MrSpeedy
East Midlands
www.vintagediesels.co.uk
Posts: 4,786
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Mar 11, 2011 10:15:11 GMT
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Nice little collection there. Always like to see retro commercials being used and still earning a living. Very tidy little Herald there. I have a lot of love for them. Nice little cars with more character and charm than they need ! But then I am slightly biased.
There is a lot of Triumph knowledge on here and I think we have most of the variants covered;)
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Mar 11, 2011 10:22:16 GMT
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looking at this www.teglerizer.com/triumphcolors/ it's deffo not gunmetal, it looks more blue than that, I'd have said it was somewhere in between mallard and slate. Looking at that I'm not convinced it's wedgewood either, looks more powder blue to me.
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b7
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Mar 11, 2011 17:36:35 GMT
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looking at this www.teglerizer.com/triumphcolors/ it's deffo not gunmetal, it looks more blue than that, I'd have said it was somewhere in between mallard and slate. Looking at that I'm not convinced it's wedgewood either, looks more powder blue to me. Deffo not Mallard. Mallard is a very dark green and much later than 66. It's nothing like that website shows. I'd look at the commission plate.
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2012 BMW 520d Touring MSport 2006 Golf GTI TSI Previous 1965 Triumph Herald 12/50 in Royal Blue 1989 BMW 325i Convertible (C2.7 powered)
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Mar 11, 2011 18:53:54 GMT
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I would check that out to be honest. This may help: www.club.triumph.org.uk/prefix1.htmIt's the commission number you need to look at. 1200's start with a GA. The 12/50 starts with a GD but MORE IMPORTANTLY ends in RS which denotes sunroof. I believe the engine number also has a GD in it for the 12/50 and GA for the 1200 but I'm really digging deep in the memory now The 12/50 came standard with Disc front brakes, a warmer camshaft and a longer exhaust manifold. They had a 1 peice aluminium grille with no painted centre upright. It also had 12/50 badges on the rear wings. Even if they had been removed there would be evidence of 2 holes in each rear wing directly behind the chrome strip end. The badges (in red) are visible on my car. ) The plot thickens! Pulled off some masking tape and cleaned off some gunge and we've found out the following. The chassis number according to the VIN plate starts with GD, ends in RS. How many digits are there usually ours only has three. The engine number however starts with GA and ends with HE. Is the chassis number stamped onto the body somewhere? Just want to eliminate the chance of someone just pop riviting a different vin plate on. Here is the fanny mold So the engine is def a 1200, just need to work out if its an early 12/50 with some wrong body parts and engine or a 1200 with the wrong VIN plate. (I'm fearing the latter, as I mentioned earlier it had a nice number plate which was transferred off in the 90s, I wonder if the plate was transferred to this chassis to start with by swapping VIN plates off a 12/50 heading for scrap?)
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Mar 11, 2011 19:07:33 GMT
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Thanks for the comments and advice as well guys. I think the photos are somewhat flattering to the vehicle though, its what we call in the trade a "twenty foot paint job" so as your walking towards it its "oh thats quite nice, oh no wait, its brush painted, oh christ its all over the rubbers and the glass" But to be fair to the car I was so suprised how solid it was, the door bottoms and other panel edges seem really good, one of the front arches needs attention, the doors have dropped and the other panel gaps are miles out but I went to view it expecting to see the usual for a car thats been standing for a few years and expected to be replacing wheel tubs, sills, outer arches, fabricating door bottoms and headlamp bowls. All the fun stuff!
The plan for the weekend is to give the brakes a once over, check all the lights, swap over some lenses and put some fresh bulbs in where needed. This is also the point where I'll find out if its got front discs or drums! Got it booked in for an MOT on monday just to get a "to do" list. As we have a good relationship with the MOT tester (works across the road from our workshop, owns a MGB GT so understands old cars) I'll ask him to give it a good going over and I'll hopefully have some spare time to get a good look once its up on the ramp.
From there I want to have a trip up to Rimmers, as they are litterially just up the hill from me, and get some bits to do a basic service on the engine, just filters, fluids and plugs. Coming from an aircooled background I know the importance of the correct oil so need some input on this. Also can anyone on here tell me about the valve seats. With the VWs there is a common misconception that you need to redex them and companies even sell an unleaded conversion kit despite the fact VW were fitting hardened valve seats since the mid 50s! So in the Herald, I'm guessing I need to use redex? Also does anyone supply unleaded heads off the shelf or does conversions? I do know someone at Peter Burgess that I need to tap up to see if they can price up converting the head.
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b7
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Mar 11, 2011 19:50:06 GMT
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Does the car have front discs or drum brakes? As you say thats deffo a 1200 lump and thats a 1200 manifold. If it's on Drums, my moneys on that it's a 1200 thats had the ID of a 12/50. The chassis number was never stamped into the shell anywhere so ringing one was the easiest thing in the world.
