Ratty Triumph Herald 13 60

Wheels are readily available even new! Just search for Formula Ford wheels. Great car makes me want to pull my finger out and put my Toledo back on the road

Hi, could I ask where you got your wheels from and what diameter and width they are?

I have a herald I’m currently in process of doing and fancy Weller wheels but wanted to check if these were from there?

Was able to work on the car in the evenings last week so made some progress.

First was getting the interior in, if anything just to reduce the tin can rattling of the whole car. Raw is fine for a while but the tin can rattling was getting a bit much.

Apart from forgetting how it all went back in, generally it was fine (took twice as long as it should have done, turns out you shouldn't apply spray glue until you actually know what bits fit where). Trying to rush jobs and ending up taking way longer was a theme this week...

Came out well, and it's much less head pounding now.

Also fitted a better head unit to replace the trash ebay no brand Once I bought (you really do get what you pay for). It was meant to go into the Fiat, but that may end up getting a 90s unit I found in my dad's garage.

Fitted it further back in the footwell to make it less conspicuous in the cabin.










It has had an exhaust manifold leak since I fitted the latest engine, I've ignored it (just an annoying clicking) until now, but it became obvious that it was causing bigger issues.

Took the plugs out to use the colortune to get the fueling right, saw that 1 plug on each carb was black, the other 2 were correct. Never seen just one plug on each carb be black, did some googling and sounded like the manifold leak was leading to more air being drawn in on one cylinder on each carb.

When I put the engine in, my wife was telling me to make dinner so to be honest I threw on the carbs and manifold at the end of the day. Didn't have any gasket seal, so just used the new gasket on its own.

Great example of doing a cr*p job once leads to more work than just doing it right! Took the carbs and manifold off, and can see that there was a leak on the 2 carbs that were not sooty.

I've obviously tuned it to the leaking carbs (shoving loads of fuel in to compensate for the leaks). Meant that the 2 sealed cylinders were super rich, and 2 (the leaky ones) were running at the right mix.

Now have gasket sealant, so cleaned up the surfaces and fitted a new gasket and properly sealed it up. Really painful job, the heat sheild I have makes it difficult to get sockets to the lower manifold bolts. Lots of scrapped knuckles and wrists, swearing, didn't take pictures as I've posted loads of pics of me taking the carbs off and on and I was generally annoyed... Doesn't help that I originally used a horrible glass fibre heat wrap on the manifold that has a bonus feature of causing skin irritation. Again, you get what you pay for. Have since removed it and replaced with the better stuff made out of lava or something, but there are glass fibres still hanging around and I've not got a jet wash yet to clear out the remains.

Carbs now fitted properly, manifold torqued properly, feeling good about the job. 5th time lucky!




Final job was to look at a slight oil weep that I thought was coming from the rocker gasket. I replaced it, but it came back. Had had me confused, but noticed that there was some oil around the rocker oil cap.

Have I been a donkey again and missed the most obvious culprit?

Took it off and saw there is no rubber gasket inside it, not sure if there is meant to be one or not. Took a rubber gasket that was made for the fuel tank neck (where it meets the body) and cut it down to fit the oil cap. Let's see if it helps!

Cheers, cool to hear other coupes are still out there, not many left now (think there are more heralds on the road than coupes!).

Rather than do the heavy lifting job of changing over the diff, I've been procrastinating with lots of other jobs on the herald. 

Bought an fia kill switch, not because I'll need it for racing, but because I think they look cool. It's sat on a shelf taunting me, thought I'd have a go at getting it installed. 

First question was where to install it... Outside the car or in? Thought about some wacky locations including on the roof but in the end I decided against committing horrific crimes to the bodywork in case I wanted to remove it for some reason. 




















Figured it could sit in the ashtray and I'd cut a hole in the bottom, hiding the wires nicely. 

Ran the wiring into the cabin via a newly drilled hole in thd bulkhead, the existing one is too stuffed with cables to fit anything new. Also soldered the resistor that has to be fitted in the earth line (to stop the alternator getting killed when using the kill switch, which is a thing apparently). 

I finally stepped up my wiring game from ghetto to average with the use of heat shrinks instead of insulation tape. Enjoyed it so much I went on the rampage, covering up all my wiring with them. So satisfying. 

