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See the next episode :D

Funny, I’ll take tea in to the garage, but coffee time is usually also break time! Hadn’t thought about that before.

Thanks Ken, really appreciate that! The bulkhead is the bit on the car that’s not adjustable (the front two bolts on the outriggers hold it in place and they’re tight tolerance), and this gap has never been great. So I’m inclined to suspect the bonnet is the thing that’s out, but it can’t go further back on that side without hitting the scuttle. I spent a loooong time fiddling trying to improve it after I had the bulkhead off… Sounds like you have a Herald or Vitesse too?

Yes, I had forgotten about that. I did this before but that car had obviously had the front outrigger wrongly placed and I had to "move" the bulkhead by filing out the mounting hole in the bulkhead mount. I have also seen this bracket out of alignment when the bulkhead is "bashed". Have found that the most important gap to start with is normally the bonnet to scuttle, and if that is right then everything else can usually be adjusted, as you say. Have got various Heralds/Vitesse/Spitfire/GT6/Bond. Regards

Yeah I’m pretty sure I’m the first person to remove this car’s bulkhead, that the outrigger was replaced to match, and I deliberately left more of the floor on the left side (I nearly messed up the right side as I didn’t realise I’d introduced a bit of a twist and had to cut stuff apart again). So I am blaming the bonnet for that gap, but can’t get it back far enough, you know how it goes! So I settled for getting it back to how it looked before. Sounds quite the collection! Hoping to get on with my GT6 very shortly.

Cheers! Yeah it wasn’t bad. The modern ones are supposed to be OK too, but the one I got wasn’t. Might be difficult to tell our cars apart (except for the roof) shortly!

Thanks Bob. I would’ve liked to save the skin that was on the donor shell, but it was very dented so had to cut it off!

Well, can't deny Herald doors are heavy :D Yep happy to help if I can!

The kit I have will do both. You have a little die to make the initial bubble, then that gets removed and the screw down press part of the tool alone is used to do the double flare as it has a tapered point.

@@redfoxclassics Thanks for that, I need to make a bubble flare on an existing brake line that would require the engine and gearbox removal to replace. I don't think your setup would be able to be used in the confined space though. It needs a bubble flare to go into the old "tin can" style master cylinder. Best wishes from Australia

The setup I have wouldn’t do steel lines either, and I think you guys can’t use copper or cunifer? Or does that vary by state? (Used to live in Perth but didn’t get to do much car stuff while there)

@@redfoxclassics Here in SA I have never seen anything other than steel lines.

Thanks Henry, yeah I'll do an hour or two each evening / afternoon if I can and just chip away at it!

Thanks :) Some panels are pressed on original tooling, but you're right they're showing their age (I've had various different ages of Rover marked Spitfire sills and modern BMH ones and you can see the differences as the press dies have aged). That arch panel perhaps saved me a day, but it wouldn't be much use if someone needed more of it than I did...

Thanks Jon. In this case the left side was not rusty and had a good braze joint filling the seam with the wing top panel, the right side had a blob of brass and a gap, so I’m assuming that’s how the water was getting in. On the lip, there was a bit of original metal remaining, and that was fairly narrow and spot welded right on the edge. Maybe I’d just lost some of the very edge to rot, difficult to be sure though!

Oh no! That must’ve been extremely frustrating. Hopefully I shall not suffer the same fate…

Thank you!

Thanks Bob! I think I had a model 8 series free with petrol, or possibly free from BMW when my dad had his 3 series. Nice looking cars. Hope the repair goes well, have you got much to do on it? I do have magnets, just find sometimes holding the piece and feeling the line up of the surfaces helps get it spot on. Especially when the two parts aren’t dead flat (which nothing on a Herald is).

@@redfoxclassics Ok I understand, whatever works in the end is all that counts. I have been on with the 8 for about 7 years I think. I have owned it since 2008. I got very ill in 2019 and stopped working on it for a long time, I just couldn't face it. I'd like to think most of the hard work is done, but there is still a lot to do. Problem is, I'm 72 soon so it's not as easy as it once was. It's my 3rd project, I do everything including the painting, so it takes me an age, you know how it is.

Yeah, finishing off really does take some time doesn’t it. I’m glad to hear you managed to get back to the project though, any sort of setback can be hard to recover from, especially when it’s something that impacts non-car life too.

@@redfoxclassics Exactly. Anyway, I completed the awkward bits of welding yesterday, so I am hoping to be in an engine start position in about a week or so. If I can get the car so that it will move in and out of the garage that would be a massive step forward.

