Project Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - COLD START EVERYTHING - 24/03/26

[captain_70s]

Hullo,

 

I'm a masochist from Leeds who is running two rusty, worn out Triumph Dolomites as my only transport in rural Aberdeenshire. You might recognise me from various other forums and Facebook groups. Realistically I need to buy a modern car of some sort, but instead I find myself looking at £300 Citroen BXs and Triumph Acclaims on Gumtree and thinking "yeah, that'd fit right in with the rest of the broken cars I can't afford".

 

On to the cars, the main attraction being my 1976 1850HL "50 Shades of Yellow" that I bought for £850 and is currently my daily driver, here is a picture of it before I sanded off some surface rust and sprayed it badly in the wrong shade of yellow with rattle cans:

 

 

Within a month of purchase I managed to plant it in to a steel fence backwards after a botched gear change on a wet roundabout and ruined the N/S rear wing, although judging by the other dent that's packed with filler it looks like somebody had already done the same. I also managed to destroy a halfshaft and one of my Sprint alloys (good for an extra 15hp) in the incident, so now it's sitting on it's original steelies but painted black (good for an extra 5hp).

 

It's only broken down on me twice. once with some sort of fuel delivery related problem which may or may not have been an empty fuel tank and once when the thermostat jammed shut and it overheated and blew out some O-rings for the cooling system. It has recently developed a taste for coolant and oil which is rather annoying, although it's done 89,300 miles which is about 80,000 more miles than BL engineering is designed to last, I'm keeping my eye on eBay for replacement engines... 
I tried to keep ahead of the rust a bit by rubbing down the arches and re-painting them, but apparently rattle can paint isn't great when you are spraying it at -5C, it also highlighted how although my car might have been Inca Yellow in 1976 it's now more of a "cat piss" sort of shade. So I ended up with the wrong shade of yellow which has rust coming back through after 5 weeks. Did I mention I'm incompetent?

 

The other car is the first "classic" car I bought, so I can't bear to sell it. It's a '77 Dolomite 1300 and it cost £1400 (about £400 too much) and has been nothing but a pain in the arse:

 

 

It looks much prettier (from 100 yards) but that's most due to the darker paintwork hiding the rust. It lives a mollycoddled life in my garage, where it somehow still manages to rust, and is utterly rubbish. 0-60 is measured on a calendar, top speed is 80ish but at that point it uses more oil than petrol, it rarely ventures over 50mph and if you encounter an incline of any sort you can kiss that sort of speed goodbye, along with about £20 of 20W50 as it vanishes out of the exhaust in the form of blue smoke.

 

One of the PO's had clearly never heard of the term "oil change" so it developed into brown sludge that coated everything internally with the next owner(s) blissfully pouring fresh oil on top of it. This lasted until about 600 miles into my ownership when there was muffled "pop" from the engine bay and the car became a 3-cylinder. The cause was catastrophic wear to the top end causing a rocker arm to snap:

 

 

As this was my first classic car I'd assumed it was supposed to sound like the engine was full of marbles, it wasn't.

 

I put the engine back together with second hand bits declared it utterly fucked and promptly did another 5000 miles with it. After about 3500 of those miles the oil burning started, valve seals have gone so it's been relegated to my parent's garage as a backup car and something to take to local car shows as the 1850 is now embarrassingly ugly. I'm keeping my eye on eBay for replacement engines (deja vu, anybody?) Oh, I also recently reversed it into a parked Ford Fiesta and royally fucked up the rear bumper, rear panel and bootlid. Did I mention I'm incompetent?

 

There have been two other cars in my life. My first car, a 2008 Toyota Yaris 1.0 an it's replacement a 2012 Corsa 1.4T. I didn't really want either of them, but it's a long story involving my parents and poor life choices. Ask if you want to hear it!

 

So that's a brief summary of my current shite. If you want more pictures or details of anything do say as I've got photos of almost everything I'd done with the cars.

[Cavcraft]

Welcome along. sir, impressed by your motors.

[vulgalour]

"hi I live in Scotland with two woeful Triumphs"  makes you sound like a regular rather than a newbie.

[cms206]

Welcome to the fold! May I recommend* Volvos?

[320touring]

Welcome along-whereaboots are you in the shire?

 

You dont want volvos,you want some xj40s:)

[DSdriver]

Triumphs are always a nice place to be. Which is just as well if you aren't going anywhere quickly.

Welcome by the way.

[Bren]

Welcome.

 

I bet your dolly is the only yellow car in aberdeen?

[Guest Breadvan72]

I am loving this thread so much that I want to marry it and have its babies.    I vote for captain 70s to be elected Shiteist of the Year on the strength of his opening post.

 

This thread reminds me why I come here.  As the saying goes, I'd rather be with you people than with the finest people in the World. 

[I_am_Diesel]

Nice Triumphs, welcome to the bestest forum on the interweb.

[DodgyBastard]

Banff probably...

[inconsistant]

"Rusty BL motoring in the Scottish wilderness"   It's got it all really hasn't it.

 

I think those Triumphs are made from inappropriately thick metal. I ran a Russet Brown clubman estate in Aberdeen and it stayed the same colour but stopped being steel very quickly indeed. 

