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

[BorniteIdentity]

On 10/12/2021 at 10:02 AM, captain_70s said:

So the dead radio was because the earth wire had somehow dislodged despite having not been touched since being fitted. Once reinstated it worked fine.

The driver's side speaker is dead. I swapped the speaker to a spare and that didn't work either, it's wired up at the radio end so I've no idea what's up. Maybe the radio itself is buggered from all the faffing. 

I'll look at it again when I've not got 250 miles to do in it the same day...

Forgive me - did you try to put the working speaker into the dead speaker output? (passenger speaker connected to drivers side output)  Or is it all in a harness?  That would be the best way to tell if it's the output of the amp, or the wiring to that speaker.

[captain_70s]

38 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Forgive me - did you try to put the working speaker into the dead speaker output? (passenger speaker connected to drivers side output)  Or is it all in a harness?  That would be the best way to tell if it's the output of the amp, or the wiring to that speaker.

I had a spare speaker I rigged to the existing wiring, so the existing speaker is presumed good and the wiring/amp the suspect.

What I can do, when arsed, is wire a speaker straight into the radio and bypass the existing wiring to rule that out.

[loserone]

On 11/10/2021 at 19:05, captain_70s said:

I've been there.

 

I expect about 12 miles earlier you'll have driven past my house.

[SiC]

Golf MK1 arches. Fit pretty well and look alright to my eye. Far cheaper and easier to get hold of than Dolomite arch panels.
Possible solution for your 1850 when you eventually get around to welding it up?


Pictures nicked from FB.

[somewhatfoolish]

A bit Carlos Fandango for a Toledo but needs must.

[captain_70s]

Saw that on Facebook, doesn't look bad if you want a wide arch motor. Miles better than the fibreglass kits you can get for a road car. The 1300 actually has mk1 Golf inners and outer panels were pondered for the Acclaim's rear arches but they are very flared.

Thing is one of my favourite bits about the car's styling is the crease running through the doors, kicking up at the rear wheel arch and trailing out along the quarter panel, and you can't go wide arch without getting rid of it.

[captain_70s]

So, it's autumn now.

[captain_70s]

Bugger.

Was sitting talking with Girlfriend_70s after having driven her home, engine off but left the heated rear screen on. Killed the battery.

Went to jump it off her brother's 70 plate Fiesta, no place for jump leads. Moved on to her mum's 68 plate Picanto and managed to clamp to the earth but the live required somebody to hold the clamp in place. Fucking moderns.

[SiC]

Why not give it a good old fashioned bump start down the road?

[captain_70s]

There was a mild uphill stretch and nobody wanted to push it.

Also bump starts seem to give people The Fear, presumably due to driving cars with PAS and mega assisted brakes etc they think a rolling car with no engine is practically uncontrollable. 

[GingerNuttz]

Aw well that's the engine totally knackered beyond repair, time for that Vtec swap yo!

[dome]

2 hours ago, GingerNuttz said:

Aw well that's the engine totally knackered beyond repair, time for that Vtec swap yo!

I know of a K20 that could be had for cheaps @captain_70s

[Eddie Honda]

On 11/1/2021 at 11:20 AM, captain_70s said:

Went to jump it off her brother's 70 plate Fiesta, no place for jump leads.

Mk8 Fiasco? Don't think it's that hidden if you open your eyes.

On 11/1/2021 at 11:20 AM, captain_70s said:

Moved on to her mum's 68 plate Picanto and managed to clamp to the earth but the live required somebody to hold the clamp in place. Fucking moderns.

 

Ditto Picanto: I don't see where you can't get a croc clip on.

[captain_70s]

The Fester had a bigger battery, so the earth was under the scuttle panel. Apparently it's a partial hybrid type thing?

In both cases the metal surrounds are either flush with the plastic and the raised sections are tapered towards the top, so the clamps wouldn't clamp to anything. Not aided by the fact the jump lead clamps tend to be fairly chunky, the ones I had had a lot of plastic around the metal teeth, not ideal.

[SiC]

But an Astra J is not a Fiesta or Picanto nor was cap70 trying to jump off one?

Edit: this post probably doesn't make much sense now that NewPod deleted his posts...

[somewhatfoolish]

Time to get one of those incendiary jump packs the size of a fag packet.

[captain_70s]

Battery dead, again. Lovely.

