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(01-05-07) The chassis is currently at the powder coater and I am still working on cleaning up and repainting the suspension components. I still have a number of suspension bits on order and yet to order but as parts show up they'll get attached to the car. Last seen, the frame looked like this:
(01-12-07) I picked up the frame from the powder coater today refinished in a nice bright red. The color of this picture looks a bit orange on my monitor but in real life it looks just like the Signal Red that was on the frame prior to sandblasting. The powder coater said it was one of the nicest frames he's seen and that the rust was just a slight scaling on the surface with no pitting at all. The surface looks like glass with the powder coat on. The frame will get set aside for a short time while I continue to collect the bits needed to start reassembly and get the rest of the suspension pieces through cleanup and refinish.
(01-28-07) I cleaned and painted the Type 12 calipers from the Sport 6 donor car. I wanted to do the clean up and painting before I rebuilt them and I just now got the caliper rebuild kits from Bill Davies at Rare Bits for Classics and new hoses and bleed screws locally. I gave up trying to paint the various suspension bits as the temps here have plummeted with highs in the teens and lows single digit or below zero farenheit - that's -6C to -20C for you Celsius folk. All the suspension bits are at the powder coater getting a very nice satin black put on them.
(03-12-07) As I was preparing my next batch of parts for the powder coater, I noticed that the front differential mount from my Sport 6 parts car was considerably more robust than the original mount on the Mk1 Herald. I elected to upgrade the differential mount to the heavier unit offering more stiffness and a more secure differential mounting. The original mount is on the left with the heavier mount I'll be using on the right.
(04-24-07) I finally got the refinished frame back into the shop and started sorting out the bits for reassembly. That's the partially refurbished bulkhead in the background.
Rear Suspension components.
Left Front components.
Right Front components.
Left Front vertical link, hub, new rotor and related bits.
Right Front vertical link, hub, new rotor and related bits.
Everything got new seals, bushes and fasteners. Installed new front wheel bearings and left the differential and rear axle hubs with the originals. Now I need to sort all the new fasteners, nylock nuts, washers, etc. and the wrenching will begin - FINALLY!
(05-03-07) As one would expect on a project of this scale I forgot to order a couple of seals for the caliper mounting brackets so progress on reassembly of the front end has been stalled. I am nearly finished with the rear end reassembly and should have that back together in a few days. If it takes much longer to get the missing seals I may just bolt the front hubs on without the caliper assemblies and roll the chassis out of the shop so I can get to work on finishing up the bulkhead restoration.
(05-05-07) Made significant progress last night and this morning. After finding that the donor 4.11 differential has large flange hubs, I had to tear down the U-joint on the right half shaft again and put the other large flange axle hub on the original axle. I only discovered that after I had the rear spring installed and was trying to connect up the half shafts. It added a bit of extra work to the reassembly process and I didn't feel like delaying it even more so I put the new flange in unpainted. It'll blend right in eventually. It was a real treat mounting the rear spring and connecting up the half shafts with no weight on the chassis. Actually, the second side went on rather quickly after doing it twice on the other side. The dampers (shock absorbers) are not connected to the lower mount yet as I just couldn't get enough weight on the bare chassis to compress the rear spring far enough. They'll get connected eventually.
Here's some pictures of the suspension in place, you'll note the original brake lines lying in place that will be used as patterns to bend up the new kit.
(05-10-07) The missing seals are in the mail and should be here within the next few days. I finished up the rear suspension with the help (weight) of my two sons compressing the rear road spring enough to get the lower shock mounts fitted. The rear brakes are all plumbed and the front suspension is done ecxept for the caliper mounts and fitting the hubs.
(05-16-07) Got all the missing parts and reassembled the front end finally. I found that I ordered my brake pipe kit for a Herald with front drum brakes. The pipes for the front are too short to route correctly so I fit them as best I could to seal up the system and will get the proper pipes to replace them. I removed the old front brake plumbing from the donor Sport 6 and will use the pipes for patterns for the new pipes. Andy Mace has a very informative set of instructions covering the Herald front disc upgrade that will be most useful in modifying the valences to accept the new pipe runs. Upgrading to Front Disc Brakes on your Herald or Herald 1200
With the chassis basically done, I pushed it out to introduce it to the donor body. They seemed to get along well.
Built up a simple tow bar and pulled the chassis out to the shed where it will be set aside while the donor body goes into the shop for panel repairs.
(10-8-07) I finally got the motor back into the chassis this afternoon. The 2000 pound capacity lift I borrowed could have lifted the completed car and was almost too big for the job, barely fitting between the front wheels. I need to finish conecting up the fuel line and and work on getting the exhaust pipe fitted. The SUs are off getting rebuilt and should be back in a few weeks. Next the bulkhead will go back on, the rear tub and doors fitted and aligned and then on to installing my redsigned wire harness.
(10-17-07) After battling with the exhaust for a few hours I set the bulkhead back on the chassis. I'll replace the entire exhaust system later. I did get the clutch hydraulic line in and next up will be the brake master cylinder hook up.
Bulkhead back in place. 
Wrong way exhaust pipe(ARRRGH) 
(10-18-07) I got a few more bits fitted this evening. The lower steering column is installed, the brake hydraulics plumbing is finished, the wiper motor got mounted and the engine bay valences fitted. I needed to do a bit of cutting on the valences to acommodate the new plumbing for the upgraded front disc brakes. I really hated cutting into the nice powder coat but hopefully the coat of chassis paint on the cut edges will slow down the rust. Now that the brake hydraulics are all together, I'll finish rebuilding the front calipers. I didn't want to open a can of DOT 5 just to rebuild the calipers and waste the rest so when the calipers are done, I'll fill the master cylinders and bleed the clutch and brake systems.
(10-21-07) I spent the better part of the day working on the hydraulics. The clutch was done in minutes. I spent most of the time rebuilding the front calipers. Whoever came up with those piston dust boots needs to be taken out and flogged. I spent hours on each caliper just trying to get the dust boots fitted. I also found that my new brake pads were .030 inch too thick. A bit of work and in the end I succeeded and got the calipers rebuilt, the brakes back together, filled with DOT 5 and bled. With Speed Bleeders (TM) on all four corners, bleeding the brakes was the easiest task of the day.
(10-27-07) I made a bit more progress on the Herald today. Added a lot of the small bits as well as the prop shaft, heater core, heater fan, radiator, all the hoses and transplanted the coolant recovery system from one of the donor cars. I flushed the engine block with water and I need to refill the system with antifreeze mix before it gets too much colder around here. Still waiting on carbys but I think I am ready to refit the rear tub!!
