The embarrassing Herald restoration thread - getting to the fine points

[Gary Flinn]

I can remember ordering the steel trim pieces and the outer/inner door weather strips from my local BL dealer in the mid 80's for my first Vitesse, a place called Service Motors in Leabrooks, Derbyshire.

It's long gone now, there's a Co-op Supermarket on the site, they call it progress!!

Regards

Gary

[Colin Lindsay]

I assume Andrew Stone of Belper is long gone too, if that's roughly in your area? I remember buying parts from him in pre-Internet days.

[Gary Flinn]

On 13/04/2024 at 12:16, Colin Lindsay said:

I assume Andrew Stone of Belper is long gone too, if that's roughly in your area? I remember buying parts from him in pre-Internet days.

Colin

I believe Andrew moved to France, I actually helped a Mate with the rewire of his premises in Belper in the early 1990's on Derwent Street in Belper, I do currently live quite local to Belper.

I often wonder what happened to John Hills at Redditch, I had loads of stuff off them in the mid 1980's.

Regards

Gary  

 

[68vitesse]

On 10/04/2024 at 21:04, Colin Lindsay said:

I had forgotten the amount of legroom there is in anything other than the convertible, and can actually get my legs under.

Early in the production run of the 2L Vitesse a different seat was used for the convertible to increase the legroom.

Regards

Paul.

[68vitesse]

29 minutes ago, Gary Flinn said:

 often wonder what happened to John Hills at Redditch, I had loads of stuff off them in the mid 1980's.

 

Still useful for reference.

Regards

Paul.

 

[Colin Lindsay]

On 15/04/2024 at 08:46, Gary Flinn said:

Colin

I believe Andrew moved to France, I actually helped a Mate with the rewire of his premises in Belper in the early 1990's on Derwent Street in Belper, I do currently live quite local to Belper.

Gary  

 

As an aside from the dark days on pre-Internet life... I bought an alternator for a Spitfire from Andrew back in 1994, using his ad in The Courier, and sent off a cheque - remember those? Anyway back comes the alternator with a note: "You didn't add VAT, you didn't add postage, so if this arrives with you at all it means Christmas has come early". It arrived. What else could I do? I sent Andrew a Christmas card... in June.

Back to the present day and the Estate is moving along, not without a bit of headscratching. I wanted to complete the interior before fitting the roof, and things get cramped not to mention dark, underneath. I didn't get near the radio, but had one door trim to fit. This is typical Lindsay garage procedure: fit the winder spring in behind, then the red door trim card, then the black bezel, press everything in and slide the winder handle on with one hand whilst using a pair of thin pliers to push the little securing pin into place. That's the theory. In reality the door moves away once any pressure is put on the inside, so put an old pillow against the side of the BMW and wedge the door against that, press the card in, fit the black bezel, fit the winder handle... which doesn't. After a few minutes of puzzlement I realised it's too big for the black bezel. 

                                               

                                               

The nice and shiny one, left / below in the photos, has a wider surround to the square aperture than all my others, so while it may look identical, it doesn't fit. I had to use another and after a little bit of faffing with the little pin got it fitted. I wonder if that one came from a different model?

Now with the interior more or less complete I had to try the roof - not an easy job for one, but I managed to get it into place with no paint damage. At least no NEW paint damage, for despite the ravages of 21 years of storage which have left it very dirty it was originally damaged on the way home from the paint shop in 2003. The Herald went off for a professional two-pack respray, arrived back with me on a dark evening... WHERE'S THE ROOF? It had only been set in place, not bolted down, and had blown off on the way home on the motorway. Amazingly it landed in the rear tub and suffered only slight chipping to the sides and to the top of the screen frame. I'll have to get those touched up now. I couldn't really complain, after all, the painting was free.

                      

The front roof seal caused me a lot of puzzlement as to the orientation, and even more as to how to keep it in place while the roof was being lowered. It jumped out at either end, or lifted in the middle, so with only one clamp of suitable size I glued it in place over two days before trying the roof again. This again caused bother - passenger side in place but the driver's side would not clear the top of the screen surround - at least 1/2 an inch too far forward. I ended up undoing the chassis bolts and jacking up the centre so that it dropped into place. Next problem was the new seal, holding the roof too high at the front. THAT took a lot of coaxing with overlong bolts, drawing in gradually and allowing time to settle. Eventually externally we came up with THIS:

                                                    

Looks all fine and dandy on the outside. Until you look at the outer roof edges. Ignoring the off-centre seal that I'll address at some stage.

                          

Driver's side had quite an overhang, passenger side none at all. Inside the car there was another indication of things not right - with the roof off-centre like that, the hole for the top screw of the rear-view mirror was spot on centre, just a little bit high due to the seal. I loosened off the bolts again, of course the front edge sprung up and played havoc for a bit until I could get it compressed again. I centred the roof by eye, same gap on either side, but on going back inside again, the hole for the mirror is now off-centre.

