9 June 2008 - She is Alive....

Back and tanned from a week in Portugal for our honeymoon, and although the weather was not particularly good, it was nice to get away and relax after all the rushing beforehand.

Last week was a bit busy with work, so not a lot got done, but this weekend saw plenty of tinkering which culminated in the starting of the engine! Yes, she fired up after a bit of sucking of fuel through, and so now we have a running Herald!

The seat subframes took a lot of playing about with until I was happy with them. The new seats are narrow and sit lower than the originals, so I managed to keep the old runners, but had to fabricate a new subframe for each seat that still allows them to tilt to allow access into the back.

I also was very grateful to Roger, a very nice guy who lives at the end of our cul-de-sac and has a little machine shop in his garden! He very kindly made me a boss up to fit my £20 bargain from the Beaulieu autojumble wood rimmed steering wheel to the original Triumph wheel mounting. This matches the dash lovely and adds a little bit of class to it I reckon! On the subject of the dash, it is looking a lot better than I expected, and with the stereo hidden away in the glovebox, and speakers hidden in the rear, I can keep the classic look but still get to listen to decent music! In that vain, I also fitted the radio ariel on the inside of the front windscreen, so as not to drill holes in the bodywork or ruin the lines.

Another new feature of this Herald is the fitment of a modern fusebox, using blade fuses, so I can easily change them and protect the circuits individually. This is mounted on the passenger side at the top of the footwell under the dashboard.

The electric windows are proving to be a bit of a pain, in hindsight, I probably should have left the manual winders in, but I am here now and will persevere until they are running smoothly. The problem is the glass runners in the door, and particularly the quarterlight side. They are very tight and so need to stretch a little to let the glass glide freely. At the moment they are very tight and so I am not happy about connecting them to the electric motors yet. I will fiddle this week and see what I can do on these.

The new radiator is 21 inches wider, as opposed to the 15 inches as standard, so hopefully it will run cool enough. I haven't fitted an electric fan like some do, so we will see how it goes for a couple of months before I make a decision.

As I am not in a rush now, I am hoping to get the MOT done this week or next and maybe then we will dress up and take some photos in our wedding outfits in the car!