To no one’s surprise, my latest purchase is approximately 2-1/2 Triumph Heralds. I say 2-1/2 because there are two body shells, one completely restored frame and drive train, and three additional engines, as well as many boxes of new and some used parts. My wife already has a Herald that needs some parts and work, so I thought I’d see what you folks had to say as far as suggestions of what to do next.
This is the Herald we have now. It’s actually a 33,000 mile original car, but at some point in time it took a hard shot on the right front. There’s a lot of body filler in that bonnet, and small spots of rust elsewhere. The interior is OK but shows the effects of having been out in the sun a lot.
This is the secondary reason I purchased this group of Heralds; the main reason is that the seller is a very good friend of mine who needed them sold quickly. This is a fully restored chassis with new bushings, springs, shocks, brakes, and a professionally rebuilt engine, transmission and differential. There’s also a camber compensator already installed on the rear.
This was the car my friend was intending to put on the restored frame. Its frame is actually pretty decent, and it’s unusual in that it’s a right hand drive car. It was last on the road consistently in New York in 2010, although my friend drove it occasionally for a couple of years after that. Most of the rust has been cut away, and my friend purchased all the patch and replacement panels necessary to restore the body.
There are interior components from about five Heralds and multiple windshields, something hard to come by on this side of the ocean. This is the inside of the RHD car that had been stripped for restoration.
This is a complete car that has a horribly rusty frame but parts of the body are pretty decent. Remember, Heralds are body on frame construction, so moving one to another can be done quite easily (the body actually splits at the rear door pillars; it was designed to be constructed in many different countries from parts produced in the UK).
In addition to this rebuilt engine and transmission (and yes, Andy, I know the bell housing is the wrong color), there were three other engines and a transmission that were part of the deal. There were also a ton of new parts, such as a brand new wiring harness, new brake and fuel lines, new tires, some new trim components and many other small items.
You can see the camber compensator below the differential attached with links. Here’s my question for you: How would you proceed? My draft plan is this:
- Use the restored frame/drivetrain and assemble my wife’s car body panels to it, as well as the used but straight bonnet I had already acquired, and use the best of the interior components. Her wiring harness has been hacked horribly, so I’ll use the new one.
- Take her frame and the best of the remaining body components and assemble another Herald (should I make it RHD or LHD?) and either sell it on or keep it (Wife says DEFINITELY not keep it)
- Take the third frame and whatever’s left and see if I can make a car out of it. My son-in-law thinks the RHD car would be nice, so maybe this one would be it?
- Keep remaining useful spares and sell off the rest
What do you think I should do? Bear in mind I’m still waiting for our house and shop to be finished to be able to move, so whatever route we take they’ll be in storage for a while. Thanks in advance for your honest opinions.
Fess up Jamie! You’re only showing us photos of the Triumph Herald to make us envious of the yellow Morgan in the background.
Milt, that’s not a Morgan :-) Read about them here:
https://www.facebook.com/Hathaway-Hunter-331993096869015/
I fell in love with that kit in high school and was only able to purchase one a few years ago.
If you are interested in the rest of my “barn”, I posted on that a while back:
http://barnfinds.com/whats-in-jamies-barn/
Thanks for the interest! Can’t wait to get the shop finished (it’s a slab at the moment) so that I can get back to work!
I stand corrected Jamie. Attached photo of my faux-Morgan started as a 1973 MG Midget I rescued in Palmer, Alaska. A PO’ed cow moose with calf thoroughly stomped the body while being hoisted aboard the U-Haul. My only recourse was to replace the MG body with a fiberglass Arkley “fake Morgan” body.
Milt — I LOVE Arkleys (search on the BF home page for writeups)! Had some Spridgets in my time and I wanted to build one so badly when I was in college! Beautiful car and thanks for sharing!
i have a 67 arkley too,there is an arkley page on facebook
Great pics of the stuff in your garage. I have owned many British cars, and still do own quite a few, but I have never heard of a Hathaway-Hunter. Interesting looking kit car. Your Triumph Italia is the jewel in the garage though! Along with a Peerless GT, the Italia is near the top of my A list of cars to put in my garage.
