How to tame that bid finger? - Advice now needed!

[trigger]

Got my eye on a Herald Convertible that finishes soon on ebay, In my head i know It be mad, we only have a few days a year with sun and the rest of the year it's pissing it down, but my hearts (I.e the wife) telling me to bid, to hell with it being a soft top and that I'll look like a 70's gay porn star driving it.

 

Whats the best way to stop yourself from bidding?,

Think I'll go and cut the grass, that might help...

 

Someone tell me this is a bag of crap and that i don't want it...

 

[pompei]

Something wrong there - the bread knife should be instructing you NOT to bid

[trigger]

I know good isn't it!, I'm luckly she like cars as well, Although she doesn't have much choice and the way she tells if she like them or not is by the colour She's even happy for me to sell her shitty Puma so that i can have an old car and she's saved up £1500 for me so far to also pay for one!.Good job she has taste!.

[trigger]

It's gone way over my budget now!, Anyway found something better round the corner that's popped up that I'm viewing tomorrow...

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Bidding just ended as I clicked the link. Did you do it?

[trigger]

Not in the end Peter, If it was £2000 i might of gone for it but £2550 was over my budget sadly.Going to view a 13/60 saloon model tomorrow which is round the corner from me.The owner has told me what he wants for it which is a price that makes me so fingers crossed it's not a rot box.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I was a bit surprised by the price, even for a good convertible.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Thin Seth's the man to speak to about Heralds

[trigger]

Might have a word with Seth then, I'm off for a poke around this tomorrow afternoon.

 

 

Spoke to the owner who seems a decent chap, Just need the headlining replacing by all accounts.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Spoke to the owner who seems a decent chap, Just need the headlining replacing by all accounts.

The roof has to come off for that.

[trigger]

Oh, should of known it would not be as easy as that, is that a big job?.took a look at it earlier and it looks pretty good for the money, not sure what they are worth though.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Looks really nice. Tidy interior with Vitesse door cappings, body looks straight, uprated engine, twin carbs... I'd buy it, it's loads nicer than mine

Oh, should of known it would not be as easy as that, is that a big job?.

I can scan the page from the workshop manual if you want to see what it involves. I've never done it myself.

[Spottedlaurel]

I pefer the Ipswich one too. Also nice that it has a Suffolk reg'n.

[VWPowered]

tam the finger thats easy hit the buy it now button

[Father Ted]

Oh, should of known it would not be as easy as that, is that a big job?.

I can scan the page from the workshop manual if you want to see what it involves. I've never done it myself.

12 bolts IIRC, then you have your very own open top Herald (just dont open the doors)

[trigger]

Bloody great isn't, Ment to be looking at it tonight with my old chap but just had a call of the owner to tell me he's just sold it, Gutted.He told me he wanted £800 for it but ended up selling it for £1000 so you can't blame him.I should of gone for it last night when i looked at it as it was very clean and stright and he was only selling it as he was out of work because of a lung op.Back to looking again i guess

[trigger]

Well just about to leave the house to drive up to Norfolk to look at a 1968 Triumph Vitesse 2.0, Don't know much about it apart from what's in the advert

(G) TRIUMPH 2.0 VITESSE SALOON, BLUE, LONG MOT/TAXED, USEABLE CLASSIC.............................................£1,195

Hopefully it's not a bag of crap as i haven't seen any pictures yet...He who dares, WINS! or maybe ends up doing a 3 hours round trip for nothing

[trigger]

Well just got back from Norwich, After stopping of at a pub for a nice lunch and a coupe of pints of Adnams Broadside, yummy.

 

Anyway had a look at the Vitesse, It was at the some garage that is selling this

 

 

Which is a right Aladdin's cave of shite, quite enjoyable really!, And the Opel is as clean as it looks, He just wants shot of them so the best offer gets it i guess.

 

The Vitesse had just come in as a Part X and had belonged to an old boy for years, Bodywork although tired and with it's fair share of painted brush marks was pretty good, But the drivers door had dropped and didn't shut well.

 

The chassis was pretty good but had seen the welder a few times going by all the patches and the interior was pretty worn, Needing a new carpet and cleaning up, plus also had a dodgy veneer dash center with the radio and speaker.

