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

[Split_Pin]

I'm sorry that you seem to be having a bit of a time of it here.

 

From a personal perspective, I definitely wouldn't have meddled with a knackered Corsa (which is about as hopeless as they come) if I didnt have somewhere to store it and a reliable runaround (the Megane). As it was, I could just bimble along with things.

 

Whenever I get stressed motoring- wise, I just put things to one side and focus on a different hobby for a bit.

 

As said perhaps taking a step back for a while (the Rover) and revisiting things in like 2 weeks or whatever might be an idea?

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

You will never learn any of the skills needed to keep old shite going if you simply bridge them when they become rusty and broken.

Think of it as a learning curve.

 

Best of luck with it and try and enjoy it.

Not easy at time I know.

 

 

Why would you want to weld up scrap when the country is brimming with decent cars for next to fuck all? 

 

Don't take this the wrong way right. I admire your serious dedication to the worId of $hite and often wish I had a bit more of your tenacity. But i've got to tell you, I find it borderline unbearable reading this thread. You seem to just lurch from one tragedy to another. Are these cars actually genuinely bringing you any pleasure? You've got practically no money, no workshop, no off-road parking, few tools, and you seem to live under pretty much constant car-related stress and pressure from parents, work, landlords, and whatever else. Despite these pressures you are juggling 3 very ropey triumphs and a tired Civic on which you depend to get to work. Your life looks to me, an outsider, like a constant 24-7 psychological battle against your fleet. I can tell you that the thread is a stressful read, so actually living it must be a nightmare as far as I can see. You bought that Acclaim not long back as a way to drive something interesting but reliable while you made some progress on the Dollys - now you're in for a grand and its as much a project as your Dollys, plus now you have the additional responsibility of needing to store it, sort the welding and still somehow keep mobile.

 

That civic might be a miserable dull old POS but it seems to have kept going for a few years (during which you have pretty much permanently been unhappy with its brakes). I suggest expending some deliberate time and effort maintaining it as it seems to be your best option for staying mobile which is the no.1 aim right? Its a known quantity at least. Even if it did need a new clutch, £60 for a kit plus a day on FOAD's lift sorting it will be cheaper and more useful to keeping you mobile than starting to dig the rot out of that acclaim. I don't know what's up with the brakes but whatever it is you've got a 90% chance of sorting it for under £100 even if you had to buy a caliper or two.

 

I think you need to give yourself a break - sack off one or two of these heaps and just concentrate on being mobile and living your life. When you find yourself feeling bored of an evening that's when you know you are ready to get back on the $hite train.

 

This x 10000000000

 

That Acclaim is scrap. It's rusted out, finished, job done. It will never be a decent (or safe) car again short of spending thousands on a serious reconstruction and it will never be valuable, ever. I dread to think what would happen to it if you were rear ended in traffic - it would fold up like a Kitkat wrapper.

 

It's absolutely fucked. Surely you can see this? Don't waste your time!

 

My E36 needed a 6 hour £220 welding job and had I discovered the rot before I did other stuff, it would have been stripped of useful bits and weighed. It's only a car, one of many, many thousands. 

 

We can only advise but you're pissing your life away on shit like that. Stop now! 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

There's a decent-looking Acclaim CD on my way to work every morning.  A-reg.  Fairly low miles.

 

Come down Folkestone way and buy that...

[BorniteIdentity]

I asked a similar question in the SQA thread a few years back about patched up cars, and the unanimous feeling was they could never be as safe and as strong as they were at new.

 

I think you need to be kind to yourself dude. Whilst it can be quite droll and witty to make self deprecating remarks about your life situation - the danger is you start to believe your own press. I’ve been in your shoes/winklepickers and you’ve just got to keep on trucking. A lot of people here enjoy your updates, albeit it’s not been a breeze of late. Also, sacking the cars off might be the kindest thing for your health as well. I dunno.

