SiC Posted February 3, 2022 Share Posted February 3, 2022 55 minutes ago, captain_70s said: Tronda then used for some new build devaluing. One of your fog lights have fallen off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 30 minutes ago, SiC said: One of your fog lights have fallen off! One came lose, I removed it before it removed itself, never got around to putting it back on. I actually have some covers courtesy of @GingerNuttz's 3D printer and some bloke who saw the price of NOS CIBIE covers and thought "fuck that" and uploaded a model to thingiverse for free... chadders, mercedade, BL Bloke and 18 others 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 Volvo collected, the results are in: Oh. That's less terrible than expected. Apparently everything is tight, no play in anything. "various welding" covers the seams where the chassis leg meets the front floor on both sides and the chassis leg around the outrigger/jacking points. Namely where I'd already prodded holes. Apparently it's otherwise fine, advised to grind back and re-paint around the rear jacking points where the underseal has flaked off. I need to go hunting for the yellow when it's not fucking pissing it down... Dyslexic Viking, timolloyd, MorrisItalSLX and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerNuttz Posted February 3, 2022 Share Posted February 3, 2022 "Various welding under car marked in yellow" GrumpiusMaximus, Tickman, juular and 23 others 26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiC Posted February 3, 2022 Share Posted February 3, 2022 1 hour ago, captain_70s said: need to go hunting for the yellow Jim Bell, captain_70s, GingerNuttz and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 STAR CAR FAMOUS MUST L@@K https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/classic/uks-rarest-cars-1983-triumph-acclaim-l-one-12-left-british-roads/ Broadsword, Split_Pin, AnnoyingPentium and 26 others 29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiC Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 Behind a paywall 😕 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 Transcript of the blurb: 'When the Acclaim made its bow on 7 October 1981, certain automotive traditionalists regarded it as an interloper, a Japanese Honda bearing a true-Brit Triumph badge. There was a certain irony in that Nissan had made the Austin A40 Somerset under licence nearly 30 years earlier, but the first Anglo-Japanese car was undeniably a crucial model for British Leyland. When BL’s HQ at Longbridge first contemplated working with another manufacturer in 1978, this was partially due to the recent cancellation of the Dolomite’s replacement, known as the “Triumph SD2”. BL considered a vast array of firms as potential partners, with Chrysler as the first choice. Talks concluded with the sale of the American firm’s European operations to PSA Peugeot-Citroen, while Renault was another option, with Leyland selling the forthcoming 9 in the UK. Eventually, negotiations with Honda began in October 1978. On 26 December 1979, the two companies signed an agreement for BL to build a version of the Honda Ballade, a saloon version of the Civic Mk2. Leyland invested some £80 million in the Cowley plant outside Oxford to prepare for “Project Bounty”. Modifications to the Honda included twin Keihin carburettors from Japan on the 1,335cc overhead camshaft engine, new seats and interior décor that would appeal to British customers. Honda also agreed not to sell the Ballade in the UK, to further the new Triumph’s chances. The timing of the Acclaim’s launch could not have been more acute, as BL’s light/medium line-up was in desperate need of revitalisation. Production of the Dolomite had ended in late 1980, followed by the Maxi in 1981. The Morris Marina had been recently facelifted, but the resulting Ital still looked dated, while the demise of the Austin Allegro was planned for 1982. The new Triumph would provide Leyland with, if not a Ford Cortina rival, then certainly a viable alternative to four-door versions of the Ford Escort and Vauxhall Chevette. In short, the Acclaim’s success was essential for BL, despite the controversy surrounding its Oriental origins. Some motorists complained that it was merely a form of Honda circumventing the 1977 “gentlemen’s agreement” limiting the market share of Japanese imports to 11%. Others complained about its compact interior, while several grumbled how the Triumph badge on such a car represented the end of civilisation. One newspaper even suggested the Acclaim represented a form of hara-kiri for the British motor industry. However, by 1982 sales of the car that was “Totally Equipped to Triumph” amounted to almost three per cent of the total UK car market. Autocar regarded it as “a good replacement for the ageing Dolomite. It is fast, economical, and should prove very reliable”. 