:-) I’ve had the Italia since 1987; and yes, she’s a lot of fun to drive. When I bought Juliet (the Italia) we didn’t have enough money to have a “toy” car, so it was my daily driver for a long time; I put over 60,000 miles on the car! I have a good friend that is finishing off a Peerless; I’m hoping to get the two together sometime shortly thereafter for comparison purposes :-)
Where was the top picture taken?
If you’re talking about the three cars together, it’s when I unloaded everything into my back yard. They won’t be there for long! If you’re talking about the single light blue Herald, that’s in my temporary storage until I can finish the shop.
These are your projects and you need to do what will make you happy. That is the fun thing about cars! It is 100% your choice! In my opinion, a “rat rod-ish” build would be interesting. I bought this as a parts car for my other 2wd IH T-all and let’s just say that the plan has changed! :) Also, good job with the site!
Here is the parts T-all.
No picture is attaching. Sometimes technology is for the birds. :)
Thanks for the opinion–that’s exactly what I’m looking for—
In the first pic , it looks like the two Truimphs are out in the sun , having a picnic.
Ok, here’s what I’d do. Restored frame, wife’s cars body, and the best hood. Depending on finances, I wouldn’t sell a thing. Not sure about RHD. I’d think the novelty would wear off. Never drove a RHD, but someone restoring a RHD Herald ( if any) would appreciate the dash parts and such. If you are going to be “into” Herald’s for a while, I’d keep everything. It’s hard to find Herald parts. Not the most popular model. I hope you have some sort of OD or gear swap ( if possible) with the finished car. My old man had a Herald for a short time, and I remember like 50 mph, it was hollerin’.
I’ve had hers up to 70 and it was an experience! But I have a Spitfire overdrive to throw into the mix…😀
This isn’t the overdrive you are looking for…
In case you’re reading this and wondering, Alex is my son-in-law and would like to appropriate the overdrive for his Spitfire…
The natural progression of old cars is to be an inexpensive parts car as some point and transisition to a project car as values change. I have bought many parts cars and sold them as rebuild projects. A junkyard I bought near Salt lake had a lot of mustangs including several completely stripped convertible tubs. Everything had been sold off from them when they were fairly new. The buyers had coupes they were rebuilding but bought the tubs, changed everything onto the chassis and for the same work, had a more valueable car. It is like hunting, you always do the best on the edge of 2 different environments, Wrecking yards to a restorer.
Junk. American muscle is way better.
I like my American cars but my European stuff is many times has more creative engineering. Sometimes better. I like high quality cars…….not a Ford guy…..my Mercedes, Porsches, IHC trucks and Imperials are about as good as it gets.
You are to be commend for helping out a friend.
Hip hip hooray!
Will a TR6 engine and wire wheels fit?
Wire wheels from a Spitfire are bolt-on, but I have some aluminum wheels from the Marina that are the same size/bolt circle. You could put a TR6 engine in ala GT6 install (pretty much what a Vitesse is, although it used the 2000 cc vs. 2500 cc version) but she’s quite happy going sedately but with style. :-) Thanks, Van!
I think we should acknowledge the people in Orlando and all Americans.
Maybe you should have a call for red white and blue patriotic cars.
Jamie, you might not like my “take” on this. What is see is a collection of Heralds, all of which could be saved (should be saved, IMO). If I hadn’t just today gotten yet another Herald myself, I might be trying to talk you out of at least one of those; I wouldn’t mind having a RHD Herald!
Whatever you end up doing, you know where to “send all the numbers” for the Database, right? :)
http://triumph-herald.us
Hi, Andy! The black one’s frame is definitely not saveable; I’ve never seen a Triumph frame so decimated by rust. I’ll let you know what I end up doing and of course I will send in the numbers :-) Thanks for chiming in!
Jamie, I’m assuming you are referring to the chassis main rails as being so “decimated by rust”? If so, then I agree that chassis probably isn’t worth saving. But that restored chassis might slip nicely under that black body. And there’s something very attractive about pretty much any Triumph in black, especially with red interior and white top (think about a certain show-winning Sports 6 we’ve all known about for years).
Oh, and it might only matter to the few of us who are deeply mired in Herald trivia, but there are quite a few variations on bonnets alone. Those of us who really know the cars can usually spot “bitsa” cars from 500 ft. or more. ;)
Not just the main chassis rails — EVERY chassis rail (outriggers, front, even where the engine mounts)! Like I said, I’ve never seen one like this!