 

The good news is there are an awful lot of old cars to try and enjoy, and the supply is never ending. Buying a good one might actually be the answer though! By the time you’ve added up the expense of having two shit ones on the road, often it’s not a lot dearer to buy one pukka one. As the old saying goes, sometimes you can’t afford to buy the cheapest.

 

Keep on yakking away on here tho dude. You’re a one off, and just because you’ve got a couple of nails atm doesn’t mean you’re destined for a life of PCP.

[dome]

I TOTALLY hear you there. I also love tinkering, but absolutely HATE having to fix my car so I can get to work in the morning. So it's important when shiting to be able to say 'ah f**k it, that's enough for today' shut the bonnet and forget it till tomorrow/the weekend/whenever.

 

This times a million. When I got my first lockup it was amazing to be able to take something apart and go"right, I need to order such and such" and then close the lockup up leaving the car in bits til UI was able to fix it.

 

Keep on top of the civic though, it's a useful thing to have.

[Shep Shepherd]

You are a man in a whole world of automotive pain, which makes me sad 

 

If I was in your position, I'd be brave and sack off both the Civic and the Acclaim immediately and scrape together the means to buy a good early Astra 'G' or mark 1 Focus, which are now available for hardly any money at all and would allow you to get to and from work reliably and fettle and beautify the Dolly in your spare time. 

 

Good luck!

[danthecapriman]

Hmm, not a good situation.

 

I fully understand why you bought the Acclaim. It’s a nice idea and you ‘could’ still do that. There’s nothing wrong with using an old car like that often. I do it myself.

But...

 

Given your other things in life, ie; no drive, garage, work etc etc etc I think with the greatest of respect you’ve bitten off a bit more than you can chew at the moment.

What you need is something reliable and dependable that’s not going to be a bastard keeping needing to be fixed or shit loads of time money spent on it. Something that’s not overly valuable, both in money terms or something you love.

Then, because you want and love old stuff have a project car you can enjoy and tinker with.

 

If I were you,

I’d get rid of the Civic. It’s a ball ache by the looks of things and it’s becoming a pain.

I hate to say this but get rid of the Acclaim. It’s a lovely little car and I get that but it’s seen a few too many Scottish winters! It’s got problems! It can be saved, but doing so will be time consuming and expensive. You can not just piss about patching rust like that. It needs taking off the road and doing properly. And I guarantee you will find a lot more rot once you start digging. I’m not necessarily saying scrap it, but accepting a loss on it and selling it for spares or restoration.

Keep your Dolly. It’s clear you love that car and it does deserve to be fixed. The Acclaim is taking up valuable time and funds that could be better spent on this in my opinion. The Dolly can become a really nice car and worthy ‘toy’ if you keep at it.

 

Finally, get something reasonably modern but decent and use that as the daily. Look after it but don’t go over the top. As the Reverend says, you can get some very good cars for £not much these days if your a bit careful about your choice and where/who you buy from.

 

I’ve been in your shoes with cars. Heart ruling head and taking on too much at once. It’s nearly ruined me at least once recently.

[davehedgehog31]

I love your update Capt, your enthusiasm knows no bounds. I have similar arrangements regards parking etc and no way I'd have the perseverance to take on projects like those.

 

You're certainly spinning plates keeping them all going, you could condense the fleet and still have plenty to keep you occupied, there's always jobs I could do on my Rover but it remains reliable transportation and a bit interesting. The acclaim, as charming as it is does look like a constant battle.

 

I'd hate to dampen your enthusiasm for something you enjoy though, not everything in life has to be rational... As long as you're happy and healthy, but make sure you don't wind up overextending yourself physically, mentally or financially.

[mk2_craig]

Can I echo some of these comments. I used to find buying tired old chod a great short-term mojo boost, unfortunately that's the easy/cheap part and invariably there's some major issue rears its head shortly afterwards that needs major effort/expense. Don't get into the situation where you're lobbing out good money on storing away knackaad heaps for some future time when you'll "get round to it" as that soon mounts up to a sum which coulda bought a tidy usable car on the first place.

