Jon J 1250

Ha, too true, that is how my Herald 12/50 has lasted nearly 60 years! The original owner covered the underside and everything under the bonnet in oil, many times over, it is literally everywhere!....and guess who has the job of cleaning it off now! I'm half tempted to think, well it has worked all these years, why remove it, but it has all got dirt soaked into it and looks terrible, I want to get it an bit cleaner underneath, do a proper inspection, and refinish with Bilthamber or Dinitrol products. I have no desire to take the body off to clean, done that once, and I don't need that pain again, it's solid enough not to need it, and everything fits correctly, which it wont if I take it apart and put it back, guaranteed!

Hi all, I thought I would pick up this old thread as it seems relevant to my questions. Being part way through my project to re-commission my one previous owner 12/50 (a car I bought as a student in 1995), I have got to the cooling system. I have had success in flushing through the radiator, pressure testing it and have repainted it. Now I need to get to the thermostat to flush the block through, which bring me to the housing. The car has what at best could be described as a bit of a Heath Robinson installation of a temp sender, the probe is clearly too long for the space, so a block of aluminium has been roughly cut and sandwiched in between the water pump housing and thermostat housing. In some respect it's part of this car's charm as it must've been done by the original owner some 50yrs ago, but I think I'd like to improve it somewhat. Can anyone advise what the most sensible solution is, can I buy any old Smiths gauge from Ebay/autojumble and expect it to work, also what size is the thread in the thermostat housing, should I blank it off and put a probe in the water pump housing? so many questions?

Thanks all, lots to take in. I wanted ideally to keep the original engine as it is a lowish mileage car (50k) and has a lot of history with both me for past 26yrs and the previous owner for 30 years before that (only a 2 owner car). I have looked in to the Spitfire mk2 exhaust manifold, which it appears Rimmers sell a stainless version of (looks same to me), I am I best going with this or an original Stanpart one? Then I guess I will look out for a Mk2 Inlet manifold, are these rare as I haven't seen one for sale recently? That way I should get 60+bhp with the 12/50 cam and will at least be using period factory upgrades. I do have a recon and part assembled early Mk3 Spit engine in storage that I started assembling in the mid 90's but never finished, but still want to try perk up the original engine if I can.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/362221880363 Hi, I'm not really into modifying cars but tempted to make my Herald 12/50 a bit more compatible with todays traffic when it comes back from extended hibernation, so giving it some thought. See link above, has anyone got any experience with these, would it produce a meaningful power increase on a Herald 12/50 engine, especially if combined with a Rimmer Bros 4 Branch tubular manifold? Regards Jon

Reviving an old thread here, I recognised the E-Type series 3 heater valve seems the same as the Herald DG on, albei with a capillary tube, certainly looks the same? https://www.jagshop.co.uk/product/2546-heater-water-valve-c34691

Assuming 3.5 in rims. very good tyres for general use, probably Pirelli Cinturato C67 145 x R13. Correct width and close to correct diameter for the car, and a genuine period radial tyre that was available as an option in 1960's.....£100/tyre though! Blockley tyres do a 145 R13 in a period style that also will be a good fit, think they around £80/tyre. If looking at budget tyres, would advise sticking with 145 width on 3.5in rims, and 155 on 4.5in rims and an overall diameter as close to around 580mm as you can find. (Heralds are not good on low profiles) Original tyres were Dunlop Gold Seal 5.20 x 13 Crossply tires, sadly Dunlop no longer make these tires since around 2015, the closest you'll find is Camac 5.20 x 13's at around £90/tyre. (I have no idea if they are any good though). Regards Jon

Of course though original, original seals were of this flap type, but with a coarse woven fabric trim (a cream backing with grey threads running along) on the interior part of the seal, rather than black rubber. Has anyone been lucky enough to find a source for these? Jon

Thanks, I am hoping so, the rust is years of dry garage storage, so not too bad, and no scoring on them. I Iast drove my 12/50 back from the TSSC Stafford show in 2006 when the original Type 12 caliper began to stick, so I put it back into the garage fully intending to fix it....15 years later I have, and returned it to original spec as until now I didn't realise the calipers were mismatched. (life got in the way)

I decided to go original Type 12, despite being less convenient, she now has matching calipers for the first time since Feb 1987 (i found the repair receipt for the incorrect Type 14 fitment). 😀👍

Fair points, Type 14 is what my head is saying for those reasons, but the car is very original so kind of really want to keep it that way. (that old dilemma, which afflicts some of us!)) I'll have a look at the hubs and see if that points towards which type it originally had, Type 12 I would guess, but I think 1965 is the changeover year, so may not be all that helpful. (Herald 12/50's were fitted with front discs from new) I just can't believe I've been driving the car around in the past and never noticed, there was no pull to one side or anything to suggest they were odd calipers.

Hi first post, long time reader. Just getting to work on resurrecting my one previous owner 1965 Herald 12/50. It has been in dry storage since 2006 after its last MOT expired, it's solid, well cared for by both owners, but naturally after so long in hibernation, the brake and clutch hydraulics need to be serviced. Having cleaned honed and resealed the master cyls and rear wheel cyls, I removed the front calipers at the weekend ready for stripdown. To my surprise I found I have a Type 12 on the nearside and a Type 14 on the offside! I've driven it 10000 miles like that and never noticed, I have complete service records for this car, the previous owner was meticulous with mileages and dates of repairs all recorded etc. Surely this would not have been done from the factory would it? This leaves the dilemma, which type should I go with when servicing, common sense says Type 14, but my instinct to keep as original as possible says Type 12, am I being daft favouring the earlier type? Best Regards Jon