[Split_Pin]

Welcome along!

[Inspector Morose]

I like the cut of your jib! The words modern car, BX and acclaim are not freely spoken together, apart from out of the mouths of those who frequent this very forum.

[Twiggy]

Welcome... you`ll fit in wonderfully !

[Taff]

Greetings. Top tip, don't give me advice about turbo diesel saloons ok? waste of your time, I will just buy another MG

[captain_70s]

Cheers for the welcome. I've been lurking for a while, reading Vulgaour's Princess threads in particular. I nearly bought a black '77 Princess for £800 but it was money I couldn't spare at the time!

 

 

I'm currently living in Banff and known locally as "the loon wi' the wee yellow car", although as of the 23rd I'll be moving out of my long suffering parent's house and living a few miles up the coast in Cullen. Naturally my new cottage doesn't have a garage, good thing summer is coming...

 

I must say an early Ovlov 245 would make a fine addition to the fleet and an XJ40 might add a touch of much need class, but the local climate means most interesting stuff dissolves away before your very eyes. It's hard to even find a Pug 106 or K11 Micra that isn't utterly rotten.

That said there are a few dedicated mentalists around here, there is a matt black MGB and a tatty Midget doing the 'rounds as daily drivers and the PO of my 1850HL now alternates between a Reliant Scimitar and a Mk1 Robin. There is also an early 90s Toyota Carina or Corona estate, a Fiat Panda, a couple of Mk2 Fiestas and some Minis knocking about.

 

The funny thing about BL steel is that in certain places it is very rubbish, the doors rot in random places for seemingly no reason and the roof dents if you look at it too hard. Yet I can jump up and down on the rear wings and not cause a dent...

 

Here are a few pictures of shite related action in the north east featuring snow, makeshift radiator muffs, breakdowns and myself:

 

   

 

[brickwall]

Welcome along.

 

Does look good in yellow

[Cavcraft]

Even better he looks like a Scottish Barrett.

[PiperCub]

Liking the DIY rad grille muffs. Definate touch of AS-ness.

[trigger]

Welcome along, I'm loving that last photo especially. I'd still love a Dolomite 1850HL, I will scratch that itch one day before the prices start getting too much.

[Felly Magic]

Welcome to you from a fellow Loiner in exile. (I'm in Suffolk btw). Re engines, you could always fit a Pugrat diesel 1.9 from an ex Postman Twat MGB van* for ultimate shiteness. WCPGW?

 

*LDV Pilot

[mercrocker]

Echo all the above comments, fantastic post and thread (and threads in that last shot).   I have always liked these Triumphs - must possess one before its too late.   You wont find this kind of thing on owners club forums....Top marks too for dressing like my last Form Master - and I left school in 1974!

[scruff]

Love it, this forum was created for posts like this.

W1cked Dolomites. They are great lookers and class interiors and yours look and sound just like the Dolomites you used to see when they were still reasonably common and in real banger territory. My nan ran a turd brown 1300, PGY 841R, for years. She then upgraded to a Maestro camper van. I miss the Dolomite but the whole nose cone bit and all four arches were glassfibre and filler. 

[Squire_Dawson]

That outfit is just class. You've come to the right place.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Impressive threads. And cars. Looks like the 1850 came from London and therefore represents the farthest a Triumph Dolomite has ever travelled. 

[Partridge]

I think Captain '70s will fit in here...

[captain_70s]

Doloshite prices are deffo' on the up. I reckon I could sell the 1850 on at the same price I bought it for despite it being a bit more knackered!

 

The 1850 was originally a north London car, explaining why the gearbox whines like a bitch, and I have masses of receipts from many of it's numerous previous owners. Passenger side floor is a bit of a patchwork quilt, rear screen surround is holed (covered with gaffer tape) and the bulkhead has a hole or two but the underside is all solid and the arches are pretty damn good aside from surface corrosion.

 

I'm happy with the condition it's in, if it was nicer I'd feel shit for exposing it to the harshness of the Scottish coastline. As long as I can keep on top of the rust and maintain it in roadworthy condition I'll be happy. It just looks so right in slightly scruffy daily driver mode, it's like it fell forwards in time from 1982:

 

 

 

The 1300 is more original, less welding and seems to have one giffer owner for most of it's life before going through a several owners in a short amount of time after 2001. I'd quite like to improve the condition of that one if possible, but that's a challenge.

 

I know what I want it to be one day though, it involves Lucas Square 8s, a Mk4 Spitty spec engine and an O/D gearbox... Photoshop of cosmetic changes here:

 

As for myself and my dress sense... Well, second hand clothes are cheap (more money for cars) and I like lurid colour schemes. I even rocked a porn star moustache for a while for the proper 1970s Dolomite-ist look...

 

It also makes women cringe, so another bonus. No girlfriend = more money for cars being allowed to own shite.

[inconsistant]

Only page 2 and we've already got several 2016 calendar shots sorted. 

[Shep Shepherd]

Welcome along!

[Cavcraft]

Only page 2 and we've already got several 2016 calendar shots sorted. 

 

 

The one by the beach is a clear winner.