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

[captain_70s]

I think getting the essentials done for about a grand is quite reasonable, but then again you could get another scabby Dolly for a similar sort of price. Worth keeping an eye out for a terminally rotten one with a good engine?

 

I reckon the days of a roadworthy Dolly for a grand are now long gone, £1500-2000 might get something worth having but even then a weldathon could be required... A spare engine from a scrapper is a possibility, could also feasibly nick one from a Mk4 Spitfire or a Herald 13/60, the 1500 from the later Spitfire and MG Midget would also fit if I so desired. The only issue is running the risk of gaining another fucked engine...

 

Good to have a plan.  It doesn't mean you have to stick to it.  Having a point of reference can really help keep things on track and stop you doing things like buying wheels and stickers for that quick bit of retail therapy.  Tape and rust killer are probably good enough to see you another year without things getting terminal.  It's the engine that would concern me more on this one than the bodywork, the damage you've shown all seems fairly superficial stuff (in the grand scheme of Triumph rot, that is), but the noises the engine makes at times are a little worrying.

 

The rot is alright, the metal is good in all the awkward places around the bulkhead, A-pillars and screen surrounds where my 1850HL had started to corrode badly. The engine is shagged but it's been shagged for as long as I've owned the thing and many thousands of miles, it'd be very nice to have a decent powerplant but I don't think it'll die TOO soon given it's sporadic usage.

 

Wrong engine though, and I doubt it's much good anyway.

 

Surely there is one in Saabnut's garden he wouldn't notice go missing?

 

I've already got a good spare 1850 engine in a fucked car in the north east of Scotland! I also have another spare 1850 engine in a shed in the same location! However fitting one to the 1300 is, frankly, too much hassle when Triumph OHC lumps give me the fears...

[captain_70s]

Lost a centre cap. Car is now officially worthless.

 

 

5,000 miles into ownership now, all is fairly well.

 

I put the fuse back in for the clock/interior light as the 12v socket also uses it and I needed it for the tyre pump. the clock is always un-illuminated when I leave the car and activates itself overnight. Bastard thing.

 

Still idles lumpy and is a bit uneven at low throttle inputs (amazingly this isn't simply curing itself), exhaust exits largely under the driver's seat and the radio speakers cause the dash to vibrate. Other than those small niggles it just keeps on trucking, uses no oil, no coolant, no brake fluid.

Could probably do with some pads/shoes all around when I can be arsed as the handbrake is getting a bit naff and the front squeaks a bit.

 

I need to use the Dolomite more, just because the Acclaim is only insured to do 7,000 miles a year and I'm getting dangerously close.

 

Problem being it is now cold and damp outside all the time and I can't be arsed with doing anything productive...

[captain_70s]

Decided I should be using the Dolomite more, at least once a week to keep it freed up and save on adding miles to the Acclaim, especially with it behaving fairly well recently. With that in mind I used it to drive to work yesterday, drove there absolutely no problem. I was actually thinking to myself what a fine daily conveyance it'd make At the end of my shift I set off towards Buchanan Galleries to pick up Girlfriend_70s, this is where problems started.

 

Traffic was worse than usual and when the car got up to temp it lost it's idle, with some throttle applied it would hold at about 1,000rpm, any less and it'd start spluttering badly. Then the car died at a busy junction with fences around the pavement, there was much horn blasting and angry people as I pushed the car around a corner. I gave it a couple of mins to cool which caused it to recover a bit.

After this I managed to limp the car on to the M8, by this point it was seriously down on power. It's run semi-decently on a tiny bit of throttle but any more and it'd start coughing and bog down completely. Actual airflow through the engine bay did improve things and I managed to slowly achieve 50mph.

I got to Buchanan Galleries, collected Girlfriend_70s and set off again. By this point it was nearly impossibly to pull away from a standstill without stalling. I developed a tactic of bouncing the car off the line on the clutch while reving the bejeezus out of the thing bit by bit to gain momentum until I could pull away using the low throttle.

