The embarrassing Herald restoration thread - now the fiddly bits

[Bordfunker]

Colin, great job on the bulkhead painting, it looks stunning.

I’ll have to take a look at Trev’s blog, it looks very interesting.

Karl

[Bfg]

On 12/03/2022 at 18:50, Colin Lindsay said:

 I suppose that's one way of raising the runners when you have no metal spacers. I'll have to come up with something more.... aesthetic... and less of a fire risk. On the subject of wood my replacement dashboard arrived - £25 on eBay - and it's interesting. No varnish at all, maybe even no veneer, but most importantly no damage. It's a great starting point for a restoration - solid, undamaged and bare.

                                                        

                                                        

I won't get near it for some time but it'll make a nice project. I'll read the very interesting thread on the forum about reveneering dashboards and then see what finish I want, and work from there. 

fire risk from timber blocks under the seats ! ?  ..are your curries that seriously hot ?

The grain and colouring of the dashboard looks very much like cherry. That would have polished up to look stunning ..had it been protected from what appears to be fingermarks, mildew & staining.

[Colin Lindsay]

27 minutes ago, Bfg said:

fire risk from timber blocks under the seats ! ?  ..are your curries that seriously hot ?

The grain and colouring of the dashboard looks very much like cherry. That would have polished up to look stunning ..had it been protected from what appears to be fingermarks, mildew & staining.

I'm actually debating veneering the underseat blocks when I start on the dashboard... but then no-one would see.

Anyway no doubt there's an 'Elf and Safety Inspector somewhere who will mark them as more of a liability than the original metal versions - which have been replaced with a flat panel, so I need something. I'll get to the dash much later, it'll have to be more of a long-term priority as the main course now is to get the Herald back on the road in five weeks. I'll try to do a proper job on it and replace over the next long layup, if indeed there ever is one.

I did what I said I would, too... replaced that brake pipe... couldn't sleep otherwise.

 

[Colin Lindsay]

As tomorrow is the TSSC Annual Dinner I don't want to attend with hands like a coalminer so as the garage has almost killed me today, that's it for the weekend - a couple of days for the 'hands that do dishes to become as soft as my face' again. 

It's been a changeable week. Some things went well, others caused a lot of bother and by today there has been progress, a few setbacks, and a deadline of four weeks from tomorrow to get the 13/60 back on the road. First news I suppose is that it's back on all four wheels. The 7/16 washers and the longer bolts all arrived, so I was able to refit the front suspension and tighten loosely until I can get the additional weight into the car and tighten to the proper torque settings. The brake pipes are now complete so the next logical step was the steering.

I was going to be lazy and refit the old rack, suitably cleaned up and greased, until I saw the state of the rubber bellows. I already had a new set on the shelf so ten minutes should do it.

Yeah, right.

An hour later I'm up to my elbows in grease and enduring a scenario that's the equivalent of putting a rubber balloon over a live cat's head. Nothing stays still, nothing stays put.

   

The driver's side went on first time, no bother. The passenger side kept me engrossed for an hour, taking a few breaks to clean the grease off everything and talk to myself. 'Er Indoors landed in, watched for a bit, then I held the rack and she fitted it in about two minutes. Show off.

Next step was fitting it to the chassis. I have nice blue polybushes and a pair of clamps already repainted, I even remembered the little button / bush for the hole in the top. On goes the rack, place the plates under the chassis, apply outward pressure and tighten. Which worked for three. The fourth nut just turned, and turned, and turned.... stripped threads on the clamp. 

  

I should have known from the state of the car that these would have suffered from road dirt and rust over the years, but it's the first one that has ever refused to tighten up. I also don't have any spare, but eBay has provided a pair using the logic that one of the two should be useable. They'll need blasted and painted first, though.

So: that was the usual minor setbacks but then things started to get positively anti-Lindsay. It's all the fault of that damned Lucky Chinese Cat that I bought in Tescos for 79p. It was on clearance and as I no longer have a real cat in the garage it sits and waves at me when the light hits the LED panel, so it's better than nothing. While it's sitting waving away at me I decided to refurbish the clutch slave cylinder. It's not in bad nick so I decided to reuse as is... ok so first assembly was a bit of a bish.

