build up of unexpected/undesigned clearances! The pivot pin holding the clutch arm looks fine and is still in place. BTW There is a good article on Canleys web page suggesting that this can be a problem. I don't think I can buy parts to replace the pedal and bracket so will look and see if I can do some machining to repair it. cheers Mike

Really impressed with the Mintex 1155 pads, made a big difference to the amount of 'bite' when braking. Definitely worth spending the money on. mike

Was it a good fit? mike

I think I am about to give up on the original gearbox cover on my Herald. I have repaired it many times but it is falling to pieces. So where the best place to get a replacement, plastic or fibreglass. All suggestions welcome! cheers mike

switch for reversing light? Mike

Thanks Nick Will try a few of your suggestions tomorrow, probably rely on double declutching, hoping not to have to rebuild the gearbox yet.... We are off on a tour of Scotland doing the 500 mile route around the highlands with friends (from CT, TSSC 10CR etc) in April. BTW the EFI is great she is running very nicely. Really impressed with the hardware and tuning software. regards mike

Thanks Pete Yes I did take the slave out to tilt it to vent the air out of it. But it is a very old slave cylinder (but with new seals), I wonder if the spring has got weak. I will try pumping the clutch to see if that helps. Happy to replace the slave cylinder if needed. My herald has suffered from not enough TLC due to a GT6 and TR6 now she is on her own and getting some over due care and working though one or two issues! Cheers Mike

I have a single rail OD gearbox in my 1500 herald. I am having a problem with the synchromesh on 2nd gear. It works fine (easy to get into gear) when its cold but once the car is warm the synchromesh doesn't work very well, to get it into gear you have to change gear slowly otherwise it will crunch. I though it might be a hydraulic problem but have replaced the master cylinder and replace the seals in the slave cylinder and held the cylinder up when bleeding it to make sure all the air is out of the system. Any suggestion or of what else i can try apart from a gearbox rebuild ;( cheers mike

go for a DAB unit and then you can put a very small aerial on the windscreen. Assuming you have DAB coverage where you are! cheers mike

We had a river cruiser until recently and I still have a suction system to empty the oil from the engine and I can use this to empty the diff oil! Thanks for the ideas! Mike

Well that was much easier than expected! Bolts came out of the diff mounts easily, very tight but with a decent socket they came undone, studs out and diff is now on the garage floor. The old diff has the small square front flange (5/16 bolt holes on front flange) on it. To refit the new one I will have to change the UJ flange on the propshaft and the UJ flanges on the drive shafts. One question about the propshaft, the sliding joint is at the rear of the car. If I mark the rotary position of the sliding joint and undo the knucked ring, can I pull the sliding part off? I know I could try this but thought I would ask on here first as I am not under the car! if so this would save having to take the gearbox cover off and remove the propshaft just to change the rear UJ flange. Originally the car had a strap type prop shaft then a not OD Vitesse one (with the engine moved forward a bit) when I fitted the OD gearbox. Could never get it to run with out vibrating so brought the correct length one, from I think Canley. BTW I have never changed the diff oil just topped it up (over 15 years). It smells very burnt and is a rather nasty black colour.... I am thinking that it might be worth adding a drain hole in the casing. cheers Mike