The soft furnishings department

This month, I have been continuing with progress on trimming out the interior of my Standard 8 Tourer, and I’ve surprised myself by actually enjoying the process! I think it helps that the changes are large, immediate and for the better, and that I don’t appear to have made any major errors as yet.

Rather than the trim panels though, the work started with the trafficators located just behind the B-posts. There were a few sundry bits of these in the pile of pieces that originally came with the dismantled car, enough to make up a unit for one side. However, as well as being in poor cosmetic condition, this was the original 6v item and I had changed the car to 12 volts. Some time ago I’d paid £100 for a beautiful pair of fully reconditioned 12v SF34 trafficators, which I’d been assured were the correct items for my car. Unfortunately, they turned out not to fit (so if anyone wants to buy a set, do get in touch!).

There was another problem with fitting trafficators in that without any kind of sealed box behind them, I couldn’t see how to stop water from getting into the cabin when it rained. Since I have flashing indicators anyway and the trafficators were only going to be a novelty, I decided to seal up the holes, but to do this in such a way that the process could be easily reversed if desired.

My solution was to drill and tap a section of steel bar, and use machine screws through the original trafficator fixing points. These screws were long enough to be used as adjusting screws, pushing the bar closer to the outer panel. Between this bar and the trafficator slot

in the panel I placed a strip of thick and hard foam, effectively sealing up the hole. It may sound a bit Heath Robinson, but it works well and looks fine from the outside. I could even put a chrome strip on the foam to complete the disguise – I have mocked this up and it looks a whole lot better than it sounds, but I haven’t added it to the finished article yet.

With the trafficator slots sealed up, I could then turn my attention to the trim panels that close them off from inside the cabin. Essentially there were three things on each side that needed consideration – a curved metal plate that made the transition from the seat back to the side panel, the side panel itself that closed off the bodywork behind the B-post, and the wheelarch below that transitioned from the seat base to this side panel.

The curved metal panel was easy enough – I used a spray contact adhesive on this and the Matador Red vinyl, stuck the two together and folded the extra material around the edges. The panel was then screwed to the wooden frame using slotted raised head countersunk wood screws and cup washers in stainless steel.

For the side panels, I wanted to add some padding to the finish so I put a layer of thin 1/8in scrim foam between the plywood board and the vinyl. Rather than glue this in position, I folded the vinyl around the edges and used a staple gun to secure the edges. This will also be secured with wood screws and cup washers, along with the re- chromed clamps that are used to hold the side screens on during inclement weather.

I had wondered if I could get away with fitting these recovered panels and leaving the wheelarches as painted metal, but decided that the contrast of red and yellow resembled those rhubarb and custard chews we used to buy four for a penny as kids. The only solution was to cover the wheelarch in vinyl, but doing that with a single piece of material was something of a nightmare as this had to be stretched and shrunk before it would lie flat. I did this a bit at a time, spraying contact adhesive on as I went, and got the offside looking fine once the seat and other trim panels were back in place as they managed to hide any bunching in the corners. However, I decided to wait for some warmer weather before doing the nearside.

In other news, I have sold my Herald convertible. This came as something of a surprise to me, given that I always thought it would be the last car to go. However, with project cars arriving thick and fast (there are two more undergoing work besides the Morris Minor which we’ve already started to feature), I simply had too many cars to care for properly, let alone use. So while the MG TF and the Standard are still up for sale, the Herald has moved on. I thought I would be gutted to see it go, but the Triumph was bought by two delightful lads who got it as a Christmas present for their parents and I couldn’t be happier with that. I just hope it gives them as much pleasure as it has given me over the past eight years.

“The red and yellow resembled a rhubarb and custard chew ”

This is the offside completed, but Simon will wait for warmer weather before trying to cover the nearside wheelarch.

There were enough pieces with the car to build one trafficator, but how do you stop water getting into the car?

Simon decided to ditch the trafficators as flashing indicators had already been incorporated. A strip of foam and a length of steel bar...

ABOVE: Turning to the nearside, that curved metal plate in the rear corner was covered with vinyl that was glued in place. RIGHT: On the side panels against which passengers’ arms could rub, a layer of thin scrim foam was placed over the plywood.

...were used in conjunction with the original trafficator fixing points to seal up the slot in either side of the bodywork.

Chris and Kieran Barrett have bought Simon’s Herald as a Christmas present for their parents.

The foam was then covered with red vinyl, and this was folded over the edges of the panel before being stapled into place.

With these covered panels fitted in place, the painted wheelarch then looked wrong and needs covering in vinyl.