Buying a Triumph Herald . What to look for ??

Corrosion. Pretty much anywhere, but especially chassis outriggers and body mounts. The body mounts at the bottom of the A pillars and the bit of floor /pillar they attach to is particularly awkward to repair nicely.

Bottom of main chassis rails around the diff frequently rot out (water/road muck finds its way in via boot riggers). A little at the lowest points is pretty much normal these days but do check it doesn’t go much up the sides or too far forward. If it’s rotten as far forward as the front diff mounts, walk away.

Convertibles tend to have holes in the floor (or no floor) including under the rear seat. Saloon roofs are quite often rusty at the base of the C pillars and under the rear screen which is really hard to mend nicely. Boot floors and spare wheel wells can rot badly especially under the tank just behind the wheel arch. Bonnets go everywhere but worst in the front corners and arches.

Mechanically they are reasonably robust with standard power outputs. Transmission has limited ability to absorb more though. Parts availability is good (though some parts are a bit rubbish) and lots of interchangeability with Spitfires, Dolomites, Vitesse etc.

Herald 1200 (my favourite shape) saloon with sunroof and Spitfire 1500 running gear (with overdrive) is a great useable car easily able to keep up in traffic.

Happy hunting

Nick

Nick has it pretty much spot on (as per), but i would add to have a look under the dash for crispy/bodged wiring, a friend nearly lost a newly bought herald when the loom got a little too toasty.
Dan

The 2L cars definitely do eat gearboxes (and far quicker if you and a further 500ccs!) even if driven normally and diffs if driven harder. Heralds, not so much. Not enough power.

Personally I like the look of the 1200 bonnet better than the 13/60 and the Vitesse best of all. The 1200 is a bit slow, especially pre '65 with the 39 snorting horses and not very frugal. The 13/60 very much better. If you do happen across one with a 1500 lump in it, that is potentially a good thing but.... unlike the 1200 which is quite happy at 4000 + rpm for hours on end and 1300 which is nearly as happy, the 1500 is not. It shouts loudly for mercy and will wear out/blow up quite soon if you try to hold 70 mph much on the original gearing. A 1500 needs to have overdrive and 3.89 diff or a 3.63 diff or both. On the right gearing, its great. On the original it isn't.

Torsional stiffness.... yeah. Or rather, no. There isn't much. To be fair, a structurally sound saloon is fair. A rusty one, not so much and convertibles are pretty floppy even when sound. A rusty convertible - good luck keeping the doors shut!

My son did his final mech eng. degree dissertation on the torsional stiffness of the Triumph Vitesse convertible, so we have actual numbers. Using my fairly sound example as test mule, we measured the overall stiffness and stiffness of chassis only (body detached and raised a couple of inches) and compared the results to his computer model. The chassis is basically a spring which mainly flexes in the centre 3 feet. Adding the tub does improve matters to quite a surprising extent, but starting from a very low place. Shutting the doors helps and putting the hood up added 30%! 30% of a small initial number it is true but.....

Careful where you put the jack. Some obvious effect on door fit is normal when jacking up convertibles by the official jacking points. Saloons should be less affected

The doors opening when you go round corners. Years ago my mate nearly fell out and accused me of trying to dispose of him.

Thanks .

It’s another thing to add to the list .

👍

I would add tub spread which can cause the bottom of doors to not close flush with the rear of the body. But is not the only cause.
And bulb door seals can cause the doors to not shut they need to be the correct type of 'split' seal
And front trunnions being oiled instead of correct grease.
You are correct Ferny brain said one thing and fingers wrote another
Correction front trunnions should oiled not greased
And as a generalisation they all take on water.

zeberdee did you ever take the plunge??