Herald 13/60 Front Valance fitting advice please

[GreyBob]

I'm trying to fit a GRP front valance to my 1969 13/60. The original has long gone so I have no template to follow for fitting.

Is there a 13/60 owner on here who could send me a photo of how their valance (original or replacement) is fitted please. Or maybe point me at any forum posts that could help. 

I have the same problem with the GRP bonnet I have (original long gone) so any photos of how the front of the bonnet attaches would also help. Many Thanks. 

[NonMember]

I recently fitted a GRP front valance to a Mk1 Vitesse. It's a 13/60 part (the originals were very similar) and needed a bit of modification to clear the Vitesse's radiator. It's also a very poor fit generally. I could take some photos if you're interested? I assume you have the "fitting kit" (a bunch of steel plates that need to be glued in place)?

[GreyBob]

3 minutes ago, NonMember said:

I recently fitted a GRP front valance to a Mk1 Vitesse. It's a 13/60 part (the originals were very similar) and needed a bit of modification to clear the Vitesse's radiator. It's also a very poor fit generally. I could take some photos if you're interested? I assume you have the "fitting kit" (a bunch of steel plates that need to be glued in place)?

Thanks for that. Yes please any photos would be great. I dont have a fitting kit (didnt realise it needed one) I'll need to source one, do you have a link to a supplier.

    Many thanks, Bob 

[Colin Lindsay]

Some of the GRP valences are a woeful fit; (some of the metal ones currently available aren't much better either).

I think (Rob will correct me here!) the fitting kit refers to both the end brackets, which connect to the outer ends of the front cross tube, and the front strengtheners, which bolt to the chassis rails underneath. None of my GRP valences had any of those - the outer ends were connected via a long screw into a bracket bolted to the chassis, which of course meant a very visible screw head just below the rubber bumper. On my 13/60 the front braces / strengtheners were simply long strips of metal twisted and screwed through the valence, again with two very visible screw heads and washers underneath. I ended up taking two metal braces - and these are very hard to find, I don't think even Fitchetts sell them separately but they might - and measured the position against the valence when gapped as well as I could get it. Once the position was marked they were fixed with Tigerseal and then when dry I used more fibreglass over and around to secure them in place.

  

For the ends, if there's nothing there already (some used to fibreglass a bracket in place during manufacture) then all you can do is to attach L-shaped brackets in much the same way. Some of the metal valences come with a captive nut here, but for GRP all you can do is measure and bond.

As some of the valences aren't a great profile - if you ever fit an original valence you'll see immediately - it's just a case of getting what looks best in terms of gaps; I prefer a good profile along the wheelarch so that the line of the arch flows into the valence, otherwise you can see the gap and it looks like a poorly-fitting panel. You can bend the brackets at the overriders up or down to improve the gap along the bonnet front edge, and if you tighten those mountings you can, up to a point, bend the valence backwards to achieve the best possible line at the rear, but not too far or it will split. Mine is a woeful fit at both front corners, hence my search for a good replacement.

 

 

[NonMember]

If you go to the Canley page (for the Vitesse) and click on item 6 (the valance) you'll get a list of part numbers. From the third one down you have "fitting kit" FVFK1 (the bits you need to glue to the valance) and some brackets VBx, which are the bits to attach the parts of FVFK1 to the chassis.

[GreyBob]

Rob & Colin, Many thanks to you both. Certainly gives me much more to go on.  I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks again.

[NonMember]

I found this photo:

I had reinforced the bit under the overrider cut-out, largely because my rusty steel valance had actually folded at that point on removal. There's also a mod you can see to the lower right, which was needed to clear the Vitesse radiator. I then fitted it by the brackets behind the overriders, bolted the four bits of the fitting kit to the chassis, then glued and clamped them to the valance in situ. Once dry, I took it back off the car and fibreglassed over the ends of the fitting plates. You can see them in that photo - the upright for the chassis and the end plate that Colin didn't seem able to find.

[Colin Lindsay]

7 hours ago, NonMember said:

If you go to the Canley page (for the Vitesse) and click on item 6 (the valance) you'll get a list of part numbers. From the third one down you have "fitting kit" FVFK1 (the bits you need to glue to the valance) and some brackets VBx, which are the bits to attach the parts of FVFK1 to the chassis.

Never knew you could buy those! Thanks for the link.

[PeteH]

Got a few min, Yesterday, so dug these out. Hope they are useful. It`s how the 13/60 was fastened when it came to me. The original brackets where Rusted steel so replaced with alloy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pete
 

 

[GreyBob]

On 21/10/2022 at 13:24, NonMember said:

I found this photo:

I had reinforced the bit under the overrider cut-out, largely because my rusty steel valance had actually folded at that point on removal. There's also a mod you can see to the lower right, which was needed to clear the Vitesse radiator. I then fitted it by the brackets behind the overriders, bolted the four bits of the fitting kit to the chassis, then glued and clamped them to the valance in situ. Once dry, I took it back off the car and fibreglassed over the ends of the fitting plates. You can see them in that photo - the upright for the chassis and the end plate that Colin didn't seem able to find.

Thank you Rob, thats very helpfull.

  Bob

[GreyBob]

23 minutes ago, PeteH said:

Got a few min, Yesterday, so dug these out. Hope they are useful. It`s how the 13/60 was fastened when it came to me. The original brackets where Rusted steel so replaced with alloy.

 

 

 

From: "peteh1944@gmail.com" <peteh1944@gmail.com>

Date: 23/10/2022, 09:54

To: "PeterH2013@hotmail.com" <PeterH2013@hotmail.com>

 

 

 

 

Pete
 

 

Many thanks Pete, those photos are very usefull. They will help a lot.  Cheers,

   Bob