The embarrassing Herald restoration thread - getting to the fine points

[Josef]

Not that it matters much, but FP906 won’t exist, the number ranges don’t overlap with the FS series. For further nerdery on minutiae, I found the cup style star washers you’d been posting about Colin are also fitted on the countersunk screws that hold the boot latch on the non estate Heralds. Great to see the progress as always!

[Colin Lindsay]

Excellent!! That's the sort of little jigsaw piece I love. The more part numbers or applications I can identify, the greater the chance of finding them. I just need to attend a good show / autojumble with stall holders who'll have them in a tray and I'll spot them from yards away. I've found that if you have a flat modern version they'll dish as screwed in, anyway, but that's not the same fun as tracking down the originals.

(Never knew that about keys either, so again another piece of info to salt away.)

[Colin Lindsay]

Well, Saturday evening again and not so much done in the garage as I'd like, reason being we have a major holiday in the village on 13th July and so all the free time is going on cleaning and gardening. Up to 80,000 people will descend on us and I'm durned if my house is going to look shabby. This also applies to the inside as being on the main route we'll have loads of guests for the free ringside parking and not only will they be inside at some point, they'll all want fed and watered, so a lot of DIY jobs that have been postponed for months are now being rushed through.

The estate has slowed a bit, I need a few parts and am waiting for a large enough order to justify carriage, and I also still need seatbelts but QuickfitSBS aren't being cooperative. I need two sets, Estate and convertible, but neither set is standard and it's easier to submit an order with the non-standard parts by e-mail, so I can explain at length, rather than attempt by phone. Every e-mail I send is returned undelivered, so I'll wait until next week before trying telephone.

I've been messing about with the rear hatch on the estate which will not fit centrally at all - the photo shows the gap at either side, driver's side is good but passenger side has a large gap.

                             

I can find no reason for this, it's not hitting anything and the gaps along the lower edge are perfectly straight. The problem must lie at the top, and I thought I had found it when I reckoned the hatch was fouling the interior light switch and therefore being held out, but sadly on inspection it wasn't. I've taken all sorts of measurements, side to side, but nothing stands out that would cause this distortion. I've loosened off the hinges and tried sliding and pressing the hatch in various positions but no joy.

I've also found that the bolts on the hatch supports are tearing the rubber seals, too, where they hit as the hatch opens and closes. I suspect it's down to overlarge nuts rather than slim half-nuts, and a thicker-than-standard rubber seal so a bit of shimming and fettling required. Even so, the position of these is the same at both sides so doesn't explain the hatch position. I also decided that one of the two rear hatch locking plates was incorrect - if you remember that the handles on the hatch close in opposite directions then the locking plates must be mirror images of each other. Mine were identical, as was my spare. I therefore decided to make one up from scratch. Easily done, using the old one as a template; sadly, too easily as when finished it was exactly the same, and of course the wrong side yet again. The catch at this side moves right to left, not left to right. Back to the drawing board.

     

As nothing more can be done at the rear end I moved to the engine bay, which needed most of the electronics connected. New coil and new SimonBBC distributor with electronic ignition should help things run nicely.

                                  

Sadly all I had were used ignition leads but these are good and relatively new, so will do unless proven faulty. I've gone for an alternator conversion so the control box is obsolete, but I've kept it anyway and just rearranged the internals. This is fine until I find a single brown cable with nowhere to go, so will have to go back to square one, work out where it came from or pulled off, and reattach. I had thought that area was all done and dusted, so will have to start over as I do hate melting looms and causing electrical fires. "Looks bad in the newspapers and upsets civilians at their breakfasts" as Michael Caine would say.

I also managed to get the convertible out on the road for a local show, the "Waringstown Cavalcade" which manages to stretch the definition of a Classic Car Show to include modern HGVs, every modern tractor in the country, and even garden lawnmowers. Modern ones, not antiques. Consequently what I would call 'classics' were in the minority, with 12 year olds driving much-too-large tractors up and down the street and revving the engines of Japanese plastic fantastics to emit huge clouds of black smoke. I parked up at a friend's house and watched from the roadside, and the Herald got very little attention at all. Too old and slow, probably, and nowhere near agricultural enough. Just like me.