Regarding the valves there were never hardened steel inserts fitted. Unleaded will cause valve seat wear and I used to use the castrol lead replacement stuff. having said that, I believe that with light use it'll be years before any issues are found. Have the seats fitted then? Unfortunately, I built my engine back in about 1991 and back then there was no sign of leaded petrol disappearing. By the time I finally finished it in 2001, i was well and truly f*cked at the pumps. I did plan to whip the head off and have it converted but sold the car before I got round to it!
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2012 BMW 520d Touring MSport 2006 Golf GTI TSI Previous 1965 Triumph Herald 12/50 in Royal Blue 1989 BMW 325i Convertible (C2.7 powered)
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Mar 11, 2011 20:11:37 GMT
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there's still one sat in D+B scrappy at Nottingham, pretty much complete but doubt it'll go on the road again. Thats interesting to know, wheres D+B, I'm only familar with Podders out that way? Are you still with Dubliminal? D+B is round the back of the Showcase cinema. just off the A52 at Lenton. nope, walked out of Dubliminal years ago. long story.
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Mar 11, 2011 21:04:39 GMT
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I hope the Commission number thing doesn't cause any problems - if it turns out the ID has been swapped over I think I'd be tempted to keep quiet about it and... umm... edit the thread (providing it was just for the plate and not anything more dodgy!). Saying that, I don't know how much bother it would actually cause - maybe I'm just paranoid! My attitude towards oil is that these lumps have survived the '60s and '70s when oil wasn't anywhere near as good as it is these days, so any 20/50 with an API spec on it is bound to be better than what it was run on for years. There's nothing wrong with being more particular though if you want to - Rimmers stock all manner of oils. Mine gets cheap stuff from B&Q but it's API specced and changed regularly. As b7 said, I'd just run the car on unleaded and if (if) you start getting valve seat recession over time, whip the head off and do an unleaded conversion. Personally I think additives are a waste of time and by the time you've spent a load of cash on bottles of the stuff which may or may not work, you could have got an unleaded head. That's what I'm doing with my Triumph six-pot in the Bond.
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Mar 11, 2011 21:12:41 GMT
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Does the car have front discs or drum brakes? As you say thats deffo a 1200 lump and thats a 1200 manifold. If it's on Drums, my moneys on that it's a 1200 thats had the ID of a 12/50. The chassis number was never stamped into the shell anywhere so ringing one was the easiest thing in the world. Regarding the valves there were never hardened steel inserts fitted. Unleaded will cause valve seat wear and I used to use the castrol lead replacement stuff. having said that, I believe that with light use it'll be years before any issues are found. Have the seats fitted then? Ah this is what I had feared, I'll find out tomorrow when the wheels come off. Having said that a disc conversion wouldn't be too difficult. I guess most old cars end up like Triggers Broom but its not nice knowing its a ringer. Could cause headaches when ordering parts if I'm not careful I guess. Will be looking into getting the head converted but will carry on with the additive for the moment.
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Mar 11, 2011 21:14:27 GMT
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D+B is round the back of the Showcase cinema. just off the A52 at Lenton. nope, walked out of Dubliminal years ago. long story. Ahh I know now! Will have to go check it out. Cheers for the heads up, you still do the vw shows then or out the scene now?
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Mar 11, 2011 21:27:02 GMT
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I hope the Commission number thing doesn't cause any problems - if it turns out the ID has been swapped over I think I'd be tempted to keep quiet about it and... umm... edit the thread (providing it was just for the plate and not anything more dodgy!). Saying that, I don't know how much bother it would actually cause - maybe I'm just paranoid! My attitude towards oil is that these lumps have survived the '60s and '70s when oil wasn't anywhere near as good as it is these days, so any 20/50 with an API spec on it is bound to be better than what it was run on for years. There's nothing wrong with being more particular though if you want to - Rimmers stock all manner of oils. Mine gets cheap stuff from B&Q but it's API specced and changed regularly. As b7 said, I'd just run the car on unleaded and if (if) you start getting valve seat recession over time, whip the head off and do an unleaded conversion. Personally I think additives are a waste of time and by the time you've spent a load of cash on bottles of the stuff which may or may not work, you could have got an unleaded head. That's what I'm doing with my Triumph six-pot in the Bond. Well its not me that done the ringing so ignorance is bliss I guess! To my knowledge its not been done for any dodgy reason, the car is definatly tax exempt whatever its original identity so its not been done to make a post 73 car tax exempt. Will do some more digging and try and found out. As I mentioned earlier it was in TSSC so hopefully someone there might shed some more light on the car's history. As with the oil I tend to put cheapo stuff in the van as it gets changed regularly, but its got to be 15/40 and MUST be mineral otherwise it starts destroying seals, I guess this will be the same with the Herald due to its age?
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Mar 11, 2011 23:25:59 GMT
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intresting herald, be nice to see how this coms out. as for pltes and numbers What triumph is as it left the factory honestly!
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b7
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Good luck with whatever you find.