                                                                               

I think I'll go with the external look and reshape that hole. When trimmed the headlining goes down over that area anyway and round the windscreen aperture, so any surgery will be invisible. speaking of headlining... here's a salutary tale of caution. It seems simple to fit a new headlining with the roof upside down, as it all sits nice and taut. However: when the roof is turned round to fit the car, it all sags worse than one of those people you see flying off for surgery in Turkey. Oops. Terrible looking. I'll tidy up what I can given that parts of the sides are already glued in place.

                                                                              

I hope that once the front is glued in place I can tension some of the rest and take the bad look off it. It started off pristine white back in 2003 but has aged slightly too, so the logical thing would have been to clean it whilst lying flat off the car, not working upside down, but why work in logical sequence anyway. 

Next step is fitting the side windows. For some reason I have four pairs (not to mention SEVEN rear tailgate windows. Where did those all come from???) and on two the seals are actually in quite good condition. I could end up using them with a bit of cleaning and fettling first, not to mention sealer, but as a fall-back I've had new seals stored away for many years (nearly 30) which may be in worse condition. I'm afraid to open the packaging. I also suspect that rather than being one-piece seals I have to cut and piece them, which may not be that easy given the shape of the side windows.            

                                                                 

                                                           

Time will tell. I'm going to sit back for a time now and relax before trying anything else. The local TSSC will be calling en masse on May 11th for a garage tinker day, followed by a short run so I'll crack on with organising that, plus I need to road-test the 13/60 to make sure I at least have a Herald to go in. In typical style I've been lamenting the fact that my hood leaks through a tear on the driver's side, been running about looking for someone who knows how to fit one or else working up the courage to try it myself, and completely forgot the S&D Hardtop hanging on the wall that was rebuilt over lockdown. I suppose as it took three of us to hang it up there and two ladders, I'll not try to take it down by myself. It makes too much sense to use it so I'll just hope for a dry day, if such a thing exists any more.

Edited April 18 by Colin Lindsay
adjusting photographs

[Colin Lindsay]

A bit more progress on the 1200 Estate (15 miles in the 13/60 at the weekend, but that was just to blow cobwebs off. I think the rear spring needs swapping over, it's a bit boaty) and since the roof went on things have flown along. Not that we're any closer to the road but there are so many little jobs to do there's a whole range of things to choose from. I tightened the roof down fully, and even managed to find the huge, very solid washers for the underside of the C-posts. 

Biggest step of the week was to fit the B-post pillars. These, like the sills, have been painted for more than 20 years awaiting refitting, and have (almost) managed to avoid damage since. There's a chip out of the driver's side, but not too visible. I also had a seal / fitting kit salted away, new top and bottom seals and stainless setscrews and washers, Lord only knows where I bought that. It seems to have gone ok so far.

                           

Yes, the door catch does require adjusted but I'll do that as one of the last few jobs once everything else is fitted and tightened down properly. It's amazing how those two pillars complete the car. It's funny but the thing that gave me most pleasure was fitting the small bottom seal.

                                                                            

Still needs fettled a bit, but it's a sort of 'full stop' to the roof fitting, and those masking tape marks will clean off with petrol. They've only been there ten years or so. I also have brand new trims for the inside of the pillars, they're card with a vynide covering to match the headlining, so will require glued and cut to size. Next step will be that rivet - I've none of the proper size - and then the side windows, once I get up the courage to cut the seals and reglue, and the B-post trim has been refitted. It's a big step, measure twice, cut once, still get it wrong, and swear. The cost of replacement seals will no doubt guide my hand. (Speaking of which, I gashed my palm badly on the clip that holds the stiffening rod between the window runners on the passenger door. I scraped it once then went back and did it properly. It bled like a pig and even after a week is still sore. Don't do that again!)

One of the most fun jobs at this stage is finding all the chrome trim, which again has been stored for many years and often has multiple pieces, some of which are scrap, some need fettled slightly regarding dents or scrapes, and some can be used straightaway with just a good clean. The estate pieces are unique to the model, but thankfully I have three or four sets of the larger pieces.

                                                                                   

Part number 6 in the diagram is a covering piece for the joint and I think I have only one of those, but duplicates of all the others. I'll be out buying rivets later so will get some Autosol and give it all a good clean, but keeping it in place may be the problem. All of the clips are long gone or rusted away.      

               

The required items are 610511, 'Clip, beading, side finisher' and 610510 'Clip, beading, finisher top' probably three of the latter and six of the former. The helpful diagram in the catalogue shows what they should look like: item 7 for roof and item 3 for sides. Sadly, this is what mine look like:

                                               

Two roof clips on left and two side clips on right. They seem, in the way of most clips, to hold the trim by sprung tension whilst gripping the paintwork. This means it's not only very difficult to replicate, but the 'grip' is one-sided only, so there's nothing to tension any adhesive against, it will just slip off one side or if it sticks, will be held by one side only so a potential to fall off if any stress is encountered ie from bumps or road vibrations. I also don't want to drill and screw or rivet it as this will be quite obvious on the car. I may send samples of the clips to a few fastener companies to see what they recommend. They may have an equivalent, or other solution.

