Triumph Herald Project

[jenic]

The past month or so me and a friend (David) have been talking about getting a classic to restore and eventually take on the Mongol Rally. The Triumph seemed a natural choice, my Grandad ran them and actually crashed his last one in Slovenia back in the 70s after driving over the edge of a cliff, my uncle has restored them before, David owns one and his dad has owned a fair few too.

Last week David saw an estate for sale on a forum, the owner sadly died mid restoration and there was talk of scrapping it. We went to see it last week and bought it, today we got it back to my parents house (well the bulk of it at least). We still need to take the van and collect the rest of the bits (doors/windows/panels/interior).

We both start new jobs soon, with me in Manchester and David down south, so progress will be slow initially but the plan is to get the body off and the chassis in my uncles garage for welding around christmas time. Then next year we can start building it back up, and sort the engine out. Being for the rally we aren't aiming for a perfect restoration, the goal is for it to be strong chassis wise and reliable, a bit of surface rust on the bodywork is not a concern.

Anyway, onto the photos.

Current state:

Having not heard it run, we eventually got it going:



Tucked up in my parents garage:

And how it looked last time it was on the road about 5 years ago:

 

[leeds_182]

Saw it on fb dude. Should be a good project!

 

[DaveDreads]

It's cool and everything and i'm looking forward to seeing your progress, but I think this statement needs explaining a bit more, was he injured, how big was the cliff, how did he manage to drive off it?

my Grandad ran them and actually crashed his last one in Slovenia back in the 70s after driving over the edge of a cliff

 

[Louis]

Awesome! Keep it updated! I'm restoring a triumph spitfire as we speak too

 

[jenic]

It's cool and everything and i'm looking forward to seeing your progress, but I think this statement needs explaining a bit more, was he injured, how big was the cliff, how did he manage to drive off it?

Details are sketchy, he passed away when I was 4 so not heard the story from him, but my uncle was also in the car at the time although he was very young. Car was only a few years old and for some reason they needed to turn around on a mountain pass, he reversed a tad too far and the car went over the edge and rolled over, it wasn't a sheer drop so they hit the ground pretty quick. They both walked away sore (strong cars!). Car was a write off, and got left at the family farm in Slovenia, although I still have the original number plates in the garage. Insurance paid out though! Had it been a convertible it would have been a different story no doubt.

Awesome! Keep it updated! I'm restoring a triumph spitfire as we speak too :smile:

Nice one, any where you are documenting progress? Local too, this is being done at my parents in Halifax.

 

[jenic]

Finally managed to get started on this, we've been collecting various parts over the last few months but still lots more to buy.
We pulled the rear body and bonnet off yesterday to move the chassis and engine to my uncles for work to begin.

Minus the body:

It braved the weather overnight:

Got it taken to my uncles on a truck today:

And how it stands now in the garage:

I'll be back at his again within the next couple of weeks to help remove the engine and bulkhead, then he can get on with welding the chassis to neaten it up a bit and provide some additional strength for the rally. In the meantime we'll be buying new suspension components and fitting them, looking at some coilovers for the front and getting the rear leaf spring uprated to manage the extra load we need.

We also found some old photographs of the one my grandad rolled over in Slovenia:

 

[Mr R.]

I just love old cars.

Loving the rear suspension set up. 😂

 

[Louis]

Details are sketchy, he passed away when I was 4 so not heard the story from him, but my uncle was also in the car at the time although he was very young. Car was only a few years old and for some reason they needed to turn around on a mountain pass, he reversed a tad too far and the car went over the edge and rolled over, it wasn't a sheer drop so they hit the ground pretty quick. They both walked away sore (strong cars!). Car was a write off, and got left at the family farm in Slovenia, although I still have the original number plates in the garage. Insurance paid out though! Had it been a convertible it would have been a different story no doubt.



Nice one, any where you are documenting progress? Local too, this is being done at my parents in Halifax.

Sorry ive only just seen this!
I made a thread on here but I havn't updated it recently as the cars at my mums in York, whilst i study in Huddersfield. http://www.cliosport.net/threads/1974-spitfire-restoration.791022/
Looking good now though, wish I had the space like you! All my works been done outside under a car port which limits a fair bit as you can't just leave things bare metal or down tools and come back the next day.
Chassis seems to be quite tidy too from the pictures, i'm not really clued up on the rust spots on the heralds, but being british leyland i'd say everywhere?

 

[jenic]

Looking good now though, wish I had the space like you! All my works been done outside under a car port which limits a fair bit as you can't just leave things bare metal or down tools and come back the next day.
Chassis seems to be quite tidy too from the pictures, i'm not really clued up on the rust spots on the heralds, but being british leyland i'd say everywhere?

We are lucky to have family support regarding space, my parents have let me use their garage (after some persuading) for storage of the car and my uncle had kindly let us use his for the restoration (of which he is taking on a fair bit).
Yeh the chassis is good, some has been replaced, some has been patched badly, but overall it just looks to need a bit of a tidy up. Will check out your thread now!

 

[jenic]

More progress was made last night.
We removed the engine:

Turned out a brand new cutch had been fitted by the previous owner:

We also removed the bulk head, this now needs to go to my grandmas up the road for storage while the chassis is worked on:

We then checked over the parts of the chassis we couldn't see before. Turns out someone has patched it, then just tacked the patch on, and used body filler to cover it up. So this needs grinding back and doing properly.

Tomorrow I'm going to remove all the suspension so we can rotate the chassis for simpler welding. The car really is a dream to work on, everything is so simple and easy!

We also upgraded the stove over christmas so the garage is toasty warm now:

 

[jenic]

A bit has happened in the last 3 months!

My uncle welded the chassis up. The more we cleaned it up, the more holes we found. Luckily it's now solid!

We have painted it too and it is looking good.

Next up the new suspension went on, Koni shocks, stock springs and a courier spring on the rear to deal with the extra weight we'll carry on the rally.

We also wrapped the spring in Denso tape, mainly to protect it during the rally. New bearings in the diff, new drive shafts and rear brakes fitted.

Onto the bodywork last weekend, starting with the bulkhead. Its important to remember the car is being built for the rally, so solid underneath and passable up top, so the amount of body we'll be doing is limited! Started cleaning up the bulkhead and straight away came across a lot of filler and holes 😧

Just as my uncle was welding in a repair panel we ran out of gas, so it's on hold until next weekend. By the end of the month I hope to have the rest of the body in the garage for repair also and then we can begin work on the roof which requires a fair bit of complex work on the B and C pillars.

My friend who I'm doing the car with is currently working on the engine and gearbox. A 1360 engine has been acquired however it looks like a new set of conrods might be required so currently sourcing them!

 

[Advikaz]

Awesome

Subbed

 

[Rob]

Good work so far girlsname! I'm also subscribing

 

[alistairolsen]

Looking good so far! Transverse leaf independant rear suspension is such a weird mix!