Project Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - Knocking Engines! Structural Rust! Aaaaaaaaaaa - 11/06/24

[captain_70s]

So, the last few weeks were pretty busy with me getting the car ready for FOTU.

Polishing the entire car and refitting missing trims.

Also got the parcel shelf refitted.

Discreetly wired in some upgrades.

Flushed the coolant system out (doing the rad, heater matrix, block and expansion tank seperately).

Gave the steels a halfarsed satin black.

@davidfowler2000 popped over with a wet vac and the interior was cleaned, seat runners greased etc.

Before on passenger side, driver's side done.

Replaced some exhaust mounts which were tired...

Drained and refilled the gearbox.

Car was running great and the only issue was the bonnet release cable snapped and was replaced with a bit of wire sticking through the grilles in the bonnet as a temp measure.

Of course, those who've seen the FOTU/Grumpy thread know the outcome...

About 15 miles in I noticed it was getting hot, over 1/2 on the gauge. This never happens, it rarely ventures much above 1/3rd. I flicked the heater on and reduced cruising speed to 55mph as I had been going pretty hard and didn't fancy stopping on the hard shoulder with the girlfriend in the car unless absolutely necessary.

Pulled into Hamilton services with the gauge tapping the red marker. Heard something hit off the undercarriage and spotted something roll off towards the lorry park in the rear mirror.

Met up with @blackboilersuit and @Supernaut and then jogged over the road to see if I'd ran something over or something large had fallen off. It's not uncommon for me to leave tools in the engine bay... Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be the crankshaft pulley nut.

@blackboilersuit and @Supernaut launched off back to Mr Suit's house to acquire a BIG SOCKET to reinstall it while I had a nose at the coolant system.

It hadn't exploded out of the overflow but was clearly very hot and opening the rad cap with a very long screwdriver revealed a lot of foamy coolant. I quickly whipped out the thermostat to make sure it hadn't stuck, but it seemed find.

We then refitted the crank nut (with Loctite this time) with me manning the bar while the radiator was held up out of the way.

Then we could restart the engine. This showed that the water pump was working but with the rad cap off revving the engine would overflow the rad with foamy coolant. I went to check the oil and found it reading slightly overfull, and the car nearly stalled when I took the dip stick out. HGF M9.

Coolant was topped up and I toddled back home at a steady 50-55mph with a check of levels at the halfway mark and no issues. The car also never got massively hot, although admittedly the 'stat was still out of it.

My best guess is that when I'd flushed the coolant 2 days prior and ran the car around the block I actually had an air lock somewhere in the system. I've never had an issue with air locks but @MrsJuular had loads of issues getting the air out of her mechanically identical Toledo. The car didn't really get used much the next two days as I was out of the house 12-14 hours at work. Throwing the car at the motorway and sitting at 75mph then cooked the cheapo head gasket. 

It wouldn't be the first time I've had a generic gasket fail not long after fitting, but I couldn't get hold of a decent Payen one for this engine as they seemed to be out of stock everywhere. At least a head gasket is only a 2hr job and there doesn't seem to be any major mixing of liquids... Jury is still out on the oil level as neither my driveway or the place I'd broken down were on level ground.

As a bonus the 740 blew a tyre on the return leg of the trip.

Not much fun changing a wheel  in the dark on a bit of the A66 with no hard shoulder but some guys in a pair of Mk3 Cavaliers were making their way north post FOTU en-route to Belfast and stopped to help.

 

[captain_70s]

Nothing much to report lately.

Been busy at work and post FotU I've not been majorly arsed.

Acclaim is in the garage, new fuel pump is located, just needs a power supply sourcing from the switched ignition side. Need to refill my gas bottle so I can weld up a new mount for the wipers.

Re torqued the Dolomite's cylinder head. Only two nuts were appreciably loose although one did managed over one revolution!

Ran it up to temp and it's seemingly no longer pressurising it's coolant. Massive exhaust leak though, one of the nuts/clamps for the exhaust manifold had simply vanished and another was spinning loose. Reinstalled but it still sounds like I'm running open headers, so will require some further fuckery.