The corner pieces are at least screwed in place, but here again I'm not happy with the currently available fasteners. The recommended solution is a No8 by 1/2 inch self tapper, notably a panhead pozidrive, which replaces the original YZ3404. I've tried a few as a test and reckon a countersunk or at the very least partial countersunk domed screw looks much better.

  

Of course, once again the problem is going to be locating those particular screws. Chromed might be more difficult than stainless, but that's for tomorrow. I'll browse Spalding and Bresco to see what offerings they have. In the meantime it's Thursday, 9pm, I'm cream crackered so going to crack open a small glass and watch Classic Car Garage to spot more bloopers from my position of lofty moral superiority. Everyone's a critic!

[Josef]

I checked my small collection of misc Stanpart/Unipart bags of clips. No joy I’m afraid. Might be one of those times where calling Fitchetts to see if you get lucky and they’ve got some squirreled away would be worth it. 
Great to see the roof on though!

[Colin Lindsay]

Don't get excited; I'll get on to the wrist-action bit shortly.

No joy with the trim clips; even Mick Dolphin doesn't have any. I just about have enough for the side trims, so will fit those with a dab of sealant on each clip to help the aged springs grip a bit tighter, and I also bought stainless self-tappers for the corner pieces in lieu of chrome - they take one screw and one rivet. I must remember to keep them separate as they are stainless, so not to be used just anywhere when I'm short of one.

I'm getting ahead of myself, though - it's an old fault but I can't resist fitting bits that look good rather than parts that should be fitted first. Consequently I've trial-fitted the screen once I fitted the rubber, but the headlining is still not finished round the sunvisor mounts. It's turning out a real dog's dinner, sagging and billowing like the roof of a Sultan's tent but I can't see any quick fix, and the excess material in the two front corners will have to go somewhere. I'm putting that off for a time, as I know it will be a botch, but the screen rubber went on very easily so it was too hard to resist setting it in place, and therefore transforming the entire car.

                                    

The next logical step then was fitting the headlining and in particular the two side B-post trims that cover the hollow B-post frame beside the rear window. That's the logical step. The actual step was cutting the rear side glass seals to size, which was nerve-wracking, and done with a wood saw and a mitre box. It more or less worked, the rubber does stretch and bend but at least it didn't tear and any rough edges were filed away with a sander. There's about a foot over to allow for fitting, but once cut that's it - no further adjustment possible. I cut the edges to 45 degrees, much trial-fitting, removal, cutting, trial-fitting and so on, but eventually I got there and glued the corners with inner tube glue.

After that all I could was fit the glass... never mind the remaining headlining and trim bits, which the glass rubber is supposed to go out over. I'll fix that later.

  

This was an incredibly fiddly and intense job. The seals are super-thick, so they bulk out the window aperture more than the originals would have; they are very solid, so don't bend easily, and are not moulded, so don't conform to the bends at the rear of the glass very easily. This took me about two days and how I still have glass in one piece at the end of it I do not know. There was a lot of bending and flexing going on. I finally finished it today; it's not 100% as the gap at the top has opened slightly, and for some reason this area will not sit flush, but sits out maybe 1/4 inch.

                                                                                      

I'm hoping that will settle, perhaps with warmer weather if it becomes more flexible. I can't see what it's hitting on, as there's nothing in behind, and the screws for the top of that pillar are clearly visible. On the inside the rubber lip is the same profile all along, so it doesn't look like it's not gripping due to poor positioning. It may be something to do with my corner-cutting and the interlocking of the seal in behind the outer face, and of course I can't see that bit. 

The other problem has appeared at the rear end, where the unprofiled rubber seal does not cover the gap as the moulded version would. This has left a small hole between the C-post and the wing. I'll make up a triangular rubber piece to block it and match the seal itself. The original seal was shaped to angle more sharply here and cover that bit.

                                   

So that's one window now in place and already the Herald has gone from a shell to a car. I'll fit the other one once I've completed the interior retrim.

And now: the bit you've all been waiting for...

I'm cleaning and refurbishing wipers. It's great to be at that stage, and I must have two dozen wiper arms and the same number of blades, both new and used. I was in the midst of cleaning the stainless arms and had found two very nice Trico wiper arms, NOS, but much too short - maybe for a Mini? A short time later I found a third, longer arm, and then a fourth, but all different lengths so no matching pair.