  

Thankfully I noticed - well it wouldn't fit - however on disassembly it suddenly clicked with me that it's a coil spring cylinder, and the car is getting - in fact it had when first disassembled - a diaphragm setup. Luckily I had a proper version on the shelf - believe it or not, the first Triumph part I ever bought. Back in the early 1990s The Courier carried an ad for one of the usual suppliers and they had the slave cylinder advertised for £10. Duly purchased it sat on the shelf ever since, as none of my GT6 nor the other Heralds had the correct setup to use it. Now out of the box and greased paper, and fitted on the car. 

Whilst I was there I decided to swap the gear lever. The replacement overdrive gearbox is Spitfire on which the gear lever is more cranked towards the rear than the Herald. Easiest way to do it is to swap the entire top cover over. That's the theory.

Undo the four bolts, lift the top cover and watch the spring washers drop down inside the gearbox. After a few minutes of gentle reflection I found three; the fourth was right down in the bottom of the box. They're stainless steel so not magnetic. I had to remove the entire top plate and fish about with a long piece of wire until it eventually surfaced. Once that was done, I replaced the top plate, replaced the remote lever assembly and sat back. After all that I suddenly realised that if I've replaced an overdrive remote assembly with a non-overdrive remote assembly onto an overdrive gearbox.... you get the idea. The cat just sat there and waved.

  

I'll do it properly later. The will to live was rapidly diminishing.

Next stage, and what should have been a huge morale boost, was to replace the engine. It meant a lot of shuffling about in the garage - move the estate to get the winch free, then push the 13/60 off the ramp and in under it. Except that there's no steering, the track rod ends aren't connected yet, so any forward movement meant that both front wheels just went at right angles and in opposite directions. I got it sorted eventually, but hauling cars about by myself is sore on the back and does the duff shoulder no good at all.

The engine and gearbox was lifted with one strap under the rear of the engine which allowed it to pivot, so that the gearlever could clear the bulkhead. I should have just left it off but you only realise these things when it's too late. A lot of juggling, engine up, engine down, Herald forward, gearbox down, Herald forward, engine down again, Herald back... a real one man band. 

First problem was the engine mountings. Brand new in bags, and the bolts wouldn't fit through. I actually had to screw the engine bolts through the mountings then push them through the turrets. There's a metal spacer in front of the turrets - is it necessary? It left the bolts very short with no room for a spring washer, just a flat washer. At the rear, the gearbox came to rest on the rear gearbox mounting plate... job done? I was a bit surprised when I found that the gearbox / overdrive flange was visible from inside the car, not hidden under the tunnel as I had expected, and thereby requiring the tunnel to be cut back.

Fret not about the filthy state of the floorpans, that's yet to be addressed. Once under the car I found a very worrying gap between the propshaft and the gearbox.

                                                                                       

There's no way that's going to be taken up by the sliding joint; it's almost three inches off. This was further compounded by the inability of the rear gearbox mounting to line up with any of the holes in either the chassis or the overdrive. It seems the gearbox, Spitfire with J-type overdrive, was supplied to the purchaser with an incorrect mounting plate and an unsuitable propshaft for the intended Herald conversion.

                                                                                         

Luckily enough I had the proper mounting plate on the shelf, although those two bolts on the overdrive mount were a nightmare to tighten up. My arms aren't long enough to attack both top and bottom in one go. I'll worry about that when the time comes; at present I've got a gap of about 47 inches, and a propshaft of about 44. I've got no idea what it's from, being quite a late model with a sliding joint, but my options now are either to source a Vitesse propshaft - 47 inches - or have a Herald version cut down, which means a trip to the In-Laws for the shortening work and then having it balanced somewhere else. Unless of course someone local has a Vitesse propshaft lying about somewhere. I'll ask tomorrow evening when I see them all.

