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Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - Dolomite in "most reliable" shocker - 08/02/24


captain_70s

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Does the dashpot in the SU not take 20w50 rather than 3in1.

Read up on it when I first got the car and it seems there is no definitive answer, most folks seems to use the same oil they put in the engine as it is handiest. I use 3-in-1 because it's easy to get it in there! That should only make a difference when accelerating though as the viscosity of the oil will change the rate that the piston dampens at, at idle the piston is stationary so it shouldn't make any difference to the running.

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Dolomite 1850s deffo do, as mine fell to bits, twice. I shelled out for some nice alloy ones from the owners club in the name of longevity and then gave away the car... Not sure on the Acclaim, you need to take off the airbox to get a proper look at the carbs and I've not yet been arsed.

 

I really can't be arsed now as I just tried to drive to a breakers yard in Renfrew to get some calipers for the Civic and between my phone's satnav deciding it didn't want to work, me getting lost and the traffic being utterly shit it took 45 mins to do 5 miles by which time the place was closed and I was still 2 miles away so I gave up and spent another 25mins to drive 5 miles home...

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Not sure if I mentioned it, but I really enjoyed your vids. I drive that road to work through Milton of Campsie and don't fancy breaking down at that wee junction!

 

I must be nearby and if a gang is ever arranged to keep one of these steeds on the road I'd be happy to help out with tea or manual labour.

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Popped the air filter off the Acclaim to get a look at the carbs today.

 

Somebody has been there before because the airbox was only held on by the top nuts, the weird, hard to access, one down the bottom was already undone. Couldn't find anything immediately amiss, the carb mounts look to be in good shape, almost like they've been replaced fairly recently. Spraying Easy-Start in the general area with the car running showed no change so I don't suspect and air leak. I had a wee poke around the vacuum hoses as well, which also achieved nothing. One thing I did notice was that when I operated the throttle cable one carb seemed to generate considerably more induction noise than the other, I think I need to get a carb balancer on it!

 

I also de-tinted the sidelights/indicators, because priorities:

 

post-19482-0-37051800-1532011516_thumb.jpg

post-19482-0-99890000-1532011524_thumb.jpg

 

I went to a local breakers yard to liberate some rear calipers for the Civic t'other day only to find that their car had rear drums but 4-stud wheels the same as mine. Oddly very few places actually seem to have mk7 Civics on site, I am guessing most of them just get weighed in...

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I went to a local breakers yard to liberate some rear calipers for the Civic t'other day only to find that their car had rear drums but 4-stud wheels the same as mine. Oddly very few places actually seem to have mk7 Civics on site, I am guessing most of them just get weighed in aren't terminally fucked...

FTFY

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Listened to the carbs with a length of hose, they sound about the same to me. Will try to do valve timings soon. Here is the sound of noises:

 

 

I also fitted this quality NOS Unisef radio cassette courtesy of AS user Aston Martin:

 

 

I did eventually get the cassette player to play quite loudly through the left hand channel by repeatedly ejecting/replacing the tape... The right hand channel is still very quiet.

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^ You need to adjust the tape-head height using a miniature screwdriver. Possibly accessible through the slot the tape goes in. Trial and error, could be fixed and totally transformed in about 2 minutes tho. Tiny screwdriver like one you'd use to fix spectacles with, or sometimes get out of a Christmas cracker.

Reminds me of 1988.

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^ You need to adjust the tape-head height using a miniature screwdriver. Possibly accessible through the slot the tape goes in. Trial and error, could be fixed and totally transformed in about 2 minutes tho. Tiny screwdriver like you use to fix spectacles with, or sometimes get out of a Christmas cracker.

Reminds me of 1988.

That's what I thought!

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^ I meant getting to the screw for the head-position at an angle. Prop the little door open and shine a torch in. Sometimes possible and saves taking unit out.

Reminds me of cleaning tape-heads with cotton-buds and cleaning-alcohol or cleaning-vinegar.

 

Otherwise, sometimes possible to pull the unit out far enough to remove the lid and adjust the head whilst all still connected in the car.

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The tape head could just need cleaning. If you can't get a cleaning tape or a damp cotton bud, I usually just lick the tape itself, wind it back a bit, slot it back in and let it play. Unsophisticated but does the trick...

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