Eric JS

To 65redspit Thanks for your reply, sorry for no reply before today. Could you send me links to the brake parts you purchased. It would be good to see where the parts from - I think as a hobby people need to be talking to each other about using none standard parts - thanks for your help. As an aside my first car was a 1965 Spitfire, she was white with a cherry red hard top, the car was then 8 years old when I got her and I paid a garage £250. The car needed a huge amount of TLC and a lot of bodywork and chassis repairs. Sadly we had to part after less than two years due to a truck reversed over the front end. Eric

To Standardthread and JohnD Thanks guys for your replies and the information they contain, both of you have supplied useful information. The problems I had before butchering the original combined manifold was useless carburettor and being unable to find an appropriate manifold and carburettor adapters. I tried lots of places looking for a manifold and adaptors but came up with nothing. The main issue was, I want to get the car back on the road this Spring/early Summer, so I could not hold on to a hope that there was a manifold somewhere - consequently the the carburettor was replaced by a single choke Webber, the manifold was butchered and a spots exhaust manifold was fitted. The idea of fuel injection is a great idea, I will look at the links supplied and revisit several websites I found this evening after reading JohnD’s post. Thanks guys Ric

Hi to everyone who have given their thoughts. I knew there would be people on the Forum who would have the information and ideas I needed. Its obvious that lateral thinking and experience are still the ways to go, you have all helped a lot, and your advice, knowledge and information are gold dust - the only trouble I have now is to find and get the bits fitted. When I was a teenager I had access to a community who had bits or knew where to get them, sadly nowadays the supply chain is usually the bugbear. Thanks again - progress is being made. Rick

Thanks Standardthread. Your reply came a little too late for the old manifold, by the time your message arrived, the manifold had gone on the operating table and lost a lot of weight. The car is still being worked on, no test drive yet but I hope I can give the old girl a run soon, and I will report back to everyone here when I have proper results to share. Ric

Hi Guys Many thanks for your well written and informative replies and the information they contained, you have helped me a lot. I knew some of the basics but I did not realise how small the differences needed to be to make a big difference when driving, to be honest, I had never thought about it! I think driving a car has become so easy that many if not most of us have lost sight of how incredible the mechanical engineers and designers of the past and today are and in most cases we never give our cars a single thought - we just get in and drive. Thanks again, the only thing I need to do now is get a differential. Ric

Hi guys, I am looking for opinions about brake upgrades My Standard 8 currently has 7 inch drum brakes all round, I feel getting the brakes upgraded is a must but I have only been able to come up with two costly options. The options are: 1: Keep the rear drums and carry out the same upgrade some of you may have done to your Heralds and that is fitting front discs. 2: Remove all of the 7 inch drums and fit new 8 inch drums, back plates etc. As my Standard 8 has an 1147cc Herald engine fitted and is smaller than the Herald and I would guess a little lighter - we should get good road speeds. If I can get the differential I want, I am planning to replace the original unit with a newer/better ratio unit. Four questions: 1: Which brake upgrade option would you go for, 2: If you say Drums - where to buy from, 3: Fit new remote servo, 4: Fit bigger master cylinder in lieu of a servo. Your opinions would be appreciated because I feel even though I lean towards fitting discs, a bit of me wonders if discs might not be needed. Ric

Hi, I am trying to improve the performance of my 1955 Standard 8. Originally the car had (I think) an 850cc engine but has been retro fitted with an 1147cc Herald engine, mated to the original Standard 8 gear box joined to the cars ridged rear axle and its original differential. I am told the differential is identical to the early Herald but the ratios are different, according to the stats the Standard 8 diff is a 4.88 and the Herald is 4.11. Being a bit dim about this area of car mechanics can anyone tell me if changing the differentials will give a noticeable difference in performance. Ric

Hi Nick Thanks for your thoughts about making my own manifolds etc, sadly I don’t have access to welding equipment anymore and finding the people with the skills to build a bespoke manifold is difficult. I don’t know if you watch much YouTube but the American restorers and builders seem to have an endless supply of skill, parts and people who can do stuff, sadly here in the UK finding good mechanics and fabricators can be like pulling teeth. To be honest I thought one of my local engineering companies would come to my aid but sadly they were not keen on building a new manifold, so I hoped that the bits I needed would be out there ready to buy, but auto jumbles and other suppliers did not come up with the right bits. The Standard 8 and 10 have good sized engine bays but on the drivers side sit two master cylinders and a high inner wheel arch, so the idea of a Triumph twin carb set up was lost and as I have not been able to find a single carburettor manifold or the carburettor adaptors I would need to adapt the standard manifold - reluctantly I have gone back to down draft because I have lots of room above the engine and there are no problems in the engine bay - not really the win I wanted but I think a good second place. BMC/Austin/Morris manifolds are as you say are close but not the big cigar or way forward, I looked at them as an option but to my eyes they looked like a whole lot of problems without the help of a milling machine or rotary burrs and grinders. The thing about going back to downdraft is I can keep looking and find the right parts or person then maybe I can do more adaptation. Thanks again - ES