At present then I should be in a better mood - I'm not happy, so which of the seven dwarves am I? - but it's given me a few more things to  overcome which I could do without, and which I can't address immediately, and THAT'S what rattles me: having to wait rather than doing something now, and the debate of whether to crack on and add the other engine components, or wait and see if things are correct as is, or those front mounts need attention. 

I need a pint, but that's tomorrow night. For today the garage door is firmly shut and will remain so. 

Unless I nip out and check my supply of propshafts...

 

[NonMember]

33 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

those two bolts on the overdrive mount were a nightmare to tighten up

They are! Horrible things. I hadn't realised at first, because when I put the gearbox in my Spitfire it was just a bare chassis and the body was elsewhere, but when the gearbox mount failed last year I resorted to welding plates to the bolts so they can't rotate in the mounting, allowing me to tighten the nuts from underneath. The other types of support plate don't seem so bad.

 

37 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

a propshaft of about 44. I've got no idea what it's from

That length would be right for an overdrive Vitesse

[Pete Lewis]

echo the od mount bolts ,  we welded them into the mount to stop rotation 

there are  few spanners or sockets that will  work in there 

Pete

[Josef]

I’m sure when I did the engine mounts on either the Herald or the Spitfire (can’t remember which was first) the bolts supplied with the engine mount ‘kit’ I bought were shorter than they were supposed to be. Or at least shorter than the ones that were on the car. I definitely bought separate bolts and mounts when I did the other car. 

[Colin Lindsay]

12 hours ago, Josef said:

I’m sure when I did the engine mounts on either the Herald or the Spitfire (can’t remember which was first) the bolts supplied with the engine mount ‘kit’ I bought were shorter than they were supposed to be. Or at least shorter than the ones that were on the car. I definitely bought separate bolts and mounts when I did the other car. 

These are the same bolts that were removed; original bolts and nuts refitted with new spring washers. I suspect the engine mounts; I don't like the way they fitted, the metal seems very thick and the rubber was overpainted in black, which cracked and flaked off as the nuts were tightened. I've had them some years, on the shelf in sealed bags, so was hoping they might be good quality compared to more modern repro versions. The one in the photo actually looks to be off-centre. When I'm back in the garage on Monday I'll compare with the old, which I probably still have. If I need to I'll just fit longer bolts.

[NonMember]

The metal on that mount does look a little thicker than the one I have here (which was bought last century but didn't do any miles until a couple of years back, at which point it failed fairly quickly)

[daverclasper]

On 18/03/2022 at 17:32, Colin Lindsay said:

although those two bolts on the overdrive mount were a nightmare to tighten up

I did manage on mine, with longer nosed locking pliers (that stopped against the O/D casing, when tightening the nut) on the bolt head. Not sure if yours is this problem scenario?.

Those longer nosed locking pliers have been really useful, for loads of things 

[Colin Lindsay]

The 13/60 is cracking on, things are flying along which always makes me very worried. When is it going to bite me?

I managed to remake the clutch pipe once the slave cylinder was fitted. This was a fairly worrying job as I had eight inches of pipe left over when finished, so any hoo-hah would have meant an entire new roll. I don't like making bends then unbending them again, it's not good for neither the metal nor my worry-meter, so a bend has to be spot-on first time. Lots of measuring and marking before bending but it turned out almost perfect. Now it just needs bled and we'll see how it all performs. Oh, and one rubber boot too.

                                                                    

The engine is cracking along but with a few slight niggles; first one being the stainless water pipe that I fitted to replace the rusted-away original. It's not very well made and I'm very suspicious of the fit into the pump housing, which seems very short with not much pipe for the olive to grip. Consequently I ended up modifying the rear bracket so that the pipe fits into the housing much further, then the bracket was manipulated and ground slightly until it fitted the stud. On the other side we got a brand new starter motor - it's green, but nobody's perfect - but even here when the cable was attached the end terminal seems to wobble about. I've tightened it as much as possible but the real test will be if it actually works when connected to the battery. I hope that doesn't mean that something is broken or loose inside.