Yeah if it’s running and not rotten, just got to make it pretty after that!

Yes, well if someone hadn’t run in to the Herald I’d be working on the GT6 by now!

Hah :D sorry Henry! If it makes you feel better some of these spots were fibreglass filled from the last time the rear end had to be painted in 2010ish.

Yeah the slide hammer is pretty great, when the collet will grip the pins, which is not 100% of the time! No I’ve not got a spare centre cap, they’re not too hard to find though as they don’t tend to get damaged. Sounds intriguing!

Thanks Mike, no (though that is an option) these are repairs to the little bits of rust that were in the panels that will end up being painted as part of the accident repair. Insurers will not pay for any sort of rust repair, so the options were fix it or paint over it! With the second not really being an option as far as I’m concerned!

Thanks Bob, I’ve not done many repairs to outer panels before, so I’m trying my best to get them as good as I can!

This was the factory seam sealer between the inner and outer wings. Surprised this car managed to rust at all with how much of this tar was spread around inside it!

Thanks again :) No I don’t know. There’s the actual accident repairs to be done, and then paint, and I could be waiting a while. I’m doing these repairs exactly because they’re in areas that would’ve have to be painted as part of the accident damage repair, and it would’ve been a waste of time to have had it go for paint without fixing these (fairly) little bits of rust.

Thanks! I’ve got enough to be going on with with my own three cars :D What’ve you got though?

@@redfoxclassics 96 f250 single cab in baby blue…previous owner kept it in a garage and barely used it for years so it’s not a rust bucket like every other one on the road, actually deserves some love lol

@@redfoxclassics tiny bit of rust around the back wheels is all I need to fix up rust wise

Always nice to have something that’s been looked after! Hope you get your rust sorted without too much difficulty.

Just somewhere on eBay. It’s a Clarke CAT169, and the same model still seems to be available in plenty of places.

:D I’d be surprised if yours had problems here given it’s been (mostly!) well looked after. These areas are not the first places to go on a Herald, and probably require years worth of being out in the rain to be vulnerable. Probably a good place for some waxoyl though!

Thanks Henry, yes it was a relief to finally get that judgment from them!

Hah, yeah I've been determined to do as good a job as possible on these outer panels!

@@redfoxclassics Well you have certainly done that, as I said I can't see the joins at all from here, and I am using a big screen with a PC.

Thanks Rob :)

Thanks Paul, that's much appreciated :) I've tried really hard on these exterior panels!

There's a bit of a bend to the boot, but nothing major. This was also slow speed, but it was enough to do a fair bit of damage! Did your Metro survive?

@@redfoxclassics Metro was total loss, sadly, ERS paid out well, but wanted too much for the salvage, I bought a MK3 Fiesta 1994 as a hack 33kmiles from new with the 1.1 HCS engine.

Ah that’s a shame. I’ve got salvage rights included on my policy and that was such a relief while I was waiting on the insurers to agree to repair it, or not…

Thanks Oliver! Do you happen to have the original seats and runners in / for your car? If so I'd be really grateful for some good photos with a ruler for scale (I may or may not have the correct ones so a comparison would be very helpful!)

@@redfoxclassics I've got the driver's seat. The weather is rotten here just now (Akaroa, NZ) but I'll get you some photos & measurements soon :-)

Awesome, thank you! Do you know the history of your car? I’ve heard recently that NZ might’ve built CKD GT6es? (The Australian plant did not).

@@redfoxclassics That's a timely question: the TSSC have just confirmed that it is not a CKD, but imported direct from Coventry. It's had a 2000 gearbox put in and a Herald diff (hard to get spares in NZ in the 1980s). PYE speakers in the side trim at the back (NZ had it's own PYE factory, but could be UK). A bit of repair to trim at some point (using different grain). I laid it up in 1999 and am slowly recommissioning it.

Sorry for the delay, but all my replies with links to seat photos seem to have failed :-( The seats are reclining low-back, non-headrest ones with thigh bolsters on both sides of both seats. The fluting is horizontal using a hexagonal basket-weave embossed pattern vinyl. The holes in the runners are about 38.5 x 33.2cm, with comfortable tolerances for the 1/4" bolts 🙂

Yeah they were disgusting on the outside, but pretty decent on the inside. Currently they're waiting behind the Herald's bodywork though!

