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The embarrassing Herald restoration thread - footlin' and tinkering but no real motivation.


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4 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

well done Colin   so the Smiles Back ..????

Pete

Getting there, Pete. All of the posts above have helped immensely... (that includes the one about passing the MOT, too, from that Lindsay nutcase...)

Tomorrow, the work starts again - I have a choice of sanding a stippled ceiling prior to replastering or working on the Herald. Decisions, decisions... I also have a lovely clean and shiny gearbox to refurbish...

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Gunk Foam has been tried, might as well used bath foam... tomorrow I'll shell out on a stiff brush and try a variety of cleaning agents, everything from petrol to washing up liquid. I'm hoping the inside is nice and clean, given that it's still full of oil, and it will yield some spares at least; otherwise it'll be cleaned, reoiled and salted away for future use as a complete unit.

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Congrats on the 13/60 MOT success Colin why not go for a drive instead of DIY? Re gearbox I''d Gernie it first with high pressure to remove the depth of dirt etc in an area where the debris doesn't matter, then degunk it with brush etc, your going to rebuild it anyway. 

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19 minutes ago, Peter Truman said:

Congrats on the 13/60 MOT success Colin why not go for a drive instead of DIY? Re gearbox I''d Gernie it first with high pressure to remove the depth of dirt etc in an area where the debris doesn't matter, then degunk it with brush etc, your going to rebuild it anyway. 

Say nowt Peter... it's all planned. Tomorrow morning it's a nip out, rain or shine, for coffee and a paper with the Herald parked in pride of place somewhere highly visible, no matter what it looks like.. :)

. 'Er Indoors will be at work thinking I'm hard at work in the hall. I'll need to work twice as fast for when she does get home, tho.

Plus: while I'm working in a cloud of dust from the ceiling the gearbox will be soaking away.

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13 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

'Er Indoors will be at work thinking I'm hard at work in the hall. I'll need to work twice as fast for when she does get home, tho.

I was luckier last year when 'er indoors was away on her 3 week thermal cure it gave me plenty of time to completely 'restore' her room and go out in the car. After all it does take AGES/DAYS for filler and/or paint to dry 😁

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53 minutes ago, dougbgt6 said:

I don't have an 'er indoors so the garage ceiling still needs painting a year after the leak. 

Doug

Plenty of time yet, I've still not painted the walls and ceiling in what became the boiler room and 'mini' workshop/store about 10 years ago.

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19 minutes ago, poppyman said:

Very well done Coiln, your face will "ache" from the permanent grin :) 

Tony.

I think it was frozen in place by the drive home... need a scarf and a hat. Of course the weather is directly linked to the MOT Certificate, so it has rained ever since. I'll be out in it as much as I can until the really cold weather comes in, then it's rebuild time - and this time it's ONE MONTH MAX. Quote me on that. Ok may be two but I want it back on the road by March.

The bonnet needs to come off to fix the poor repairs to the lower front edge under the grille - repair section purchased. I'll also have to remove the lights for repainting, so new seals and fitting kits waiting. While it's off I have to remove the engine and fit a Spitfire gearbox with J-type overdrive, replace an overdrive prop after replacing the front diff seal, there's a recored radiator to fit, blast and repaint the side valences, renovate the engine ie core plugs and ancillaries, maybe replace the valves and head gasket and repaint the block, and renovate both dynamo and starter.

While that's out the black-painted bulkhead has to become white, clean up the brake-fluid-eaten top panel, replace the master cylinders and brake / clutch pipes.

If I've got the centre tunnel out then bin the old carpets, soundproof the usual areas, Dodomat the tunnel cover, fit new carpets and rear trims.

After that polybush all of the suspension - which requires the black front turrets blasted and repainted in white - and that only leaves the front footwell millboards, the dash surround and the dash itself to tidy up.

Sounds like a lot but most of the bits are already made up and just need a straight swap. Ok so nobody really sees under the bonnet but the interior is a bit of a nightmare...

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On 17/10/2021 at 11:59, Colin Lindsay said:

Following the discovery of sooty black water dripping on the garage floor I reckoned the silencer was defunct, but could find no holes in it... however take no chances. I pinched this new one off the red convertible and it certainly looks better, although no quieter - I've since discovered that it's a semi-sports box... Back on the bench I found that the old one had split along the seam, so there was the fault - invisible from below.

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I've go the same model silencer fitted on my 13/60 ( less the leak), so either it is/was a recognised fit for the car or both our car's pos opted for the same 'make do and mend'.

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1 hour ago, Jeffds1360 said:

Check the rear inner arches too Colin. .... inertia belts?