                                             

                                                        

The exhaust manifold also caused a lot of head scratching. With the manifold fully fitted the inlet manifold will not fit due to the stud on the underside, so they both have to be fitted together; then removed again whilst the lever for the accelerator cable is fitted. Oops. Then the inlet would not reach the two roll pins, so things had to be loosened again, and once fully on the studs my shiny cadmium plated clamps wouldn't fit on... so once again it all had to be loosened, assembled roughly then all tightened together. The two clamps on the underside were the biggest problem; hard to see, hard to access and hard to tighten. However we got there in the end.

                                                            

Next logical step was the exhaust itself; two attachments at the silencer, one under the gearbox and the manifold itself. This one was very kindly donated by Matthew after the original was found to be broken and it cleaned up very nicely, but even so I was worried about the fit of the exhaust studs. These are heavy duty studs from Spalding Fasteners but one at the rear didn't seem to grip the threads very well, so I suspected it would cause problems, and I was correct. As soon as any pressure was put on it, it pulled out. After a bit of unsuccessful trial and error with other studs I realised it was only a UNF fitting so screwed a long UNF bolt up from underneath. The intention was to maybe put a nut on the end but so far it's held very well on the existing threads, hence my original suspicion that the studs are not long enough. That's my first conscious bodge on this car but who's going to know? Just delete the photo off your computers after you've studied it.

                                                                  

Final headscratch of the day was on the front suspension, where the anti-roll bar clamps wouldn't. Clamp, that it. They weren't even close. It took a few minutes for me to realise they were steering rack clamps picked up by mistake... so on went the proper versions and we were flying along again. All I need now is a replacement steering rack clamp and the suspension / steering is finished. There's a pair en route from eBay so by the weekend we should have it all complete.

                                                                              

                                                                     

In the meantime I managed to source and fit a Vitesse propshaft - Thanks to local members Desi and Maeve - which is a perfect 47" fit between the Spitfire overdrive and the Herald diff. All I had to do was replace the UJs and swap one flange at the diff end. That saved me a lot of shortening and balancing plus the expense of choccy biscuits which going cap in hand - or propshaft hidden behind back - to the In-Laws would have cost me. I'm still very happy that the tunnel required no cutting or trimming (although the propshaft bolts were fitted and tightened from below anyway) so I can just leave as is.

We're well on track and I was confident enough with the way things are going to dump the old carpet... I don't think I could even have used repair sections for other areas. New carpet is waiting, so I'll have to start on the sound-proofing and insulation soon, once all the gunk is cleaned off the manky floors. This weather is nearly too good for the garage so I've been out gardening a lot, but then - that's what I bought a convertible for in the first place. It's even starting to look like one again, too.

                                                                 

                                                   

Just one small question this morning: how on earth do you fit the little round wiper mountings? The one I've managed to fit cost me most of the feeling in my fingertips by the time it went in, and the other two will probably reduce me to stumps. Any tips?

[Pete Lewis]

is this the grommet mount    tried some soft soap  ???

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

2 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

is this the grommet mount    tried some soft soap  ???

Pete

Yes these little b*******. Tried everything, soap, grease, sweat, Son of a Gun, not tried blood yet but that's no doubt coming. I fitted three to the Estate in minutes, no bother but these seem much harder. The Estate versions were older, I had a later set that wouldn't fit the 13/60 earlier in the week so bought another only to find they're just as hard. You can see where the top one has already started to flake paint off the mount. Maybe heat ie boiling?

[Peter Truman]

You need ahebrons 3D Printer and make them in two parts a top hat and annulus, washers both sides will ensure they stay in place and act as one whole! 

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, Peter Truman said:

You need ahebrons 3D Printer and make them in two parts a top hat and annulus, washers both sides will ensure they stay in place and act as one whole! 

Never thought to look for a polybush version...!

[Pete Lewis]

early speed limit motors on trucks sat in poly bushed gromets i rescued a load when the factory closed 

and they work perfectly   i should have some spares would you like some ??

pete

 

[Colin Lindsay]

3 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

early speed limit motors on trucks sat in poly bushed gromets i rescued a load when the factory closed 

and they work perfectly   i should have some spares would you like some ??

pete

 

If they fit, then please!! My fingers are so numb from trying that I've gone the equivalent of Braille deaf.