Moved to the front of the driveway for ease of test driving...

[captain_70s]

So. No signs of continued HGF over the last 100 miles. A mix of A-road motoring and a few 65mph motorway blats. Temp once went up to the 2/3 mark after bombing down the motorway for 20 miles and then coming to a dead stop in traffic but that's to be expected when it's 25C... It never went higher and once we were moving again dropped to 1/2.

Currently have a Payen gasket sat on the shelf, just in case.

On to the exhaust blow. Tightening everything did fuck all so it seemed like the manifold gasket had blown.

Yes. I'd say that is done.

Managed to pry the detached manifolds far enough off the studs to post the new gasket in without having to take off the carb/downpipe. Which was nice.

With the exhaust blow fixed the car was now running and idling properly as well as not sounding like a farting tractor.

A new issue was the oil warning light flickering on at idle... I thought it sounded a bit rattly but I'm known to err on the side of paranoia and Triumph SC units tend to sound like a washing machine full of stones at the best of times.

Today I rigged up the oil pressure and compression testers despite dissolving in the heat.

That's fine for a bitsa engine built by a monkey. The pressure switch is set at 5psi so it's just fried. I'm going to rig up an actual pressure gauge 

Currently waiting on the rain washing off this Sahara dust or whatever the fuck it is...

[SiC]

Those cold compressions are a fair bit lower from what I measured with my tester. What brand tool are you using?

I found my generic red box compression tester incredibly inconsistent and inaccurate. Nearly condemned my BGT engine with that tool.

My Gunson is much more consistent and I have far more faith in it.

[captain_70s]

It's some no-brand Chinesium one I've had for years. I'm not too fussed as to the exact figures as long as the readings are fairly repeatable repeatable and similar across the cylinders. Which they are.

It drives fine and has plenty of shove, especially at higher rpm so I'm content to say compression is adequate, even if the gauge reads low.

[captain_70s]

I think late September was about the last time I was arsed doing fuck all.

The Dolly had a run out around Northumberland during Twixfest.

It was then driven into the garage and forgotten.

The has Volvo continued to rack up daily driver points (for the very few car miles I do these days).

A major issue for the WBOD was lack of a heater blower motor. The resistor having failed and then the motor seizing solid not long after. Naturally both a unobtanium. I acquired a 940 motor which seemed to be the same with a different plug and then couldn't be arsed fitting it, because summer.

Then winter came so I went to fit it.

Ok. So the blades are marginally bigger so it's a very tight squeeze to get it in but then... Wait. It won't screw into the housing?

Naturally, the threads on the 940 motor are deeper and incompatible with the 740 housing.

I pondered options for a while and eventually concluded with destruction.

It's now an interference fit aided with tape. I may go back and make up some sort of bracket so it's less likely to fall on to Girlfriend_70's feet if we hit a pothole...

I've got a Volvo 850 resistor which is similar-ish to the 740 one. I'll have to make up a loom adaptor though, which I can't be arsed with, so it's all or nothing as far as fan speeds go.

More critically it's pulling badly to the left, is eating the outside edges of the front tyres and the exhaust is blowing at the mid section. So for now it's laid up.

The Acclaim is in the garage.

I've fitted a electric fuel pump to replace the original (unavailable) mechanical one. It's the sort usually found on upgraded MGBs/Morris 1000s and the like.

Powered by a relay that takes a signal off the ignition control module wiring. So it only runs when the ignition is on. It works well and means it fires first turn of the key as the pump brings fuel up to the carbs without spinning the engine.

I also made up a new mount for the windscreen wiper which had collapsed into the bodywork.

Here is a crude representation of the metalwork where the wipers mount.

T

The red is what I would call the bulkhead and is a few big panels with minimal holes.

The yellow is presumably a reinforcer of some description, it has quite a few big holes pressed in it despite not obscuring anything, presumably to save weight.

The white is a "cup" which holds the wiper spindle. As seen here...