Then it died again at a red light. There was more horns and angryness. When the lights turned green I tried to push the car across the junction but they went red as I was halfway through and rather than wait the traffic barged towards the clearly fucked car with the driver pushing it with more angry and horns. A small downhill section gained me the momentum required to get the car off the road and on to the pavement.

 

 

We waited for 10 or so minutes for it to cool down and then it behaved perfectly fine. Until about halfway up Great Western Road, which was incredibly busy for some reason. By this point I'd mastered the art of bouncing the car off the line but doing this uphill was seriously sketchy and acceleration was glacial. Turned off at the Botanic Gardens as there wasn't a hope in hell of getting up the next hill in heavy traffic and managed to cough and splutter to Maryhill Tesco where we waited for another 10 mins for the car to cool before finally making it home...

 

Fucking cars...

[purplebargeken]

NEVER, EVER tell a Triumph you are happy with it or it is running well. It will immediately fuck you over. 

 

Try different coil.

 

Best of luck.

[lanciamatt]

Replace condenser and check points gap and set dwell angle, like above change coil too. Just check you get right one, didn't some of these use 9v coil and a balast resistor?

[SiC]

I think I'd have pushed it around the corner to the nearest car park space, abandon it and then called an Uber home...

 

Do you have any spark testers?

Something like this: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F332810958549

 

If you haven't, I can pop one in the post if you want as I seem to have like five of them. Should tell you if it's not sparking or its incredibly weak. Will at least give you something to do while waiting for it to cool down.

 

Like the others have said, I'm pretty sure it's ignition related. Coil or the electronic ignition module.

[captain_70s]

I'm hoping coil. Got a spare that might be good which I'll bung on, see what that does. I meant to do it a while ago but the weather said no...

 

Couldn't abandon the car 'cause there was nowhere to dump it and I've not got breakdown cover so it'd have to be driven home eventually anyway...

 

It'd still have to be done in stages twixt being too hot anyway, unless I fancied going back for it at night.

[Tickman]

 I've not got breakdown cover so it'd have to be driven home eventually anyway...

 

This is a heroic statement and shows how incredibly skint talented at getting old cars going you are

 

Autoaid is about £45 for the year if you are ever flush with cash for more than 10 minutes after payday.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

While you choose to entertain* yourself with the shenanigans that is classic chod ownership - your GF is silently bearing witness and offering moral support.....  that Mrs 70's sounds a gem for taking that journey on the chin! An ex of mine went mental when an Audi 5pot overheated near Hendon Police School in London....

 

Good luck fixing the snotter - weekly runs are definitely only going to help improve reliability in the long run......

[Mally]

Yes, chuck the car, keep the GF.

[cort16]

Conking our in an old car in the centre of Glasgow at rush hour is a good way to make new friends*

[captain_70s]

I think Girlfriend_70s takes it well because,

 

A - It doesn't happen too frequently.

B - I tend to handle the situation with a calm demeanour. I am used to breaking down and give few fucks about the whole process.

C - It never lasts very long. I always get the car going again in under 10 mins. In this particular instance while waiting for the car to cool down she just started playing Animal Crossing on her Nintendo DS while I did a general under bonnet check of fluids and connections...

 

Once I rid the car of this irritating hot running problem it'll be perfectly usable. It's an annoying obstacle which would be much easier to remedy if it wasn't constantly pissing it down aside from the ONE DAY I was seeing Girlfriend_70s and therefore couldn't work on it.

[SiC]

Once I rid the car of this irritating hot running problem it'll be perfectly usable. It's an annoying obstacle which would be much easier to remedy if it wasn't constantly pissing it down aside from the ONE DAY I was seeing Girlfriend_70s and therefore couldn't work on it.

Skin is waterproof.

 

(Unfortunately welding sets aren't, which is very frustrating for me)

[vulgalour]

Can you not fashion a golf umbrella or beach wind break out of a fire blanket?  That would provide shelter and be fireproof.

[JimH]

Then it died again at a red light. There was more horns and angryness.