 

I've been there with worthless old junk spread across more than one city, renting multiple lockups, borrowing friends' garages or driveways, stuff left for months on end at the local mechanic, juggling insurance policies/tax discs/MOT certificates and on at least one occasion foreign plates to leave an unroadworthy nail parked up on the highway for a bit (admittedly this was in a pre-ANPR and MID era where you could get away with a bit more illegal activity). It eventually gets on top of you and there's a real risk of landing in trouble if the law gets interested.

 

I guess what I'm saying is, cut your losses before things snowball. I'd love to see that Acclaim live on, especially as you've invested time ironing out various bugs already - but like Eddy's old Rover above it's probably on borrowed time, certainly don't go paying someone more than its resale value to stitch some fresh metal into it if you can't do it yourself. Focusing on the Dolomite is the right thing to do as it can be treated as a proper rolling restoration project without the deadline of annual inspections from now on.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I would sell the acclaim, park the doloshite up at FOADS place if he's offering storage, bite the bullet and make the civic reliable.

 

Then spend some time with the Mrs and come back to the doloshite when you've a bit of cash put aside and your head is clearer.

 

I've been where you are and it's horrible. It will get better but it only did for me once I rationalised things in life, parked a few bits and concentrated on sorting out the basics of my existence first. Easier said than done I know.

 

You seem like a throughly decent chap, I enjoy your updates and applaud you ploughing your own 1970s furrow in life.

 

 

 

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[Split_Pin]

 

Then spend some time with the Mrs and come back to the doloshite when you've a bit of cash put aside and your head is clearer.

 

 

I can also confirm that this really works.

[egg]

There's some sage advice there from some experienced shiters...

 

But I have to say part of the uniqueness and glory of this place is people taking on more than they can chew and win or lose taking the slings and arrows...

 

That said if it's pissing you off, reduce the fleet.

[DodgyBastard]

I would sell the acclaim, park the doloshite up at FOADS place if he's offering storage, bite the bullet and make the civic reliable.

 

Then spend some time with the Mrs and come back to the doloshite when you've a bit of cash put aside and your head is clearer.

 

I've been where you are and it's horrible. It will get better but it only did for me once I rationalised things in life, parked a few bits and concentrated on sorting out the basics of my existence first. Easier said than done I know.

 

You seem like a throughly decent chap, I enjoy your updates and applaud you ploughing your own 1970s furrow in life.

 

 

 

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I'm not offering storage.

 

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[They_all_do_that_sir]

I'm not offering storage.

 

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Ah. My mistake, sorry

 

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[Bren]

My SD1 was a basket case. It required a monumental amount of welding and fabrication. Christ knows what a bodyshop would have charged.

 

Would I do it again? Like fuck I would.However, at some point my late in laws granada will need work which I will do for sentimental reasons - if I did'nt feel like this towards the car it would be gone. While I would never spend £300 a month on a PCP the days of me fixing car so I can get to work are long gone.My illness has taught me a valuable lesson - use your time wisely because you only have so much of it.

 

The acclaim looks too far gone - but if you decide to continue then I doff my cap to you.

[Ghosty]

Sounds like you've gone a bit Brian Protheroe...

 

[Eddie Honda]

For all three.

 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I'd keep the Civic. It's only doing what ten year old cars do and whatever you replace it with will be no better.  If it's not rusty (it's not) and the engine is okay (it is) it's a typical used car, and they need repairs.  

