Darren Groves

Hi Andy, If I take out the festoon bulb in the original lamp fitting nothing works consistently. Sometimes they go out completely, other times they go dim and stay on, and currently 2 LED's on one strip stay on bright. This may be happening as one of the strips is possibly faulty as recently a couple of the LED's have died.If I put the festoon bulb back in the timer works perfectly. Maybe your solution would be to put a conventional bulb in the circuit somewhere? Cheers Darren

Hi Andy, I left the original fascia lamp in mine, so the LED's are additional. I will try with just the LED's a little later to see what happens. Cheers Darren

Hi Andy, Images are pretty small. Here's the article if that's easier: Courtesy Lights The single fascia lamp in the Herald isn't the best at illuminating the inside of the car, so to see what I could do to improve this I done a quick search on EBay. Being a convertible the options are a little more limited as to where you can mount extra lights, so I decided on a pair of LED strips, available in various lengths and colours, but I opted for 25cm and white. The strips have a self adhesive backing, which turned out to be pretty useless but I had some double sided tape which done a much better job. I mounted them behind the dashboard on the underside of the bulkhead, this lights up the footwell nicely. The wiring was very simple, the red wire needs a permanent live connection, add an in-line fuse if you wish, the black needs to be earthed via the existing wire that runs from the fascia lamp to one of the switches on the A-Post. The additional lights can be turned on by the fascia lamp switch. Second part of the job was to install a delay unit so the lights didn't turn off immediately when you closed the door, which is quite useful if you're trying to find keys, glasses etc. when it's dark. There were various units available, but I opted for one that was smaller and neater and had a pre-set 12 second delay. Again very simple to wire, the red connects to the earth wire from fascia lamp to one of the switches on the A-Post, the black wire to a permanent earth. Below is a wiring diagram showing both modifications. Hope that helps.

Hi Andy, I done this to my Herald last year, you can read about it here: http://triumphherald1360.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/courtesy-lights.html It was published in The Courier Nov/Dec 2013 as well. Very simple to do.

I always find the handbrake perfectly OK, but every year seems to be an issue at MoT. Just considering to avoid the annual discussion with the tester!

They are pricey, so I was thinking it would be quite simple (and free) to cut an existing arm, add a small section to increase the length and weld up again to give you the same result. Was also wondering how much to increase the length by.

Has anyone fitted these? http://r.ebay.com/TYZV5U Presumably they just extend the operating arm to increase leverage? Anyone know by how much they extend the arm?

Had a very good conversation with Mike Papworth today, he rebuilt the gearbox that I fitted back in 2001 and it was still going strong when I removed it. He said that all synchro rings on the market today are poor and he only uses good used items. The traders I have contacted all say their's are fine and they don't have any issues......interesting. As my existing gearbox was still working fine he suggested swapping out the mainshaft in and bolting the overdrive on the back, gave me ballpark prices for supply only and for him to do the swap. Have to say either option is very tempting as this will give me a known good 4 Synch box (which I'm used to) with added bonus of the overdrive. Alternatively he will supply 2 good synchro rings which I could fit in the box I've just installed. Decision,decisions.....

Good option, there are some chrome finish ones as well: http://r.ebay.com/rgKgi1

Yes & No..... ....nowhere near enough light, will try plan B.

Hi Clive, It did wonder if that was the case with the rebuild kits.Interestingly the 2 biggest suppliers don't offer fully reconditioned units any more only the rebuild kits, not sure if this is related to the quality of the parts available, possibly not wanting to deal with warranty claims on units they've built. People like Mike Papworth have a good reputation in the trade, what does he do for parts I wonder,does he have a different source or stocks of NOS. The gearbox I took out was a 4-Synch Non-OD that was rebuilt back in 2001 and was working fine before removal, could I mix & match parts from both boxes to make a 4-synch OD one or is that wishful thinking? Cheers

