wiring and paint help please

[RevSteve]

Hello All

I could do with a bit of advice and wisdom please,  we have recently acquired a 13/60 which had been involved in a small fire, the boot and the rear of the car were damaged along with the wiring.  We have stripped it out and are now looking at the more enjoyable bit putting it back together.

There are a couple of things;

Is it worth trying to repair the wiring or take the opportunity to put a whole new loom in?

And secondly the paint is a bit ropy, but rather than a respray (finance!) would anyone recommend a paint system which is able to be applied with a brush/roller?

Many Thanks

Steve

[RobPearce]

I'd definitely say replace the whole wiring loom. It's going to be pretty grotty by now, anyway, and repairs are always hard to do right, and messy, and time consuming.

There are paint systems that can be brushed (or even rollered) but very few of them will ever achieve a nice finish that way. The ones that do are expensive and require great skill to apply. To be honest, a cheap and cheerful HVLP spray kit does a much nicer job for much less effort (or, at any rate, skill-effort-product). You'll need a clean garage and plenty of masking tape and paper.

[Bitumen Boy]

I would also say to replace all the wiring, but have you thought about doing it from scratch, i.e. buying cable and components rather than buying the whole loom? It'll take longer and likely cost a bit more but you won't be struggling with wires that aren't quite long enough and any mods or upgrades will be easily incorporated. Car electrical systems don't get much simpler than those fitted to Heralds so whatever you choose shouldn't give you too many headaches.

As for brush or roller painting, the trick to achieving a really smart finish seems to be to apply several coats of paint that will then stand a lot of wet and dry work to smooth it out and make it shine, but that's a lot of work to do well. If you're interested I think there are some videos in Youtube that should give you an idea of what's involved.

[JohnD]

The only part of the loom that must be replaced is that going to the rear.   Its very simp!e, just to lights and the fuel tank.    Get some cable - youth may be able to get it with the OE Lucas colour coding,try Vehicle Wiring Products, and a multoway connector, same supplier.   Don't know offhand how many wires but it could be as few as six!

Terminate the old loom at some un burnt point with the connector, run the wires from that to the lights,  wrap with a self adhering tape.   Quicker, cheaper, gdet you back on the road.

John

[Pete Lewis]

we painted sons first  rust and nappy yellow mini with Japlac and a brush finished with a sponge roller
amazing  red with white roof  in 1hour transformation  bit orange peely but tidy.   its all down to what you want

bit more thinners would have maybe improved , but adds runs into the job. it lasted 4 years

[thescrapman]

Loom to the rear is via bullets, and easily replaced.

there must be plenty of good herald rear looms lying about from all the cars that have been dismantled.

Cheers

[Scimher]

For paint rollering, Rustoleum seems to be the paint to use........I believe the VW van fraternity are big into it. As for the technique in applying it; it appears that for best results treat it like you would a thorough & conscientious respray - rubbing down between coats etc. I don't know whether it is still on YouTube but there was a video: American I think featuring a magenta Stag..........&, even allowing for dodgy video quality, the results looked like glass!! It really did look like an expensive spray job! There are other ones on there, all giving advice & tips such as using small rollers & changing them frequently etc. I guess one major advantage is that you can do the car one panel at a time....  

[Matt Neale]

I painted my Herald using Rustoleum.  I got it from Rawlins Paints in Leeds.  It takes a lot of labour to get it to a finish but it is possible.  2 years now and no problems.  I was being quoted silly money for a respray.  If you don't count my own labour it cost under £100.  I would recommend using Rustolium thinners too.