                             

It was in the middle of polishing one that the arm suddenly disappeared... well I didn't know they were adjustable. No-one told me. It turns out they'll adjust by depressing the little lever underneath - NOT at the spring end, which seems logical, but at the other, and they'll slide to the required length before locking again. All I need now are the matching blades. The ends of these are curved hooks, screwed in place - very period - which twist into place on the blades. Guess what this fitting is called? Wrist Action.

Ever tried surfing the Net for Wrist Action?

The wipers a're actually very common, so I was able to find a NOS set on my shelf and a few suppliers online with pairs around £20.

         

So that's the wipers sorted for whenever I get the screen fitted, and can adjust the length of the arm in situ for the best sweep. I found out when checking that the 13/60 has one 10" wiper and one 11" so must address that asap too. We're getting there, slowly but surely.

That will do the Estate for now, more planned for the next few days but one job at a time and they all get done eventually. My thumbs are aching from bending the rubbers around the flanges.

We actually had one day of sunshine recently, I moved both cars out of the garage into the sunlight but 'Er Indoors vetoed the Herald as still being too cold. My daughter also insisted on Friday that we could take the BMW to the shops if the top was up. I must have married into a family of reptiles or something, they can never get enough heat. Next week they're both away... so the Herald will play; a TSSC Run on the 11th, and local shows on both the 24th and 1st June - I must get to something before I get cabin fever and start talking to the cats. Again.

                                 

 

 

[Peter Truman]

Those wiper hook attachments look a very DIY arrangement for a manufactured part, something that would get very dirty with the original daily use in a wet climate! but needs must!

[Colin Lindsay]

11 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

Those wiper hook attachments look a very DIY arrangement for a manufactured part, something that would get very dirty with the original daily use in a wet climate! but needs must!

Nope; factory original. I have too many of them, all identical, to have come from the same source. They use a variety of connections / ends many now obsolete or hard to find if you wanted that kind of connector. As you can see, they're the sort of conversation piece I like - I can just see the headscratchers if I ever make it to a show. 

[Colin Lindsay]

It's amazing how a) things will accumulate to fill up any available space in your garage and b) how much room things make when you get rid of them. I got tired of tip-toeing round things or squeezing along little alleyways through piles of bodyparts so moved on a saloon bulkhead followed by a saloon bodytub recently, and parked another bulkhead round the back of the garage where it can rust merrily away. The result is amazing! I can now access both sides of the estate at once, as opposed to having the driver's side complete and the passenger side practically a bare shell. I'm also in the process of dismantling the convertible bodytub that came from a mainland supplier with over 107 patches not to mention wings so poorly attached that the entire shell was distorted. A waste of a lot of money but you learn, and at opresent i'm learning where to cut and how to split welds to save as many repair sections as possible. Of course, any sections that aren't heavily patched and are worth saving are the ones that no-one needs, as they don't rust.

So: I don't know if I'm much further on with the estate, but I've got more room to do nothing in.

Since I have the roof fitted and one rear window in place, I decided the next move was to refit the rear hatch. The hatch was resprayed in 2003 along with the rest of the Estate, but has been propped against various things since, has been scratched, chipped and oversprayed in grey stonechip. Safest place is therefore on the car. THAT is easier said than done.

Firstly I had to locate the hinges, which were also sprayed back then. They're held on with one bolt and two countersunk screws, which amazingly I have in stainless steel so no painting required and they're invisible anyway when the hatch is closed. The setscrews use dished locking washers, which don't appear in the parts diagram and which no-one supplies... so over to the spares drawer. I found four, which suits the hinge, but the door also requires them, so needs another six. A quick online search and I've found a lifetime supply.

  

Next step was making gaskets for the hinges, and freeing them up after thirty years of disuse. They have been resprayed but still a bit rusty inside, so 3-in-1 had them moving freely and the associated rust washed away. There's actually a hole in these for lubrication, so picked out with a pin.

  

Fitted, but not yet tightened to allow final fettling of the hatch gaps - and they're marked L and R so I trust this is the side of the car when viewed from the rear, not the front. This is where the first problem rears its' head. The hinges close against each other to cover the screw heads, so they can't be fitted with the hatch down. I'll need help - one, or maybe two, people to hold the hatch horizontal, or pointing upwards, so that I can get the screws into place and tightened before it closes again. In the meantime I've just set it in place.

                                                                                  

It really is amazing how that 'completes' the rear of the Herald. I'll fit the glass once the door is in place - the rubber seal is long unavailable but the pre-used one is complete and undamaged, so can go back in. The masking tape is for the 'Triumph' lettering which is going to be a real test of nerves. I could just leave that bit blank, but that's no fun, but I've got no template and only loads of photos to go by; I've been photographing Estate lettering for years knowing that this has to come some day. I also have a complete bubble seal for the rear hatch, but will see how the door fits compared to a flap-type seal and go for the best version. One of the hatch supports has been fitted, the other isn't far away... all these bits that have lain idle for many years are now finally being put back on a car. The two top stainless trims are also missing at present; I've got four good ones, but no way of attaching them. They use a totally unique clip, which grips the edge of the roof and holds the trim by spring tension.