So, the white cup is welded to the yellow panel along one edge, the yellow panel is spot welded to the red bulkhead directly under the windscreen.

You might think that the force of the wiper spring and the linkage moving around would cause quite a lot of stress on such a small area, and you'd be right, as while 99% of the yellow panel was minty fresh the area where the "cup" was attached was rotten. As it'd fatigued the wiper had started wiggling around adding to the fatigue and multiplying the rusting.

Grand. So, how to repair? The best method would be to remove the windscreen and dashboard to remove the scuttle panel to get access. Well, the screen is already cracked in one corner and they're notorious for shattering on removal (making spares rare) and the seal is perished and also unobtanium (The last known supplier of Mk2 Civic screen seals ran out a couple of years ago and announced no more would be made due to worn out tooling and lack of demand).

Right. Fuck that then. Screen is staying in. 

Second option would be to cut the scuttle panel out without removing the screen. Suspect the heat/flexing caused by removing big chunks of metal in the proximity of the screen could well break it. Let's not do that either.

So. Keyhole surgery through the fresh air intake grille it is.

That's as far as the pictures go. The plate had way too much flex in it to hold the spindle steady and my attempts to add strengthening ribs made a mess. Especially as the welder decided wire feed was optional and would only move wire about 15% of the time I pulled the trigger. 

In the end I added another plate here:

The curve was needed to clear the wiper mechanism but also acted like a big spring to hold the "cup" in place. 

Ultimately, while it was sturdy and not structural, the repair looked like shit so you don't get to see it.

So with a new fuel pump and functional wipers we had a functional car, yes?

No. Not really. After being laid up so long the electrics have gone a bit... sporadic. The light switch on the stalk now has dodgy contacts so various lighting circuits will just randomly stop working. I'm hoping I can strip it and clean it, but if not I think I have a spare stalk somewhere...

Oh. And it immediately blew a hole in the centre section of the exhaust.

Also it wouldn't idle. Ran fine on choke but when choke was off it'd die instantly. Suspect the idle circuit is blocked...

So the next step is cleaning up these carbs full of unobtanium rubber seals. Just waiting on some JIS screwdrivers landing...

Once the current wave of repairs is complete it'll be 4 SAIL as, with having a works van for commuting, it just never gets used. The Volvo eats motorway miles and the Dolly is the go-to smoll saloon, the "very reliable car on classic insurance" is no longer a requirement. Lack of use is the cause of most of its recent issues - Dried out fuel pump diaphragm, corroded electric contacts, water sitting in the lowest section exhaust.

This leaves the Dolomite as the most dependable vehicle on fleet, as it always starts on the button and just goes. How times change...

[LightBulbFun]

sad to hear of the Acclaim going, I mean its been part of/a fixture of the forum for so long, or certainly as long as I have been on the forum! but hopefully it finds a home with another shitter  (it will make a good purchase for someone, already MOT exempt and come 1st of April this year it will be £NIL tax/ULEZ exempt as well  @wesacosa you hear that!  )

and certainly a Dolly and Volvo are still a fine paring on their own  

 

 

[wesacosa]

ooh I do like an Acclaim....

 

[vulgalour]

... and being an '83 it's ULEZ exempt (and possibly MoT exempt, and tax exempt) so being in That London isn't even an issue for once.

[High Jetter]

I got wheelspin in 2nd in a demo Acclaim en route to some BL launch party. Lovely cars, would if I could.

[captain_70s]

Aye. It'll be a shame to see it go (even girlfriend_70s said so!) but 3 ongoing projects is too many and lack of use does it no favours!

It's MOT exempt but still taxed, a weird limbo period. Already exempt from Scottish ULEZ because their cut off is 30 years, not 40.

Can confirm a sorted Acclaim will wheel spin through 1st and into 2nd. The engine is comically advanced compared to the ancient 1300 in the Dolly.

[Supernaut]

I shouldn't ask this...

But I do want some sort of MOT/Tax exempt classic at some point and I know how solid this car is.

 

How much, mister?

[captain_70s]

Gaun like fuck.

[captain_70s]

Fleet updates!