 

It's always good that people wade into help when things go wrong. There you are red faced with embarassment and exertion wondering how you are going to sort this problem out, get the car going and get out of everyone's way. Then inspiration hits. If only some bellpiece would sound their horn. That would solve the problem.

 

Fortunately there is usually a good Samaritain willing to lend a hand.

[purplebargeken]

Having broken down in heavy traffic (usually A406) on several occasions over the years my general response to horn honking and angriness is to shout VERY loudly 'Well thanks for fucking helping me push the very broken down car out of the way instead of sounding your fucking horns you wankers'. This has usually resulted in the much quietness and one or two offers to help push the car out of the way. I can shout very, very loudly indeed.

[captain_70s]

Skin is waterproof.

 

(Unfortunately welding sets aren't, which is very frustrating for me)

 

Can you not fashion a golf umbrella or beach wind break out of a fire blanket?  That would provide shelter and be fireproof.

 

I've worked by brolly and in the pissing rain before now... However I also have a Triumph Acclaim to use so frankly, I can't be arsed.

 

 

It's always good that people wade into help when things go wrong. There you are red faced with embarassment and exertion wondering how you are going to sort this problem out, get the car going and get out of everyone's way. Then inspiration hits. If only some bellpiece would sound their horn. That would solve the problem.

 

Fortunately there is usually a good Samaritain willing to lend a hand.

 

Having broken down in heavy traffic (usually A406) on several occasions over the years my general response to horn honking and angriness is to shout VERY loudly 'Well thanks for fucking helping me push the very broken down car out of the way instead of sounding your fucking horns you wankers'. This has usually resulted in the much quietness and one or two offers to help push the car out of the way. I can shout very, very loudly indeed.

 

I've been known to stop and help push cars when they're not even blocking the road, but I feel I may be in a minority!

[inconsistant]

After this I managed to limp the car on to the M8, 

 

 

and I've not got breakdown cover 

 

 

 

Epic Autoshiter 11/10

[tommytwo]

Captain-70's is definitely following the right road in relying on himself to cope with a breakdown. Insurance is useless when you have to wait hours for help to show up. When I broke down, (first time anywhere in 50 years) I waited 2 hours for Autoaid to appear. Frustrated, I fixed the problem myself and got going again. Calling to cancel my shout, I was informed that they were still looking for someone to take the job. And they could not find me on their map and could not accept GPS co-ordinates. An absolute bloody shower! Once again, I learned the lesson. To buy cheap is to buy dear!

[Datsuncog]

Insurance is useless when you have to wait hours for help to show up. When I broke down, (first time anywhere in 50 years) I waited 2 hours for Autoaid to appear. Frustrated, I fixed the problem myself and got going again. Calling to cancel my shout, I was informed that they were still looking for someone to take the job. And they could not find me on their map and could not accept GPS co-ordinates. An absolute bloody shower! Once again, I learned the lesson. To buy cheap is to buy dear!

 

My all-singing, all-dancing RAC membership cost me £180 annually for household cover. The first time I had to use it in recent years, back in April (for a car that had suffered total and catastrophic engine failure and just needed recovered off the motorway), they were bloody hopeless and still hadn't got someone to me after three hours. The previous time I'd had to call on them (back in 2003) they refused to attend as I couldn't give them an exact postcode, and hung up on me.

 

I'm with AutoAid now, as while I doubt they're any better, they are a quarter of the price! Every other time I've had a FTP, I've managed to get it going again myself.

 

I do fear something terminal landing me with a hefty recovery bill far from home (as per the Laguna), which is why I wouldn't have the cojones to go the Captain_70s route. I'm a wuss.

[big_al_granvia]

nae luck mate, glasgow is a good place to fail and nobody ever mucks in with a push or offers a straight tow even if you are standing looking pathetic with a tow strop. 