I knew an F plate Royal Blue Vitesse Mk1 convertible once that got introduced to an oak one evening. A "dubious" Saloon in the same colour and the same year, became "available" and the id of the convertible was swapped over to the saloon (in about 10 minutes flat!). And the logbook still stated convertible and the chassis plate read CV at the end of the comm number. It was never spotted all the time I knew that car. I'm not sure whatever happened to it (we are going back to 81-82 now) but this sort of thing went on a lot back in the day.
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Last Edit: Mar 12, 2011 7:40:40 GMT by b7
2012 BMW 520d Touring MSport 2006 Golf GTI TSI Previous 1965 Triumph Herald 12/50 in Royal Blue 1989 BMW 325i Convertible (C2.7 powered)
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,513
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Mar 12, 2011 20:59:42 GMT
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Just coming into this. I won't join in the anorak'y colour discussion though ;D
I wouldn't bother running any additive for the valve seats. We never did in 100,000 miles plus of running various Triumph engines and I never found any signs of valve seat recession. Also 1200 engines can be found very cheap/free and it would be more cost effective to put another decent head on if ever necessary than to splash out on one fitted with seats it probably doesn't need anyway.
As BenzBoy says, any 20/50 oil should do.
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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Mar 13, 2011 13:04:46 GMT
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So is using lead additive/replacement really that pointless? Would save me about a tenner a month if it was not needed that's all...
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b7
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Mar 13, 2011 13:56:51 GMT
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So is using lead additive/replacement really that pointless? Would save me about a tenner a month if it was not needed that's all... Good point this. If you stopped using it and put the money to one side, it would soon pay for the conversion. Chances are you would have the money for the conversion before any fault manifested itself. Buy another head, convert that and have it ready. Days work to swap it over.
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2012 BMW 520d Touring MSport 2006 Golf GTI TSI Previous 1965 Triumph Herald 12/50 in Royal Blue 1989 BMW 325i Convertible (C2.7 powered)
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Mar 13, 2011 17:36:36 GMT
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Sounds like a plan. As long as its doesn't raise running temp I guess it'll be fine. (I was given a top tip from Australian VW owners which is dropping a splash of diesel in your tank which can significantly reduce the engine temp) After stripping a 34 PICT Solex of a T2 that had been running with redex I didn't like the amount of staining and sediment that was in the float bowl so I'm reluctant to use it. Anyway this weekends progress, mixed fortunes really. We stuck 20 litres of fuel in on Friday night, it had been running on fumes since the day we collected it. On the Saturday I took it to work and we noticed a slight puddle of fuel underneath the car. Amy set to and starting cleaning the car out, the fuel leak is visable on the left, the bigger puddle will be explained with the next photo.. So we started stripping the boot out and discovered a water feature. Also its been patched to death, and from inspection underneath its just plates over the rust, so when its time for the repaint all of this will be cut out and repairs flushed in properly. After inspection it turned out the fuel drain plug was weeping fuel causing the puddle. It was also covered in some kind of sealant or liquid metal. This was chiseled off and I then started to remove the drain plug, however.... Arsebiscuits. So the options we're now considering are: Ringing Rimmers to see when new tanks will be in stock, ringing breakers to source a second hand tank or fit a universal spun ally tank. I inspected the inside and its in good condition so I'll also look into decontamination and a purging technique that might allow me to tig weld it back together. We then starting working through items for the MOT starting with the lights. The rear indicators were flashing white but we got some spare lenses with the car. I'm guessing the difference is relating to age? We also fitted some LED bulbs (which are bright by modern standards!) and some resistors to correct the current draw and the flash rate. The bulb required some filing to fit into the holder. They were dear (£22 with my trade discount) but I'm so impressed I'm considering fitting the stop/tail version as well. I popped off the rear drums which were in great shape as were the shoes so it was just a case of scuffing off the glaze and reassembling and readjusting. The front brakes are discs and as replacement discs and pads are £30 all in to me I have got these on order. I also adjusted the bonnet catches so that sits a little better. I removed the door bolts to find out the threads were stripped in the middle so they couldn't be tightened which explains why the doors have dropped. The hinge pins are fine, so when I fit the stainless bolts we picked up at the auto jumble today that should cure that problem. We called it a night at that and rolled the Herald into our commercial booth for the night Where it looked somewhat lost!
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Mar 13, 2011 17:54:55 GMT
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Mines boot leeks like that too, drill a hole in the boot because your not likely to find the leek any time soon. Mine seems to drip in from under the C pillars.
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Mar 13, 2011 18:17:58 GMT
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I feel your pain with the broken tank drain plug! The same thing happened on my Bond. I got mine welded up in the end (I didn't feel brave enough to tackle it myself) but Herald tanks are a lot easier to come by! Rarebits4classics sells used 6.5 gallon tanks for £25 and 9 gallon ones for £35 - I'm not sure which one yours is.
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Mar 13, 2011 18:23:07 GMT
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his is a 6.5 gallon tank, the 9 gallon ones were used in Vitesses, however you can use either in either car.
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