Acclaim:

I bought the appropriate JIS screwdrivers and then stripped, cleaned and reassembled the carbs:

Aside from the solid fuel hose and general build up of crud everything seemed in fine fettle. Even the diaphragms seemed fairly supple, no signs of wear to any of the needles/seats. So it went back together and got chucked back on the car.

While I was in the area I noticed the dead fuel pump was spewing oil down the side of the block. Given I'd switched to a 'leccy pump I mad up a wee blanking plate and did away with the mechanical pump entirely. Probably another 5bph there...

 The car seems to be oil tight and running fine, considering nothing is fine tuned yet. Granted I've only run it around the block at 15mph, but it at least back to moving under it's own power.

This meant it could come out the garage and the Dolly could go in.

The Dolly:

This has been servicing as the primary daily driver for the last few months but required some attention. The steering column would move vertically and horizontally about an inch, which was fun, and one front brake was binding and squealing.

I don't have any pictures of replacing the steering column bush, but it was a shit of a job. To get the column out you have to drill out some shear bolts under the dash, which would require stripping the interior out.

It was actually easier to drop the entire subframe out the bottom of the car with the steering rack attached to make space that way.

If @juular and @MrsJuular hadn't been on hand to show me how to do it (having already done it on their Toledo) I'd have probably given up in a sulk. Even with three of us it took about 6hrs... The new bush is poly, so should last a good long while and the steering column now feels like it's attached to the car which is nice.

So. On to the brakes.

NS:

OS:

Yes. Slightly past their best. I think I probably had 1/2 of one caliper actually working in total.

Everything was seized solid. It took two hours just to get the pad retaining pins out on the OS.

The pistons were so stuck I had to use the car to push them out...

This actually worked really well, wish I hadn't spent hours with hammers and chisels failing to budge them prior...

Against all the odds all the bolts actually came out damage free and in pretty good nick.

Can't see why any of that would be playing up...

Luckily I had all the gear and no idea.

I gave the bores a good going over with the drill hone borrowed from @juular , the casings got attacked with the wire wheel and high temp silver paint and everything went back together nicely.

While I was in the area waiting for the calipers to dry I also wire brushed the various suspension components and gave them a quick blast with satin black, just to make the area a bit less nasty to work in.

We'll not mention the condition of any of the dust boots or bushes. Needless to say I'll be back here shortly...

Scientific testing was carried out after bleeding the system:

Perfectly adequate. Just how I like it.

The temp gauge was also playing up, sat around the lowest mark and vibrating rather than doing anything useful. It seemed like a voltage regulator problem so I bought a new one.

One of these voltages regulators works, the other is a piece of shit. Can you guess which is which?

Yes. Naturally the brand new one is fucked, with the temp gauge still not working but now the fuel gauge also not reading above 1/3 despite being full. Turns out the temp sender itself had gone duff. I replaced that and refitted the 45 year old regulator made of rust and it's now all working.

With the brakes finished (and it took something stupid like 15hrs over the last 3 days) I rewarded myself with doing some cosmetics.

Random steel Philips head bolts replaced with nice period cheesehead stainless ones. With matching washers. Because I am a sad arse stuff like rusty mismatched hardware really bugs me.

Those numberplate light bolts had only been on the car since last July and one had to be sliced off with the Dremel as the nut had seized and the head rounded!

I then gave it a wash, so it should now be ready for a run down to Northumberland this evening to attend Twixfest tomorrow.

The Volvo:

Continues to be a car that works. Mostly. It still devalues everywhere it goes.

It also came in handy as a mobile hedge trimming platform.

I replaced a bald front tyre and the rear one which exploded returning from FOTU last year. Really need to get to the bottom of the bad pull and uneven tyre wear. Have acquired some bushes to fit.

I know it won't pass it's MOT, which expired on the 8th, as both the horn and hazard lights have stopped working. Again. So that's the next job on the to-do list.

I also started removing the gaffer tape flag as it was peeling quite badly.

I regret the gaffer tape flag...

