Project Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - Still fixing things... - 24/04/25

[Mr Laurence]

Wow! That looks better to me than the real life Honda version of the estate. Makes you wonder what would have happened if they’d made it

[sdkrc]

Have you though about actually making the acclaim into an estate as your next project? You'll have probably done more metalwork on the dolly.

[Talbot]

Like Photoshop, but with welding.

[somewhatfoolish]

  On 01/11/2020 at 23:10, captain_70s said:

And a CD (with optional wood trim)

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It's like that imaginary shitbox from the National Lampoon films; obviously it would have been a big* seller alongside the SD1 in Trumpistan, they love that dynoc plastic wood nonsense.

[captain_70s]

On Sunday I did some actual real life work to the Acclaim.

One may recall the O/S wing was starting to look quite shit. Indeed I'd had to tape quite a lot of it together after last working on the car:

The inner front panel behind the headlights and the splash guard behind the indicator/bumper area was also pretty much finished.

So, the front of the car was removed along with both front wings, which are bolt on. Thank fuck.

The thin strip of U section steel between the bumper and grille was utterly fucked.

The whole front of the car has been coated with a rubbery type of stone chip type stuff, but it's been applied directly over rusty metal and hasn't really stuck in the vast majority of places. Water has gathered under the surface as it's peeled off and rusted the metal away leaving a thick rubbery skin holding flakes of rust together... Ideal.

Regardless, metal was put in:

(I did the side that looks like shit)

And back together with a NOS wing fitted.

This jumbo sized speed hole will need sorting out later...

 

[captain_70s]

  On 27/10/2020 at 22:26, captain_70s said:

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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Form a queue folks.

[sdkrc]

Lee....Burden...hmmm 🤔

[somewhatfoolish]

That seems optimistic; driving a rusty MoT failure 40 miles along the M8 doesn't usually cause branflakes to spontaneously heal themselves into swedish tin.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 14/11/2020 at 02:54, somewhatfoolish said:

That seems optimistic; driving a rusty MoT failure 40 miles along the M8 doesn't usually cause branflakes to spontaneously heal themselves into swedish tin.

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Amazing how the value increased four-fold just by driving 40 miles. 

[DodgyBastard]

  On 14/11/2020 at 11:50, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Amazing how the value increased four-fold just by driving 40 miles. 

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That's the thing though, it's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it and it may well be worth what he's asking for it to someone out there.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Where'd you get your NOS Acclaim wing Capt? I'm sure I've got a pair of those stashed somewhere.

[captain_70s]

  On 14/11/2020 at 17:30, DodgyBastard said:

That's the thing though, it's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it and it may well be worth what he's asking for it to someone out there.

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Some poor bugger'll buy it because it doesn't look bad, then they'll send it for an MOT and find out it needs a four figure sums worth of welding spent on it. Even after that it'll still get 19mpg and have shagged rear springs...

  On 14/11/2020 at 17:33, Mr_Bo11ox said:

Where'd you get your NOS Acclaim wing Capt? I'm sure I've got a pair of those stashed somewhere.

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Rimmer Bros, £40. It was the last one. There is currently a rusty used N/S one on eBay for £75...

[Talbot]

  On 14/11/2020 at 19:28, captain_70s said:

it doesn't look bad.  Send it for an MOT and find out it needs a four figure sums worth of welding spent on it. Even after that it'll still get 19mpg and have shagged rear springs...

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Sign me up RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

TBF, it wouldn't be the stupidest thing I've ever done.

[captain_70s]

  On 14/11/2020 at 20:34, Talbot said:

TBF, it wouldn't be the stupidest thing I've ever done.

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Wouldn't even be the stupidest thing I've done today.

On a related note here is a teaser for this weekend's car work. Buckle up!

Yes, that is the Acclaim, yes it is less rusty than the Volvo.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Ouch!  Think that's just within 30cm of a seat belt anchorage Cap'n!  Good luck, looking forward to your updates.

[SiC]

Just remove the seats and it'll be fine!

 

 

Even if it is the drivers seat.

[juular]

  On 14/11/2020 at 19:28, captain_70s said:

Some poor bugger'll buy it because it doesn't look bad, then they'll send it for an MOT and find out it needs a four figure sums worth of welding spent on it. Even after that it'll still get 19mpg and have shagged rear springs...

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This sadly is what will happen, as he seems to be telling folk it's just needing patches on the sills. 

[captain_70s]

So, having finished welding up the front of the Acclaim last weekend I rolled over to the workshop today with the aim of sorting the rear seatbelt mounting area, ARB mount and possibly starting the rear valance.

As the car was jacked up and axle stands applied a conversation occurred.

"Eeeeeeeh, this isn't getting an MOT"
"How?"
"There's a chunk missing out of this chassis leg."
"What? How? We mashed the entire lot with hammers last week."
"It was there last week, now it's fucking gone."

