Ups and Downs

Despite replacing all the suspension bushes a few years back, I decided I wanted to use poly-bushes this time around, this should mean no need to touch any of these bushes for some considerable time.

All the wishbones, vertical links etc. were all shot blasted and painted, the brake calipers, drums and springs just cleaned and painted.

The front suspension went together without much fuss, the rear however was proving to be a little troublesome. Obviously the rear spring is under tension, but I was having real trouble getting the spring eye and vertical link lined up to get the bolt through, I just could not get the leverage I needed, all I was managing to do was lift the whole chassis.

Now there is a special tool to do this job, but normally it's not needed, but after several frustrating weekends I decided that the only option was to buy a Spring Lifter from the TSSC shop. It duly arrived after a few days, and with a helper to sit on the chassis to add a little weight, both bolts were fitted in around 10 minutes.....the joys of having the correct tool for the job!

Open Heart Surgery

The engine always started and ran pretty well, so I wasn't expecting too much work in this area. The only problem was that it leaked oil from the crankshaft seals.

The crankshaft, camshaft & pistons were left in place as they seemed to be in good condition. So it got a good clean, the core plugs, front and rear crankshaft seals were all replaced, as was the timing chain tensioner, push rods & cam followers. A coat of shiny black engine enamel finished off the job ready for reuniting to the chassis.

Tip: Loosen the crankshaft nut when the engine is still in the car, as these are VERY tight.

The engine had been running all this time with the wrong combination of oil pump & sump, which meant there had been no straining of the oil the pump was collecting. A replacement sump was sourced from Rarebits4Classics.

I did plan to re-grind the valves to clean them up, but upon their removal the valve seats were heavily pitted, so I plumped for a recon unleaded head instead.

This however threw up it's own problems as when I put the rocker assembly back on, 4 of the rockers didn't line up with the valves. It turned out that Canley Classics had supplied a rare limited production run head from a 1300 FWD, fortunately they had a matching rocker shaft which they sent FOC!

The gearbox was replaced back in 2001, so this was just given a clean.

Chassis

The chassis was found on Ebay (where else?), it was a bargain price and appeared solid. It came with all the suspension and a diff, so seemed liked an opportunity not to be missed.

In December 2006 it was stripped and sent off to JY Classics who had it shot-blasted and powder coated, but only after repairing one of the main rails. But all in all a solid unit that was now looking beautiful with its new black sheen.

It wasn't until November 2007 that the chassis arrived with me down in Devon, but it's arrival did herald (sorry!) the start of the next phase.

In between the old chassis going and this one arriving the time was spent on a minor engine rebuild and the stripping, cleaning and painting of the steering & suspension parts (more on these 2 items later).

STAB

A couple of photo's from the Standard Triumph At Brooklands event in 2006. What were the chances of being asked to park under Concorde!...how could I refuse.

If you are TSSC member, and have a good memory, you may recognise the top photo from the cover of the March 2007 Courier.

North Downs Run

Here are some photo's from June 2006, a run around the North Downs of Surrey with 2 red 13/60 Convertibles, a red Spitfire and a Moss Malvern. You normally have to have a red car to join this exclusive club, but they made an exception for me......at least I made if home without the aid of a tow truck!

Strip Tease

In August 2006 I decided to take the Herald off the road, this I hoped would give me the impetus to start the restoration for real. It didn't immediately as by this time my wife and I had decided we were upping sticks and moving to Devon, which we did in December the same year.

The Herald stayed in Surrey for a few months, but soon the garage where it was being stored had to be vacated, so in March 2007 it took the trip to the South West, now the strip down could start...

At this point many people carefully take off every nut & bolt etc., labelling everything as they go......great idea, except I was far too impatient for that, so everything came off as quickly as it could and if small enough would go in to a container or stacked in the corner of the garage if too large.

Everything was going well, almost too well. My first difficulty was trying to remove the bolts that held the body to the chassis, as you can imagine these don't get touched very often, so most were stuck solid and were only removed with the help of an angle grinder.

