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


captain_70s

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1 hour ago, captain_70s said:

We've got one! You really need to be cutting clean metal with it though, and moving quite quickly, not handy for shitty old steel covered in underseal...

Very true, especially if you're cutting from the undersealy side.  I've used it before on the non-undersealed side to cut out entire floorpans before now, and that worked quite well.

Clubhammer and a sharp brick bolster is quite effective and very cheap.  Distortion is a bit excessive though.

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Bloody good progress getting that engine running.

Love the Volvo too... they're a car I really need to try one day.  Have been a Saab fan as long as I've known cars and owned three classic 900s... really need to properly sample a Volvo some day for comparison purposes.

Had forgotten how bloody long old buses they are though!  White quite suits it actually.

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50 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

you prolly need the blade at 90degrees to the arm to just click the locking tabs over the end of the arm

Gave it a tug in passing when I got home and it clicked into place. This was my first encounter with hook type wiper arms (I had to consult the owner's manual to work out how to fit them), I suspect the fact they're rusty and brush painted has made them a bit tighter than they should be...

I also saw a gritter on my way home, the begining of 6 months of salty roads...

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  • 4 weeks later...

Dolly update!

Really we've just been welding for the last few weekends... Progress increased as I collected my MIG welder I bought from @Tickman so me and @GingerNuttz could weld simultaneously.

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There have been various setbacks including, but not limited to. The space heater dying, @GingerNuttz chopping a finger down to the bone with a machete while trying to fix said space heater, my welding helmet dying, @GingerNuttz's welding helmet deciding it was going to start very occasionally not working and giving him arc eye and the finger sander dying.

SO have some before/afters.

Before:

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After:

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Before:

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After:

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Before:

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After:

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Before:

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After

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So yeah, rot was found. Lots of rot. To take note of the structural areas around the cabin that were fucked:

At the rear of the car both rear inner arches were rotten about 4 inches deep all the way around, the rear jacking points were all rotten, the rear door jams were rotten, both rear corners of the boot floor were rotten.

At the front of the car the the trailing edge of both inner wheel arches was rotten all the way up the bulkhead, the lips that secure the splash guards were rotten, both front jacking points were rotten, the sill end caps were rotten.

All along the bottoms of the sills was also crispy where the outer, inner and reinforcing panel meet. It was only properly fucked at both ends with the middle section being passable but we've elected to replace the outer sills entirely as well as the lower few cm of the reinforcing panel just because it is grotty and while we're here... The side of the inner sill that is parallel to the floor is also getting cut out and replace entirely, although the vertical bit that joins to the floors is fine.
A minor deviation from standard here is that we're seam welding the reinforcing panel directly to the inner sill rather than it having a lip and being spot welded, this saves having another water trap inside the sill as well as being faster to do. We're doing the same with the outers. Here is a diagram of how the Dolly sills go together:

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And the way we are doing it:

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We also changed the vertical box section jacking points, previously they protruded from the inner sill in such a manner that they caught a lot of mud and crap. Thusly:

jack1.jpg.296d7895a237df634f277b4efa7a2010.jpg

We've boxed them into the sill instead, like this:

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I reckon we're over 100 hours into this now and the welding jobs are getting fewer. Once the welding is complete we're going to drop the suspension, sandblast all the components and reinstall with new bushes, the entire underside of the car will be cleared of underseal, and stripped down to bare metal, acid washed, then primered, stonechipped and painted. This should keep up busy over winter and then, as the weather starts to warm up in the springtime we can start doing the bodywork. Hoping to have the car ready to paint by Spring next year...

On the Acclaim front there is nothing to report. It continues to car most impressively but it looking pretty grotty.

The Volvo decided it hated electronic serenity and went nuts yesterday. Turning on the side lights would also activate the rear wiper that then wouldn't go off unless you turned the ignition off at the key, it also seemed to be running the fuel pump primers constantly. I unplugged the dim dip relay and the issues have lessened, it still turned the rear wiper on this morning, but only with the headlights and then it refused to repeat the trick later today... The rough idle/misfire also seems to have been greatly lessened all of a sudden, although this could be coincidence...

Unfortunately we also had a very brief feel around underneath and it may not be worthy of welding up for the pending MOT. We're going to get it up on ramps next weekend and go to town on it...

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  • captain_70s changed the title to Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - Weld - 18/10/20

Good work as ever. 

Interesting you went flat over the jack area. I did similar and looking at @trigger recently posted pictures, his is like that too. Personally I would never trust to jack a classic car on such an area at this age, even if it had been repaired. On the Dolomite I jack the car on the front subframe across the entire. 

Btw it might be worth checking the UV filter on the mask is undamaged or replace it, if managed to give it's user arc-eye. It's not the bright light that causes it but the UV wavelengths given off from that bright light that causes it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photokeratitis

https://www.college-optometrists.org/guidance/clinical-management-guidelines/photokeratitis-.html

Can also be caused by light reflecting around the sides of the helmet and into the eyes. Likewise if someone else is welding nearby and reflecting in or looking at the light when they're working. 

