|
|
|
Jan 13, 2008 22:37:59 GMT
|
London conditions are VERY different on running gear demands. I have a friend who brought his tuned mini up from surrey.. In an afternoon out, it experienced brake fade and the rear suspension bottoming out for the first time ever! The brakes got so hot a caliper hose connection started weeping, and we lost the brakes when the master cylinder emptied.. You could always fit a H6. Good for a lot more power, and nearly a straight swap, if you can find a suitable manifold. Pretty carbs too..  |
| |
|
|
|
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
|
|
Jan 13, 2008 22:58:58 GMT
|
I've kept umming and ahhing about an HS6 especially as one would bolt on to the manifold on the car - I'd just need to open the bore out a bit. Probably some HS4's coming my way soon though so....  |
| |
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable. |
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 21:45:05 GMT
|
Well, I said I just needed to do the other side boot corner and a couple of other bits. It's ended up taking up all of my available daytime hours for the last couple of weeks  The passenger side boot is where the fuel tank sits so I couldn't see how bad it was 'til I took the tank out. I also wanted to get that double skinned body mount area done in a day so I blagged a corner of the workshop from the boys at Retro Custom. At home I'd have to pray for good weather and then be finished by about 4.30 as it gets dark....in the workshop I could (and did!) work later. I did need to be able to re-fit the tank and drive away at the end of the day however far I got. Here's the photos....  strengthening plate removed to reveal...   Then a big jump to this at the end of the day as I was busy trying to get it done! You can see there was more to do but at least it was all strong and bolted to the chassis again.   A bit further forward by the wheel arch was just as bad.... the big round hole is where a drain tap sits and the smaller round hole is there for the fuel line.  Bottom edge of arch done...  ...and the floor back in one piece.   I had hoped that the rear chassis extensions (outriggers) were solid enough to be patched up for replkacement later. Some probing found that not to be the case so a pair of new ones were ordered from Chic Doig as I'd seen their chassis bits at jumbles and knew they were made in Scotlond from girders (some aftermarket chassis bits seem very tinny.) They arrived on Thursday morning and I cracked on and got the pass side one done first so I could finally bolt the fuel tank in again.  Eurghhh!  I cut a section out of the new 'rigger so I could weld the top join from the inside as access is a bit limited.  All back together.  The drivers side one was a bit worse towards the diff crossmember.  In fact the crossmember itself started to disintegrate.  So I had to repair that first  and then the outrigger was welded in place.  Job done, or at least I hope so when the friendly Skoda orientated MOT man looks at it on Monday. |
| |
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2008 23:37:38 GMT
|
|
Ouch!!!! Nice welding though & fingers crossed for the MOT!!
|
| |
Last Edit: Jan 26, 2008 23:38:13 GMT by Paul H
|
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
|
|
Jan 28, 2008 21:47:53 GMT
|
Yay! We have a pass! Many thanks to team R-R, comprising of Keefy, Larry, and DaveRapid for helping me sort this out for another years motoring. ;D  |
| |
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 28, 2008 22:34:13 GMT
|
|
Woot!!
Nice work matey. Saw this in ppc only yesterday, just over the page from mr b'stards monza. RR PPC takeover FTW.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 28, 2008 22:42:46 GMT
