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


captain_70s

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Having carried out an engine swap already this year I'd be happy to lend a hand/tools/whatever.

 

My advice would be to have an engine crane though. 320T, Brutha_T and I couldn't lift out my Corsa's 1.0 3 banger with wood and straps and that was without the gearbox attached. It was just too awkward and heavy.

 

I bought a crane for £100 brand new on ebay, used it and then sold it for £70 on Gumtree. It might be a bit difficult with your car on the street as the crane will be very heavy, likely moreso than the engine and impossible to lift up the stairs every time. But I suppose if you have a cluster of shiters assisting then it could be done in a day.

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Thanks for the offer but if she is anything like my 200Tdi then it would probably be cheaper to put it on a pallet.  I do get sent all over the place in the work vans so I might pass nearby.  It's just slightly annoying that I spent more than a year driving out to East Anglia several times a week and could easily have called by.

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Here's another possibility...

 

I'll undoubtedly be making a run up to see folks in Aberdeenshire probably start of March.  I'm based in Milton Keynes, so will be pretty much driving past your door.  Irrespective of whether I'm in the van or Xantia space shouldn't be an issue as they're both made using the same technology as the TARDIS.

 

Know it's a fair ways off and other folks can probably get it to you quicker, but don't hesitate to drop me a PM if it's useful.  Shouldn't be any real costs involved there given I'll be making the run anyhow.

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I bought one of these 80quid lightweight engine cranes last year, and promptly exploited it to load numerous Rover v8s and more recently a 5.7 hemi on and off a trailer which proved that it basically will do the work unfettered.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/06191-HYDRAULIC-Workshop-Crane-500kg-ENGINE-CRANE-HOIST-LIFT-Jack-Stand/372485192385?hash=item56b9d8fac1:g:c6kAAOSwvuhbn2Bt:rk:1:pf:0

 

possibly of use?

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Sorry for lack of responses, been a touch busy with the whole Christmas thing!

 

I'll try and collate all offers of help with cross country engine moving after the new year and get back to folk individually! I'm in no major rush to get the car mobile again, although it'd be nice to have it on the go by summer! I plan to strip the new engine down and potentially rebuild it before it goes in the car dependant on what it needs (seems to make sense). Keen to get cracking but also have fuck all money for any bits it might need...

 

Once the engine has landed and been assessed/rebuilt as required I shall try and arrange some sort of engine swapping shindig whereby some Autoshitters can all gather on a sidestreet on Glasgow, dismantle a car, annoy the neighbours and probably speak to some police officers. Sadly moving the car anywhere more practical to work on (Saabnut's shed, for example) is going to be prohibitively expensive/impractical from a distance point of view... I'll probably buy a crane, either new or 2nd hand or something. Probably a handy thing to have when you run as many fucked BL heaps as I do, investment innit.

 

In current fleet news I took the Acclaim up to the parent's place for Crimbo.

 

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Then I went over to my Renault hoarding mate's place on Boxing Day.

 

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As is tradition he bestowed upon on me a gift of obsolete music playback technology.

 

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Then I returned home with considerably more cat prints on my car...

 

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Another 400 or so miles done, averaging around 38mpg, bare minimum usage of oil/coolant. Only problem I encountered was the windscreen washers freezing up. At MOT time I reckon I'll have to do something about the blowing exhaust which is annoyingly loud and makes long trips tedious. 

There is also still generally lumpy running at low rpms, which I can't get to the bottom of, and the increasingly shit brakes which need attending to when time/weather allows.

 

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Captain, moving the car to my shed for fixerating is easily doable with a bit of planning, I have a choice of towcars and trailers so not an expense, and Glasgow is only 120 miles or so, so local in North East terms.

 

Looking on the old Google maps it could be alright. When travelling north I'm usually heading to Banff so I have a slightly warped perception of how far away things are. I forget you're closer to Stonehaven which is a good hour and a half less driving...

 

If you'd be good enough to offer that it'd be mighty helpful, although I'll have to update you once a new engine has been collectioned/is ready to drop in!

 

I like that open reel recorder. Perhaps that should be your new ICE when the Doloshite is fixerated

 

I have an 8-track player to go in, just need to actually get around to fitting it...

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Mini-Shitefest at Saabnut's again!

 

I'd be up for a weekend of drinking / camping / doloshite fixerating.

 

 

 

 

For extra jeopardy Cpt_70s should get a lift up in the tow car, so he has to get the Doloshite functional again to drive home!

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I may be the only person here who gets a warm fuzzy feeling from pictures of county boundary signs at night.

 

One of the old Club Triumph events was the Historic Counties Run. You basically spent twelve hours on Saturday night Sunday morning trying to visit as many counties as possible with photographic evidence to prove it. Different areas every year but you'd cover 5-600 miles each time.

 

I have photos of boundary signs for almost every county in England and Wales and even now when I see one I have an overwhelming urge to come to a screeching halt, jump out, take a photo and jump back in in the shortest possible time.

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I do like a bit of Techmoan. His budget hifi 4-parter was a good pre-festiveseason set of videos. I can imagine him in a Dolomite, though a Sprint not a 1300. Or a Maxi.

 

Sorry for Fred Hijack!

He used to own a MK1 MR2.

 

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Ditto hijacking apologies.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Took the Acclaim to the local jetwash to remove some of the winter crud, then gave both the cars a wash with some William's waterless wash and wax stuff which seems to have done an alright job. I only have photos taken in the dark to show this sadly...
 
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The weather is taking it's toll sadly, quite a bit of the rear valance simply fell off and there is quite a lot of rust freshly blooming through the nice looking blow over paint job and the freshly refurbished wheels are shedding quite a lot of paint. It's the sort of stuff that could be sorted out in a weekend with undercover storage, it'll have to be tackled during summer. Quite a few people were complimentary of my tinseling and it managed to survive 400+ miles, which was handy!
 
Winter is seriously cramping my mojo, a distinct lack of arsedness is prevailing at the moment. Compounded by being lacking in both money and an interesting car to drive... I've even bought some new brake shoes for the Dolly... 1850HL. Don't ask...
 
I've PM'd you regards your offer of engine transportation Zelandeth!

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Today was the first day back at work post Christmas, grim realities setting in...

 

Post work today I set about trying to lessen some of the Acclaim's interior rattles. Firstly the steering column surround which rattles horribly at idle, I tightened up the solitary screw (one out of four aint' bad!) that was holding it all together. I then set about trying to stop the passenger side speaker from vibrating under any sort of base, mostly by jamming bits of sponge between the speaker/surround/grille. Sadly it was to no avail, that entire corner of the dash just seems to reverberate, I don't think it is engineered to cope with modern speaker outputs...

 

I also blasted all the door light switches with WD40 so now the interior light will come on when Girlfriend_70s opens her door, I'm nothing if not thoughtful.

 

I also lubricated the Doloshite's door hinges as the rear doors were getting quite hard to open due to lack of use. I did ponder starting to dismantle it, but I want to film it and it was too windy (pitiful excuse) so I went inside and had a nap instead.

 

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Winter is seriously cramping my mojo, a distinct lack of arsedness is prevailing at the moment. Compounded by being lacking in both money and an interesting car to drive...

I think most of us are. I mean I should be outside doing at least something on the 1100. Even if it's just cleaning up and painting parts. It's not even as cold out there tonight as it has been (9C not -1C). Just CBA. I can't even go shopping for parts as impending house moving is going to blow my finances. :(:?

 

 

I also lubricated the Doloshite's door hinges as the rear doors were getting quite hard to open due to lack of use.

Sounds like you're getting on with the most important jobs first. ;):D
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  • 3 weeks later...

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