With a little help from your friends

Another update from Brands Hatch Restorations - with a little help from a friend.

It's hard to get a good handle on a restoration in another country, so I asked a mate to pop in and take a few photos. It helps that he's building a Herald coupe as well... but where I'm going for brute force, he's decided to be clever and fit a modern, turbo-charged engine. Once finished, the comparison will be interesting.

Anyway... the bodywork on my Herald coupe is well advanced. The front and rear track widths have been increased to improve the handling, requiring substantial modifications to the wheel arches and guards. Brands Hatch have removed the rear outer wing panels, allowing the body shell to sit properly on the chassis for the first time. Wow, she's low! Once the outer panels are modified and replaced, the wider track won't be obvious... unless she's parked next to a normal Herald, anyway.

Note the string over the left wheel. The guard must extend over the tyre to be legal. The coil springs have been removed, so the wheels are sitting at full compression right now.

Below is an interesting shot - the main chassis rails have been scalloped to allow the engine and gearbox to sit further back. This had been recommended a couple of years ago, but I didn't have the facilities and ability to do a good job on the chassis.

There's still a bit of work to do on the backbone though. With less metal in the main rails, I may yet decide to bulk up and triangulate the backbone. When you're playing with a V8 (and I'm thinking of reducing weight further by taking it to 3.9L) you don't cut corners. Well, unless it's in a Landrover, but you know what I mean.