With the body off the car, removing the engine and suspension was all relatively straight forward. I already had a better chassis, bulkhead and rear tub in storage elsewhere, so all these items would be sold on....this is what you might call a number plate up restoration, reminiscent of the classic Only Fools and Horses scene 'Trigger's Broom'

In this classic scene, Trigger claims that he's had his road sweeper's broom for 20 years. But then he adds that the broom has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles. "How can it be the same bloody broom then?" asks Sid the Café owner. Trigger produces a picture of him and his broom and asks: "what more proof do you need?"

A Bee in my Bonnet

In 2000 I decided to make a start on the body work, so off I went to see Dick Griffiths at RMG Coachworks in Odiham, Surrey. Dick had done some welding for me previously (MoT work...) so I'd seen the quality of his work. Like all good craftsmen he had far too much work than he could cope with, but said he'd be happy to do some work for me.

I'd already picked up a replacement front assembly from Collectors Car Parts in Harmondsworth, Middlesex. So I dropped this down to Dick along with various repair panels to do the job.

Dick is a great guy and a true gentlemen, but he has time management issues! So come late 2003 and my bonnet had remained untouched, I had to give Dick a deadline. Time does go by fast, especially as you get older, but Dick was suitably embarrassed at his lack of progress, so did start work...gradually.

The deadline was the 2004 TSSC South of England meet in Leatherhead in May, so when in February came and Dick called to say he needed the car for a trial fit of the bonnet, all was looking good.

Unfortunately the trial fit didn't go that well, and with much still to do it was already April and the SEM was only 2 weeks away. Dick put in a good final effort and the car would be ready, but only if I could come down for a day to do the re-fit....no problem, I'd be there!...especially as the SEM was the coming weekend so the pressure was on!

The Saturday of the SEM weekend was spent doing a few final touches. The event was a bit of a wash out weather wise, so on the Sunday it was unofficially moved the the car park to avoid the mud, so I went down to show off the very shiny new bonnet.

Getting Greasy

The bodywork needed attention, but above all I wanted to make sure it was reliable, so over the first few years of ownership I concentrated on the getting it running (and stopping) right.

• Brakes - I fitted copper brake pipes, cross drilled brake discs, EBC Green Stuff brake pads, Goodridge braided hoses, rear brake cylinders, new master cylinder, new seals and clean-up of the calipers and filled the system with silicone fluid.
• Front Suspension - I fitted new shocks, springs, rubber bushes, Trunnions, track rod ends and solid mounts to the steering rack.
• Rear Suspension - Again new shocks and rubber bushes were fitted.
• Gearbox - The old noisy 3-synch unit was replaced for a nice new 4-synch unit, a new 3 piece clutch kit was fitted for good measure. The clutch pipe was replaced with copper and filled with silicone fluid.
• Half-shafts - 1 new half shaft (someone had welded the UJ's into place on one side), new bearings and UJ's both sides were fitted.
• Ignition - Out with the old points & condenser, in with electronic ignition, high performance coil and HT leads.
• Other smaller jobs included replacing the fuel pump as the original unit was leaking, and replacing the Stromberg Carb to fix a vapourisation problem.

She now started, drove and stopped much better!

The Inspection

There were a number of problems that were discovered over the first few weeks of ownership, to list but a few:

• The bottoms of both doors we very rusty
• The Bonnet front panel was being held together by the paint
• The 2 footwells had been bodged badly
• The rear deck had a ripple effect
• The front wings had undergone a make-shift repair
• The dash looked as if someone had bitten a chunk out of it
• The header rail and side rails of the hood were no longer joined on one side

So why did I buy it.....partly because Michele (my wife) said I could only buy one if it was Wedgwood Blue, this narrowed the search quite a bit, it was local, the sun was shining and it was a concertible.....I had no option really!

The Arrival

Purchased back in August 1998, the bodywork didn't look too bad....from a distance.

A few facts

Make: Triumph
Model: Herald 13/60 Convertible
Colour: Wedgwood Blue
Commission No: GE18198CV
Engine No: GE19317E
Differential No: GE75520
Gearbox No: DG86574
Body No: 3153 RET
First Registered: 15th May 1968
Supplied by: Berkeley Square Garage
Claim to fame: Once owned by Germain Greer