1983 saw the range augmented by the entry-level L for £4,799. For those who mourned the passing of the Dolomite Sprint, Avon of Warwick offered a turbocharged conversion. The SD3-series Rover 200 replaced the Acclaim in 1984 after 133,625 were produced, and Anthony Eastwood’s 38-year-old example is believed to be one of only 12 L-specification models left on the road. He says: “It is also the only surviving Acclaim I know of that was originally registered in Scotland. I bought my car in 2018 for £850 and ran it daily for 25,000 miles until January 2021, when it came off the road for considerable welding repairs.” The only original panel that Eastwood could obtain was a front wing; virtually everything else had to be fabricated from scratch. “There was no real reason to restore it, given the low value, but it seemed wrong to break it for parts when it was so rare and had been so reliable,” he says. This sense of dependability was the key to the Acclaim’s popularity, especially with drivers who had endured years of malfunctioning Leyland products. The Acclaim was the last car to wear the Triumph badge and it followed the tradition of the Herald, the Toledo and indeed the smaller-engined Dolomites. It also debuted when quality and value for money were often rated more highly than a vehicle’s national origins. Plus, it managed to transcend a very over the top Hitch Hikers Guide-style launch advert.' Fumbler, LightBulbFun, BeEP and 17 others 16 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeeExEll Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 Top post there Captn. Sums it up, hadn't really thought about it for years. The Acclaim bridged the gap between the Dolly and the Rover 200s. MG Maestros and Montegos were there too but slightly later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 A mate of mine bought one new in 1982, the same time as I bought a new MG Metro. He used it to travel twice a week between Hatfield and Leeds and reckoned it was a great little car. He eventually progressed to a new 911 every 2 or 3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeeExEll Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 Well that was a bit of a progression! Acclaim to 911. Late 70s bedroom-poster car. Would love to have a drive in a 911. MG Metro with pepperpot alloys, never see any now, they were usually red, X or Y-reg. Bit like a 60s Mini Cooper S but wedge-shaped. There was a short-lived turbo MG version too. They gave the Fiesta XR2 lads something to think about. Would like to have driven a MG Metro as they looked sporty and handled well. But at the time I just thought 'Fuck it' and bought a 3-litre Capri instead. Late 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRi05 Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 Telegraph ? you posh bastard 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 7 minutes ago, JeeExEll said: Well that was a bit of a progression! Late 70s bedroom-poster car. Would love to have a drive in a 911. MG Metro with pepperpot alloys, never see any now, mostly red. Mine was black. My dad wrote it off by driving into an unlit skip whilst coming down to visit me as I returned from a business trip to Latvia. I found out whilst halfway along the M25 after a 4am flight. Even at 13 years old it had very little rust, the Ziebarting had worked well. JeeExEll 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeeExEll Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 The front of a Metro would have fitted with the angles of the front of a skip well. Hope your dad was ok, not much metal in a Metro. chadders 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 He was thanks, my mam was trapped in it for a short while but unhurt. Fortunately it was a low speed one, he'd just gone around a sharp bend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somewhatfoolish Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 Given it's the Telegraph I'm frankly astonished the photographer didn't ask you to get GF_70s to jump into the air in front of it like they get all the kids to do when they get their A-levels. GrumpiusMaximus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted March 7, 2022 Author Share Posted March 7, 2022 Friday, post work. interior removed for repairs to floor and chassis. The Acclaim was welded with the interior in, resulting in burnt seats and carpets. A mistake. Took 3.5hrs to get it all out. The weekend Obviously the fucker wouldn't start, and my jump pack was flat. The Acclaim provided electricity. Then grot was removed. The driver's side chassis rail was rotten from the inside, the passenger side was fine. Floors were rotten in the same places along the chassis rail/outrigger seam with the passenger side being a bit worse. @GingerNuttztook on the chassis rail and driver's side, I started on the passenger side. I got this far on the floor and them gave up 'cause I just couldn't work the new welder on thin steel. @GingerNuttzhad to seam it in. This wee strip on the inside edge of the chassis rail went in a bit nicer with being 1.6mm steel... Had some #stance going on with one side of the car in the air. Fuckers mint... Next up... dome, MorrisItalSLX, big_al_granvia and 33 others 36 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 With the holes in the Volvo un-holed I was left with a new problem. Namely the colossal amounts of water leaking into the car can no longer get out... video-1647296488.mp4 A mate's driveway was borrowed and a highly specialised leak stress test system was rigged up. The scuttle panel was removed (handy) as was the wing (useless) and the windscreen trims. This seems odd. video-1647296483.mp4 That's large amounts of water flowing inbetween two panels in the floor and draining into the chassis rail... While this doesn't let any water in to the car itself it also doesn't seem right that the car would drain water through the floors and into the chassis... That hole in the floor was originally plugged with a metal disc which was sealed in place at the factory. Places where water was entering the car were found to be: 1 - Through the windscreen seal at the top. Water was coming in the screen, running along the plastic trip between the glass