[Pete Lewis]

ok off to dig a set out 

will need your address by PM 

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, Pete Lewis said:

will need your address by PM 

Ok. Boris!! Send Pete my address, will you?

[Pete Lewis]

Colin   they are winging their way c/o royal mail

I have a idea that maybe we opened the holes with a cone/step cutter 

but you can play with them while emmerdale is boring the evening out 

included 3 small cotton reels might be of use 

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

That's much appreciated, if they're in front of me I can play about. Hopefully we'll have success between us.

TV for me is 30 minutes in the morning while I try to wake up, great if Shed and Buried is on, otherwise I'll be out doing something or reading to escape the boredom. Or, trying not to buy things on eBay.

 

[Colin Lindsay]

It's been so long since I updated this I've forgotten how far along I've come, or what I posted already.

In any case the rear of this wonderful Herald is now looking almost as new:

                                                               

...which is not surprising as it is practically new. In fact it's not even mine, but as it is April Fool's Day... well, there you go. I must have caught someone, even for a second or two?

My 13/60 is still cracking on, bit by bit. The rubber wiper motor bobbins that Pete sent me sadly didn't fit, but I found a bag of older versions that are slightly softer rubber and managed to get those into place. One other thing I found - be careful if you're buying new versions as some of them are a) too thick and b) too short, so they won't fit through other mountings, nor will they even reach the threads on the wiper motor. Once I sorted that out, the refurbished motor went on first time.

  

Blonde moment of that was trying to get the wiper tube grommet on. It won't go over the big nut on the end, no matter what you try. How on earth do they do it at the factory... well they probably put it on over the thin end. Oops... on it went first time and the wiper wheelbox replaced. Looks nice alongside the new washer bottle and the clear silicone tubing.

Next job was wondering why I put oil into things if they're only going to leak. Diff is filled with EP140 c/o James Paddock, really treacly stuff that's good for the diff. It's not good for the gearbox however so blonde moment of THAT episode was taking the same container and using what was left, about a quarter of a pint or so, to fill the gearbox. Gosh durnit. Had to drain it again and refill with good GL4 EP90 from another container, then wonder why I bother as the lower drain plug started to drip, no matter how hard it was tightened. I replaced it with the more common square version and that's been leak free ever since.

                                                                              

We're on a roll here. I fitted the fuel pipes plus fuel filter, new brass drain tap on the block, then started on the hoses. This one goes here... this one goes there... slightly different to the 1200... where does this one go? Aha... to the water pump housing. Then... hang on... where does the temperature sensor go?

                                                                                     

That was me being smart and sandblasting spares so that they could be swapped straight over. It works better if it's the correct part, though. No bother, that plug can be removed, and so it was, surprisingly easily too. Only to reveal....

                                                                                   

You're having a bath, mate! Blocked off? Can't be... or shouldn't be. Turned out that was just baked and caked crud of centuries that required careful removal so that it didn't fall down inside the cooling system. Chipped out and hoovered away, the rest was plain sailing. A quick clean of the threads and Bob's your dog.

  

The steering rack clamp that stripped the threads was next; replacements arrived c/o eBay and once sandblasted and repainted they went on and more importantly stayed on first time.

  

Nice blue polybushes to contrast with the orange suspension bushes. That's suspension steering and brakes all attached bar the upper steering column, which has to wait on the rest of the bulkhead being finished first. I refitted the screw-on heater panel and grille, nice stainless screws and washers against the white paint.

                                                                                    

I also used an incredibly early purchase - been in the drawer for many many years, this one, but still has Mick Dolphin's price sticker on it from Stafford 1995. Or is it Chic Doig's writing? Either way, you won't get one for a fiver these days, if indeed you can find one at all, but it's the required part for the early drain tube.

  

Heater now complete and refitted. That's practically the body work finished bar refitting the bonnet.