It never held a great charge when I bought the car but improved with regular use, I suspect the return to only being used once a week or two has fucked it.

Then the Volvo continued it's mission to gradually reduce in functionality when I went out to it and it also wouldn't start without a fight. Turned over but would just splutter like it wasn't getting any fuel. It's done this twice now but starts first turn of the key the rest of the time, even after sitting for days. Then the heater blower resistor died, so the (squealing) fan only runs at max speed. Naturally the resistor and fan are now NLA.

Current list of broken shit stands as:

Acclaim

Radiator leaks, car overheats
Heater doesn't work on speed 1 and is gummed up with grinding dust
Battery is fucked
Weird electrical spikes, main fuse occasionally melts
Indicator contacts jammed up with grinding dust
Exhaust blows at the manifold/downpipe join

Volvo

Holes in the floors and chassis rails
Thermostat jammed open, car runs cold
Heater fan bearings scream, resistor dead.
Electrically senile - no rear wiper, no intermittent wipe, no screen washers, using headlights also runs loads of other shit
Alternator tensioner missing, belt wails under load
Propshaft vibrations at 1,900-2,200rpm - Sounds like a helicopter
Steering pulls to the left like a bastard.

Dolly

Haven't seen it since Feb
Dismantled

Van

Costs 16p  a mile for private use

 

[DodgyBastard]

Sounds like you "need" a rusty ford focus...

Sent from my moto g( power using Tapatalk

[somewhatfoolish]

5 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Van

Costs 16p  a mile for private use

You'll be getting battered into that like a tramp on chips then?

[captain_70s]

5 hours ago, DodgyBastard said:

Sounds like you "need" a rusty ford focus...
 

Those quotation marks are working double time there...

1 hour ago, somewhatfoolish said:

You'll be getting battered into that like a tramp on chips then?

No chance, it's bad enough to drive when I get paid to do it. The cost of diesel is enough to make a grown man drown in his own tears as well.

I'd underestimated how handy my last job with it's shift work and 38hr work week was with regards having daylight hours to fuck about with cars during winter. Now I'm regularly out of the house from 6 to 6 scope for faffing around keeping on top of faults is significantly reduced...

[Supernaut]

14 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Those quotation marks are working double time there...

No chance, it's bad enough to drive when I get paid to do it. The cost of diesel is enough to make a grown man drown in his own tears as well.

I'd underestimated how handy my last job with it's shift work and 38hr work week was with regards having daylight hours to fuck about with cars during winter. Now I'm regularly out of the house from 6 to 6 scope for faffing around keeping on top of faults is significantly reduced...

Do you require a flying squad of elite* shitters to descend on your residence (or meet up at a more suitable place) at some point?

 

Unfortunately I'm out this coming weekend. The parents have decided to visit then and only told me earlier this evening!

[SiC]

 

39 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

daylight hours

Torch?

Apart from the need to keep warm, I've never had a problem with car work during the dark hours. 

 

[captain_70s]

3 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Do you require a flying squad of elite* shitters to descend on your residence (or meet up at a more suitable place) at some point?

 

Unfortunately I'm out this coming weekend. The parents have decided to visit then and only told me earlier this evening!

Gonna swing by @GingerNuttz's place next weekend, see if some brackets for the Acclaim's new rad can be whipped up. Resistors for both car's heater blowers are going to be an issue, neither seem to have off-the-shelf parts anymore and I don't know the values involved or how electricity works to replace individual components. Visitors always welcome for miscellaneous tinkering. 

3 hours ago, SiC said:

Torch?

Apart from the need to keep warm, I've never had a problem with car work during the dark hours. 

Been there, done that, don't like it.

To be honest light is less of an issue than having to work on the street, usually in the rain. This week it's forecast to rain every day except Monday

[captain_70s]

Making the most of it not raining by tearing the Volvo apart.

Glovebox came out with two screws (two bolts already missing...)

More bullshit wiring chaos. No wonder the cunt is senile.

Heater resistor looking somewhat patinated... 

I also noticed the floor mat was soaked.

The carpet was equally as sodden, so I pulled that back to reveal sodden soundproofing foam and a few more redundant wires.

Buried down another layer to find this fucking disaster

Disposed of.

The floor on that side is all fucked, same as the driver's side. The only thing stopping me poking holes in it is the factory underseal that is like concrete. I did poke a cheeky hole into the chassis leg which sounds fairly solid from prodding with a screwdriver.

