Project Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - 145 back up and running - 15/04/26

[Eyersey1234]

I'd say a pre 2007 Mk2 Focus 1.8tdci as a daily, the engine goes on forever, no DPF on them, the rust you see is the rust you get and up to 07 ref they are a lower timing chain as well, the cambelt only drives the top of the engine.

[captain_70s]

1 hour ago, Talbot said:

£10 says anything else you buy to do that sort of duty you'll end up liking and not wanting to destroy.  Cue then keeping that car and finding another WBOD, which you'll end up liking... etc.etc.

Admittedly it'll take more self control, but I ditched the Volvo with that reasoning. The Volvo was bought as a daily hack, needed too much work and got punted.

To be honest the Acclaim is just too old/small to run daily. Its fun to take on holiday and blast around A/B roads but on the motorway doing 3,500rpm at 70mph surrounded by Nissan Micras that dwarf you and being passed by BMWs and Range Rovers doing 90mph its no fun at all.

Really the Acclaim should be sold, but with MOT/tax exemption landing in 2023 it feels a bit daft to ditch a minimal upkeep car when it already costs peanuts to run.

You can get a 90s car on classic insurance these days, something from an era of galvanisation but pre computer chaos... I'd still like a Volvo 700/900, even my miserable 2.0 auto took the stress out of commuting. Shame it was, to use the local descriptor, completely cunted.

[GMcD]

Got @captain_70s xmas pressie sorted.

[DodgyBastard]

I kinda knew it was that level of rusty when you were patching it up for its MOT a couple of years ago, I remember thinking that trying to repair the rear inner arches was going to be a nightmare.
You're doing a fantastic job of fixing it.

Sent from my moto g( power using Tapatalk

[Talbot]

4 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Shame it was, to use the local descriptor, completely cunted.

Was it as bad as the Acclaim? (knowing what you know now)

[GingerNuttz]

The Volvo would have been the same amount of work, it had more underseal on than the acclaim.

Fingers crossed the acclaim will be back on its feet by the weekend 

 

[GingerNuttz]

Arch still needs some fine tuning but least it's steel 😂

[captain_70s]

11 minutes ago, Talbot said:

Was it as bad as the Acclaim? (knowing what you know now)

We never really poked at the Volvo as much, but I'd wager it'd not be far off.

Drivers and passenger side floors were holed (passenger side had a .8 plate tacked in from the inside
Front inner wheel arches were a half inch of silicone over rust
Both front chassis legs were just patches over patches
Rear of the sills was gone from the jacking points right up into the boot floor
The inner sills were suspect and patched down the full length of the car
Both rear wheel arch tubs were rotten though into the boot
Centre crossmember was rotten at the outer edges

That was just from a cursory prodding, I imagine digging through the underseal would have led to much more grot. It'd have probably been easier to get it through an MOT due to the sheer volume of Tiger Seal and underseal that was holding it together just causing the MOT man's hammer to bounce off but it was properly rotten. Even bodging it wasn't worth the effort. It's now been flipped to somebody For £475 who thinks that the sill rust is the extent of it's issues... 

2 minutes ago, GingerNuttz said:

Arch still needs some fine tuning but least it's steel 😂

Actual IRL metallic material.

[vulgalour]

If it doesn't have a name, it should be called Patches.  Descriptive for what you guys have had to do, and it's a good name for a dog

It really didn't look that bad at all in the photos, it's astonishing how little of it was really there.

[Tickman]

2 hours ago, GingerNuttz said:

 

That picture compared to one not long ago at all is very impressive as has all the graft you've put into these two.

 

[Amishtat]

From the times you'd taped bits up I knew it wouldn't be a pretty sight but didn't expect so much to be cornflakes. Top work for getting so stuck in so quickly!  My mate had one of these in about 2006 as a £50 daily beater, pale metallic green with a tan interior and the beginning of head gasket failure. It was quite nippy round town as I recall but too buzzy for any sustained 70mph trips. 

[GingerNuttz]

It's the tape and poking filler through rust holes that's done this to the car.

There's a bit of fiberglass in the garage that's 2" thick with aluminium tape running through the middle of it  😂 They must have built it up in layers like a bloody cake 

[LightBulbFun]

Bloody hell! like fuck me, seriously im in awe, at A just how fucked that was, and B for how quickly and well you have both managed un-fuck it

both The Acclaim and the Dolomite, seriously hats doffed 

so when is the Yellow Dolly getting its turn?  

