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

[Ghosty]

Wonder if that's a coincidence considering them not wanting the Dolly around.

[captain_70s]

Wonder if that's a coincidence considering them not wanting the Dolly around.

Whenever I phoned about it they'd say that it'd been too busy to see to it but if there was no rush I could leave it. It's been there for 2 months!

 

You'd think they'd be OK with having me around as it's morons like me who actually pay to have their cars repaired... Having said that the Aussie bloke in the queue in front stumped up the best part of £400 for a service so I'm probably not a great earner...

[theshadow]

what at tosser,well went looking for stuff,or hates old bangers,time to find a more ,,,,,,, mot place.

[AnthonyG]

I don’t really understand how some of that is even structural - surely bits at the bottom of wheelarches, unless attached to the sills, only need to have no sharp edges.

 

And since when did front/rear valances matter?

 

I’ve seen cars go through Mots where said valances were composed mainly of filler, gaffer tape and paint.

[Dick Longbridge]

Sorry to read that it needs brown replacing with silver.

I know some MOT testers are a bit too keen on poking tender bits in an over-zealous manner, but jeez.

Your tester is a twunt.

Fingers crossed it can be fixed up for not-too-much.

[Tickman]

I think he saw the fresh black and went looking to see how good a job had been done.

[DodgyBastard]

I think he saw the fresh black and went looking to see how good a job had been done.

There lies the problem, most of the freshly undersealed areas hadn't actually been welded, they were wire wheeled, found to be pretty solid, treated with vactan and undersealed.

At least the chassis leg that I welded passed the test.

I think the garage saw him coming and thought it would be an opportunity to make some money so used excessive force when checking the freshly coated areas, poke any old car hard enough and you'll start making holes.

 

I'd be tempted to paint over all of the chalk with black paint then take it for an mot over at my local mot place, they are relatively fair and just do mot's so there's no incentive to go looking for extra business. It may fail again but I'd imagine there would be a much more manageable list to work through.

 

Sent from my F5321 using Tapatalk

[JeeExEll]

^ Much as I hate to say it, (and want to see the Acclaim back on the road) the rust is actually there though. It does exist. The MOT guy didn't put the rust there, he's just doing the job he's being paid to do. Maybe a bit harsh, but it's real.

 

If he'd passed unsafe items and afterwards there was an accident, or if the Acclaim just fell to bits out on the road and crossed the white centreline . . . .

 

Brushing it over with thick paint won't fix it.

 

So, time to make it all better, clean all that black shit off, strip it out, wirebrush it all, and welderup

[Mally]

^^^

The fail is also presumably on tinternet for all to see.

Needs to be fixed.

[Eddie Honda]

just do mot's so there's no incentive to go looking for extra business.l

I telt him to use Whiteinch MOT in the past. Same deal, just MOTs and fairly local too.

[DodgyBastard]

^ Much as I hate to say it, (and want to see the Acclaim back on the road) the rust is actually there though. It does exist. The MOT guy didn't put the rust there, he's just doing the job he's being paid to do. Maybe a bit harsh, but it's real.

 

If he'd passed unsafe items and afterwards there was an accident, or if the Acclaim just fell to bits out on the road and crossed the white centreline . . . .

 

Brushing it over with thick paint won't fix it.

 

So, time to make it all better, clean all that black shit off, strip it out, wirebrush it all, and welderup

I never said the rust wasn't there but clearly the garage have made it out to be much worse than it is. A second opinion might help with a fairer tester which would likely give an easier list to work to and allow captain 70s to tackle the rest of the issues after the main bits were done and the car tested.

I don't think my mot tester has much interest in this forum so wouldn't have to worry about him seeing this thread.

 

Sent from my F5321 using Tapatalk

[Split_Pin]

I cant understand how a numner of of these holes have been failed.

 

I'm no expert but some of them dont look like prescribed areas.

 

I agree that it would be a good idea to take it somewhere else to get a clearer picture of things.

[JeeExEll]

^^ FOAD @12.53.

Aye, I see your point bud, was not meant as a criticism.

 

Ideally the solution would be to just wipe the lot out and do all the work in a 'oner' while it's all stripped down and all the gear's set up. Scrape and wire-brush the lot, cut-out grot, make & weld plates, protect & seal everything.

It's not as if the Acclaim can be used on the road anyway and Honda Civic is providing day-to-day transport.