|
|
welding godz yall
**jealous**
|
| |
2001 HONDA CT110 (NOT RCV)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nice one and congrats Seth.
Happiness for another year.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2008 12:39:38 GMT
|
Eeek, bet that was a bit of an unpleasant surprise finding all of that under there :/ Still, it's all done now and you know it's sound underneath And congrats on the pass  |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2008 13:31:55 GMT
|
Yeah - excellent stuff! You must get a great sense of satisfaction when one of your cars passes its MOT - unlike most of us where our daily driver is normally something modernish, your efforts mean you actually have transport for another year...... maximum retro kudos! I think if I was to find that sort of rot in my Derby - I think I would give up, I certainly wish I had the skill/courage to tackle what is quite mamoth re-structuring of a car like you have  |
| |
|
|
|
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
|
|
Jan 29, 2008 15:58:53 GMT
|
Its relief I feel more than satisfaction on a MOT pass I think if I was to find that sort of rot in my Derby - I think I would give up, I certainly wish I had the skill/courage to tackle what is quite mamoth re-structuring of a car like you have I think we'd all be surprised if your super clean on top car was hanging underneath! If I was presented with a Herald that needed everything I've now done on ours (including other welding jobs over the 8 odd years of ownership) I think I'd turn around and run! Its only because regular use has resulted in getting our money's worth many times over and has resulted in gradual rebuilding as areas have deteriorated. The other reason to keep this one going is that it has never been patched up badly in the past. Sure, there's a few small areas that have seen a bit of excessive "sealent" to fill in the gaps (as I discovered in the boot corners) but its never had major bodges done. Other than the side outriggers it has only ever been welded during our ownership and almost all by me. Hoping to spend some time in the summer doing a couple of the external plebs to make it look a bit more loved  |
| |
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
|
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
|
|
|
|
Oh, as final comment on the MOT the little car covered about 10,000 miles since the last one. When you consider the odometer reads at least 15% low its not done badly really! But the big shock-horror news is that its actually undergoing some work by professionals! We're finally having the rear valance sorted on the insurance following the bump it received last summer. There's a really good Triumph specialist called Moordale Motors not too far away in Potters Bar and they're taking care of it this week. Popped up there today to have a look.  Mmmm shiny! I think its going to stand out a bit!  The 1/4 valances that the side parts of the white rubber bumper fit to are a bit rusty but they're only cosmetic panels and we haven't got the ready cash to throw at them so they'll be "made good" to last a little while longer. This is what the boss man there drives daily anyway  Hoping to pick the car up again on Friday |
| |
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
|
|
Marc
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,037
|
|
|
|
Love Heralds, love this one. Great thread and super skills. |
| |
|
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
|
|
Mar 18, 2008 11:22:34 GMT
|
Feck, arsee etc! The Herald's been out of action for over a week now because of nasty noises from the back end. I investigated a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't feel anything untoward but there was a suspicious lack of oil in the diff. So off I trot to get a good second hand diff from a Triumph place. I pick one with the 3.89 ratio I wanted since the 3.63 is now a bit too tall with the O/D box. Today is the first dry day that I've not been on child duties so I've just been pulling it apart. Got the diff out in a little over an hour but it feels smooth and no different to the " new" one. So to be sure I check the half shafts again. Oh tit. On one side it feels rough, I pull it a bit and there's an inch of end float! Feck! The bearing seems to have totally collapsed.  Now I've got it all in pieces anyway but I really wanted it roadworthy by the end of the day. I have a spare driveshaft assy but it has the wrong flange on the end for the diff so I'm going to have to try and swap those without cocking up the U/J. Will probably have to swap all the brake parts too. Ggrrrrr! |
| |
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 18, 2008 18:18:34 GMT
|
|
Gah, diffs and axles!!! Mine is noisy too and I KEEP forgetting to check the oil. Best of luck on the swap...
|
| |
|
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
|
|
Mar 18, 2008 18:28:31 GMT
|
Its got dark, I'm frozen, and its not all back together Ended up on small person duty for about 3 hours after that last post so I knew it wasn't going to happen. Then I discovered the front mounting plate on the "new" diff was bent so spent some time faffing to sort that out. Its almost there as I've got the diff and driveshaft back in but still need to connect up all the drive flanges, bleed the brake etc. Going to pick up Minx parts alter so that should cheer me up. |
| |
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
|
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
|
|
|
|
Well, I guess I never updated this when I finished that job! /\ Replacement diff has been great and the shorter 3.89 ratio has given some life back to the car compared to the 3.63. Doesn't struggle at all now on long motorway climbs in O/D top. One of the front shocks had started going a bit weak some time ago and the car has recently been really quite floaty on the drivers side. I've been looking for some to replace them for a while. We bought the Spax adjustables second hand about four years ago so we can't really complain. But new ones with the adjustable spring pans were going to be out of the current budget but cheaper standard shocks would be a real backward step for the car. I ended up spying some more Spax on Ebay that looked really clean and had only done about 1000 miles on a car. Didn't get a bargain but saved a reasonable amount on the cost of new ones.  With fixed spring pans I wondered if the car would end up at a a different ride height but it looks like they're almost identical to where we had the old ones set. No spring compressors needed as the springs are just the right length to be a snug fit when things are done up  And in place...  Should make a huge difference to the way its been handling of late. Also had a look at the tracking as the tyres are wearing a bit unevenly. Looked like a bit of toe out using my usual visual check so I've given the track rods a tweak too. Looking forward to a transformed car! |
| |
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nice one Seth,
i´m jealous of all that space you have around the struts to work on!!! ;D
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yay! Hope Katie is pleased with it! ;D
|
| |
|
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
|
|
|
|
Yay! Hope Katie is pleased with it! ;D She will be A little local test drive has shown it to be back to its old self ;D Dave, I still had to undo the anti-roll bar link and the bottom trunnion bolt to get that side out and in! S'pose it is nice to be out in the open when doing this kind of thing though rather than head tucked under a wing. |
| |
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
|
|
|
|
The passenger side boot is where the fuel tank sits so I couldn't see how bad it was 'til I took the tank out. I also wanted to get that double skinned body mount area done in a day so I blagged a corner of the workshop from the boys at 