 

think us race marshals are a weird breed as soon as we see a broken down car instinct is to push it to a safe place, mind one time a guy binned his focus into the barrier near kilwinning station, myself and flat4 were out of the car like gazelles. I told her to get a trolley jack and start straightening the guys ssuspension whilst i directed traffic, jack straightened wishbone enough to get a wheel on and push the car to safety, local plod were confused at how these 2 lunatics in orange were doing their jobs (plod had no hi-vis)... okay netti isnt a marshal but she has owned more heaps than i have had kebabs

[captain_70s]

Weather is good! Time to do car stuff!

 

 

First up was the Acclaim which gained a new rotor arm and aux belt.

 

 

Wasn't overly impressed by the state of the dizzy cap though.

 

 

Took it for a spin around the block and it seems a bit better than previously, although it's rough idle has been coming and going of late, so fuck knows. I've lost my feeler gauges so can't do the valve clearances... 

 

I then set about working on the Doloshite, which has gained some funky leaf stains...

 

 

SiC kindly sent my a spark tester and a test lamp, so I tested my spare coil to find it worked and fired up the car and took it for a spin until it was nice and hot. Then I quickly swapped the coils over for it to make no difference to the running at all. One thing is that now the ambient temperature is about 12C rather than 20C I simply can't get the car hot enough for it to display the same symptoms as before! The bloody thing is too cold blooded...

 

I did make this quality* video though.

 

 

That's the car up to temp, running on the spare (cold) coil, featuring the spark tester on plug No.1 and the test lamp attached twixt the black cable to the dizzy and the positive battery terminal...

 

 

Bloody cars...

[Mally]

I'm no expert, but you may find the new rotor arm is inferior to the old one,

Do not throw the old one away.

[captain_70s]

I'm no expert, but you may find the new rotor arm is inferior to the old one,

Do not throw the old one away.

If something is functioning when it comes off the car it goes in the boot as a spare, I've now got a spare rotor arm and fan belt in stock.

 

I also started to do the Acclaim's rear brake shoes, then realised you had to take the hubs off so I gave up as there is a torquing procedure to follow for the bearings which I can't do as my torque wrench vanished when I moved to Glasgow...

[Skut]

They Triumphs may have a minor tendency towards FTP but they do look lovely parked together. I don't envy your breakdowns though. A well spoken young Englishman breaking down in a particularly English old car might get the locals beating the jungle drums.

[somewhatfoolish]

The average weegie ned won't have a clue what a Triumph is, never mind where it was made; the locals are likely to be more interested in whether the Captain's catholic or protestant.

[captain_70s]

I used to have a Royal Standard of Scotland lapel badge on my "good" tweed jacket. Needless to say that shit doesn't fly in Glasgow and has been replaced with the Historic Scotland logo...

 

I am still a posh sounding bastard. For all of my young life I wanted to sound "proper", now I dearly wish I had a regional accent.

 

Obviously I own a green and blue car for football politics, depends on where in town I'm driving.

[Squire_Dawson]

FWIW I thought you were a native speaker.

[big_al_granvia]

Doesnt always work as the louden tavern (rangers pub and as featured in Britain's hardest pubs) is a stone's throw from parkhead...

 

Get yourself down to machine mart on great western road, clarke tools are great for the diy mechanic

[captain_70s]

Doesnt always work as the louden tavern (rangers pub and as featured in Britain's hardest pubs) is a stone's throw from parkhead...

 

Get yourself down to machine mart on great western road, clarke tools are great for the diy mechanic

I actually popped down to Machine Mart to collect a torque wrench and some feeler gauges. The computer they used to process the order looked to be about as old as the Acclaim.

 

In more recent news I decided to use the Doloshite more, as why have 4,000 miles on an insurance policy if you aren't going to try and use them? Also long trips through the wilderness with no breakdown cover is a good way to improve your resourcefulness...

 

I made a really very dull video about it, although at one point I did nearly run over a stag on film, which is fun.

 

 

 

Spoilers, I made it to my destination. I also reunited the Doloshite and the Yellow Peril.

 

 

Found that you can fit a wheeled zimmer frame type thing in a Dolomite, mostly.

 

 

Ate quality Scottish cuisine.

 

 

And met some minor obstacles.