Darren Groves

The radiator arrived today, looks ideal, but has thrown up a couple of questions. Clive - the fixings you mention that take the 6mm bolts, are these the 4 holes on each side of the rad, might seem a daft question but they don't appear to be threaded, or does the bolt cut the thread on first use? They are also pegs on the bottom which could be used also I guess. John - It appears from your photos you have used these mounting holes. I guess a visit to you would answer this question but time is against me at the moment to get the car ready for the 26th, so can't get over. The radiator also has a vent hole on the top, presumably as return back to the header tank, as the Corsa header tank has 2 small outlets would it be preferable to run back to that or blank off?

That's a very kind offer John, which I will take you up on if that's OK. Thanks for the suggestion Clive, have just bought one from eBay for £2.00, can't go wrong for that price....

Thanks John. Out of interest where did you get the bottom hose take off and other plumbing bits?

If you want engine parts, take a look here: http://gbhspares.co.uk/Start00.html he's worth a call, he has huge stocks of NOS parts and only sells quality items, no rubbish.

If you have deep pockets they are available new, cheapest is TD Fitchett. Agree with Clive about that trader, have had some dealings with them and it wasn't good.

Have ordered one of these, many thanks.

I'm looking forward to visiting John in a couple of weeks time. I've been looking at radiators, obviously the main hoses will need to be modified to fit and have seen how John has done his. The VW rads seem to have both pipe outlets on the nearside (http://r.ebay.com/vQ1OMY), but I'm guess that it's going to be easier if they were on the offside. Can the rads just be flipped over to suit or am I looking for one from a specific model? There isn't too much space between the heater and master cylinder on a Herald, so will probably need to find a fairly compact expansion tank, will checkout the Corsa ones. Once my car is back together I'll start measuring.

if your using the coil feed to switch the relay only, that should be fine. Run a fused permanent live feed from the the live side of the solenoid or direct from the battery to power the fan.

Clive - thanks, I like the idea of the VW rad and plumbing in correctly, rather than modify existing. At those prices it's silly not to. John - would love to come down and look at the set up you have, I'll PM you and we'll work something out.

Hi John, I did see your set-up and was wondering how you had plumbed it in. My thought with mine was just to have a tank as a remote (and higher) filler bottle, but as the header you have used has 3 connections I wasn't sure how that would be incorporated into the Herald circuit? Keep up the good work on the GT4, I think we all look forward to your updates. Thanks Darren

Has anyone ever fitted a header tank to a Herald? Why would you want to I hear you say....well I have always had to have my radiator lower than it should be otherwise the filler cap fouls the underside of the bonnet as the bonnet has to be very low at the front to line up with the doors etc. Filling the cooling system normally involves getting the front of the car very high so that the higher parts of the system do get filled. I don't want to go down the route of trying to adjust the body to allow for the bonnet to be raised again, so thought about adding a header tank with pressurised cap to inbetween master cylinders & heater and having the radiator filler blanked off and a pipe inlet added. With the filler cap blanked off it would allow the radiator to be raised back to where it should be and the filler would then be as high as the heater which is the highest point. Bad idea? If not any suggestions on the best way to do it?

4 weeks today, you coming?

Hi Rich, Assuming they are the same basic design as a Herald, then they are the same, it may just be that 40+ years in one position the frame/base has a slight twist in it where they join. Don't forget that on the seat runner you have 2 holes to adjust height at front, and on the actual seat base there are 2 holes forward/back. If you need to angle the seat away from the b-post, then on the seat base use the forward hole on the outer side and the rearward hole on the inner side.

Rich, All the black rotors with the rivets are rubbish, even the ones with Lucas on. Go to Distributor Doctor and order one of those, they are the only ones on the market that are reliable. When I had the Aldon on my Dizzy I removed the original earth as it's no longer needed. I always used the coil connections for mine and never had an issue.

Poor quality Rotor Arm (Black one with rivet)? Could swap out for red Distributor Doctor one.

Peter, You might want to watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO_uE3M7FVg The panel shown in the video can be bought from Chic Doig: http://r.ebay.com/D3Fiuu Good luck Darren

Pete, Canley website recommends not fitting the thicker anti-roll bar if not doing the swing spring conversion as it promoted understeer. http://www.canleyclassics.com/suspension-steering-and-brakes/swing-spring-conversion-kits

Is there anyone from your local group that could have a look, sometimes a fresh approach can uncover something. Have you checked fuel supply? Weak fuel pump, collapsed rubber fuel hose, fuel line blocked somewhere, tank breather blocked...just some ideas.

Rich, where are you? I have a Gunson Gastester which you're more than welcome to borrow if you're anywhere near North Devon. You could also pop down your local MoT station to see if they'll let you pop the car on their gas analyser, at least you know their equipment will be accurate. I have used a combination of the Gunson ColourTune and Gastester and generally find that if you set with the ColourTune then it's too rich when looking at the Gastester. Mine has been a bit of a headache, but then nothing is standard so I have a whole heap of other variables. Alternatively find a local Rolling Road, then you'll be able to see what's happening at more than just tick-over and revs at no load.

I fitted all mine dry, but one did leak slightly. I removed and refitted a new one using this: http://r.ebay.com/Qep2w9 didn't leak after that. I think dry should be fine if all the mating surfaces are clean and free from any damage, otherwise a thin smear of a good quality sealant will do it.

It came out as one unit, but you have to get the back very high, it wasn't that easy. We ended up taking off the suspension and cross-member to gain some extra space, which was fine as we planned to remove anyway. Now the engine bay is painted I wanted to see if there are other ways of refitting. What happens on a clutch change, is it standard practice to remove the engine & box? I did Google quickly, seems it can be done separately but is a bit of a fiddle.

When refitting an Engine & Gearbox back into a Stag, is it best to fit as one unit, or engine first then gearbox or gearbox then engine.

On the one I done last year, it was a 1200 with Stanpart NOS wings and even they didn't match the curvature of the doors. So you just have to use a bit of manhandling to get into shape....

Is there anything wrong with the valves that they need replacing? You could have them re-cut if you're worried, it will be cheaper than buying new and just as effecting providing they are not too far gone.

Thanks for the replies, will try to track down that article.