Attached to non-standard mounting points on the vertical panel at the front of the rear seat, Jeff - they rise up vertically behind the front seats to the top of the B-posts, where the fitting point is in the early cars. I'll assess how good they are in this position once I strip the interior out, but they move freely and hold when pulled. Consequently the rear trims are unused - good spot for speakers, maybe. There are rear belts but I'll maybe remove those - I wonder if I'll ever have four-up in it?

IMG_0429.jpg.f9d7c630254a26177110353cfcec63dc.jpg

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31 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Attached to non-standard mounting points on the vertical panel at the front of the rear seat, Jeff - they rise up vertically behind the front seats 

 

Interesting !!! any pictures of that?

Not that I have a problem with mine, just interested (when you have time... no rush :) )

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Well done Colin, great work. I have a smile with a regular MOT pass, yours was prob massive.

While I'm here, was wondering about the running rich causing oil burning/smoke.

Was it so rich that it was diluting  any oil in combustion chamber.

Interested as when mine has been too rich, It's just black, unburnt petrol smoke, I think?.

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13 hours ago, daverclasper said:

While I'm here, was wondering about the running rich causing oil burning/smoke.

Was it so rich that it was diluting  any oil in combustion chamber.

Interested as when mine has been too rich, It's just black, unburnt petrol smoke, I think?.

Aha - that might cause a few questions, given the state of the carb. It was NOT burning any smoke at all when I started. The Herald had had no maintenance at all for a long period - no antifreeze, just pure water, very black oil, rusty plugs. The choke cable was incorrectly fitted and even after I corrected it, it kept coming back out of the dash by an inch or so as the car drove.

I changed the air filter, which was a wire version, and put in a Unipart paper version. While I was there I saw the state of the carb, which was appalling. Black, almost with a tar-like coating over it all. The photo below is AFTER initial cleaning. I removed it, cleaned as much as I could, changed the damaged diaphragm, which was mangled, and things started from that. Like those Egyptian grave excavators, I have disturbed the dust of centuries, and awoken things that should have been left alone. The plugs were not oily just very very sooty. Now they're just about black, so a slight tuning required which as I'm on the road will give a far more accurate reading than idling in the garage; similarly I can address the choke problem now that I've much more time. I think some of the carb springs are either incorrect, or severely weakened as there's a long spring to the rocker cover that shouldn't be there, and has been fitted to overcome something else. I've a full set of new valves and will fit those with new guides later, but am also thinking that, as with the carb, if the head comes off, it'll unveil other nightmares best left alone...

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There is a belt attachment point. at the base of that (B post)on my 13/60?.

I might speculate, that PO. has fastened BOTH ends of the seat belt at the point?. The "factory" attachment is behind the rear seat side panel on the upper part of the wheel arch.

Pete

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Pete - thanks for reminding me that I'd forgotten to post photos for Jeff. As you can see the reels are not attached to any of the recognised points, certainly not for my earlier cars, but seem to work very well. I'll debate later during the winter stripdown as to whether they need any modification or reinforcing - the top of the b-post, for example is tight to the back of the seats, same as in the early 1200s. In order to pull that out of the metal you're actually pulling against your own weight in the seat, and, although in the event of an accident you'll be thrown forward, by the time that happens the reel will have locked preventing any forward movement. Any stress on the reel itself is upwards, not forwards as it would be if mounted to the rear wheelarch. It's an interesting configuration that I've not had before.

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Hmmm. Velly intelestink... My seat back top goes that far rearwards it would be past the top anchor point !!??

Mind, my seat is a bit saggy :)

Never seen that configuration before.

If structurally sound, it alleviates the need for the 'angled' reels 

 

oh, P.S.

that "throttle return spring" is novel !! I guess the stay bar and compression spring, at the other end of the spindle are foobared then??

If you need and pictures of my set up Colin, jus arsk :)

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25 minutes ago, Jeffds1360 said:

that "throttle return spring" is novel !! I guess the stay bar and compression spring, at the other end of the spindle are foobared then??

If you need and pictures of my set up Colin, jus arsk :)

You may regret that kind offer, Jeff... :)

In the meantime I returned to the Estate and made up a new kunifer clutch pipe. This was the second attempt, you know the old adage 'measure twice cut once'? I measured, then estimated, then added a bit, then cut. When it came to the final bend we were an inch short... :( I think I put too many loops in, but thought there were two? Still, I have another two to make for the other cars so now know what not to do.

DSCF2192.jpg.949ee7aa488781833b78f37a7dc61a4e.jpg

 

 

 

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