heraldcoupe

I recently fitted a pair of reproduction type 14s to a former type 12 car. The clearance issues were somewhat greater than I remember with previous conversions using oritinal type 14s, so worth keeping that in mind. Having stupidly used my last set of Timken bearings in the original hubs, I used an angle grinder against the spinning hub to create the necessary clearance. Sounds brutal, but worked surprisingly well, though the amount of metal I needed to remove was significant. Cheers, Bill.

There were quality issues with the yoke being insecure on the shaft. This was around 1994 and I've heard of very few problems since, Cheers, Bill.

I've now been given a copy of the prototype register, this shows that my Pony's engine is actually a 6-port 1300, rather than the 1500 of the production Dragoon. The downdraught carb means the same head arrangement is a possibility, though this might have been handled by a differnet manifold design on the 8 port head. I need to find a Dragoon to pore over... Cheers, Bill.

There is a story with this seal. It was initially remade by Six Spares in the early 1990s, they were provided with an original unused seal to copy - I know this as I deliverd the sample to them by hand. Despite access to an original seal, the compound chosen was much harder, making the new product copmpletely useless. It's been made in the same form ever since... My own approach is to use an off-the-shelf sponge profile (image below) which is about 1/2" wide overall. It lacks the large lip which goes back over the flange on the frame, but it has the small lip which sits just over the front edge. Once installed it looks 100% correct. The void behind the new, smaller seal can be packed with mastic or other commercial sealant if desired, but in the real world it's of little consequence. If you need the sponge profile, it's one I used to sell when I was retailing Triumph parts. I still have some remaining in stock, PM me for details, Cheers, Bill.

I remember John Kipping mentioning a specific export 1500 engine, he used some of the unique bits in his more unusually configured engines. If youare able to find anything in the Dragoon manual when you get a chance then I'd really appreciate it. As a prototype, thie may bear little resemblance to what saw production in the Dragoon, but the intrusion of a sidedraught arrangement into the cabin is an issue which would have needed addressing in some way. Cheers, Bill.

Was the comment a fail or an advisory? Play in the inner track rod joints is no longer an MOT failure, it can only be recorded as an advisory, might it be this that's being suggested? Cheers, Bill.

I have the original prototype engine installed in the Pony, this is a 1500 configured with a 6-port head. It's not been run for many years, the level of corrosion in the rest of the vehicle doesn't make me optimistic about it's condition. The original engine will be rebuilt, but it got me thinking about creating a replica setup, or more accurately, a lookalike. Cheers, Bill.

Nothing so exotic, I need to find out if a 6-port (1200) head can be fitted to a 1500 block, to allow a downdraught carb/manifold to be used. At least four new stud mounting holes would need to be drilled into the block, I need to see how the positions are going to align with the waterways. Cheers, Bill.

If boredom sets in over the holidays then I may have to take a grinder to one of my spares...

This is a bit of an off-the-wall question, but has anyone seen images of a sectioned Triumph 1500 or 1300 engine block? I really need to see how the water jackets sit in relation to the cylinder head studs, particularly on the side of the inlet and exhaust ports. Cheers, Bill.

That's certainly a dilemma. If you have to use new wings, try to obtain original Stanpart panels. Some reproductions get the dimensions of the swage above the arch wrong. The height from the centre of the arch to the swage is 41mm on an original wing, the repros often measure 46mm. 5mm doesn't sound like a huge difference, but it's very visible in practice. Cheers, Bill.

Herald & Vitesse rear wings are notoriously difficult to fit. It's not down to the quality of the repair panels (even though that can be an issue in itself),  it's the distortion which so many bodyshells have suffered. The shell sags and bulges for a number of reasons - overloading of the boot, rotten boot outriggers, poor quality chassis repairs - these all contribute to the problem. The shell can drop at the back end, provided the panels are left undisturbed, this can often remain unnoticeable on a complete and assembled car. The panel line where the upper and lower wings meet will however form a downward curve where it would have originally followed a straight line. Seperate the panels here and you'll find your new panel with a straight edge fails to meet the curved original upper wing. If at all possible, I advocate repairing the arch as the best approach. If not, keep your fingers crossed that your shell is the same shape as when it left the factory, Cheers, Bill.

I attack the valve itself with a Dremel, once the cnetre is ground out, the outside can be collapsed inwards. Witht his done, i then clean up the staked areas with the Dremel, the new valves are staked in new points arund the perimeter. Cheers, Bill.

