Richard B

Some wrinkles but the best we could get at the time.

Went to fit a heater box that I had resealed years ago, only to realize that a pre facelift heater box is different to a post 67 heater box. Duh!!

So now I am overhauling the original one!

So Headlining installation, progressed at the weekend with Alison's assistance.

Whilst the original for your car the 16", I would go for a 22" as this increases the capacity of the cooling system and has better cooling than the smaller radiator. Also make sure you have the front shrouds to channel air through the radiator. The 22" fits the same as the 16" , just without the 'ears. So I would go for a recore or you might find that a radiator place can repair, rather than recore depending on condition.

The lower octane petrol sold now days can cause hotter running, as does sitting in traffic jams. So I always like to have some reserve in the cooling system.

I would not bother with a lightweight aluminium radiator as that is for boy racers (or girl). Aluminium radiators came in with modern aluminium engines which need a different type of coolent and the copper reacts to the antifreeze. Unless money is no object and you really want to lighten the car.

Front & Rear bumpers mounted, waiting for some S/S 3/8"UNF Setscrew x 3/4" long to mount to the Front Wings.

Headlining rods mounted, definitely two pairs of hands required for that. Waiting for assistants and a quantity of bulldog clips to try and fit to edges before glueing.

I had to stop working outside for a while.

Bumpers, bought some of the Stainless Steel brackets and overrider bolts from Chris Witor. As they get a lot of abuse from the English weather!

I hate trying to unbolt seized, rusty components. Before and after with the Autosol. The bumpers are not perfect, but this is to be a presentable road car.

Pedal box stripped, cleaned, painted. New bushes pressed in. Don't you love that 'ping' sound as a bush decides not to go into the hole but instead launches itself across the garage? Necessitating a search of the floor to find the bloody thing...

On a MkI PI (with a remote servo), you have the additional plate in the engine bay for the pedal box.

The knackered, dirty, torn, old headlining.

On to the headlining, had loads of fun persuading the rods to go through the loops. On the original HL the loops are fabric whereas the new HL has vinyl loops. I wonder were they originally sewn into the loops?

Managed to do it with the aid of vaseline. Don't forget the rods are different (and colour coded). Had to cut about 2" back at each end, on each loop, to fit the rod.

So, Throttle pedal, Headlining and Brake/Clutch Pedal Box.

Had to take the washer off the shaft, so that I could get the bracket off, weld up the worn pivot hole in the bracket and the wear in the shaft. I also welded a couple of washers to the bracket to spread the load. I did think about fitting a bush but considered that to be over engineering the problem. Throttle pedal has a lot less slop than previously.

Hi Martin, of course. The target is this years RBRR.

1500 in a Herald is great fun. However to conserve the bottom end (they do not rev very well), have you got either a 3.63 or 3.89 differential fitted and preferrably overdrive?

On 14/03/2023 at 18:00, Dion said:

Thank you for a reminder how rusty a Mk1 can be! Good to see proper welding repairs. 

Still hope mine is not that far gone - but  have bought new inner and outer rear wings because I know the arches are gone inside & out. Just hope the rear floor and sills do not need too much metal.

Hi Dion, Does that look like excess toe-in or is it just the camera angle?

You may find rust in the boot area by the inner  rear wing and the floor under the rear seat by the sub-frame mount. Good luck.

Went to fit the boonet moulding and promptly stripped the thread of two of the studs! I had a recoil kit 10-32 UNF, but I needed a bottom tap. £30 on line, ouch, but managed to find one on the bay of evil for lot less. Result.

However loads of fun trying to drill and tap it parallel to the remaining stud.

Learning to play with the shrinker stretcher, making Inner Front Wing repair panels.

Middle photo shows failed first attempt at the top. The red primered one is from a supplier, the plain metal one is my copy.

Here is Hilary helping wash the car after it was returned and Alison helping fit the door seals.

The seals come as a straight length from Chris Witor. This cutter helps to do a 45 degree cut and then some superglue to join the ends.

Bradley having fun with the polishing mop!

Put some grease on the seal before fitting. Try to gently rotate the cannister as you do up the bolt to centralise it.

The spin on conversion is a better bet, as the standard filter drains when the car is left standing. There were problems with the depth of the inner groove. At one time two sizes of seals were available.  If you look now, Mocal have revised the design.

https://www.chriswitor.com/products.php?cat=308

I should add that for small chassis cars you need an anti-drain valve on the spin-on filter if mounted upside down.

Try Chris Witor or Andy Harrison in Devon.

On 10/10/2022 at 11:48, Wendy Dawes said:

👍🤷🏻‍♀️

I strongly recommend Steel Toe-Cap Trainers, Screwfix or Toolstation can supply.

Well Colin, the Pi is in the nice warm garage, next to the Stag for reassembly, hopefully it can stay there.

Yes PeteStupps you are correct. It was reduced price as it had been dropped or fallen over, fortunately Pete from East Sussex came over and helped me correct the alignment. Partly done with a Porta-Pack and some cutting and re-welding. Ideally I should get some Metz blue paint to finish it off. I was looking at reinforcing the frame as it is made of Chinesium. However there is supposed to be some flex (I believe), looking to get some 70mm square tube at sometime. There are loads of YouTube videos of people upgrading them, especially in the States.

Old and new rear spring seats

November 2022 and off to Andy Dann to have some paint, as well as finishing the bits I hadn't.

My eternal thanks to Scrapman and Radders for helping move the car.

December 2021 Christmas present!