Hark the Herald angles

Corny rubbish title I know, but it’s a title that’s been used quite often for articles in car and “classic” car magazines over the years !!! On Boxing Day, I found I had an hour to spare before lunch. I decided to have a look at my 1967 Triumph Herald 13/60, owned since 1980, which, according to the tax disc was last on the road in 1993 and which has resided in a neighbour’s garage since 1999. My last visit must have been five years ago! A sudden compulsion to exhume the vehicle came over me. Pump up two tyres. A fresh battery. No go. It’s a tight fit (and gloomy) inside the garage so I decided to push the car into the daylight. Of course the brakes (and clutch) were seized solid. But with the car in first gear using the starter motor I managed to wind the car out in a series of hops and skips. Whilst I was “moving” I thought the best thing to do was to keep going!! It took 15 minutes to hop/travel the distance of 8 houses before the car was safely on my own drive. I must have looked a comical sight. It would have made a great piece for UToob. Curtains twitched but no-one came out to give me a push!! Lifting the bonnet, the starter motor and earth strap from the battery to the bodywork were too hot to touch. I took a spark plug out. It was completely dry. So I need to find out what’s stopping the fuel flowing. I know they say modern fuel goes off rather quickly and can gum up pipes and carbs. But this car’s petrol tank contains good old 4* from 1993 which I expected would still work. Perhaps I’ll have to drain the tank. My Triumph Herald isn’t quite as bad as this example found on the Interweb but, seeing it in daylight now it needs loads of work on every single aspect. When it was re-sprayed in 1982 it looked ok. It had just been completely dismantled and “rebuilt” by myself. It is a true Frankenstein’s vehicle. The rear body tub is from a 1964 Vitesse 1600cc. The roof is from a 12/50. Driver’s door is from a Convertible. Passenger’s door is from a Bond GT4S. That was a big mistake. In 1982 the car was a rolling restoration and consequently was driven for a few weeks complete with Bond and Convertible door glasses!! As they are different shapes to the saloon glass I couldn’t fully wind up the windows until I’d got round to changing them. It’s more time-consuming than you realise. Glassfibre sills and valances came from an ad in “Exchange and Mart”. Even the bootlid was sourced from another car. The bonnet obviously is from a Bond. Once it even sported a Tristan Convertible conversion kit instead of the metal roof !! Now I guess a proper restoration would be relatively “easy” (if I threw enough money at it that is). Something must be done or it just becomes a 14 foot long metallic garden ornament!!!