Hi Pete, The prop has a sliding joint and it sits right in the middle of it's travel, so nothing is too stressed in that area. The prop has been altered to fit, so undoubtedly needs a balance, but it's actual a rattle rather than a vibration I'm trying to track down, I didn't phrase the initial question very well. It was a bit reminiscent of when the exhaust touches the chassis, but I'm sure it isn't. The overdrive casing does look quite close to the gearbox mounting plate on passenger side, so wondered if that could be toughing when engine running etc. and if anyone else had to raise the gearbox mount up off the plate a little, or if there's any other area that is prone to fouling the chassis. Cheers Darren

Thanks Paul & John - Will make the change to column switch, seems the best option. John - the error message suggests you are using a format other than jpeg, make sure the file you upload to the gallery has a *.jpg extension. Personally I host all my photos elsewhere and just link to them, but admittedly is a little extra work than just uploading. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Any thoughts on the vibration and gearbox rebuild kits from the traders?

In the last week I finally fitted the Overdrive gearbox I had in to my Herald 13/60. It was a 3 rail with D-type OD of unknown condition, a bit of a risk just to fit I guess given the only thing I did do to it was change the rear oil seal. The good news is that the overdrive works perfectly, so that will be a huge bonus when off on longer trips, looking forward to less stress on the engine and my wallet with improved economy. The gearbox itself is marginally noisier than the one I took out, but not noticeably so. Gear changes are as smooth up & down if you don't rush them. Now for the not so good news..... If you want to make quicker gear changes you can get a little crunch - presumably worn synchro rings? I have some vibration sounding like either exhaust or gearbox itself touching the chassis somewhere. Can't see anything obvious, but on assembly did think the gearbox itself was quite close to front of the mounting plate - are there any known clearance issues on this conversion? I am finding the more angled Spitfire OD gear lever a little weird. The gear lever is much more angled than a Herald one, so when in gears 2 & 4 it seems very low down. Just me needing to get used to it I'm sure, but has anyone else found this a bit odd and changed this somehow? Was the Vitesse OD switch only steering column mounted or did it also use the switch on the gear knob, but with a straighter gear lever? I'll probably rebuild the gearbox in the new year, any comments on the kits available from the usual traders? Do's & don't's maybe? Cheers

You would need 2 relays, 1 for the dip beam and 1 for the high beam. They will have 4 numbered terminals on them: 30 = 17amp cable from battery, install a 15amp in-line fuse. 85 = 17amp cable to earth Then break into the Blue/White (High Beam) or Blue/Red (Dip Beam) that goes from the fascia switch to the headlights. 86 = Connect the Blue/White or Blue/Red (whichever circuit you're doing) from fascia switch. 87 = Connect the Blue/White or Blue/Red (whichever circuit you're doing) to headlights. This is the cable you'll need: http://www.autosparks.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=1286 Relays: http://www.autosparks.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=1066

I noticed more of an improvement in brightness when fitting relays to my halogen headlights, than I did from converting to halogen in the first place. So whilst relays aren't essential I would definitely fit them. Another advantage is the light switch will last longer as it's only switching the relay and not carrying main current.

I've used them once. Quite pricey but quality of work was good.

I've started to swap over gearboxes today, so will know soon if any good. I'll report back as soon as I know.

Maybe, but it is 10 litres and is good for 10 years rather than the 2 or 3 that the standard stuff lasts.

Our you could try this from the Club Shop: https://shop.tssc.org.uk/product/forlife-radiator-fluid-10-litres

Use blue not red, I normally do a 30% mix.

Hi Dom, How far into the pump is the union going before it gets tight? This is mine: For your sanity, take out the pipe, check pipe, olive & union are all the right size (don't assume just because you ordered the right bit!), then make sure the olive is fully on the pipe when you insert and tighten. If it still leaks then I'd be inclined to get the union and olive from a different source and try again.

It should have been 1/4" pipe and olive. Double check the fuel line is through the olive when you insert into the pump, then tighten with some gently pressure to ensure the pipe isn't coming back out as you tighten. You could also try some PTFE tape around the thread.

There should be slight movement in the float chamber. Good news that you've fixed the problem.

Check the float needle is in correctly and float height.