Front end singing along I tried a sneaky bit of psychology at the rear end and fitted one of the trim panels I had made; they're 13/60 pattern in light tan but without the seatbelt holes, as my belts are attached to the floor not the wheelarches.

                                                                            

They're actually too well made and I had a job trying to get them to sit under the top trim strip without damage. I'm waiting on front footwell panels, too; Canley told me four to six weeks but 7th Feb seems like a lot longer now. Almost eight weeks... what's keeping them?

I also ran out of poppers; another ancient purchase was a full set of hood poppers complete with brass fixing screws from Chic Doig way back, but they're disappeared somewhere and are not playing ball. I'll need more but sadly no-one seems to sell a suitable kit these days so it's the Hardware shop for me come Monday morning. Many of the ones I took off are rusty or damaged and will look terrible if refitted, and the paintwork needs all the help it can get.

Tomorrow: brake and clutch bleeding, connect the fuel pipe to the tank, torque the front suspension and back on all four wheels. I've ordered proper UNF bolts for the radiator but they should arrive next week and we may even get to turn the key and see what blows up. Especially if I forget the engine oil. Note to self...

[DVD3500]

Wow... your trunk/boot looks as clean as an operation theater!

[Colin Lindsay]

We're into the last seven days of deadline with the 13/60; I gave myself twelve weeks and I've got 1 and 1/7 weeks left. Saturday 16th April it needs to be down off the lift and moveable, preferably under its' own steam.

Tick off the list:

Steering: all done and centered as far as possible. Track rod ends greased (did you know the greasable versions arrive bone dry?) and adjusted to what looks like both full ahead.

Brakes: pipes all replaced, cylinders and calipers refurbished, replacement hoses, replacement master cylinder and pedal (the original one had widened the hole for the clevis pin)

Clutch: all replaced with new diaphragm setup, master cylinder refurbished, pipe and slave cylinder replaced, replacement pedal. Alloy bellhousing fitted. Needs bled.

Suspension: all polybushed, new shocks and rear leaf spring refurbished. Anti roll bar links brackets and bushes replaced.

Gearbox: overdrive conversion with J-type O/D, replacement prop with new UJs, new mounts and lever swapped for refurbished item.

Bodywork: all grime removed, bonnet rebuilt and sprayed, floors cleaned and soundproofed, chassis Waxoyled. Bulkhead resprayed.

Engine: cooling system all replaced, core plugs replaced, oil system refurbished, recored radiator, all new hoses, new mounts, replacement starter, replacement exhaust manifold, slight leak from block - possibly core plug.

Electrics: new coil, electronic ignition, new solenoid, new battery (075) and leads, gauges refurbished, new flasher unit and myriad new spade terminals.

Interior: Floors soundproofed and insulated, new carpets including boot, gearbox tunnel soundproofed, new rear trims, a-post covers, carpet strips etc. 

Still to do: 

Refit bonnet and connect lights.

Bleed brakes.

Bleed clutch.

Refit rest of interior, gearbox tunnel, front carpets and seats.

Buy self tappers that will fit inside the trim poppers at the rear.

THEN: get it started and running. That might not be as easy as it sounds.

Still, it looks well:

  

The radiator went on yesterday along with the new hoses - some of which had to be trimmed as they were too long, but better too long than too short. I trial-filled it with water, as much to clean out any remaining impurities as to minimise the expense of any loss of good antifreeze, and have ended up with a very slight leak to the exhaust side of the block. Very slight, maybe one or two drips overnight, but I suspect the centre core plug that's in behind the manifold. It may settle down when warmed up.

Oil has been filled, I'm using Comma Classic 20w50 and it's now almost full. Only a running engine will reveal any leaks. I had to put the original manky rocker cover back on, an order for an alloy unit in February is still awaiting delivery. Maybe Putin has them all, I don't know, but it's a small detail in the scale of things.

I replaced the steering column and overdrive switch, which made me realise I'd gotten ahead of myself in fitting the engine side valences and radiator before connecting the steering column. It had to come off again to give access to the steering column joint, but I'm happy now that the wheels will actually turn when asked.