                                                                                

Sadly, this is the state of my surviving clips, and no-one in the entire world has them. I had a great conversation this morning with an absolute gentleman phoning from Bresco.com, who has never seen anything like those in all his years. He has nothing that could be adapted, and to make these would be prohibitively expensive. It's going to have to be adhesive of some sort, so I'll make a few enquiries as to what will hold them the best. One of them which I dug out of the store was full of rock hard mastic like Dumdum, but I think that was overkill. I could have used it as a mould to make more trims. I'll see what I can find that's suitable for a few dabs only.

One interesting thing that I found was the rear hatch lock - there are two handles, one locks and one merely latches. The locking one has keys and was bought at Stafford many years ago, but the keys don't fit any of the other locks, not being from this car originally. I was able to locate the original lock from this car, and even more amazingly, a key for it.

                                                            

I'm assuming that the driver's door and ignition work off the same key, so this should be a unique key for the rear hatch - other models had a second key for glove box and boot so I wonder if the Estate is the same? Must dig out the old handbooks... but in any case when I tried the driver's door lock the key wouldn't even go in. Strange, it shouldn't be rusted, but a very close inspection revealed the result of a lack of space in my garage:

                                                           

                                   

That's the end of a snapped-off key in there. I remember that for many years the key was in the handle lock and I snagged it every time I walked past, so it must have given up eventually. I ended up digging that out with a needle and finenosed pliers.  I don't really remember it breaking off but I'm sure I have the key end knocking about somewhere to give me the replacement key number but I may be able to have one cut locally using the snapped-off end. I've already been through my stock of odd keys and there isn't a second. Wasn't there someone online a while back who could cut keys from an e-mailed photo or scanned profile? I must do a bit of research as that handle is mint and not coming off again, even to check the barrel number.

                                                                   

So next steps will be fitting the hatch, hatch glass, rear stainless trim and other little sundries. I have a NOS rear door trim panel, but unfortunately in black, not red. I wonder if it would take to any of those wonder paints in red? It wouldn't really be visible but would finish the load area nicely. I should really be working on the mechanicals and getting the rebored and rebuilt engine started up, but I gave the coil to a mate who had broken down on Sunday to get him home and am now short one for this car. I doubt we'll see this year's Show season but 2025 is looking good, and while it will never be concours or close to it at least it should be back on the road again. After that, there are two more waiting...

Edited May 28 by Colin Lindsay

[Josef]

While I didn’t do a full letter set, I did have success with my Spitfire boot badges. I started with a photo, scaled it to life size and used that stuck to the panel as the guide for drilling, dipping the pins of the badges in paint and lining them up over the photo. I have thought about how to do a letter set though. Making a template from steel/aluminium/wood would let you drill all the holes and check the letters looked straight and even when fitted to the template. Then it’d be a case of fixing the template to the car somehow as a drill guide. Possibly drilling a badge hole at either end to start with and then using a cleco, rivet or small bolt.

Anyway, great progress Colin! Looking forward to it being up and running. 

[Colin Lindsay]

21 hours ago, Josef said:

While I didn’t do a full letter set, I did have success with my Spitfire boot badges. I started with a photo, scaled it to life size and used that stuck to the panel as the guide for drilling, dipping the pins of the badges in paint and lining them up over the photo. I have thought about how to do a letter set though. Making a template from steel/aluminium/wood would let you drill all the holes and check the letters looked straight and even when fitted to the template. Then it’d be a case of fixing the template to the car somehow as a drill guide. Possibly drilling a badge hole at either end to start with and then using a cleco, rivet or small bolt.

I'm wondering if the bootlid lettering from a saloon or convertible follows the same profile? I have some of those, so could maybe just do a rubbing and then compare to the rear hatch, but sadly from looking at photos just now I think they're more closely spaced. I have quite a few reference photos of the Estate lettering but they never quite inspire me to begin...

These were taken at Malvern, but I didn't measure the distance between the letters at the time, just photographed. The fact that the central hatch profile actually curves up at the top edges and down at the lower edges means I can't use the same measurements top to bottom to centralise vertically, but the three or maybe even five central letters might be the key to getting the others correct. It's going to be a case of measure a dozen times, walk away, re-measure, build up the courage and drill once.

                            

 

 

 

 

[Josef]

Yeah that’s why I was thinking it might be an idea to make a template by drilling the hole pattern in scrap wood or metal. Then you can fit the badges to that and re-do till you’re happy, and then that’s your drilling guide for the real thing. I have thought a lot about this as I realised after paint that my Spitfire boot lid lettering holes were someone’s wonky DIY job…

[Colin Lindsay]

A thin, long plastic panel may suffice... easier to drill than metal. Thanks for the suggestion, you've given me a great pointer.