[plasticvandan]

Again,i thought Vulgs princess thread got bad at times,but this is just depressing (because ive been there with a fleet of fucked Reliants),so dont take any offence,just my opinion looking from the sidelines.The Acclaim is scrap.even if patched,a badly patched acclaim is worth sod all,and it wont be long before it needs patching again.in the meantime all the other components will fail (assuming the same love and care was taken as with the bodywork) The dolly to me seems like a dog,and only one step up from needing full resto.The civic is probably ok,but had a serious lack of attention due to you hating it. Sell the lot and start again with something like dollys starlet etc.old enough to satisfy shite needs,easy enough to work on,but it will get you to work and back for minimal cost.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I don't think the acclaim is scrap, it's just yer average 35-yr old Longbridge product innit. It can be fixed, but 1) paying someone to fix it is a non-starter as it will cost a packet unless you miraculously find one of those rare characters like the dude off here that welds up Citroen zx's and Sherpa vans for beer money. 2) DIYing it is possible, but only if you have somewhere to do it over several days or weeks, i.e. your own secure work space. On the upside, zintec steel, mig wire and grinder discs are cheap items.

[vulgalour]

I wonder how annoying he's finding all of these unsolicited opinions on what he should do with his cars?  Sounds to me like he knows what he wants to do and hasn't  asked for advice and, having been on the receiving end of a barrage of wisdom like this, I can tell you it's pretty annoying and makes you dread reading your own thread.

 

If we can all just sit back, get a brew, and wait for Captain to pop back in when he's had half a minute to catch his breath, that'd be grand.

[danthecapriman]

I wonder how annoying he's finding all of these unsolicited opinions on what he should do with his cars?  Sounds to me like he knows what he wants to do and hasn't  asked for advice and, having been on the receiving end of a barrage of wisdom like this, I can tell you it's pretty annoying and makes you dread reading your own thread.

 

If we can all just sit back, get a brew, and wait for Captain to pop back in when he's had half a minute to catch his breath, that'd be grand.

Fair point!

[trigger]

I don't think that's really the case, people are just genuinely concerned for him and his sanity, What Mr BOLZ wrote above is what most of us are only thinking, nobody wants to see a shitter get himself down over his hobby and as much as i enjoy my old BL shite that Acclaim really isn't worth the grief, and that's speaking as a ex-Acclaim owner.

[cort16]

It’s speaking from experience too most of us have got in over our heads at some point with cars. I at one point had 4 BMW’s hidden in various place in my town on the street all with issues. When the last one was gone it was a great relief. It can be cathartic to just let them go at some point.

 

If tinkering with them is what gives you satisfaction then good on you and keep at it else don’t .

[Cleon-Fonte]

I wonder how annoying he's finding all of these unsolicited opinions on what he should do with his cars? 

 

How is posting on a public forum not soliciting the opinion of others?

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

 

 

I wonder how annoying he's finding all of these unsolicited opinions on what he should do with his cars?  

 

Why are you here then? 

[Dick Longbridge]

My advice several pages back was to MOT the Acclaim as cheaply as possible, sack it off, and fix up the Civic as a daily.

It has been echoed more or less word for word, by most people posting since. Therefore my opinion is that my opinion is right.

It is only my opinion though.

[sierraman]

Years ago, I'd spend hours covered in shit keeping a fundamentally fucked car going, aiming for the day when it would be 'done'.

 

As I've got a bit older I realise what a monumental waste of time it was, you can pick decent reliable respectable transport up now for next to nothing. I'll repair stuff now but as for working my way down a list of jobs involving several weekends on the trot working on it so I can get to work, I can't be arsed.

 

Its easy to get in the mindset that 'better the devil you know' I can say with certainty every time I've looked around for another car when the old one is falling to bits, I've found the new one is demonstrably better.

 

In short I'd focus my efforts on one project, and have a daily banger. That way you can fuck off back in the house when you've had enough.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I went to a BCA auction today. 57 plate Mazda 6 2.0i petrol, long MOT, £475. A 57 plate Megane 3 door 16 VVT, £275, both sold. Both clean and tidy, ready to go. You can add fees to that, about £150. 

 

This is the reality. £400-600 for smart, useable 10 year old cars. 

[Justin Case]

I went to a BCA auction today. 57 plate Mazda 6 2.0i petrol, long MOT, £475.

I will shortly be making an appearance on the 'depressed' thread