Eddie

Applied for the sticker for my modern (ish) Skoda yesterday. Website was fairly easy to understand (there is an English version) but you have to scan and attach your V5C which was fiddly.

I believe there is a fairly active classic car scene in the Greek part of Cyprus. I belong to a classic Ford club and we have a couple of members out there who regularly take part in runs and rallies. Also lots of old style breakers yards with 60s classics in them, many previously owned by UK military personnel.

Thanks for posting the link, rogerguzzi. I have ordered one of those.

Thanks for the advice, Pete. I used Wilkinson's teak wood dye as it seemed to be the closest match to the colour of the dash, and many, many coats of Wilkinson's yacht varnish, rubbing down between coats with 1500 and then 2500 grade wet and dry. I am quite pleased with the results, although there are still some tiny bubbles in the final coat of varnish. I can remove these with wet & dry and then use cutting compound but can anyone recommend a final polish to produce a really good shine?

You have to cover blue lights and any 'police' markings if driving on public roads.

Thanks Pete.

I have bought some Vitesse wooden front door cappings to fit on my Herald. They are not a matched pair, so were slightly different colours, and are much lighter in colour than my dashboard, which has been re-varnished at some time in the past so is almost certainly not its original colour. Also the varnish on the cappings is cracked and peeling in places. I am removing the old varnish by sanding with very fine sandpaper (see photo), but what is the best way of changing the wood colour to get a similar shade to the dashboard? Should I use wood dye and then many coats of clear varnish, or should I use coloured varnish? I realise that I will never get an exact colour match unless I also strip and re-varnish the dash, but would appreciate any advice.

I am currently having the body of my 1960s Ford restored professionally. It is costing 2 to 3 times the value of the car when finished. However I am not doing it as an investment. I have owned the car for 35 years and have no intention of selling it, as it is part of the family! You will never recoup the cost of a professional restoration by selling the finished car, so it really depends on how much you want to spend! Incidentally, £5,000 sounds cheap for a full body restoration!

Sutton Rebore have most definitely NOT folded. They have just moved to a new workshop which is literally behind where they used to be. They are very near to me and everyone who I know who has used them highly recommends them, so they will be rebuilding my Zodiac engine very soon.

I buy nuts and bolts from Namrick in Brighton. They have an excellent website and next-day delivery. Have also used Spalding Fasteners.

Sorry I can't be of any help but thanks for the link to the pictures. One of the Triumph dealerships had my surname! My Dad bought his first Herald from a dealer at the junction of the A3 Kingston by-pass and A240 Ewell Road, might have been called Tolworth Garages? Does anyone remember it?

So did I, but the acceleration was definitely better with the gearbox that seems to have originally been a Spitfire item.

Having replaced the gearbox on my Herald 13/60 I am repairing the gearbox tunnel before re-fitting it. It has been painted (badly) before but I have managed to remove that paint and I am wondering what would be the best type of paint to use on the tray part of it that is not covered by carpets? All advice gratefully received!

Thanks for all the advice. It would seem that my car had a Spitfire gearbox. Shame that I have lost the acceleration but I would rather have a gearbox that doesn't leak. I have re-fitted the Spitfire gearstick though, to stop me punching the radio every time I put it into first! According to the table that Pete's post links to my car should have a gearbox number with the prefix GA, not GB, so I am still not sure what it came from but I am not really bothered as long as it works OK and doesn't leak.

That is quite possible. It had a Spitfire gearstick, which I thought had been fitted to stop you hitting the radio under the dashboard when you engage first gear. What do GR and FC denote?

I finally swapped my leaking gearbox on my Herald 13/60 with the one that I bought on eBay and refurbished. Took it out for a test drive today and it seems OK but the acceleration does not seem to be as good as it was. We established the "new" gearbox, number GB150805 was correct for a Herald 13/60, and the seller assured me that it had been taken from a 13/60. This has got me wondering if the "old" gearbox was in fact from a different model. The photo below shows the number, which looks as if it has been altered. Any ideas?

Thanks for all your advice. I did the job today and it was OK but the old seal didn't want to come out without a fight! Also the new seal from Rimmer's didn't look much like the old one, so thanks to Garth at Club HQ for reassuring me that it was correct.

You can also buy them on eBay but I have no idea what the quality is like.

C'est la vie. The pitched angle is a result of the vice breaking, not the cause. And as my mate in the pub just pointed out, the vice was about 100 years old so it is about time I got a new one!

Dave???? Thanks for all the advice. I have had mixed success. I took Casper's advice and HIT it with a wooden mallet - using a socket to drive out one cup and then was able to remove the flange yoke to put it in the vice and try to remove the other cups using the method suggested by Pete. This is where it all went a bit wrong... I had not had my 6 Shredded Wheat and could not exert enough force to push the cup out so I put a long steel tube over the vice handle for extra leverage - and broke the vice! However this had exposed enough of the cup for me to grip it in another vice, and after much brute force and waggling it came out. This is turning into the most expensive clutch change ever...

I am replacing the rear propshaft UJ on my Herald 13/60 but I cannot get the old one out. The circlips came out after a fight but the caps on the UJ are stuck solid in the yoke. I have been tapping away for over an hour with no movement at all! I left it soaking in penetrant overnight but still no joy. Does anyone know any tips or tricks that might help?

Canley's one comes without ring gear. Wins International have one with ring gear for the same price. Managed to get it off with no problems. Shaped a lump of wood to wedge between ring gear and chassis and was able to undo the bolts quite easily. Spigot bearing has a small chunk missing from it so I will get a new one of those too.

Changing the clutch and gearbox on my 13/60, and have found that the flywheel is slightly scored by someone in the past not changing the clutch before it had worn down to the rivets. To have the flywheel skimmed will cost £60 plus the hassle of removing and re-fitting. So, is it worth it? What will be the consequences if I just leave it as it is? All advice gratefully received - thanks in advance.

Thanks. Is there a torque setting for the big nut?

My diff has always leaked from the front, and as I have the prop shaft off to change the clutch and UJs it seems like a good time to fit a new front oil seal to the diff. I have consulted Garth at Club HQ and he agrees that this can be done with the diff in situ, but is not sure whether or not I will have to remove the cross member. Has anybody done this and if so can you give me any advice? Do I need any special tools or techniques?