and headliner and then running down the A pillar behind the dash. Given the screen has a aluminium trim there is nothing stopping me from going ape with sealant and hiding it away. 2 - Through the sunroof. Only if you properly flooded it, at which point it'd pour right down your back and give you a wet arse... I've never actually had this outside of testing but it can happen. Drains are probably partially blocked. The sunroof only opens on tilt, the slide mech is seized solid. I'll need to fanny about with it to get it moving so I can prod the drains with MIG wire. 3 - Through the fresh air vents in the bottom of the A pillar. These were fitted to non A/C cars and have plastic flaps with rubber gaskets to close them up, both these flaps are broken and won't hold closed and the gaskets are rock solid. As water from the sunroof/scuttle/gutter drains is directed down inside the A pillar and out drain holes in the sill this splashes around and can get in the vents. The amount of water that gathers in the sill is impressive, probably about an inch deep under hose conditions. I reckon some of the drains are partially clogged up. I'm not putting the interior back in until it's reliably dry inside... Also, some dozy fuckcunt has driven into it and took a chunk out the bumper. It's at times like these I'm glad it looks like utter arse... On a similar note cars park diagonally on my street, which means a car parked to your left will have it's driver's door open right next to your front wing. Can you tell? GingerNuttz, Jim Bell, Shite Ron and 8 others 7 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitKat Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 These old Volvos are so bad for water leaks. Three of the four I’ve owned had wet footwells, that A-pillar vent is very common for it, and bonnet cable grommet if on drivers side. Can’t tell from the video, but is that water passing through the chassis leg, so only visible with the grommet removed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted March 15, 2022 Author Share Posted March 15, 2022 Aye, my last one was leaky as well. The vinyl backed sound deadening mean everything is usually saturated by the time the carpet is visibly wet. The water in the floor is an odd one, there are two layers of floor, with a hole punched through both into the chassis leg. The water is coming from inbetween the layers of floor. This picture stolen from online shows the construction better: I'm assuming only the top hole was sealed, so the lower hole into the leg could be a legit drain. Just seems a weird way to send water... Jim Bell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerNuttz Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 Remember to drill em bungs out with the hole saw when you're through, I forgot all about it. captain_70s 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted March 31, 2022 Author Share Posted March 31, 2022 Heatwave! It was 18C last week so a couple of afternoons were spent doing shit to cars, mostly the Volvo as it's MOT is due. I did take the Acclaim to the seaside however, where somebody left a note on it saying how much they enjoyed seeing it. So Volvo MOT prep. With the floors installed it was time to sort the other fail items. Namely: Drivers seat wouldn't move. Rectified this by cleaning out and oiling the runners when I pulled the interior out for welding. The runners were stuffed with crap from sweetie wrappers to half a lolly stick... O/S/R door not opening. The central locking doesn't unlock this door for some reason. Once it's unlocked from the inside it opens fine. I told the MOT tester this and he was fine with it. Windscreen washers not working. These were clogged. I'd previously unclogged them and it'd lasted all of 10 seconds. The tank was dug out from under the air filter housing. Doesn't look too bad... Shall empty it and get a better look... Ah, yes. Fuck that. This pressure relief valve that sits between the nozzles was also fucked and just pissing fluid everywhere. I swapped it out for a normal T piece which was liberated from the headlamp washer system. Speaking of which... Controversial headlamp wiper delete. Only one motor runs and both the fittings that hold the wipers onto the arms are broken. Then the nozzles themselves were removed and prodded clear by using a bit of unwound metal wire as it was the only thing thin enough to go in the fucking things... video-1648488070.mp4 That'll do. That corner also contains a load of earthing points and while down there I found some more superfluous wiring which I removed. I also spied a wire hidden under the washer tank that wasn't plugged in anywhere and seemed to be an actual bit of loom. Connecting this to earth yielded working lights, so the indicators not longer flash double time when the headlights are on. Too early to say whether the light/wiper confusion is cured... I then took it to the MOT station. Or would have, if it'd have started. Acclaim to the rescue (again), and dropped off. Sadly while fucking about I noticed that the water pump pulley was trying to make a bid for freedom. video-1648762870.mp4 That'll be the bearing fucked then. Thankfully @juular has a spare pump he's graciously donated. I also set about trying to sort out the points of water ingress... With the trims off it transpired somebody had broken a clip and simply sealed the trim on in one corner. This had trapped water and caused rust. Bodgery but I 110% can't be fucked pulling a windscreen out of this fucking thing. I ran two beads of sealant