The wiring was interesting; there was originally a very long blue wire, and a very long brown wire, running along the engine which I removed on stripdown, and without checking what they were actually for. I suspected the brown wire was for the horn circuit, but bar a little bit of confusion under the dashboard - the purple wire (horn) connects to a brown wire, and the brown / black wire (headlamp flash) connects to a purple wire. I just had to trust to the wiring diagram and connect up.

I also connected the brake light switch and the overdrive wiring, although while that is connected to the column switch, a power source has yet to be confirmed. Possibly the spare terminal on the ignition switch? It's just a simple circuit of power to column switch to interrupter switch to solenoid to earth so not too difficult.

Next job was to jump the gun and fit some carpets.

I like the colour of these but sadly, with the new rear side trims fitted, all they do is highlight how tatty the rear seat is. Given the price of rear seat covers in light tan, they can stay that way for a time. Biggest foo-pas of the day was measuring the place to cut for the centre tunnel seatbelt mounting. You can actually see the light circle, about thumb-print size, in the dark patch on the vertical side of the tunnel. I measured, measured again, felt for the hole behind, measured again, pricked with a pin - it went right through so no metal in behind - then took a deep breath and melted the carpet with a hot soldering iron. Lots of smoke and ... no hole behind. I was an inch out. Don't ask. I've no idea myself. First plan was to pluck fibres off the edges of the other carpets - they need trimmed for the sills - and stick those over the hole, but when the seatbelt stalk was finally fitted, amazingly it hid the burned part completely. Say nothing, if you don't tell, I won't.

The other side fitted first time, no problems. All the other mounting points were wee buns with no issues.

So: while I was waiting on drying glue and on bleeding the clutch, I decided to try power to the system. As I always do, no matter how sure I am of things, I attached the terminals to a battery with gritted teeth. No bang, no smoke. The ignition light came on, but quite erratically, and the wipers turned but very slowly. There was no reaction on turning the ignition key. That Delphi Freedom 063 battery is worse than useless, now consigned to the recycling. So: try another battery. This one was slightly larger, an 073 Yuasu. The ignition light glowed well, the wipers turned quite fast, the heater blower came on. Still no reaction from the starter circuit. Try another battery. Off I went to the shop and came back with an 075; it cost me £72 but is the largest that the tray will hold, plus the terminals are in the correct place at the rear. Still nothing from the starter circuit.

Was it a) the NOS starter with the wobbiy terminal, b) the replacement solenoid from the spares pile, or c) the red and white wire wrongly connected? I've absolutely no idea, I just replaced them all. Replacement M35G starter, different solenoid with fewer spade terminals and a new starter and earth strap, whilst also connecting earth cables to solenoid and coil mounting points. Turn the key and off we went, a few trial spins. I'll not start up in earnest yet until the wheels go on and the clutch system is bled.

Plus: the horns work, so the brown wire is as yet unknown. 

Sadly, the brake lights don't work. Was that the blue wire - it ran from the coil to somewhere behind the dash? That's tomorrow's job.

Blonde moments - apart from melting the carpet in the wrong place - fitting the boot carpet back to front. How on earth do you do that when there are cutouts for the wheel arches? Fuel tank removed, carpet fitted in under, tank replaced and filled, during which the filler nozzle came off and drenched me in very expensive petrol.

When the battery terminal won't fit the battery, and is too small, don't remove it, replace it, then find out that the replacement is also too small... just make sure you're not fitting it back to front and trying to attach the earth to the positive terminal. 

Buying an entire box of self tappers, only to find when they arrive through the post they're half the size they need to be and so no use for anything on the car bar maybe the glovebox hinges.

So that's it: eleven weeks down, one to go. Surely it can be done. Why am I sitting here? Still three hours to midnight...

[Josef]

Yeah the overdrive switched feed can come from the ignition switch. I built my own mini overdrive + radio loom when I rewired the Spitfire for the first time, and incidentally made my own internet order mistake. Bought some yellow/green wire to match the standard overdrive loom, but managed to pick a wildly wrong gauge, it’s about 5mm in diameter… Might come in handy some day I guess.