 

Otherwise you're looking at (maybe) a quicker MOT and work which still needs to be done in dribs and drabs (or just forgotten about) and could drag out till the end of time.

Meanwhile other old-car faults will undoubtedly say hello.

[captain_70s]

The garage actually farm their welding work out to another company on the estate, the guy there says he's busy with other jobs for the next week anyway.

 

The goal was to get the car MOT'd and be able to get the bodywork I knew about sorted spread across the year. I don't have facilities for large scale work, I do all my work at the side of the road outside my flat!

 

Current plan is to book it to FOAD's local MOT place, get another fail, go to Foadwerx from there and use the facilities to weld it up properly. Either I can do it myself at the cost of materials or FOAD will weld it for slightly* less than the sum I was quoted by the garage. (The total bill for everything is actually more than I paid for the car...)

 

While the Civic just about gets me to work and back I can't go any real distance in it as the O/S brakes get red hot, to have the time to repair it I need another car to use in the interim. I am currently tinkering with the Doloshite as it is an easier/cheaper fix...

[davehedgehog31]

Don't know why, but I had it in my mind you were in Aberdeen.

 

Absolutely no idea why.

[captain_70s]

I lived in rural Aberdeenshire/Moray until last February in a cottage with a big driveway. Better for fixing cars, much worse for mental health.

 

The more I think about this MOT fail the less it makes sense, the Acclaim is much more solid than the Doloshite (with it's imaginary jacking points and fibreglass bodgery) yet only £120 worth of welding was required...

[GrumpiusMaximus]

I'm not an expert by any means but it does sound fishy when you put it like that.

[captain_70s]

The Dolly was was praised for it's solidness by the garage staff but if the tester had been as stringent as they were with the Acclaim I reckon it'd have been condemned several times over... Having said that the Acclaim was praised for it's solidness as well, it's less rusty than the RX8 the Doloshite farted on!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

The Dolly was was praised for it's solidness by the garage staff but if the tester had been as stringent as they were with the Acclaim I reckon it'd have been condemned several times over... Having said that the Acclaim was praised for it's solidness as well, it's less rusty than the RX8 the Doloshite farted on!

 

Who knew BL's rustproofing was so good?!

[theshadow]

if it had been nearer that would have cost about £100 to do, :-D :-D

[Supernaut]

While the Civic just about gets me to work and back I can't go any real distance in it as the O/S brakes get red hot, to have the time to repair it I need another car to use in the interim. I am currently tinkering with the Doloshite as it is an easier/cheaper fix...

 

It doesn't take that long to grease up the slider pins / fit new calipers.

 

Otherwise, there's a lovely* Acclaim in the ebay tat thread. It's not really conveniently located for you though.

[Noel Tidybeard]

N/S seatbelt area will need patching but should be easy to fabricate with flat panels.

O/S looks terrible but might not fail the MOT as there is no unpatched holes and I can't poke any more in it.

 

 

 

take the seat belts out not required on a "Y" reg and its fitted wrong anyway- buckle should be in the centre not by the door

 

no seat belt = not within prescribed area

[captain_70s]

The O/S/R seatbelt is already gone due to prior welding! Hasn't made much difference to the pass rate though sadly...

 

I've spent 5 hours trying to remove one the Civic's rear calipers before (N/S which is currently working), I have no want to do it again...

 

Today's jobs were minor tinkering with the Doloshite. It kept raining on and off so I set about rewiring the radio, for as long as I've had the car it's featured mono sound and cut out a lot. It has always bugged me somebody has butchered the door cards to fit a modern radio which is still utterly dire. I found the following problems with it:

 

The front right speaker was wired in as the front left.
The front left speaker was wired in as the rear left.
(Resulting in mono sound despite two speakers)
Both speakers were wired in reverse polarity.
The radio is locally earthed to the underside of the dash, namely through the vinyl resulting in terrible earthing.
The front right speaker's cabling inside the door card was all frayed and the joins were rusty.

 

I rewired the speakers to be receiving the correct outputs and polarities, moved the earth to be straight onto the metal dash frame under the vinyl and re-connected/taped up the dodgy joins on the right speaker resulting in a far better stereo radio!

 

 

I also have a lame faceplate to cover up the head unit so it looks less shit when at shows...