 

Engine was spot on though and the 2.0 sounded great and started straight away, but it did splut a bit of black shit out and smelled fumey, Guess it needs tuning.

 

Pretty tempted but it does need a fair few quid spend on it, It had MOT and tax until April next year which was good, All for £1195 or nearest offer, Got to worth a bit when all done but might not be worth it?

 

Thing is do i spend the extra grand fixing it up or spend the extra on a decent Herald or Vitesse thats already sorted.?

 

Also does anyone know if the steering wheel is normally very offset to the seat and pedals, felt a bit strange to me, Only just got my legs under the massive steering wheel as well!

 

 

 

 

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Wheel is slightly offset to the left, speedo is offset a lot to the left, and the pedals are massively offset to the right. Your legs are being grooved by the wheel and your right arm is smushed against the door. I often wonder if anyone actually SAT in a Herald/Vitesse before they started mass producing them It looks nice, and a pretty good price for a Vitesse IMO. And it's got a fitted mono!

[trigger]

Wheel is slightly offset to the left, speedo is offset a lot to the left, and the pedals are massively offset to the right. Your legs are being grooved by the wheel and your right arm is smushed against the door!

Yep, that pretty much summed it up, Felt very strange to drive, maybe i just need to get used to it.The price i thought was very good for one of these, just concerned about how much it would cost to make good though.

[dollywobbler]

Costs can quickly ramp up with them. Wouldn't worry about soot and filthy water from the exhaust - any classic does that when starting from cold. As my once-white garage door will attest...

 

By chance, I've just posted this pic of that Opel up on Retro Rides!

 

 

That's when it went through Anglia Car Auctions last year. I had a small bid on it but it sold for more than I could afford (pitifully little!)

[trigger]

The bloke told me he brought a few cars as a job lot and made very good money on one of them, so he didn't really care what he got for the others, The Opel was up for £695 on his front along with a Rover P6 for £495, an old Wolseley Landcrab thing for £695, T reg MGB GT for £895 with no MOT or £1395 with a new MOT, and a Mk 2 Transit 2.4D pick up with a rotten cab for £695.The Rover had a auction sticker in the window still.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

The pedals feel a bit wrong at first, but it sort of makes sense on the road. The driving position is actually quite comfortable. The seats are shit in mine - like sitting on a clothes horse.

 

That looks like a really nice car at a good price. It's all about the bodywork with that - new carpet's pricey (if you buy the moulded stuff, and you should) but it's easier than fixing a rotten chassis. The fact that the carpet's still there is a good sign, means it didn't rot away from a leak / get soaked with brake fluid (again, mine).

 

Just noticed that it's got a Herald steering wheel, not a Vitesse one (not that that matters).

[dollywobbler]

Wasn't a red 2000TC S2 P6 was it? That was on the shonky side of shonky!

[trigger]

Cheers Peter, I though the steering wheel wasn't quite right!, I think it's a good buy for the money, I reckon you could get it for around £1000, But my lack of skillz and lazyarseness is a factor, I think the right person could get it looking good and make money on it but I'm to lazy to get it looking how it should and the rust put me off, alot.

I have the money to get a pretty decent one, As i just said on Retro-Ride, I'd prefer a Herald 13/60 as well as i think they look nicer, Especially when like this:

 

 

so i think i might have to keep looking, CCW is out tomorrow, I'll have to get scanning!

 

Wasn't a red 2000TC S2 P6 was it? That was on the shonky side of shonky!

Yep thats the one, ruster then a rusty thing in a bucket of acid.

[seth]

Ah, Trigger, hadn't spotted this thread here!

[trigger]

Ah, Trigger, hadn't spotted this thread here!

I like to spead myself out! , (My wife says that as well... )

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I'd prefer a Herald 13/60 as well as i think they look nicer

I agree - have a gratuitous picture of mine:

 

Current reason for immobility: clutch

[trigger]

Thats the sort I'm after, I thought the clutch was a reasonably easy fix on these? Looking nice in black as well.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Thanks. The clutch has been replaced, it just doesn't work I'll get round to it eventually.