[Colin Lindsay]

Well, the usual Saturday evening update herewith. I must admit that things have progressed in leaps and bounds recently, more done on the Herald front in the last month than in the year before. After Covid and the loss of so many things, a few quiet years of gradually sinking into the mire of "Sod it, who wants these cars anyway any more" and even attending Club runs in a BMW - the absolute pits! - I received a real shot in the arm with the discovery of not one but three local Herald owners. I'd been given hints that someone locally was in need of spare parts and that there was another owner about somewhere wanting to make contact, so at our TSSC Garage day we had Basil and Graham call in, Basil with a very nice 1200 convertible with Graham as passenger. Graham required front valence brackets of which I have a drawerful, so that cost him some chocolate biscuits, but he was also very interested in an old convertible tub that I have lying about.

If you remember Page 1 of this thread there's a little red 1200 convertible, 227 HYH, which gave up the ghost in 2009 and is on the long finger for restoration. The rear tub was slightly perforated  so I made a few enquiries of mainland suppliers and breakers and bought a complete, good condition convertible rear tub requiring minimal work. Said tub then sat in my garage for six or seven years awaiting refurbishment, and finally went off for sandblasting.

Oops.

                             

I think I counted 107 separate patches and welds. Terrible welding, sheets over sheets and welds over welds, holes here there and everywhere and all covered in thick underseal or filler. Totally unusable. Given the passage of time I doubt the supplier would take it back, I did mention it and got little if any reaction, surprising given the price that he charged me, which would have bought me a couple of Heralds back in the day. Still would, too. 

Consequently the rebuild of 227 stalled and the car, bulkhead chassis and bonnet finished, engine and gearbox rebuilt and all suspension uprated has sat in my garage ever since.

Graham however decided he was interested in it for repair sections. He made the mistake of coming over for it with a transporter, so in lieu of any payment I required his services to collect yet another project.

                                   

This one belonged to our forum's very own Pete H and was bought sight unseen; given that I can't weld very well and never really had to try, or do any real metalwork either, so this one with the work already completed would suit me just fine. Here it is in the delivery yard having just rolled off the lorry. It's.... entertaining... with some interesting mods such as the body shims on the rear outriggers. I don't think the boot outriggers are quite at a factory angle... but that's for the future and for now will sit in my garage out of harm's way as a future project. 

                                   

In the meantime Graham has collected the rear tub for 227 HYH but was very quickly on the phone. It may look terrible but it's too good to cut up, and might be saveable? I've never seen anyone work so fast, the updates were flying in, but by the end of day one he had worked miracles, and by yesterday morning the tub was looking almost presentable.

                                                         

That's just the start. Welds ground down, proper sections made up and set in, tidying and smoothing... superb looking work that has really transformed things. It's actually looking now like that will be very useable. Still a bit to go, but I'm digging out all my repair sections, reference photos and everything from sandpaper to air nibblers and we're cracking along at a great pace. It's a real shot in the arm for progress. 

By the way the other Herald owner is an elderly man called Billy who needs a gearbox, although his description of the Herald being hard to get into gear could be anything from linkages to clutch. He'll call up with me sometime in the future. As the 1200 convertible is cracking on I did a bit of re-arranging in the garage to get proper access to the Estate.

                                 

I've already fitted the rear hatch and the two spring supports went on earlier so the hatch now stays up. I also managed to fit the rear stainless trims across the top rear edge of the roof, and as the clips are totally unobtainable I went for an adhesive sealer that sets in one hour. That's the same sort of lie as 'sharing pack' or 'serves four'. I left it for 24 hours per side but the trims are now rock solid and I even found the small joint cover for the centre. After that the only thing to do was refit the glass, surprisingly easy as a one-man job. This is where the old stock that's been salted away for decades comes to the fore. One NOS hen's teeth rear glass seal later:

              

One nice touch was the Dealership sticker; this car was supplied through Clarence Engineering Ltd on 5th June 1967 so it's only fitting that the sticker goes on, even if the firm is long gone and the premises are now buried under parts of the M1 motorway. I have two of those stickers, but the other 1200 Estate I have, 1888 HZ from 1964, will probably never see the road. Too little left of it! I also wired in the rear numberplate lamp, after a slight hoo-hah with the wiring left me trying to connect the light with the cable snaked round the outside of the C-post. It's a sign of the little touches which I prefer that I used the old style of bullet connectors - they're actually a better fit in the lamp sockets.

                                                                     

After that, one of the few remaining jobs was to refit the interior trim panel to the hatch. Although the Estate interior is red (and not necessarily Matador, either - there are different shades of red and I need to confirm mine) the rear hatch panel is black, and I don't think they were ever available in any other colour. Once again, purchased in the 1990s and salted away - it still has Mick Dolphin's price sticker on it from Stafford. I think it would cost more than that today...