 

 

Then the sun came out so I did a compression test with the engine cold with the following results:

 

120, 110, 115, 120

 

Not bad! The plugs were black though despite being new 250 miles ago, suspect it's running quite rich.

 

I then set about fitting a new choke cable (3rd times the charm...) which was going fine until the head of the retaining screw on the carb sheared off when I tried to free the old cable. I yanked the old cable out by sheer force and have ordered a new screw. For now I still have a screwdriver operated choke! I also need to find a way to better secure the throttle cable as the sheath works free from it's mount and causes the throttle to not return properly. This is standard "repo part doesn't fit" behaviour, currently it is held in place with a cable tie but that has a tendency to fall off...

 

I then ran the car up to temp and set the ignition timing and idle speed to happy seeming levels. For some reason the distributor clamp won't tighten into position which is irksome as it means the timing drifts out as you're driving... I still need to sort the carb mixture out and do a hot compression test but it started raining again so I headed inside for the day.

 

I have to say it's good to have the Doloshite back, even if it is a turd.

 

 

I think the paint fade is known as "patina" these days.

 

 

Bits like this are known as "fucked".

 

 

Stupid thing...

 

[theshadow]

had the toledo version of one these,some f-cker cut me up on motorway,i smashed into concrete  still here,so it was pretty solid,dark racing green..... :shock:

[davehedgehog31]

I salute you Sir. I don't have a driveway at the monent either and it's hard going working on much more modern shite, kudos to you for getting to much done.

[Noel Tidybeard]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/triumph-acclaim-exhaust-222-987-ex151-/222859049367?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c2

[vulgalour]

All you need is wob (doododododo)

[captain_70s]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/triumph-acclaim-exhaust-222-987-ex151-/222859049367?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c2

 

For some reason rear silencers are still available from quite a few places, it's the rest of the system that is NLA and leaks the most on my car...

 

I found this:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IMASAF-Full-Exhaust-System-Triumph-Acclaim-1-3-1982-1985/401363680212?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

But given the car's current state the exhaust can wait given it's not completely dead yet...

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

I aspire to the levels of dedication you prove you have fella, I haven't gone near the lada since it took an eon to start one morning and barely ticks over. It stalls on hitting the accelerator every fucking time now. No clue as to why and not a sodding remote interest in even looking......

Top envy and internet points/doughnuts awarded for your sheer bloody will......

 

I'd be prepping bits for the patches already for the Acclaim - then they're on hand when you start ripping it to shreds. May prove to save enough time so it isn't left with its arse in the air too long.

 

Best of everything crossed dude.

[captain_70s]

Today featured nice weather so I was busy after work.

 

Jacked up the Doloshite and replaced the brake shoes to see if that'd make any difference to it's handbrake

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

While I was in the area I also wire brushed a fuck load of dust, mud, rust, flaking underseal etc out of the wheel arches.

 

With everything reassembled I fucked with the ignition timing a bit more as it kept backfiring through the carb when revved, a quick spin around the block confirmed it drives much better although the dizzy still can't be secured, the clamp is bollocksed. Me attempting to tighten it with a hammer merely bollocksed it more... Lifting the piston lifting pin on the carb causes the engine to die suggesting it's running far too lean, the soot on the plugs must be from the car running on the choke so much recently...

 

The brakes have caused some issues. For one thing while dismantling I noticed the old shoes have worn very unevenly, one side is down to the rivets and the other has plenty of life left. This was matching on both wheels. 

 

On the O/S the drum needs bashing over the shoes while the N/S side slots on nicely, both are fitted identically with the adjusters/handbrake levers wound back as far as they go and the shoes/cylinder isn't sitting proud on the O/S or anything. You can here/feel the shoes contacting the drum even with the adjuster wound back to the max as you rotate the O/S wheel but it's not uniform across the rotation. The N/S needs the adjuster wound in a bit to make contact but suffers the same lack of uniform contact.

 

I'm was going to assume the drums aren't true but that doesn't explain the uneven shoe wear...

 

I've not bothered setting the handbrake yet as I suspect that by the time both shoes are firmly against the drum and able to hold the car the brakes will be partially stuck on even without the handbrake. The pedal feel also doesn't seem right, you get no brakes until about halfway through it's movement and there is a "squishing" sound from the pedal. I've not driven the car very much lately but I'm sure it wasn't like that when I drove it home the other day...

 

 

By this point I was tired and hungry so came inside for the night. One step forward two steps back with this car...