Now to spend the rest of the night pulling the interior out...

[captain_70s]

Interior be gone

Now, I was 100% sure these screws wouldn't come out, but you wouldn't believe it...

They didn't.

Luckily the little plastic clips holding the surround for the gear lever were pre-snapped so I could prise it away to get to the required bolts

Pulled the carpets back and chopped the foam sound deadening back, because it is one big piece that goes over the transmission tunnel and fuck trying to free that.

Towelled it all dry and then spilt my fucking coke all over the place.

Most of my time was actually spent de-wiring, there was loads of stuff hacked into the fuse box which I had to pull out. There is still some shit away up behind the dash binnacle, presumably rigged into the ignition barrel, I haven't bothered to dig that far up yet. There is wiring running along the middle of the car beside the transmission tunnel and more running down the inside of the passenger side sill - Getting at that involves removing the seats, very much a job for another day...

I suspect what I've removed is largely alarm/immobiliser related. Yes, I have checked the car still starts... No, none of the fucked electrical systems have started working.

Acclaim's battery is on charge to maintain it's usability. My charger is very much dumb so will charge even a completely flat battery.

[Talbot]

1 hour ago, captain_70s said:

My charger is very much dumb so will charge even a completely flat battery.

The best kind.  "intelligent" chargers that have to "see" a battery before they put out any power are a pain when you're trying to charge a battery from completely dead.

[big_al_granvia]

So called smart chargers are a pain, one thing I have done is to connect a battery with jump leads to a running vehicle and give it 5 minutes from the alternator

[captain_70s]

Rained all yesterday, time to check my coke.

No water on the driver's side, despite the quality drainage holes.

Water coming in down the A pillar on the passenger side.

This is a fresh air ventilation flap you can open for those long, hot Scandinavian summers.

I suspect I'll need to take it to a mate's place and have him fire a hose at it while I'm upside down in the footwell to find exactly where it's coming in.

[SiC]

Is there a drain for that section underneath the car? Would have thought so and wouldn't be surprised if it's not bunged up.

Can you get your hand in there to see if there is any detritus in that cavity?

[grogee]

On 11/14/2021 at 1:49 PM, captain_70s said:

Battery dead, again. Lovely.

It never held a great charge when I bought the car but improved with regular use, I suspect the return to only being used once a week or two has fucked it.

Then the Volvo continued it's mission to gradually reduce in functionality when I went out to it and it also wouldn't start without a fight. Turned over but would just splutter like it wasn't getting any fuel. It's done this twice now but starts first turn of the key the rest of the time, even after sitting for days. Then the heater blower resistor died, so the (squealing) fan only runs at max speed. Naturally the resistor and fan are now NLA.

Current list of broken shit stands as:

Acclaim

Radiator leaks, car overheats
Heater doesn't work on speed 1 and is gummed up with grinding dust
Battery is fucked
Weird electrical spikes, main fuse occasionally melts
Indicator contacts jammed up with grinding dust
Exhaust blows at the manifold/downpipe join

Volvo

Holes in the floors and chassis rails
Thermostat jammed open, car runs cold
Heater fan bearings scream, resistor dead.
Electrically senile - no rear wiper, no intermittent wipe, no screen washers, using headlights also runs loads of other shit
Alternator tensioner missing, belt wails under load
Propshaft vibrations at 1,900-2,200rpm - Sounds like a helicopter
Steering pulls to the left like a bastard.

Dolly

Haven't seen it since Feb
Dismantled

Van

Costs 16p  a mile for private use

 

I had at least three of these issues on my Acclaim. I think the standard radiator is pretty much on the edge for being able to keep it cool, so as soon as it sludges up it starts to overheat. Remember a few journeys in the summer with the heater on full beans.

Once it gets a bit toasty you're then into OMGHGF territory. 

Mine overheated its ignition switch, I don't know why but it was bloody hot. I never did find out why it was passing so much current, surely it's only clicking a few relays?

One time I paid A Man to do the head gasket and it was only a few weeks later I'd discovered a horrible bodge on the exhaust manifold to downpipe join, pretty sure it leaked from there too.

All of this is not much help but I did trace an electrical issue to the boot lid wiring, which had worn out its insulation and was shorting on the metalwork. 

May your triumphs be acclaimed.