becks125 Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Totally new to classic cars and just bought a Herald 1200.What type of engine oil is best to use?Any other hints or things to look out for would be useful as I say we are total novices at this!!Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Moore Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Any 20/50 should be fine. Newer cars have tighter tolerances and use thinner oils - eg 10/40 - but not Triumphs. I can't recommend a particular brand, as I'm in Australia and many oils available in the UK (I assume you're there?) aren't sold here.Some people espouse synthetic oils such as Mobil1. I can't comment either way, but Triumph recommended 20/50 mineral oil, so that's what I use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks125 Posted September 23, 2011 Author Share Posted September 23, 2011 Thanks for your info Nick :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Halfords Classic 20w50 or motor factor 20w50 will be fine. It doesn't stay in there long anyway. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scimher Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Also a good idea to get a selection of 'handbooks' & manuals from e-bay....(there is always a good selection!) & that will give you a feel for what needs to be done in the way of routine maintenance. Generally recommended to change the engine oil every 3,000m. Good luck and best wishes with your new acquisition. Geoff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Re the oil. avoid the ones with no specification. A decent oil will have SE, SF, SJ or whatever on it somewhere, the cheap and nasty ones will not.Yep, get a manual. Then find out how to OIL the trunnions (this is important, never grease) and top up the gearbox and back axle/diff with oil. Again EP 80, 90 or 80/90 but MUST be GL4 spec oil, not GL5. This oil goes in the trunnions too :)However, best bit of advice is to pop along to a local triumph club meeting. Introduce yourselves and make some friends who will be able to help you out with all sorts of things.You do not have to be a club member to go to the meetings, but it is a good idea in the long run. There are a few Clubs out there, CT being the best obviously ;) but if there is no meeting close to you then have a look at the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 And buy a couple of drip trays, old baking sheets make good ones if you're keeping it somewhere nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzy Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 3708 wrote:Halfords Classic 20w50 or motor factor 20w50 will be fine. It doesn't stay in there long anyway. ;)i had to go get some emergency oil last week, guy in halfords said they dont do anything at 20w, thickest they did was 15. :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heraldcoupe Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 yamaha_fizzy wrote:i had to go get some emergency oil last week, guy in halfords said they dont do anything at 20w, thickest they did was 15. :oThey do, I've bought their own branded classic 20w50 in the past couple of months. Cheers,Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve AKA vitessesteve Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Take a look at the Herald 1200, 12/50, Vitesse and Spitfire workshop manual Covers Vitesse 1600 and early Spitfires only (Mk1 and Mk2 1147cc) - you can download a copy from my website http://www.vitessesteve.co.uk/PDF/Herald,Spitfire,Vitesse.pdf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
npanne Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 yamaha_fizzy wrote:i had to go get some emergency oil last week, guy in halfords said they dont do anything at 20w, thickest they did was 15. :oWhat - this stuff?http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_166289_langId_-1_categoryId_165581 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paudman Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 yamaha_fizzy wrote:i had to go get some emergency oil last week, guy in halfords said they dont do anything at 20w, thickest they did was 15. :oSadly I think the thickest thing about Halfords are the younger staff; I like to ask a question then time how long they'll search the shelves with a lost expression before I let them off the hook by telling them it's not that important. They can tell you how much the lights on a new CD player light up, and how to lower Citroen Saxos with an angle grinder, but that's about it. I still laugh about the one who supplied me with a litre of paint in a 100 ml bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks125 Posted September 24, 2011 Author Share Posted September 24, 2011 Thank you all again for your much needed info. It will most definately help us to look after our new aquisition and hopefully even improve it in the long run. Thanks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zendervision Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 One phrase immediately comes to mind when I hear the word Halfords..."... Look under Rover Triumph" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scimher Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 This may cause gasps of incredulity & much weeping into the bottom of beer glasses......BUT when I had 2 new front trunnions fitted at the end of last year for the MOT, I took an 'executive decision' to use grease instead of oil!! (1200 convertible reg. beginning Feb. 65).....My reasoning, was that I was told there was still a little play..in the vertical link threads.