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So I thought I'd finally post a thread after years of lurking, reading about the amazing work on here combined with the incredible skills and commitment that people have.Not only that but the talent for writing a story on here has had me in stitches on occasion and at other times sitting back in amazement at the personal stories that come through.
I'm using this thread partly as a way of documenting the work and progess made but also as a form of incentive as without a prod or regular kick up the backside I'll keep putting it off for another day !
My car background is one of a mix of speedy eighties hatchbacks and two door vtech coupes through to nineties high powered swedish estates through to some boring moderns, some being company cars and lease Cars.
One thing that's remained a constant is that of a love of classics especially Triumphs.I currently own a 1966 Vitesse 6 convertible which I've had for about 15 years and over time I've brought it back to life after being off the road for about 13 years working on it myself as much as possible and learning as I go with the help of some knowledgeable Friends and groups as well as the ever helpful internet.
About 6 years ago i aquired a Herald Estate for the grand sum of £1 from the previous owner who was losing his storage and was looking for a new keeper, I've promised to return it to the road as it's very original and has only had a couple of previous owners, it will need some welding which will be farmed out as I don't have the skills or equipment but intend on doing as much of the mechanical work as possible, short term plans are to get it running and through an M.O.T then run it for a while improving it as I go along, long term plans are to go for an engine swap ideally a Stag as I don't believe it's been done although I do know of a Vitesse with that conversion.
Feel free to add your thoughts and comments as I'm all ears and open to suggestions.
I'll add photos as soon as I work it out as I'm using my phone to write this.
Rich
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Found a couple more, the panel gaps are impressive so I'm reluctant to take any panels off if possible !   |
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I Had to wipe a tear from my eye..... years ago, when I emigrated, I couldn't get anyone to take on my 13/60 estate, & ended up getting a wrecker to take it away. Still upsets me. I'll be following your progress on this, as I've a big thing for anything Triumph. Not sure whether they're running Stag V8's or Rovers, but there is a 13/60 vid on YouTube of a saloon with some underbonnet rumble going on. My route was going to be different from yours. I was going to fit 1800TD Ford & 5speed to mine...... never materialised though......
Good luck with the project tho - just don't see many estates any more.
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I Had to wipe a tear from my eye..... years ago, when I emigrated, I couldn't get anyone to take on my 13/60 estate, & ended up getting a wrecker to take it away. Still upsets me. I'll be following your progress on this, as I've a big thing for anything Triumph. Not sure whether they're running Stag V8's or Rovers, but there is a 13/60 vid on YouTube of a saloon with some underbonnet rumble going on. My route was going to be different from yours. I was going to fit 1800TD Ford & 5speed to mine...... never materialised though...... Good luck with the project tho - just don't see many estates any more. |
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They're don't seem to be especially collectable like the saloons,convertibles or coupes so many got parted or converted to other models.Values are low compared to the others in the range but I've got a thing about estate versions of cars and I think it's got potential!
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Nice, I have always fancied a hot rod Herald estate. I think the Stag engine would fit and people have certainly fitted the Stag/TR gearbox between the chassis rails with a bit of cutting, but the stage V8 is expensive and by today’s standards not particularly powerful. I thought about Volvo T5 swap, I think there is a RWD gearbox available and all the power you want relatively cheap.
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Decent, original Herald estates now get very decent money as there are very few left. That looks like a good starting point for a nice car. Wouldn't mind it myself!
I like a modded vehicle but..... As you'll know as a Vitesse owner, there are some fairly severe limitations with the transmission, rear suspension and even the general structure so, if serious about adding lots of power, you've got to upgrade everything and SVA/BIVA becomes a potential issue.
The Stag engine is big, heavy, knobbly in the wrong places, not especially powerful, getting relatively rare/expensive and prone to expensive/inconvenient failure.
