captain_70s

All Acclaims had the same steel wheels, CDs got plastic trims and 165/70R13 tyres over the standard 155/80s (145/80s on the base spec). I think the bare steelies with the polished hubcaps look better!

There may be a fee for an immediate recovery if you join at the time, so watch out. I know from bitter experience the RAC have a 24hr cool down between you joining and being able to use the service...

Just because something is done doesn't make it right. An overlap joint is functional and easy but you still end up with a double skinned area along the seam. Not the end of the world in a box section like a sill where you can drown everything in waxoyl but if you can't get at it for rustproofing I'd just butt weld it. There's no point in saving miserable old econoboxes, aside from because you want to do it. Builds a skillset at least.

I had a spare speaker I rigged to the existing wiring, so the existing speaker is presumed good and the wiring/amp the suspect. What I can do, when arsed, is wire a speaker straight into the radio and bypass the existing wiring to rule that out.

Shamelessly stolen from Facebook:

So the dead radio was because the earth wire had somehow dislodged despite having not been touched since being fitted. Once reinstated it worked fine. The driver's side speaker is dead. I swapped the speaker to a spare and that didn't work either, it's wired up at the radio end so I've no idea what's up. Maybe the radio itself is buggered from all the faffing. I'll look at it again when I've not got 250 miles to do in it the same day...

Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry Volvo to Scarborough and it's footwells were moist. Started well as I loaded the car, me and Girlfriend_70s climbed aboard and the radio was dead. Like no power dead. Pulled all the centre console apart multiple times and eventually got it working on one speaker, no idea why the other speaker no longer works, I even tried another speaker to no avail. Set off about an hour later than intended and the journey was largely uneventful. Except when I went to drive home 4 days later the driver's footwell was full of water. It was greasy and unpleasant and my first thought is that the heater matrix has died to death. I've been keeping an eye on things and I think the coolant level has dropped slightly but I've driven the car a few times since and it seems to remain dry. I'm not sure how it'd even manage to get inside the floor mat. It hadn't rained a massive amount either. Fucking bizarre. I could just take the mat out and then all the water would drain through the big fuck off hole in the floor, but y'know... Also the car's unique artex textured paintjob was grand at absorbing every bit of loose tree in North Scarborough... Rough mpg calculation (odo is dead) of around 25mpg on the trip down taking the scenic route over the Pennies and 32mpg on the return leg using the motorways. Disappointing lack of chod too. I did spot a Vauxhall Victor 101 estate parked on the way into Scarborough and on the trip home saw multiple MGBs and a Spridget but other than that this is yer lot.

Assuming this is a typo as 7mm steel would be better for building a boat! The rust looks fairly localised, panels are mostly multiple pieces and simple shapes, you could profile a "close enough" sill by hammering a plate over something vaguely sharp like a kerb stone or something.

Well, if you'd filled half a dozen jerry cans like the smart* people you'd be fine. It is actually a cruel irony that the fuck nuggets hoarding fuel are now the people who actually have some and the people filling up as normal are now fucked.

@davidfowler2000 popped round last night for tea/biscuits/Volvo fixing. Previously the extent of the dash lighting was three out of four bulbs in the instrument cluster and that was it. Now we have new bulbs in the heater controls and behind all the switches, the wiring for the radio was rejigged so the 'leccy antenna is now working again and functionality was restored to the fag lighter/12v socket. We also spent a while pulling relays and flicking switches to try and diagnose some of the electrical chaos. Current suspects are the ignition barrel and intermittent wiper relay. I also spent some time underneath t'other day trying to identify a rattle from the arse end of the thing, I couldn't find fuck all and am starting to think it's a bit of interior trim... The amount of suspension travel is obscene. The thermostat also seems to have jammed open as it is running a bit cool. It's two nuts to change but I don't have one and me and Girlfriend_70s are fucking off to Scarborough for a week tomorrow so it'll have to wait.

This was along my line of thinking, in that sickness isn't aided by the smooth and undulating movements of a softly sprung car. Certainly Girlfriend_70s gets ill if she spends too long in the Doloshite due to it's soft suspension and it's tendency to pitch and roll.

That'll be my being from Leeds ruining everything. This. Less adverts for Talbots. Pondering applying reflective tape for MAXIMUM VOLVO SAFETY. It was a dealer option and if you're going to Volvo you may as well lean into it as hard as possible right? I quite like the red at the back, unsold on the front though. Looks a bit fussy.

Tipex restoration. 👌 The trims and flaps have deffo elevated it from old junker with holes in the floor to cherished classic with holes in the floor.

Don't think they have any way to be tied on, they're stainless trims on a 15" RIGEL alloy wheel, tabs grip them to the centre hole. They're quite tight, they click into place quite securely. There is also a 14" wheel which follows the same concept. Earlier cars got stainless trims over 14" steel wheels.

The other day I came out of the flat to find the Volvo's driver's side mirror pointing in some random direction. Weird. Readjusted it, hit the road and thought nothing more of it. Until I set off from a set of traffic lights a bit harshly and while most of the car lurched forwards toward the horizon the mirror glass instead flopped out and shattered on the ground in my wake into a billion pieces. Closer inspection show some scuffs to the mirror casing, so something has smacked it and dislodged the glass. Bit odd as the mirror wasn't folded back or anything. Whatever, replacement sticky back glass ordered. @rml2345 very kindly donated me some wheel trims too, so I now have a full set for maximum stainless steel content. Other than that nothing to report, both Acclaim and Volvo remain essentially functional, helped by not being commuting hacks. Although now the weather is turning this is the prime time for them to shit themselves.