[dave j]

Bloody hell that's rusty! Hats off to you for repairing it. 

[GingerNuttz]

 

12 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Bloody hell! like fuck me, seriously im in awe, at A just how fucked that was, and B for how quickly and well you have both managed un-fuck it

both The Acclaim and the Dolomite, seriously hats doffed 

so when is the Yellow Dolly getting its turn?  

The yellow one will be after the green one but only if the Captain hasn't lost the will to live or bought another shit heap that needs work.....

[captain_70s]

7 minutes ago, GingerNuttz said:

The yellow one will be after the green one but only if the Captain hasn't lost the will to live or bought another shit heap that needs work.....

My main goal in life is to not buy another turd, with that in mind I promise nothing.

[SiC]

What gas are you running on? I seem to remember seeing a hobbyweld bottle. 

With the amount of gas you must be going through, it's probably going to be cheaper to go the Volkszone deal from BOC. Works out cheaper with the annual rent once you've done a few refills of the smaller Hobbyweld cylinders. 

Iirc I paid £45 yearly rental and £36.50 for Argoshield 5 Light. 

[GingerNuttz]

SGS gas I use but only the 15% mix 20L as it's the largest my local place stocks, I also take the 20L pure argon for the tig so no rental suits me better than paying rental on both bottles. 

I don't actually do a lot of welding and used 1-2 bottles a year, then I met the Captain ....................

[captain_70s]

8 minutes ago, SiC said:

What gas are you running on? I seem to remember seeing a hobbyweld bottle. 

I'm the one running the hobbyweld stuff, £60 odd deposit on the bottle and £38 a fill or something? For the amount I'm using it's not bad value...

[sdkrc]

Serious question. Seeing as you've already rebuilt 20% of the car, would you consider going balls to the wall and making a 1-off Acclaim estate?

[GingerNuttz]

Just now, sdkrc said:

Serious question. Seeing as you've already rebuilt 20% of the car, would you consider going balls to the wall and making a 1-off Acclaim estate?

Already said we could do it using a 305 estate roof, would be quite a nice looking car as an estate.

[Angrydicky]

Incredible work! I've been welding/fabricating a lot of years and I'm very impressed.

If you're looking for a '90s reliable modern, I can thoroughly recommend another British car with a strong Honda influence, the Rover 600. Bloody brilliant cars, look great and cheap as chips.

[MorrisItalSLX]

Crikey, that’s cactus!

I wonder, what would have been the easier repair, the Acclaim or the yellow Dolomite?

Either way, welding the 1850HL will be a piece of piss after this.

[SiC]

49 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

I'm the one running the hobbyweld stuff, £60 odd deposit on the bottle and £38 a fill or something? For the amount I'm using it's not bad value...

I think I worked out that the BOC cylinder is equivalent to 5 of those hobbyweld cylinder fills. The BOC bottle is a heavy fucker though and broke the back on welding trolley...

How it was supposed to be:

I'll probably move back to hobbyweld once I've done the Dolomite as I really don't intend to buy another car that requires a weldathon again. 😬

[Amishtat]

Few people ever do.. 

[Yoss]

This is now thread of the year even if it wasn't before which it probably was. 

This car needs to be added to the Autoshite logo. We've got two Rovers up there at the moment. One of those needs to be replaced by this. 

[BorniteIdentity]

Just to echo what others have said. There’s some really impressive work going on here - but also some love too. 

You’re also putting a lot of yourself into this, Cap’n. I think that makes for the most rewarding ownership experience. 

I’d not be running it daily either, not after all the blood sweat and tears. I reckon I’d play the £500/20 mile game on eBay and see what turns up. 

Well done again. Proper shitin’ (No G)

[HMC]

Really like the mentality of just using a car for its intended purpose and giving some heavy duty care and restoration as well. So often it’s all one or the other. 
 

Brilliant car, brilliant work.

[Zelandeth]

Xsara Picasso or Berlingo would probably be my suggestions for a beater for day to day use.  Picassos in particular seem to be easy to pick up pretty cheap these days and are fantastically practical cars.

[Shite Ron]

7 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Xsara Picasso or Berlingo would probably be my suggestions for a beater for day to day use.  Picassos in particular seem to be easy to pick up pretty cheap these days and are fantastically practical cars.

I think after all his effort in saving these cars something less miserable is deserved. I think Angrydicky  suggested a Rover 620 which is a car I always thought looked quite good for a modern car.  A Rover 75 is another that has some style and character.