And it was.

Our best guess is that our mullering it with hammers disturbed the last few bits of decent metal holding it on and over a week of use the underseal glue that was holding it together fell off... Like, we're not soft with the old corrosion assessment device...

The underseal on this car is so thick and so old that it's practically fucking impenetrable. Except for the fact it's obviously not because all the metal underneath it is rusty as fuck... Further hammering revealed holes all over the front floor around the jacking point and running under the chassis leg so that had to be replaced before the actual leg was even contemplated...

So, I set about cutting out the rot...

Weird design here whereby the footwell of the cabin is one entity and then there is a gap and another panel which makes up the inner wheel arch. Guess it's to add some strength to the front of the cabin.

Then I remade the cabin floor, this was a nightmare between thin metal, masses of underseal on the underside and a bitumen sound/vibration deadening pad on the inside...

Meanwhile @GingerNuttz had made a start on the N/S rear seatbelt mounting area...

Yes, the brake and fuel lines run through the cabin of the car. The Japanese are an odd bunch. No, the welds aren't going to be ground back, it'd just be a waste of grinding discs.

Anyways, by this point it was about 5pm and the car still didn't have a chassis leg, this was problematic as a pot hole at 60mph on the motorway would have sent the O/S/F wheel into a low earth orbit along with various elements of the front suspension. Thankfully @blackboilersuit came to the rescue and drove over from Hamilton in his Saab, which he then allowed me to borrow.

So the Acclaim was left in the workshop, the Herald pushed right up against the door, the Dolly right up to that and then the driveway gates closed tight against the Dolly's bumper. Literally not an inch to spare.

On Sunday morning we swapped places as I had been having struggles with the floor piece and didn't much fancy attempting something quite as integral as a chassis leg...

So, I tackled the O/S seatbelt mounting area.

This had some old repairs, a plate over the wheel tub on the outside and three L shaped plates tying it to the floor. All this was rotten through, as was most of the metal surrounding it.

Rust cut out:

Tacked in:

Seam welded:

@GingerNuttz fabricated and installed the new chassis leg and floor.

It's plug welded to the new floorpan and then seam welded along all the edges for good measure.

There was a not inconsiderable amount of rot removed...

So I have the Acclaim back. A section of the rear valance was also repaired, using a failed Dolly sill panel which was an exact fit... This can vaguely be seen here:

So, that's the story of how a couple of pre-MOT patches escalated into a mini overhaul, current to-do list for the Acclaim:

N/S floor and chassis leg repairs
ARB mount repairs
Rear valance repairs
Front panel repairs
Carb balancing and tuning
Wheels repainting
Partial respray
Probably some other shit I forget jesus christ fuck cars man

Peace.

[jaypee]

Excellent work dude, I think I would have spat the dummy with the Acclaim, good progress made though 

[Angrydicky]

Inspirational work!

[loserone]

Holy shit.

 

Mostly just holy.  And definitely shite.  Awesome.

[rml2345]

Jesus, and I thought my two were giving bother.

They'll look ace when done though man, keep up the good work both of you!

[jonathan_dyane]

Mind your welding is coming on loads, the apprenticeship is going well!

[Jikovron]

The sheer joy of working undercover is palpable, so I did believe what happened next!  imagine doing all that in freezing rain with repair patches flashing rust straight away,,welder tucked in the boot and an extension,,,does not bear thinking about !! 

[captain_70s]

  On 15/11/2020 at 21:59, Jikovron said:

The sheer joy of working undercover is palpable, so I did believe what happened next!  imagine doing all that in freezing rain with repair patches flashing rust straight away,,welder tucked in the boot and an extension,,,does not bear thinking about !! 

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The rear wheel tubs could have done inside the car quite easily, aside from the fact the extension cables would melt... The underside it'd be a struggle to even bodge it outside.

[big_al_granvia]

getting good with the mig mate, what have you set on fire so far... keep a 1kg powder and bucket of water handy

 

[Yoss]

I love this picture. 

That's not just a calender shot, it's a calender cover shot. 

All I can say is I'm glad I don't live in Scotland. Don't get me wrong, I love visiting the place but cars just dissolve. I mean you expect Triumphs to rust but even that Volvo is fucked. I bet they don't even rust like that in Sweden. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 15/11/2020 at 22:36, Yoss said:

... even that Volvo is fucked. I bet they don't even rust like that in Sweden. 

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I don't think Sweden cultivates such a corrosive atmosphere....

[vulgalour]

Absolute dedication to The Cause there, folks.

[sloth]

fuck id have bridged the acclaim when i saw that.  have you coated it in approx 12 litres of underseal?

that raptor liner stuff is the new hot ticket. can literally hammer it and it stays put.