                                               

A good clean and that will do the job nicely. We're coming perilously close to having to put a battery in and start the car. I still need to fit one side glass, fix the driver's door which is a bit skew-whiff round the quarterlight angles and needs a new key for the as-yet unidentified lock, buy and fit seatbelts, replace the rear overriders and tighten up a few brake and suspension issues, tidy up the headlining and refit the windscreen. Oh - and give it a good polish. There's a curious grey scum over some of the paintwork that won't come off easily, and I've found some grey overspray from other work that has spotted the rear hatch, and will not come off no matter what I try. Did you notice the lack of masking tape now? I've yet again chickened out of drilling the holes for the lettering. I don't have a template and still cannot work out the distances by eye, so it can be passed over for now. 

 So that's real progress to report, on at least two Heralds. I may get round to that latest 13/60 sooner than I think, but Graham wants to buy it off me already. The way he operates he'll have it finished in a month. Or sooner.

[Josef]

I’ve found clay bar (I’ve got Autoglym’s version) can remove quite a few unwanted things from paintwork, might be worth a try. Great progress!

[Colin Lindsay]

"Bean by bean the sack fills". If you know what book that quote is from, Happy Days! I loved it. All it means is: one little job after another and you get there eventually. I'm getting there with the little jobs, still a lot of head scratching, still a few setbacks, but overall it's progress on the estate.

I'm still cleaning the rear hatch, in fact I made the mistake of fitting it first, so to clean the very grimy underside I'm having to work almost upside down. I've no idea of what that grey scum is that coats all of my paintwork, but the Estate chassis and front suspension turrets were covered in it and it seems the inside of the rear hatch is too. It comes off eventually but needs a lot of cleaning. I managed to get to the bottom of why the rear hatch wouldn't close, too. The rear load area baseboard was bought NOS from Rimmers back in the 1990s (I think £95?) as a clearance / sale item advertised in The Courier. It was mint, too, but sadly not 100% as I found out just recently. might have been a factory reject?

The chrome rubbing strips - there are five - extend the length of the rear load area. As you can see in this photo, they're different lengths.

                                                                                     

Now: WHY are they different lengths? Here number one is short, two is long, three is short, four and five (out of sight) are long. The reason for the short ones is that they sit where the rear catches are, so have to be recessed. It took a lot of headscratching to realise that the centre one here is short, and shouldn't be... so a quick inspection revealed that someone had put strip number 5 in the middle, and strip number 3 - a long one - at the outer end. This long strip was hitting the catch and preventing the hatch from closing. As all the rivets were identical and untouched it appears this was a factory defect. The solution was to drill out the rivets and swap over the strips. The actual drilling out was the easy part; replacement was not. The rivets are 5/16 and 1/2inch long, and I had none! It took some time but I finally managed to source some online and at time of posting they're on their way.

I was also experimenting with rear hatch seals; I had a seal already but it's a bubble seal and at present I can't find it! It's about a foot longer than a boot seal, so I've either used it already and cut it down for some Herald boot or other, or else I just haven't recognised it in the spares pile. I therefore pinched the driver's door seal, which is a COHBaines flap seal and not yet cut to length so plenty to spare. It's not cut to fit, and I even managed to find the two stainless clamps which keep the seal out of the way of the hatch locks - they had been stored in some box or other and came to light after a little bit of searching.

                                                                                      

That one needs a little bit of adjustment but I'm not sure about the seal itself. I reckoned the bubble seal would be too thick and might affect the closure, like the doors, so went for the flap seal instead. It's fine all the way round except for one area halfway up where there's a considerable gap.

                                                                                    

This is in the area where the C-post meets the rear wing, but is the same on either side, and there's nothing out of place of requiring adjustment that I can see. Ignore the state of the inside, that's the grey stuff I was talking about earlier, but the door is tight top and bottom and does not seem to be out of place anywhere else. From the outside, the gap is the same as any other estates I've photographed for reference over the years:

                               

I may have to dig out the bubble seal and see if that improves things. That's quite a gap, never mind air and noise, the rain will be pouring in! If the bodywork won't help, the seal will have to.

The other main bit of headscratching has been the wiring. In the estate the loom comes along the passenger side, then splits to go to the rear light unit on that side, but then up the inside of the C-post, across the roof, down the other side, and to the rear light unit there. In the Autosparks loom that I bought new, we had the connections to the rear nearside light, but then a long section of almost eight feet with three short red cables, one green, and one green / purple, and one hugely long red on its' own. The cabling coming down the C-post didn't correspond at all.

