1971 Triumph Herald 1200(ish) 09/4/23 - Roof & dash

Nice wheels!

Nick

Over 2 years since I last posted in here. Hardly surprising really. While I know some people have used the pandemic as a time to get on with projects that's not really been the case for me. Work carried on and there were family issues that put paid to doing much at all through most of last year. Motivation hit pretty much rock bottom.

One unavoidable job that had to take place last year was when this happened on a twisty B road on the way home from work. A stone was flicked up by a car going the other way on a bend and the screen just wnet 'BANG!'



I was able to see just enough to get to a safe spot to call for a recovery. A new screen was sourced and fitted on our drive by the chap who did the Hillman one a few years ago.

Since I'm now occasionally commuting again I've tried to get on top of some general maintenance and try and improve the driving experience. Last autumn saw all new rear brakes (and front pads) and earlier this year a new front section of the handbrake cable.





A couple of months ago I finally repaired (again) the front of the drivers side wing/inner arch/D plate so the bonnet is a bit less wobbly again though there are still holes around the headlights. That'll have to wait for now.

After the November lock down I was able to go and collect a 'new' roof as parts of the original one are pretty tired and its going to be much easier to swap than repair. The new one is already fitted with a headlining which saves us the bother.



Wrong colour though so I've recently been prepping it a little and having to remind myself how to spray. Which is goign so-so but I'm not exactly after a concours finish on this car.



Bought some Valencia Blue from Craftsmaster Paints and have applied some of that today. Colour looks good.



Temporarily stashed on the Oxford (which has equally lain pretty much dormant)



I was also pleased to pick up a really good dash and surround last week. I need to make holes for the extra gauges but combined with the headlining its going to really smarten up the interior. Just have to plug the holes in the bulkhead to stop water getting in and I might even be able to put some carpet back in!

So, a bit of progress. Trying to come up with acheivable goals and see them through one at a time.

Great to see progress on it Seth, I was wondering the other day how your fleet were doing

Nice to see this thread pop back up.

We thought about it, or even painting it a different colour entirely but opted to go with the original blue. Its going to look out of place enough what with being much shinier than the rest of the car!

Great to see this little beastie getting some love Seth.

Love the thread. If the new 1500 engine in Rosie, our Herald Convertible, doesn't play ball then I'm going the same route. We had a 1.8 MK1 MX5 Dakar years ago and it's a wonderful engine and gearbox.

It seems its been a while since I last updated this but the odd thing has happened, and in quite a turn of events, attempts have been made to actually try and improve it in some way.
I should say, that the new front shocks made a massive difference to the way it drove. Its now got a matching pair of GAZ adjustable rear shocks as one of the Konis that had only been on there for 20+ years started leaking all over the place. But I've no photos of that.
Last summer the 'new' roof made its way into place, with the great help of freind Paul. The old one really was beyond hope and in one day we managed to get that off and the new on into place with the new rubbers etc that I think we'd bought at least 10 years ago.





So the added bonus of the new roof was not only much less water ingress when it rained but having a headline for the first time in many years too.

I'd mentioned a couple fo posts up, in Jul '21 that I'd picked up a good dash. Around this time last year I got it ready for fitting by cutting holes in it for the oil and temp gauges I use.





Obviously other things have got in the way or been more important since, but I figured that today/tomorrow I'd probably have enough time
to get this swapped in too. The vinyl had split badly on the old one and the wood was completely knackered too - it only looked half presentably as I'd covered it in fablon years ago.





A bit of a mish-mash of original wiring, added extras eg radio, lights relay etc and the distributor-less ignition parts.



New dash in place.



And now nearly there.  I like the new layout for the extra gauges, which is similar to what some of the early Heralds had. I'm going to change the added switch panel a little, just neaten it all up a bit. I've also left the tiny interior light out since it doesn't work (the door switches are broken) and is pretty pointless even when it does.  Might use the feeds and add something switchable under the dash instead.



But its going to be a real pleasure to drive with a good looking dash and surround again.

Thanks. Half considered getting a fibreglass hardtop from a convertible (which would be easier to find than a genuine coupe roof) but there'd be a lot else to change, not least to extend the rear deck and lose the back seat, also the door glass etc.