Thank you :) I also couldn't do this till a few years ago, taught myself to weld on my Spitfire during lockdown(s). Part of why I started doing videos is cause I wanted to show welding and fabrication are something you can do well in your own garage! I've learned a whole lot watching Make It Kustom and Fitzee's Fabrications, they're worth a look if you want to see really good metalwork. The fuel tank is a bit of a faff, but more a swear at it a bit for half an hour and it's done type job than anything else. Reminds me I should paint mine while it's out. Do you have the larger tank? My car is Dec 69 built and I've always thought it had the original tank, but don't know the exact point the change was made.

Oh and now it appears, some delay there YT, it reads about the same I guess, lol.

Thanks Bob, yeah there is a silver lining in some ways. With these little rust repairs done there shouldn't be much to worry about for a long time.

Got to start building up the next one now :D

:D yeah it's easier when you're not having to crawl on the floor though. That shirt's just gone in the wash covered in grinding dust and air tool oil after an afternoon with my head stuck in a wheel arch!

No worries! Much as I genuinely enjoy helping out with other people's cars, I've not got the time or indeed space to get in to a welding project. The GT6 will be straight in once the Herald is in a state to go for accident repair for one thing!

As rot goes it’s not really too bad :) and yes, something is on the way! Just got a bit more work and filming (and then editing!) to do.

Well, I’m glad they’re useful and appreciate you saying so!

Thanks Henry, reminded me I meant to link the plating kit, done that now!

Thanks! As is often the case on these cars the parts are fascinatingly simple bits of kit, I was quite surprised the water valve ‘just’ went back together.

I don’t think it’s a critical measurement, but the idea is the rack clams need to have some preload in order to stop the rack body moving side to side when you turn the wheel. If I can clarify anything, feel free to ask!

Thanks Henry, insurance things are taking time but fingers crossed.

Anytime! A DIY rebuild of the single Stromberg is obviously the cheapest option there. Even with the Spit spec engine the Herald couldn't be described as fast (and you'll be at ~900kg and 60 bhp in top tune right now!), but I can feel the nominally ~15 bhp extra. I only made the change myself as the engine had to come apart, I had a Spitfire head that already had hardened valve seats, and the car came with twin SUs, so it felt like it was a no brainer to change the cam too!

Fair question, but it was sold under the same part number as the steel one, with some extra identifier to indicate silicone appended, and the gaskets for the alloy covers are thinner as they’re supposed to seal two actually flat surfaces. I did return it and get a refund in the end. I’d say general economics is more to blame than any particular place of manufacture, and you get what you pay for :( If you’re looking for suppliers, Canley Classics are more likely to sell you stuff that fits first time, and if they list something as NLA where other places show it for sale it can sometimes be an indicator that the part more generally available isn’t up to scratch.

@@redfoxclassics ah thank you, I was going to ask you the best places today for parts, in the 90's I used Paddocks in Chester, as I was that local at the time I could drive round there. That's no longer the case.

Yeah I use Paddocks a fair bit. They tend to be fairly fast and reasonably priced. TD Fitchett are pretty good but don’t have much of a web shop. I use Wins Ltd on occasion. Anything you might get secondhand then The Spitfire Graveyard are always worth a call (Dave there is very helpful).

Yeah, someone hit me, and they are insured. Just waiting on stuff to happen at the mo though.

My 15A socket cost £388 to fit about a month ago if that’s useful info? I already had a spare way on the main board, and the board is already in the garage so fortunately there wasn’t much wiring to run.

Well I’d definitely be interested to hear what you did. Might not be putting it in to practice as I’ve got the GT6 restoration to be getting on with, and someone ran in to the back of the Herald last week :( so I don’t know what work I might end in needing to do there. Hope you’re enjoying your 13/60, they’re great little cars!

@@redfoxclassics No problem, however the info I will type is rather too much for this area, I was about to email you, but notice you don't have an email associated with your channel. Don't use your personal one, just create one just for here that way your personal one stays just that - personal. 👍. Sorry to hear about the Herald, is it repairable ?, hope so.

Done! Hadn't really had the need for an e-mail up till now. And thanks. The Herald I'm pretty sure could be repaired, but I'm rather suspecting an economic write off. I do have salvage retention on my policy so that wouldn't be the absolute end of the world. Mostly trying to avoid speculating while I wait on an estimate and then what the insurers make of that.

@@redfoxclassics Emailed, and thanks for adding yours here, just makes it a bit easier for others to contact you, with parts, info or whatever.

My understanding is that to avoid knackering the (new) camshaft the engine needs to be run to 3k ish RPM for 20-30 mins. So what do you mean by without load?

Yeah I got most of the footage before they let the public in, it got a bit difficult to get shots that weren’t full of people after!