Go to Page One of Y20797LCV's Makeover.
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Go to Bulkhead rebuild and wiring update page
Go to Bodywork refurb page
Go to Electrical System Upgrade page
Go to Chassis Assembly page
(01-03-07) I loaded the frame in the back of the truck this evening. I'll take it in to the powder coater tomorrow. Other News: The brake shoes I ordered at the local Auto Parts Supplier came in today. I ordered rear shoes for a 1963 Sport 6 which is supposed to have come with 8 inch drums. The shoes I received were for 7 inch drums. The special order had a 20% restock charge if I returned them so, since having two sets of rear drum assemblies, I decided to keep the 7 inch shoes and stopped at the barn and pulled the left rear 7 inch drum assembly off the Sport 6 tonight. At least the Herald will now have a matched set of standard 7 inch rear drum brakes with just the transplanted disc assembly upgrade on the front. Best laid plans.
(01-07-07) I did some work on the electrical side of things today and drew up a schematic for the upgrade and began some of the modifications to the instrumentation. It too became a bit more involved than I originally anticipated. Details can be found on the Electrical System Upgrade page.
(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 one of my monitors but in real life it looks just like the signal red that was on the frame prior to sandblasting. 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.
(04-09-07) We had family home for Easter so not much work on the Herald this weekend. I cleaned up the last of the suspension bits and if it ever warms up around here I will get my painting done. I talked with the body shop that is repairing my floor pans and found out that they use the Nason 2K Urethane paint system almost exclusively. I figure they may need to bail me out if I get in over my head, so I started rounding up paint supplies.
(04-20-07) I've made great progress on refinishing all the suspension bits and soon as I get the shop straightened out again I'll bring the frame in and start reassembly. I got most of the wiring sorted out and was in the process of installing all the upgrades in the dash panel when I came across another Herald 948 Convertible for sale near by. The car reportedly is a 1960 that was being restored. The body work is reasonably sound but one of the prior owners loaded it up with body putty in a few spots. I looked it over and it will become a donor for Y20797LCV's rebuild. I'll blast the putty out of the rear wings and replace the rotted out sections with replacement panels, then put the rear tub on my freshly restored chassis. The dash in the 'new car' is in exceptional condition and will also find it's way into Y20797LCV. The 1960 had no title, and no commission plate, both are probably alive and well on some other early Herald. The engine is a transplanted 1200 that is stuck and has water in number 2 and 3 cylinders. There is no water in the oil but the cylinders are seized up tight. The bonnet doesn't have all the extraneous holes that Y20797LCV's had, the doors are sound with good glass and the windscreen isn't cracked so they will all get used too. The only original body section that will remain on Y20797LCV will be the bulkhead, front valence and grill.
Here's some pictures of the new donor car:
Shoddy body putty work!
(04-24-07) I got the frame back in the shop this evening and set up all the refinished bits in preparation for reassembly. Details on the Chassis Assembly page.
(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 reassmbly 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. I also ordered the repair panels for the rear fins on the donor body. I'll blast the body putty out and weld in the new panels as soon as I get the chassis rolled out of the shop.
(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. I was not too pleased to find only one of the four holes lined up! 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. Here's a picture of the suspension on as far as I can go until the missing seals show up. The bulkhead is still waiting quietly in the background.
(05-10-07) Put a couple of more hours in on the chassis this week. The missing seals are in the mail and should be here any day. In the meantime, I put on the new brake pipes, mounted the steering rack and the ARB. Since I had the time, I removed all the bolts that pass through steel sleeved bushes and applied anti-sieze to the bolts. I doubt I will need to disassemble any of them in the near future but I hope that 45 years from now, the guy replacing the bushes will thank me. I still need to knock the plastic body filler out of the donor body so that when the repair panels arrive I can get to work patching up the holes. For a while this week I was seriously considering adding a Mk2 GT6 to the herd. It was reasonably priced but besides the partially disassembled engine it had completely rusted out sills and under a recent respray a lot of plastic in the rear wings.
(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 pushed the rolling chassis 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.
(05-26-07) After a truly dreadful week at work, I got some time to work on the Herald last night and today. I finally finished stripping the bulkhead down to bare metal on the really nasty part. It got a coat of etching primer and will now go in to the body shop to get the floor pans welded in. I moved the donor body car into the shop and will start the body repair work tomorrow. It's times like this that I wish the shop were a few feet wider.
(5-27-07) Started the body repair work on the donor tub. Got both sides of the rear wing repairs done today! Details on the Bodywork refurb page.
(5-28-07) Took the rear tub off the donor car and found it just a bit too tall to fit in the shop. A little help from the wife and we got it in.
(06-25-07) It's been weeks since I did anything on the Herald. I got a new look though - as I had some surgery on my eyelids that I have been putting off for a few years. I am finally back to where the swelling of my eyelids is to the point that I can see pretty well again. Anyway, the bulkhead came back from the bodyshop weeks ago with the new floor pans in place so I finished blasting the rest of the surface rust off, cleaned it up and shot it with metal etch primer.
The new Floor Pans. 
(07-04-07) I stripped all the bits that I plan to use off the donor car today. Not much left!
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