Post-War Other Herald Carpets, issues, and minutia

[TomMull]

I've received the new set of carpets for the Herald from Newtons and started on what I thought would be an afternoon project installing them. I found Newton's to be easy to deal with, excellent product, shipped within their estimated time frame, (the make the carpets to order), although not especially cheap.




The carpets that the PO had installed by a “professional” had been made up from pieces, I counted at least twenty, that were glued in. Replacement was necessary because there was no access to the shift lever and transmission without literally tearing the carpets apart and the shift bushings need replacement. But it was not only the carpets, they glued the underlay insulation material too and used some of the most tenacious glue I've seen. I've got most of it out but a very slow process and I used some nasty solvent (MEK). It will have to stay on the new plastic tranny tunnel since the plastic does not like the MEK. It took all of the first afternoon to get the old carpets and insulation out. Now I find that the new tunnel is glued in too.







They also plastered carpets and insulation over the floor mounted accelerator pedal. Took some time to get the pedal dug out and rebuilt so another afternoon gone. Anybody know if the pedal bracket goes on top of the rug or on the floor with the carpet cut around it?



I had ordered some hardware, cage nuts and such, from Canley Classics. It turns out that the parts Canley sent were standard cage nuts, readily available in the US without the cost and hassle of getting them from England. They work OK but not exactly original. The black one is the one I took out of the back, the shiny one Canleys and the square “cabinet” nut in the front. The front one had just a regular nut underneath. (The rear one has to be a cage nut as it is in a raised plinth that does not go through the floor, the front just a square hole.)




At any rate, back at it this afternoon. I'll post a pic of the new carpets if I ever get them in.


Tom

 

[Andrew Mace]

As for the accelerator pedal: the bracket mounts directly to the floor, with carpeting cut to fit around (over, if the cable is disconnected?) it.

As for the various cage nuts for the seats: that's a bit disappointing. I was able to find some similar hardware in local Ace and True Value hardware stores, but it wasn't the original SAE fine thread. I'd hoped what Canley sold would be, but I guess not. Oh well, there are still other things I need to order from them, but I guess I won't include those in my order!

 

[NutmegCT]

I hear you about the love affair between Previous Owners and Carpet Glue. Good grief, on my '58 Rambler, sound insulating foam sheets were glued in, then the carpet was glued on to the foam. What a mess. Worst part was that over the years, moisture and leaks had been thoroughly saturating all that, and led to floor pan rust. Owner probably never noticed, and certainly couldn't lift the mess to check (or to let it all dry out).

The car came from the factory with only rubber floor mats.

Question: on the Herald, was carpeting - or rubber mat - standard? How was it fastened? Hooks, glue, or just loose?

Thanks.
Tom M.

 

[TomMull]

Andy, The nuts Canley sent are indeed fine thread.
Tom M, Perhaps Andy will chime in but I bought my Herald in "freshly reconditioned" state and don't have much of the original car. I've seen several survivor Heralds with original carpet flooring but I don't know if that was standard or an option.

Tom

 

[Andrew Mace]

I would say the vast majority of Heralds came with carpeting. There were times and there were various models, though, that sometimes came with rubber front footwell coverings.

Tom, good to know that those seat nuts are fine thread. (I was able to find something almost identical for the front ones in local hardware stores, but they were all coarse thread.) Given that, I do need to order some "bulkier" things from Canley fairly soon, so I won't feel too badly about padding the order out with small hardware bits like that.

Oddly enough, I found a US Triumph parts vendor that listed one of the part numbers (I think for the rear bolts). I bought them and then discovered that they were absolutely nothing like the original bits. To their credit, the vendor apologized for any confusion, refunded my money and didn't even ask for them back!