> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Mace [mailto:amace@unix2.nysed.gov]
> Sent: 05 April 2000 18:51
> To: Gary Blake
> Cc: Scions of Stanpart; Scions of the Spitfire; The Triumph
> Herald Group
> Subject: [triumph_herald] Re: Vitesse Coupe
>
> What fun! Biggest potential problem I see lies with the
> Coupe' chassis. If
> it is a GA80001 or later car with the "Star" (essentially the
> Vitesse-style chassis commonised with the Herald at that point), then
> there should be few problems involved. If it is the earlier Herald
> chassis, then I would recommend either trying to rebuild the Vitesse
> chassis or obtaining another one (or a chassis from a later
> post GA80001
> Herald). The later chassis is much sturdier than is the early
> one, and I'm
> not at all sure the early-style chassis is up to the stress of the
> six-cylinder's torque. Adapting an earlier body to a later chassis
> shouldn't be that difficult, though.
>
I'll add a little about the potential chassis difference. The earlier
chassis was fitted to all 948 engined Coupes (chassis prefix Y) and as Andy
states, 1200s upto GA80000 (mid 1962) - anything after this point should
have the later "Star" chassis. As well as being an altogether stronger unit,
changes were made to physically accomodate the longer engine. This includes
putting a kink into the chassis front bar to allow the radiator to sit
further forward, and significant re-shaping around the gearbox (to clear the
overdrive unit). The latter modification caused the floorpans of the
bulkhead to be altered, the original style will need to be re-shaped in this
area if fitted to a later chassis.
The chassis is also radically different in the area of the diff
mountings. The "Star" chassis has additional body mountings on the bridge
assembly over the diff, with corresponding stiffening ribs welded to the
underside of the body in this area. These would need to be transferred from
the donor car. The forward mounting points on the boot-rigger extensions
were deleted on later versions of the "star" chassis (1963-4?), which makes
the diff area mountings all the more important.
Good luck with the project. If you do indeed have an early chassis
under the Coupe, it would be very unwise to use it in a Vitesse project. I
have taken apart many early Heralds, and it's very rare to find an
unmodified car without severe stress cracking of the chassis - usually in
the areas around the lower mountings for the front suspension. Those which
have been modified with 1300 or 1500 engines frequently crack around the
diff mountings, and rust from there!
I hope this is some help,
Cheers,
Bill.
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^================^
/ \ William Davies
/ \ Total Triumph Enthusiast
__ __________________ __
/ \ ______ ______ / \ 1959 Herald 948 Coupé Y128
\__/ \ || / \__/ 1959 Herald 948 Coupé
| A \____||____/ A | 1959 Herald 948 Saloon
| = H H = | 1960 Herald 948 Saloon Export
=====U==============U===== 1961 Herald 'S'
\________________________/ 1964 Herald 1200 Saloon
| | | | 1970 Spitfire MkIII
|_| |_| 1973 Spitfire MkIV
1959 Standard Atlas Pickup
|