[SiC]

How is that Dolomite engine holding up?
I thought it was a good 'un until you stripped it and I feared from going by what you said that perhaps in hindsight it might not have been.

[captain_70s]

12 minutes ago, SiC said:

How is that Dolomite engine holding up?
I thought it was a good 'un until you stripped it and I feared from going by what you said that perhaps in hindsight it might not have been.

Fine.

It was sludgy and the cam/followers seemed to have corrosion damage from sitting but other than that it wasn't really too bad. I eyeballed the main/big end bearings and threw them back in. Seems to have decent oil pressure and compression. It doesn't burn oil and doesn't feature the big end death rattle on startup before oil circulates so I've not got any concern for it to be honest.

From memory all I replaced was the cam, followers, thrust washers and water pump. Maybe the timing chain? So I've not really spent any money on it, just hours of cleaning old oil and corrosion out of it!

 

[SiC]

Probably the best that can be expected from any late Triumph SC lump.

Does sound in better health than my Spitty engine 😅🫠

[SiC]

Glad to hear it's doing some good service though. 

[purplebargeken]

The OHV engine benefit from a good glug of STP oil treatment. 
Also, put a black zip tie around the exhaust hanger rubbers, helps prolong their life and stops them dropping off when they do eventually die.

Direct replacement of the sidelight bulbs with LED ones is a good thing too.

Headlining stained brown around the edges? Clean with meths, then paint with satin white emulsion and a small fluffy roller and a narrow paintbrush. Looks factory when done properly. 

I do miss these cars.

 

 

[captain_70s]

Update.

Dolomite:

It did Twixfest!

370 miles there and back. Slight moment of overheating after climbing a 15% grade and then immediately pulling over and shutting the engine off like a pillock. Slight moment of setting the front brakes on fire after descending a 20% grade despite mostly using the gears. Those solid discs up front really don't dissipate heat, I can see now why the Sprint guys reckon they're shit!

However... In saying the engine was trouble free I may have spoken too soon.

The cause of much head scratching. I am somewhat familiar with big end knock, having driven my last engine till it span a bearing, and that doesn't match up. Too rapid a sound, not really related to engine load and more towards rapid changes of engine speed It seems to be coming from the front timing cover, so I'm wondering if the tensioner has fucked up and the chain is slapping the case. I also found the crank pulley is loose, it moves back and forth and rotates a bit, although the nut is tight due to being glued in place with red Loctite. So that may also be the cause. Either way I need to pull the pulley and have a nosey. I'd thought it was the exhaust rattling (it does, and sounds quite similar) but sadly not. Naturally I discovered it was actually the engine having just agreed to buy a not cheap custom stainless steel exhaust from a local fabricators...

So, I was actually rolling around under it quite a bit, having discovered half the bellhousing bolts had fucked off while it was up on the ramp at the exhaust place. Once these were reinstated I started scraping off all the old peeling underseal and wire brushing the surface rust.

Ah, yes. Marvellous. This chassis leg has suffered some sort of impact or been used as a jacking point at some point and has always been deformed. Obviously this, and the passage of 50 years, has weakened it. Luckily that was the only rot I found...

Except for this inner wing bit which was entirely underseal. Oh well, it's been a while since the welder saw action...

Speaking of:

Acclaim!

While taking the carbs off I'd leant on the battery tray and gone through it, and also through the chassis rail underneath it.

Also there was a crispy bit at the other side I knew would need some attention where the plastic arch liner was connected...

Not exactly my finest work but the welder fought me every step of the way.

The wire would refuse to feed, or weld to the tip, or bird nest inside the machine. The gas valve kept sticking fully open and would need a smack to free up, in trying to access that I knocked a wire lose and bricked the whole machine so had to remove even more panels and even more bloody Torx screws...

I think throwing it into use after 2 years of sitting wasn't the smartest move.

New tips, swan neck, liner and wire ordered, should see it back to fighting form.

So with the welding complete the Acclaim is now back to being the daily driver. It's actually driving really well now the carbs have been apart. Really quiet compared to a Dolomite with a blown centre silencer... I did shut the boot and a slice of bumper fell off though.