Hi I have two 13/60 “single carb” inlet manifolds and 2 SU HS4 carburettors I don’t need. They are going to an Auto Jumble in Suffolk with some other assorted stuff in June if you are not interested? I got a job lot off triumph parts off a friend, both of the HS4s need servicing kits and gaskets, they have been cleaned by me but they probably need a dip in an ultrasonic bath to give them a proper clean. Both carbs need the float and float chamber cap and screws, my friend was a mechanic with his own garage - somehow he had mislaid these bits but they are not that expensive and easy to get. I was going to get both carburettors restored but you could do that? If interested, let me know Ric

Hi Guys With no advice to go on, I have had to come to a simple conclusion to my problem and that is “what you might want or need, you cannot always get”. Very reluctantly, I have decided to butcher the combined inlet/exhaust manifolds. I will cut off and clean up the inlet manifold section and throw away the the exhaust section. I can then refit the old inlet manifold and fit the new sports exhaust manifold and down pipes. With the old Solex carburettor having lots of issues making it more or less useless - I am going to buy a single choke downdraft Webber carburettor and filter and use them to make the car breath in properly. Hopefully the conversion will help the little 1147cc Herald engine in my Standard 8 do the business for now, if I feel the need is there are bigger downdraft Webbers available. Thanks for reading all of this E S

Why bother with tapping out the stud holes, it’s only a flange on a exhaust pipe - just drill out the holes with a new drill, then buy 3 stainless steel bolts, nuts, flat washers and spring washers - job done. Ric

Hi - there are lots of ways to remove studs - every mechanic has their own pet way to do it, raw heat is the oldest way to do it but the latest way is heat from an induction coil, you can buy them but I don’t know how much they are but they are very good: Without heat, the safe way: Get yourself an old washing up bowl or a can big enough to get the studs and head in it, place the manifold into the bowl/can with the broken studs on the bottom then soak the manifold flange and studs literally sat deep in the diesel - then let it sit for a day. Day two: As you still have the studs sitting outside of the manifold - you need a good pair of mole grips - lock them on each stud as tight as you can then try to tighten up the stud just enough to move the stud a mill or two, if they move then try undoing them a little then tighten them again repeating back and forwards till they start to undo properly, if the won’t undo give the diesel a second go. Then repeat the process until they come out. If you have tried diesel and lots of heat, you could try freezing sprays but for me the only way is a big hammer and easy outs, if they don’t get the studs out, your only way around broken studs is sadly drilling them out. Ric

Hi guys I am looking for help. I am restoring a 1955 Standard 8 saloon - if you are not familiar with this bit of the Standard Triumph history, the Standard 8 is the older sibling of the Triumph Herald and the first car to use the Standard Triumph SC engine. The car at some time had its old engine removed and replaced with a later rebuilt 1147cc Herald engine, and according to the engine number, I am told it is a High Compression engine fitted with the Spitfire cam shaft. To complete the engine’s development I want to help it breath better by fitting a sports exhaust and obviously a better carburettor than the current Solex downdraft draft carburettor. My problem is space, The Standard 8’s engine bay is not wide or long enough to accommodate twin carburettors, as the hydraulic master cylinders are in the way of the rear most carburettor and the drivers side inner wheel arch is just under 350mm away from the side of the block - I am therefor looking for any thoughts and ideas you guys might have in relation to manifolds or adaptors so that I can continue my plans. I feel I can only go down draft, I don’t really want to cut up the current manifold to remove the exhaust section as I would prefer a dedicated inlet manifold if I can find one. Your thoughts would be appreciated. E S

To Jordon T I have just found this string on the internet, I know it six years down the line but you could be the man I need to talk to? Did you make any of your inlet manifolds as I am looking for one for the Herald engine fitted in my Standard 8. Hope you can and do reply EJS