Right now, my primary goal is to get my wife into the nicest Herald driver possible. Where we are moving to she’ll be able to use it a lot more than where we are now–it will be a bitsa but I’m fine with that. As far as the others, I have to inventory everything first! If you are seriously interested in the RHD car make me a silly offer, you might just get it!
Hi Jaime, Can’t help noticing that your wife’s sky blue Herald has California plates. Any chance u r in California?
U didn’t mention anything about the frame of your wife’s car. Why not make it 2 Heralds? His and Hers!
Here’s my ’66 Herald.
Hi, Chris — no, the car originally came from Catalina Island — I’m in North Carolina :-) Your picture didn’t come through — make sure it’s a jpg and less than 8MB :-) The frame of her car is OK, but it’s not as nice as the restored one. If we didn’t have so many other Triumphs I suspect you’d be correct!
OK, I commented on the Morris pickup a week or so ago but now you’ve gotten deeper into my backlog of project cars. I picked up a 64 Sprite and a 65? Herald 1200 sport convertible a cupla years ago and the Herald is waiting for the sprite and Jamaican to get done but is likely ahead of the Morris traveller.
My Herald is also light blue and was hit in the left front and I have to recreate the suspension since the previous owner didn’t toss the parts in the boot. I pretty much have found all of the requisite parts I am also missing the windshield glass. You wouldn’t be interested in relocating one of your spares to Florida would you?
The family summer trek will be up the east coast to new England, over to Niagara then back to FL. I think from what you write that you are somewhere in that loop and a stop on the return would be possible to avoid shipping. Lemme know.
Hi, Brian! It’s going to take me a little while to see what I’ve got, but I’ll bet we can help! Let me get through some inventorying and I’ll let you know! And by that point I’ll be in Pittsboro, North Carolina. :-) Boy, with a Jamaican and the Herald as well as the other British stuff, we’ve got a lot in common!
Yeah, didn’t get vaccinated as a child against Brit fever. Wanted an AH 3000 in 1973 but the cheapest one I could find was $1500, beyond my budget as a young AF captain with wife and two kids so had to settle for a $575 TR3A with flintstone floors and a bad paint job. Still have it. Restoration started in ’80 and ended in ’07. Let’s see if a pic can be added.
I wonder what that $1500 AH is worth now since my insurance company says the TR is worth $30K. LOL
These long loved projects are wonderful. You probably remember every nut and bolt as you run your hands over the car. I have vehicles like that too……not British…….but it is as satisfying as wearing an old pair of shoes or an old dog at your feet.
There are a couple of problems with a 27 year restoration: ordering parts when you have the cash but forgetting that you did it or where you put them and doing it again; rubber stuff tends to age in storage (had some really crispy stuff in 2006 that I ordered in 1986) and some stuff just gets lost or damaged. Of course, there’s always the handful of nuts, bolts, screws, washers and curious little metal bits that never found their way back into the car, or require the removal of some tightly fastened other part to access the space where they belong. Joy!
Pretty (handsome?) car, Brian! Thanks for sharing!
JAMIE, we will be leaving NH on Monday, heading up into Canada for a cupla days then heading south from Niagara. Anticipate approaching NC by Thursday. Have you been able to sort the Herald stash to see if a windscreen is available? If so, how do I contact you. My last day of computer availability is 7/31 and cell service is spotty at the very best up here in the woods. Phone #s are 321-525-1313 or 321-821-8443 and we keep them on just in case some wonderful cell service provider finds us in the wilderness. Looking forwarding to hearing from you.
Brian
Just in case any of you are interested, these are now for sale (not my wife’s light blue one) in the BF Classifieds: http://barnfinds.com/advert/2-12-triumph-heralds-3500/
You’re killing me, Jamie! Despite my best efforts, Mega Millions and Powerball have yet to come through for me, so I’m forced to pass on this as well as that Standard Pennant from a couple weeks back. Ok, I know I have enough projects to keep me busy for the next 247 years as it is, but still…. ;)
When I looked, the FIRST thing I saw was the Hathaway Hunter… tell him to lock his garage – I’m going to hitchhike to his house and sneak into the garage…
wait a minute, I mean – what a nice collection of cars he has…