( Previously I had always tried to fill with oil, despite evidence that grease may have been used before.) I feel that if there is some 'wear', the grease will take up any slack, being able to circulate, where, with original tolerances, it may not have been possible. I also feel that grease stands a better chance of reducing the acceleration of wear..ONCE IT'S STARTED!... far better than oil.I remember reading in, I think, a Triumph mag. that Rod Ker had a collapse on a Herald at about 40mph & that the "worrying thing, was that the trunnions were swimming in oil".Comments from the 'cognoscenti'......(rude or otherwise!).....much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Up to you. But gear oil is what was specified, and I suspect for good reason. It will flow much better than grease, and not sure why grease will be better at all if wear is present. Sounds like a new pair of uprights may be the answer if new trunnions still had play, I would look at them very carefully, having had 2 break I am a bit twitchy about them. The signs are usually there, but the crack seems to start a long time before they finally give way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Gosh, if Standard Triumph had a penny for every time someone said, like a naughty child, "I'm NOT going to use oil like you said, I'm going to use grease, so there!" they would still be in business.Sawdust quietens s noisy gearbox, body filler is structural, so why not use grease to make a loose trunnion tighter?John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bxbodger Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Most other threaded trunnion equipped cars, i.e. Minors, Marinas, etc, specified grease. I use oil in the Vitesse because that's what the book says to use but I suspect a modern semi-fluid grease or even a lithium chassis grase would be fine. For many years when the cars were in bargain basement bangerland thay'd have had grease and been lucky to get that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herald948 Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 JohnD wrote:Sawdust quietens s noisy gearbox, body filler is structural, so why not use grease to make a loose trunnion tighter?I hope there was supposed to be a smiley with this! ;Dbxbodger wrote:Most other threaded trunnion equipped cars, i.e. Minors, Marinas, etc, specified grease.That was true of the big TRs and the Standard 8/10 series as well, but the respective Workshop Manuals specify "three or four strokes" of the grease gun every 1000 miles! On the Herald, etc., it's oil every 6000 miles.Again, most modern greases are much better than those of old and don't dry out and congeal, etc., but it can't really hurt to stick with what Standard-Triumph specified, can it? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scimher Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Thanks very much for your comments, so far, everyone......seem to have opened a can of worms!!..(However more comments and expert opinion, most welcome)...I should point out, John, that I would normally adhere to service recommendations to the letter..the trunnions were fitted by a 'professional' & then MOT'd at a classic-sympathetic garage. She is run most days as my main mode of transport. Although she is on Spitfire wheels with 175/70 tyres...I've acquired original wheels & some 135 radials as that size was the rad. equivalent of the original 5.20 crossply.....MY REASONING BEHIND THIS IS THAT WIDER TYRES MEAN MORE GRIP, WHICH IN TURN MEANS MORE STRESSES FOR STEERING COMPONENTS THAT MAY BE APPROACHING HALF-A-CENTURY!!...(Another can of worms!)My 2 old cars..(only transport)..are having to be run on a fairly meagre budget!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordleonusa Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 That Halfords 20W/50 Oil is API SE, which should be great for our cars as it contains plenty of Zinc and phosphorous Anti-Wear Additives.do NOT use modern oils with an API rating above SH, because the Zinc and phosphorous has all but been removed.Note also that engine oil does have a shelf life of about 2 years.L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 The reason oil was specified is so that any particles removed from the surfaces will drop to the bottom out of harms way, rather than remaining in suspension, to act like a grinding paste.I think!CheersColin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 lordleonusa wrote:Note also that engine oil does have a shelf life of about 2 years.L Really???? where did you dig that info up from? I ask as I suspect that the oil I buy has often been in stock for way longer than that :-/Besides, I can't think why it would go "off" as it is fairly inert stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 But I thought that oil is millions of years old????????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paudman Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 JohnD wrote:But I thought that oil is millions of years old????????? ;D ;D ;DWhich always make me wonder why they make such a fuss about disposing of it properly... I mean, underground is full of the stuff, so we're only putting it back where we found it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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