Gonna order a big slab of sheet steel and make a new bumper. Despite being the same front and back Acclaim bumpers in half decent condition are rare, due to the rears rotting due to being a mud scoop and the fronts ending up being from giffer driving. It's basically just U shape with some brackets and holes for the fog lights and the clips that hold the rubber trims on. How hard can it be?

Anyway.

Volvo:

I replaced the broken hazard light switch (thanks to @rml2345 having the bits spare) and fixed the horn (earth through the steering column wasn't earthing).

I've also gotten rid of most of the gaffer tape flag from the last Shitefest using a combo of WD-40 and a paint scraper...

Just need to throw it at the MOT station now.

 

[vulgalour]

I love that everytime you expect the Triumphs to be An Car they decide instead to be Liabilities.

[captain_70s]

2 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

I love that everytime you expect the Triumphs to be An Car they decide instead to be Liabilities.

I think the Dolly did about 1,200 miles of being An Car before making the BAD NOISES. Which is pretty good going considering I put the engine together.

[adw1977]

That Acclaim does like to rust, doesn't it?  I admire your perseverance!

[plasticvandan]

If your crank pulley is loose,going by the noise disappearing when you rev it,does.sound like the slack being taken up.does sound more external than internal if that makes.sense,more like the timing being out.

[chaseracer]

Are these units the same as those on the Mini Clubman and Maxi, or has there been a 'Leyland NIH event' and they're visually similar but actually entirely different?

Asking for a friend who really isn't a pedantic twat, honest...

 

[captain_70s]

14 hours ago, adw1977 said:

That Acclaim does like to rust, doesn't it?  I admire your perseverance!

Japanese design, British steel. A take as old as time.

I don't even intend to keep it! I just want it to be vaguely solid and driving well when I sell the thing...

4 hours ago, plasticvandan said:

If your crank pulley is loose,going by the noise disappearing when you rev it,does.sound like the slack being taken up.does sound more external than internal if that makes.sense,more like the timing being out.

It's loudest right at the bottom of the timing cover, so certainly looks like it. Naturally there isn't space to get an impact gun on the pulley nut without pulling the engine so it'll be fun to remove...

2 hours ago, chaseracer said:

Are these units the same as those on the Mini Clubman and Maxi, or has there been a 'Leyland NIH event' and they're visually similar but actually entirely different?

Asking for a friend who really isn't a pedantic twat, honest...

 

Different, because reasons. There are also two types, early cars with the lens being part orange and late cars (like mine) with a separate orange insert that sits behind the lens.

I think Clubman ones are identical to the early style ones but split 50/50 between sidelight and indicator rather than the 66/33 split on a Dolly.

[grogee]

On 08/02/2024 at 20:19, captain_70s said:

I also made up a new mount for the windscreen wiper which had collapsed into the bodywork

TADTS. 

Your post took me right back to 1994, when my Acclaim shat its n/s wiper. 

I remember taking it to the local very skilled welder bloke who fabricated a repair much like yours and after that the repair was brush painted with grey primer which I never did anything with. Like yours it was a fiddly repair with the screen left in position. 

Re: faulty lights/stalks. That might be BL shitness in the rear lights. My Maestro indicators wouldn't work which I eventually traced to bad connection between bulb and holder. Crappy pressed steel and no real attempt to seal it from the elements. Also the hazard light switch was gummed up with grime and rust. 

(I realise your post was from February but just in case it's still a problem). 

Also, did you ever get any weird ignition switch faults? Mine crapped out on the M4 and cut power, I then performed an emergency repair using chocolate blocks and never really fixed it properly except to add toggle switches for ignition and starter. 

[2flags]

I have just read this all the way through. I do admire your tenacity with these. They have fought you every step of the way. Re the Aclaim. No, I don't want to buy it, well, I do, but living the in deepest darkest Somerset, having absolutely no need or space for it or the money, what about the guy that came around asking if it was for sale? Was he genuine or just a chancer?