If you have the regular Herald or non-rotoflex Vitesse layout, the front pipe is 46" long, the rear pipe 53". This depends on matching the curves and exact layout to the original, so there is room for variation. The Vitesse Mk2 layout is different, sorry I don't have those figures, but I would assume the front pipe to be very similar in length. The union sits betweent he front and centre outriggers. It's biased towards the front so the more complicated routing of the front pipe along the bulkhead is more easily achieved. The largely straight rear pipe can be fed through the outriggers more easily, Cheers, Bill

Sounds like they've patterned them on the early bushes, before the water shields were introduced in the mid 1960s. Cheers, Bill.

I have to wonder why anyone makes polyurethane trunnion bushes. Are they a rigid compound to match the original nylon bushes? Or are they a softer compound like the other bushes, which would offer less precise location of the axles? I know there are quality problems with some of the available trunnion bushes, but even the good ones cost a fraction of the polyurethane type. One aspect of these cars which needs no redesign whatsoever, Cheers, Bill.

I've been under the car this morning and it's the lower face of the silencer which is deteriorating. It feels wafer thin in several places, with a couple of cracks - not surpricing for a car which has rarely done 100 miles between MOTs. The structure feels quite sound, I will see if I can detach the rear section without shearing bolts, in which case I can make a neat, welded repair, rather than a bandage around the rather large silencer, Cheers, Bill.

I don't have the 2000 manual to hand, but from what I remember, it's completely internal, sp presumably incorporated in the splined section as the rest is welded. Cheers, Bill.

I found out why the Landrover front shaft is set out of phase, this apparently works in conjunction with a damper in the shaft. This rang a bell with me, I remember that some of the 2000 propshafts incorporate a damper, IIRC it's those with the overdrive that got this installation, though there was no difference in propshaft length. Putting 2 + 2 together, it may be the case that Triumph shafts with the damper are deliberately de-phased. If this theory is correct, I'd expect the Vitesse and non-overdrive 2000 propshaft, which share the same part number, to be perfectly in phase, with just the overdrive 2000 shaft de-phased by a few degrees. Cheers, Bill.

Rebuilding a propshaft for my current Herald project. The shaft is a splined Vitesse or 2000 47" type, or at least I believe it to be, as this Herald has overdrive. The shaft was taken from another Herald in running condition and the splines are in good order without any play. I noticed something odd as I finished off the UJ at the splined end. Looking down the shaft I could see that the yokes are very slightly out of phase. Not 90 degrees as would obviously give problems, but just a degree or two. I've not tried moving anything around as I believe that displacing the sliding section by even one spline would exceed the size of the discrepancy; I think there is a key spline in any case, which would make a change impossible. I did a little digging online and found that this slight off-phasing is normal on some vehicles, specifically Landrovers, but I've never been aware of it on a Herald or Vitesse. Does anyone know if this is normal with the splined shafts, or is this shaft from some other source? Cheers, Bill.

I'm not too worried about lashing-up the silencer, I'm more concerned about it failing where the pipe enters the silencer, making a satisfying repair here is no fun. I'll get underneath and make a proper inspection tomorrow, Cheers, Bill.

I really like the idea, but I have doubts about how long my current system will last. As you've seen, I have one or two projects already, I really can't let the Acclaim become another one waiting in the wings... Cheers, Bill.

Quite early on the Round Britain Run, my hastily purchased Acclaim developed a blow on the exhaust. I checked that nothing was likely to fall off, then pressed on with the run, without further incident. I'll be getting underneath to patch tings up in the next few days, I believe the body of the silencer has opened up on the top side as the damage isn't visible. I will ultimately need a new exhaust system, something which was a problem whan I last owned an Acclaim. I've seen the thread regarding making new exhausts, but does anyone have experience of this German company? http://www.auspuff-sets.de/as-.....mp;ac=1LWelZSj39Y%3D There's a likelihood that I will be using the Acclaim as a transport for my new job, so I don't want to be lwft stranded through a disintegrating exhaust, Cheers, Bill.

The estate's tank has a tubular protrusion pointing downwards at the front, it's effectively a swirl pot to prevent fuel starvation, the fuel line exiting from it by a banjo bolt. This protrusion goes trough a hole in the floor of the Estate, so you would need to cut a suitably aperture in your Coupe's floor - there is a depression marked, but it is only cut out on the Estate. The tank is mounted via the Estate's floorboard mounting rails. I'm uncertain how others have gone about doing this but the Estate floor arrangement looks like a route to follow. The spare wheel is also retained by opening the jack between the wheel and the floor rail as the bracket will have to be removed so the wheel can slide in diagonally. The Estate jack is shaped to fit the pressing in the centre of the wheel, so would also be needed if you followed this route. Cheers, Bill.

Some of the factory literature does show them this way, however the workshop  manual shows the spline immediately in front of the diff, which is how all of my Triumphs have been configured. Cheers, Bill.