around the top and sides of the screen. One between the old seal and the glass and one between the old seal and the screen frame. The easiest way to the lower screen seal is to pull off the scuttle, but the heatwave had fucked off and I kept getting snowed on so I couldn't be arsed. I'll go back to that when I put the trims back on. Then I washed the Acclaim. Come Thursday it was Dolly time. Thankfully all the welding was finished... Oh. Fucking thing... The only evidence of this was a bit of bubbling on the inside of the A pillar. The holes were welded up and the inside will be blasted full of wax with a lance. This side looked fine, but when smacked with the pointy hammer it became a hole too. The joys of it rotting from the inside out... The doors were all pulled off, as was all the stainless trim, badges, rear lights and numberplate and anything else that had to come off pre-painting. Various areas of surface rust under the door surround kick plates were ground back, just surface due to being against the aluminium plates and screws. Check out this BL quality: The factory paint is incredibly thin. I was scuffing it back with 180 grit for the primer to adhere to and a single pass would often reveal bare metal. Will be continuing work on the car Fri, Sat and Sun. Hoping to have it essentially ready for paint for the beginning of next week... Naturally the weather is ideal, again. Within 70 miles and two days of being washed the Acclaim looks like this: Dyslexic Viking, rainagain, Fumbler and 31 others 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted April 6, 2022 Author Share Posted April 6, 2022 More Dolly works. Finally on the final straight... Filling completed and stonechip applied to valance and sills. Underside of the bonnet was quite rough and coated in some black waxy type stuff so rather than spend years scraping it all off and then another few getting it looking minty only to rot back through in a year that was stonechipped too. Inside of the boot will be the same. The dent I put in the rear valance by reversing into a Ford Fiesta at speed many years ago was pulled out and the associated bowed bootlid was fixed as well. Full body getting scuffed back as a base for primer. This quarter has had about 10,000 applications of filler, 99.9% of which has been sanded back off to get the shape right. @GingerNuttz is of the opinion that the absolute maximum thickness of filler should be about 3mm. Not the half inch that was on there previously... The door checks, backs of the doors and underside of the bonnet than saw some primer and the first of the new top coat. Plan was to have the car entirely painted during the week, reassembled and driven back to mine next weekend. So obviously we got COVID. As I'm stuck at the house I've been cleaning the door cards... One on the right here was given a dose of leather conditioner as a test, because what is vinyl if not the thinking man's leather... Not sure it really did anything meaningful, but it made them very slightly shinier and feels a lot nicer. The colour is super sun faded with the door tops being quite UV damaged, you could paint them but they've been butchered for speakers anyway so probably not worth it... The driver's side hardboard cards have gotten wet and bent a bit, all the glue is failing across the board. They are at least free of tears and scratches, once pinned on the car they look fine and vinyl is handy for being infinitely scrubable. In the long term I'd quite like to fit an earlier Triumph 1500 interior. Slightly fancier dash, perforated seats, slim line wood door cappings. But most importantly, the warning light pie of many colours. Alusilber, MorrisItalSLX, LightBulbFun and 35 others 38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMcD Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 It's great to see progress on the Dolly again 🙂. Hope yer both over the lurgy quickly! LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Jetter Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 Bonny! Good going! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoss Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 My own personal opinion, which you can ignore completely, is that those 1500 door capping are awful. They look half arsed and are so sharp they look like they'd give you splinters. Either have proper door cappings or none at all. Toledo/base Dolly full vinyl door cards look much better. At least they still wrap up and over the top of the door so they still have an air of quality compared to many other cars of the time that had flat door cards and exposed metal at the top. Those 1500 ones look like they came from B&Q. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fumbler Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 1 hour ago, captain_70s said: No cash but twice the excitement. GingerNuttz, JeeExEll, captain_70s and 6 others 6 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Jetter Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 But one is class... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerNuttz Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 2 coats of primer slapped on. Couple of small bits needing tweaked that I'd missed but nothing major. MorrisItalSLX, dome, Coprolalia and 31 others 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerNuttz Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Tis come a logn way this old boat 😂 rob88h, Dyslexic Viking, Scruffy Bodger and 29 others 32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now