                                                                                    

I could work out the red cables or the green, but that huge green / brown? Things were confused even further when I followed the cables to the rear hatch pressure switch for the interior courtesy light - it's black / brown. There was nothing in the Haynes manual at all, UNTIL I realised I had an Estate supplement. This told me that the green / brown cable was the power for the courtesy light, and the black / brown was for the switch, changing over at the light unit itself. The Autosparks loom doesn't have a green / brown, but three reds. This means that if the courtesy light works in the same manner as the dashboard unit then it's permanently live, and the switch completes the earth. I therefore can't complete the wiring until I fit a battery and test which one is worked by the dashboard light switch - the tail light cable - and which one isn't - the courtesy light power source. In a further eureka moment I realised too that the loom has been made in one piece, not split as the original was, so the long section is meant to replace the part that goes across the roof. The very very long red cable is for the numberplate illumination. As I don't need these, my section up and down the C-posts being in good nick and my numberplate light already being connected, I'll wait until I have power before connecting them together and I'll curl the extra up out of sight rather than cut. The rest of that long section lies across the boot floor under the fuel tank so is safe from damage. It's a little setback, but things are progressing nicely elsewhere and an extra hour or two won't make any difference. It took me nearly two days to fit the replacement rear overrider too, the sealing strips fell off every time and I had to resort to gluing them in place first. I hope the new ones last longer than the removed ones, which were fitted brand new back in the 1990s and never even saw the open road.

    

Even that new one isn't perfect; I've centralised the Triumph logo on my phone case over a bubbling area. Those were bought new, too; lovely clean shiny metal underneath but poor preparation for the chrome. I wonder how long it will last?

In addition to the body work I found I'd had a slight accident some time ago;  walking past the NOS door handle I came too close and snapped off the key in the lock. This only came to light when I tried to fit spare keys in an attempt to find the 'correct' one without realising that it was in the lock already. I was able to pick the broken one out of the lock with a needle, but having lost the head I had no key number for a replacement. No alternative but to take the handle off... a bit of difficulty here getting my hands up inside the door with the glass fitted, but I got there and the key number was on the barrel. I assumed it was FS 906 rather than FP 906 and Replacementkeys.co.uk supplied me with two for £7. They actually worked first time, no grating or sticking, but getting the handle back in was a nightmare. I could grip the setscrew, but not turn it. The bottom of the door is now full of stainless washers, I must have dropped a dozen and my magnetic pickup tool won't work on stainless. I got it fitted eventually then found the gasket lying under the car so off it came again. We're now refitted and the cuts and abrasions are healing nicely.

         

So that's about it for this week; a lot of small jobs but the whole is growing bit by bit. The end is definitely in sight. I'll not say I'm jumping the gun any, but I removed the engine from the latest purchase today to start inspection and planning for that project, even though it's third down the list. That's a late-model GK engine from a 13/60, very grimy and hasn't run for some time so needs a good clean and then the inspection to see what's been done, what needs done, and what can be done at present without too much expense. I can work on that then salt it away for a year or two.

                             

My usual trick of strapping the engine, lifting it with a chain hoist, then rolling the car about underneath until it's clear and can be lowered onto a wheeled trolley. I've done it so many times it's now wee buns, but even so if that strap had snapped you'd have heard my wails of anguish from many miles away... however my favourite form of tinkering - strip it down, see what it's like, then leave it for years. No-one's perfect!

[Peter Truman]

That last photo scares me, you like living dangerously!

[Colin Lindsay]

14 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

That last photo scares me, you like living dangerously!

Scared me too... to the 'careful and slow' stage, but I've done it many times before. It's when you get blase then you make a silly mistake that usually costs money.

Having no screen in the car meant I could roll it forward enough to close the bonnet, then roll it away and down onto a trolley. Little four-cylinder engines are much easier than the Gt6 engines used to be, I had a heavier hoist for those. The straps came from a metalworker, donated once he had moved all the steel they had come with. Miles stronger than the blue bailer twine I used back in the day!

Same technique on the estate, but no bonnet that time....

[Colin Lindsay]

Sorted the rear hatch seal problem. The door seal is a flap seal at right angles, so that it closes into the door, but the rear hatch seam flanges sit facing the hatch, not side on as the door is, so that kind of seal can't work! D'OH! I managed to find the old bubble seal and it was a perfect fit, and also cured the gap problem. All I need to do now is adjust the lock catches and it's all sealed.

                              

[Peter Truman]

I assume the Estate project is to pick up and transport bales of hay for the wife's & daughter's horses!! It might take 2 bales at a time?

[Colin Lindsay]

11 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

I assume the Estate project is to pick up and transport bales of hay for the wife's & daughter's horses!! It might take 2 bales at a time?

Haven't tried it yet... but there's a thought!! I'd guess about four? The Freelander takes eight with the seats down, and the Herald seems longer inside but not so tall. Might even encourage more use of the Estate as a working classic?

[Chris A]

2 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Might even encourage more use of the Estate as a working classic?

Working classic? I used to be one, now I'm a retired classic. Rough round the edges, seen better days, fingers crossed every morning that I start and nothing drops off.