                            

Still, some nice cars there including a brace of Standard 8s, a blue one which I missed photographing and a black one which was supposedly for sale. I'd still buy one for the right price.

                           

                           

As in previous years I stayed too late, well after dark, and as in previous years it also rained slightly. I also gave a niece a lift home. This meant using headlights, which point everywhere on full beam; using wipers, which are practically untested since fitting, using the hood, which is normally never used as it's full of holes, and having three in the car as opposed to two. In the event the Herald drove superbly, and amazingly quite fast too, and the wipers were better than expected. I sometimes forget how good these little cars are, but there were no rattles, no whines, the overdrive came in and out superbly, and the wind blowing through the holes in the hood kept things demisted nicely. Biggest problem was swerving around vintage tractors with no lights that loomed up ahead out of the darkness. Home safely and an appraisal this morning. I think I'm being too harsh on the hood, it's only got one tear but is slightly shorter on the passenger side than the driver's so won't clip onto the poppers, if I had a mind to fit any to improve the seal, and does seem a bit shrunken over the door glass. I do have a replacement, it's been in the box for years so may get round to fitting it if it's still serviceable.

                           

The other issue is the loss of engine oil. It was dipped before starting off and quite low, and we still have the evidence under the car that has appeared every day since I owned it. 

                                                                               

The large black circle is under the front pulley, and the line above is the rear of the sump - it seems to be dripping off right across the rear of the engine despite the sump being removed and sealed with a new gasket and engine sealant. I've no idea if the loss increases when driving, and even when parked for an hour or two it's not excessive on someone's drive, but I still cannot work out the source despite using every trick and tip I know, and sealing the rocker cover right round too. The gearbox doesn't drip, the diff only very slightly, but the engine has me bamboozled. It may be coming out over the winter for some remedial work so I'll tolerate it until then.

Next step bar the seatbelts is finishing the Estate brakes, which have been rebuilt but no fluid, pads or shoes. Plus adding proper wheels, which despite being repainted and having new tyres are currently propping up the red convertible. It won't need any for a while but it's handy being able to roll it about. Getting closer to the big startup!

 

[Peter Truman]

Colin these are currently on eBay  at 30 quid, there double handled compared to your single handles, were there different versions of the tailgate handles on the Estates

Item 296537236491

[Josef]

I used Safety Belt Services for my custom spec Spitfire belts Colin, sbsbedford@aol.com. They I think ended up slightly more expensive than QuickFit, but they also quoted inclusive of VAT unlike QuickFit (for a re web of the Herald belts) who gave me a price and only mentioned VAT hadn’t been included when the bill came…

Does feel like the estate is in the final stages now, even if all the little fiddly bits eat up soooo much time!

[Colin Lindsay]

Peter - estate handles are single sided; they close by turning each to the outer side, one left and one right so that the locking tab on the inside moves inwards from either either side and the locking plate therefore has to be handed, and only the driver's side has a lock. The mounting 'plinth' is also shorter than the boot handles (I think, as I found two different lengths and assume the estate is the shorter). I have three sets (must find out if they were used on any other vehicle, they do resemble Spitfire door handles) but the ones I'm using have the best chrome. 

Josef - I must have a look at Safety Belt Services; as usual I found Quickfit to be good so stuck with them for many years and never checked out the competition. The convertible belts are not only too modern and too confusing (every passenger that gets in fits their belt into the driver's holder) but are incorrectly fitted so not as safe as they could be. Even the former owner asked if I'd addressed them since they were only bolted through a single layer of bodywork on the B-post. I've reinforced that part but want to use the proper period convertible mountings and Quickfit have the preferred mounting bracket on their website. If only they weren't so difficult to deal with.