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On 10/19/2020 at 12:22 AM, SiC said:

Good work as ever. 

Interesting you went flat over the jack area. I did similar and looking at @trigger recently posted pictures, his is like that too.

Its just a better design, as long as you know where the jack is supposed to go (right at the end of the sills) there is no reason to have a mud trap there.

I also managed to destroy my phone camera but using at as a torch while welding, got a bit of splatter right on the camera and shattered the glass over the lens.

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A change of pace this weekend.

Saturday:

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Got the Volvo up in the air to see how bad it needed welding for the pending MOT. Jacked it up under the diff to shove ramps under the wheels, it started getting a bit wobbly so we shoved some axle stands under the jacking points to reposition the jack a bit. Upon lowering the N/S jacking point collapsed into the sill, the O/S made pained noises.

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Aye, that's a "no" from me.

Don't get me wrong, I like the car but I'm not in for another big welding job. A couple of plates is one thing but that's a fair chunk of work - time/effort/resources that could be invested elsewhere.

I have elected to ditch the Volvo and instead invest in the Acclaim. It's a far rarer car, is proven mechanically and would be worth more than the 740 once solid. With that in mind I've wanged up a 4SAIL thread if anybody fancies saving it. If not it's away to the Volvo breakers down in the borders.

Sunday:

Started work on the Acclaim. Goal is to have it all done in time for the MOT at the end of next month. The inner wing area and the panel behind the headlights was all looking pretty bad so we started there.

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Shit pictures but I cunningly forgot to take pictures of the repairs before putting all the hoses/wires/coolant reservoirs back in...

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Over the next few weekends the O/S/F wing will be replaced, the headlight panels finished, repairs to the rear floors and arch tubs and rear valance area done and likely some other misc stuff. Should see it happy for a few more years...

I also got a few shots of the Doloshite out of the garage. It's coming together now, and it's insane how much metal has gone into the thing...

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  • captain_70s changed the title to Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - Bye bye Volvo, hello again Acclaim... - 25/10/20

The dolomite is coming along nicely  Shame about the Volvo but you've got to focus on the things that keep your interest and 3 simultaneous weldathons during a Scottish winter isn't exactly good for mojo.

Hope someone takes the 740. The prices of these wagons are taking an upwards turn but they are still quite numerous.  

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Great to see the Doloshite looking less crispy than for many a long year - and while that's less than good news on the Volvo's undercarriage (similar rot was what killed off my 240), at least it's been a useful wagon for transporting all the fixie-uppie gear for the others... On balance, I suppose the general direction of automotive travel here is a positive one, so well done!

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Back in the good old days when classic car values were low enough a semi-decent Moggy was in potential buying range.... Incidentally my parents held firm and in the end I never did get a car until 2011, which was a 2008 Yaris on finance for £5k. I still wanted a Micra/106 and still wasn't allowed one...

In more recent news I sold the Volvo. A bloke came round, pointed out the only solid part was the bit under the battery tray where they usually dissolve handed over £160 and drove off.

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I've kept the roof bars and spares stash and shall throw bits on eBay to claw back some extra dosh.

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23 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Back in the good old days when classic car values were low enough a semi-decent Moggy was in potential buying range.... Incidentally my parents held firm and in the end I never did get a car until 2011, which was a 2008 Yaris on finance for £5k. I still wanted a Micra/106 and still wasn't allowed one...

Funnily enough mine is a similar story. I passed my test back in 2003 and really quite liked a Spitfire or MGB. Got told they're a load of unreliable tosh and not to waste my time or money. 

By the time I got something in 2017, I paid significantly more than I would have done soon after passing my test. Also took a lot more finding to get a good one. 

Problem is, there is stuff out there which is "affordable" but that usually means a lot more work needed to get them usable. Also the different models of cars available are a lot slimmer and as we know either Dolly, parts rarer + more expensive. 

BUT it's only going to get worse as these things whittle down even more. So nothing like the present and try getting a few more out of my system while there is still time. 

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Foad is grateful for it though..
Nope, I'd rather they didn't salt the roads but instead encouraged people to buy winter tyres and learn how to drive in the snow.

Take what most people would consider totally unsuitable for driving in wintery conditions and fit some winter tyres...
I never managed to get stuck anywhere and really did try...

Also I don't particularly enjoy welding up rusty old shitters especially for other people...8c66ba01a06d5373ee9bc4a9f0f11dbf.jpgce2cc8ee8f7d831d577969a9bab3db67.jpg30f06c1feae5497cf042a7c9f9625df9.jpg

Sent from my moto g(8) power using Tapatalk

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  • captain_70s changed the title to Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - Fictional automotive endeavours - 01/11/20

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