The quickest, easiest path to a significant improvement using bolt-on bits is to transfer the running gear from a rotted out 1500 Spitfire (preferably with overdrive). Throw a few sensible mods to the engine in and you'll have a car that'll happily cruise at 80, easily keep up with today's traffic and still look near standard if you want it to. This way you can take advantage of rising prices in the classic car world later on if you want to.
Next step up would be to use Vitesse/GT6 running gear - again, mostly bolt-in and within the capabilities of the basic vehicle. 2.5 is an option if you want more grunt though the original transmission (all of it) is right on the edge.
Beyond that, similar route to option 1 but using a modern power plant. MX5 has been done a few times and is pretty straightforward. I like the idea of a lightweight zetec SE and T9 5 speed myself. One of the joys of Herald driving is their light, direct steering and eager turn-in - something rather blunted in a Vitesse by the lardy iron lump up front (though the noise does compensate!) so I'd suggest trying to hang on to that whatever you do
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend)
1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing)
1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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steveg
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,586
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I had an Estate years ago, I planned on fitting different rear suspension on it, slightly wider wheels and tuning the 1300 but it never got done. It was pretty rusty and once stripped I really lost interest. Trouble is a lot of it can't be fixed properly without taking the body off the chassis although I think the workshop manual says you can if you fit strengtheners to the door sills first and lift it all as one.
I'm not sure about using a Stag engine, they are a hefty lump and not particularly cheap. It depends on what you are after, as said they are pretty rare now.
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I had an Estate years ago, I planned on fitting different rear suspension on it, slightly wider wheels and tuning the 1300 but it never got done. It was pretty rusty and once stripped I really lost interest. Trouble is a lot of it can't be fixed properly without taking the body off the chassis although I think the workshop manual says you can if you fit strengtheners to the door sills first and lift it all as one. I'm not sure about using a Stag engine, they are a hefty lump and not particularly cheap. It depends on what you are after, as said they are pretty rare now. Update Today, got the estate moved to it's new temporary home so I can get cracking on working towards an M.O.T.     |
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feddes
Europe
always working in the shed on something or nothing
Posts: 133 
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Lovely project car. Still fancy an estate for next to my saloon. My vote goes out to the MX5 lump preferably the first gen 1.6 since that is the smallest variant and still has a healthy 115bhp. But than again I might be biased with running that engine in my herald
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-1998 volvo v70 2.5 turbo brick (the fast daily) -1995 volvo 850 2.0 NA (the ridiculous carbagerun car) -1966 triumph herald 1.6 mx5 "the fun one" -1976 land rover sIII 2.6 109lwb "workhorse when running" -1996 suzuki baleno 1.3 *scrapped  -1998 honda civic aerodeck 1.5 V-TEC E! *sold |
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Feb 15, 2020 22:50:45 GMT
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What happened to this
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Peace,Max signature height = 80px
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Feb 16, 2020 11:27:23 GMT
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Sorry for not updating but as it often happens life can get in the way sometimes.
Many things have happened personally and I sort of lost the impetus to get on with it, I haven't driven my other Triumph (a Vitesse) either in that time so I know it has had an effect on me.
Anyway it has always been in my mind to get this done and I hope this year will see some progress especially structural as that is the priority for me, I have been picking up parts for it here and there whenever I see them pop up on Ebay so at least the stash of bits is growing in readiness for the next stage.
As for the engine side of things I'm open to suggestions although I'm still keen on the idea of a Stag engined estate as I don't believe it's been done before.
Rich.
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,971
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Feb 16, 2020 14:41:27 GMT
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Given that BMW own the Triumph name (I think) what about a BMW engine either 4 or 6 cylinder... if it wasn't a dirty word now I'd even suggest the diesel engine used in the 320d and freelander etc.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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Feb 16, 2020 17:06:21 GMT
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Mx5 is a simple and easy option but iy has been done before, How about an s type v6 engine and box, you'll need some sort of engine management but I guess that aplies to virtually any modern engine.
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