Drilled the holes in the ashtray, ran the wiring up. Then realised after lots of swearing and body twisting, that the switch won't fit under the ashtray due to the interior heater wiring and controls. curse word. 





















So instead, I've added it next to the bank of dials under the dash. I mounted it in an old Leyland rubber pedal because it was in the garage and why not. The interior is already such a mix of different bits. Came out well in the end, and actually worked when I tested it which is exciting. Hopefully I never need to use it.

I do now have a hole in my ashtray, at least it goes some way to compensating for the additional weight of the switch

Made some diff progress which has been good fun. Currently running a standard herald diff, 4.11 with small axle flanges.

I got an lsd for my 40th birthday gift from my wife (legend!), it's a Blackline viscous diff, basically a copy of the quaife diff. Lovely looking thing, and online reviews are positive. I had an accident in another Triumph where I lost the backend, plus I want to do some track driving so upgrading seems sensible. 

Bought a refurbed herald diff so I could put the lsd in without having to take the current diff off, meant I could take it apart without worrying about breaking it or messing it up. Didn't cost much, about £100 off ebay, and as listed it was in great condition. 

Took it apart, forgetting about the oil in it. Good start. 










Cleaned up and got to putting fresh bearings onto the diff. Heated them up to help slide them on, then gave them a bashing with a soft hammer. They went on eventually after lots of swearing, took a while though. But I hadn't checked the bearings were the right ones for the diff, and they weren't. I'd bought bearings for a large flange diff a while ago, obviously thinking I'd upgrade rather than buy a standard replacement. 



Didn't have a bearing puller, plus it was a huge pain to get them on. Thought sod it, I'll sell the herald diff and look for a longer geared diff with the larger axle flanges. These are stronger anyway so can take more power, plus it'll be a small bit longer geared. 






















Talked to Wins International and he had a used 3.89 vitesse diff available for not a lot of money, so I snapped it up. Also picked up a pair of larger flanges that attach to the axles on each side. Took it apart and got to getting the lsd in. Bit of fiddling with the spacers on each side of the lsd bearings but think it's all good and spins nicely now.






















All my diff rebuild knowledge is coming from YouTube and forums, and have seen people use this yellow paint to show how well the CROWN is set up. Bought a little tub and have it a go. Happy with the results, backlash is about right, all the measurements add up. It spins freely. 

Gave the case a lick of orange enamel paint too as it was lying around and will match the other bits of orange in the car. 





















Put it back together and done! A very satisfying job. It's been sat on the floor for the past month while I build up the energy to take the axles and diff out plus clean up the underneath, do some fresh stone chipping and rust proofing etc. 

Finally got to it last night, one axle out. Not too tough but took a while, first take off brake pipe (off the piping end rather than from hub), unhook handbrake, 3 points of suspension to undo (damper, leaf spring) then 4 bolts that attach the axle to the diff. Those 4 bolts threatened to round off but used mole grips on the tough ones and it worked a treat.

The UJs are looking pretty old and crusty, while I've got the axles off it makes sense to replace the flanges as Uplanned but also the UJs (not expensive, about £20 for both).

Seems to be the sort of job you go at with a hammer, my kind of job.

Used a larger socket end to place over the bearing to then wack it hard. Have a smaller socket (same size as the bearing) to push on the other side if needed.

The bearing is held in with a circlip, fiddly but came out in the end. Not that it is needed here, they're so old they look original,well and truly stuck in.

Pics of the new bigger flange. 





















Lots of hammering later and it's clear I need a heavier hammer so I don't damage things. Still, managed to get the first 2 out and not break my fingers.

3 pound hammer ordered on amazon and I'll have another go on the other 2 bearings. Then the other corner to do.








Not my favourite job, it'll be worth it though for a nice smooth ride I hope.

Excellent work going on here. I do like to get the BFH out once in a while, too...so satisfying!

JP

Been irritated about the mat black roof not being a great finish so thought I'd give it another go. Mat black isn't the easiest to get right, and I also have cans of a nice satin white of the same brand of paint that I know covers evenly. MTN 94 mat white (is satin really).

Masked up again, with some craft paper roll this time, much easier than garage scraps.







Gulped then went for it with white. Worried it might look awful but I'm pleased with the results, and more importantly the finish. Normally I don't care much about tidy paint but the roof is so visible as the car is so low it's most of what you see!






Masking removed and shiny bits back on.










And a day later once dry: