Jump to content

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


captain_70s

Recommended Posts

Guest Breadvan72

I am so glad that I am not the only one who turns his back on reliable modern (ish) cars and tries to use 70s and 80s chod as daily transport.   I have access to two cars that date from 2001, an Alfa and a Peugeot, and each is usually pretty reliable, starts first go, and all that, but given the choice I would always rather drive some ratty old thing that makes me feel more connected with the road (even if that is because my feet are sticking out through what used to be the floor).  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems familiar...

20141103_161416.jpg

 

...I know that yard very well. Used to drive for Noble's you see*. In fact, I've got a pic of your car too. If I can persuade Photobucket to work, I'll post it.

 

Anyhow, welcome along.

 

*The long haired, beardy driver from a couple of years back.

 

Edit: got one. Sure I had a better one, but here we are.

 

20131219_122303.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah yeah, I remember you!

 

Interesting to note that the Triumph has outlived the Megane parked next to it and looks likely to outlive the Clio that replaced that...

 

In other news my shite looks all rubbish next to my new place, so I need to buy something quintessentially British and 1950s to park outside. I'm thinking a scruffy Austin Somerset would be ideal...

20150223_133447.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Aaaargh. Car is disintegrating at advanced rate and I've got no bloody money. Exhaust is largely venting into the engine bay where the manifold meets the down pipe which is impossible to get at. It's also falling off because the rubber mounts are buggered, the clutch is right at the top of the pedal travel, steering is borked and there is a clunking from underneath when lifting off the throttle which I suspect is propshaft related.

 

Arse. Might have to drag the 1300 out of retirement and merely live with it's appetite for oil until 50 Shades of Yellow

 

 

Also, my supervisor at work added some classy flair to the bodywork:

 

20150305_172427%20Copy.jpg

 

I shared a car park with another 1970s daily driver (and saw a Spridget in daily use not long after):

 

20150305_160040%20Copy.jpg

 

Then I stopped off for a gander at some fancy new motors in a local showroom:

 

20150306_160404%20Copy.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

It's all gone horribly wrong...

 

Booked the 1850 in at the local garage for a pre-MOT inspection, got a full A4 sheet of handwritten failure...

 

Simplified version:

 

All brake pipes and hoses are fooked

Front discs are finished

Chassis leg is holed

Exhaust is blowing

Exhaust rubbers have failed

Failed emissions

Smoke when reving

Steering rack bushes are dead

Front to rear petrol pipe is corroded

Back brakes binding

Headlight aim

Indicator not flashing

A few other bits and bobs.

 

Well, that's a bit fucked, and it had barely any advisories last year, I just spent £100 getting the propshaft U/J sorted too...

 

Meanwhile the 1300 is providing daily service and has been doing for the last month or so but it's using half a litre of oil a day (50ish miles) and the front exhaust pipe snapped in two on Monday. It's also going rusty at an alarming rate and the electrics keep failing.

 

I recently arranged a £500 overdraft with the bank with the intention of fixing the cars a bit but I'm starting to realise I could need more. Things are shit...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well, lets get some perspective on the list of ailments for the dolly, yes it is long and they are all safty critical, but there isn't anything there that a competent spanner waggler couldn't sort out over a few days.

 

and when done,it will drive much, much better that it does at the moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got to say driving it home from the garage I can see what they mean about the brakes, I'm SURE they worked fairly well when I parked it up three weeks ago but now only the front right wheel seems to do anything, mostly locking up. Hell, with use the drums will probably stop binding, it's only done about a half mile in a month! 

 

The biggest thing is replacing all the brake pipes/hoses, I foresee them all being well stuck and bits of bodywork falling off under removal. Most costly thing will probably be the chassis leg... Everything else is basically odd jobs (wiring earths, light aim, faffing with exhaust joins/mounts) and a bit of tuning...

 

I SUPPOSE it's reasonable for a 38 year old BL car that has 91,000 miles on the clock and sits outside during winter, but it's a pain that the 1300 decided to develop a straight through exhaust at the same time. I don't like it when the compete for attention...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dad got an advisory on his old Octavia "car presented in very dirty condition inside and out".

 

Anyhoos...

 

20150522_183808%20Copy.jpg

20150522_183803%20Copy.jpg

20150522_181735%20Copy.jpg

 

Fuck.

 

The PO mentioned the comedy levels of underseal the previous guy had applied, he wasn't kidding the guy must have had shares in the stuff. Good on him too, the metal under it was like new, shame it had rotted from the inside out...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Well, I've bought a shit ton of stuff for 50 Shades Of Yellow, including:

 

An entire set of brake pipes and hoses.

New discs

Exhaust hangers

Steering rack mounts

Other misc shit

Also got a stick welder, probably just going to more blow holes in the chassis leg to be honest but I'll give it a shot...

 

Also stumbled upon a guy with some Sprints at a car show... Which made up for people asking when I was going to restore the 1300 and the guy who poked the rusty bits, just because it's fucked doesn't give you permission to fuck it more. That's MY right.

 

20150607_103754.jpg

 

Mr Sprint (I had a ride in the red one as a passenger, thing goes sideways with NO effort) had a spare 1850 engine lying around that he wanted to shift, so I bought that... He also had a rather rotten example he bought for the front wings...

 

20150607_164403.jpg20150607_164422.jpg

 

 

I asked if I could have (most of) the N/S rear wing (for the 1850) and the quarter bumper (for the 1300) before he weighed it in and he said I could!

 

I also got a letter from the estate I rent the house from telling me to keep the place in a nicer state, don't know what they're on about...

 

20150529_154552.jpg

 

Also, a guy with a multi-coloured Mk1 Clio popped around about a hour ago asking about the motors and said he'd be willing to lend a hand with things if needed. Good stuff!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Fuck me...

 

The 1300's exhaust downpipe holed a while back... Then it snapped in half... Then it fell off. At this point neighbours started getting rather angry and I was permanently deaf. I promptly bought a downpipe from Rimmer Bros that was entirely the wrong shape, they say the supplier is adamant the part is correct and built on a jig based on an original part. Rimmers said I was the first to complain although admitted there were some differences between the mild steel and stainless pipes despite the fact logic dictates they should be identical and suggested that it wouldn't be unheard of for an exhaust fitter to just force a wrongly shaped pipe on and bend it to fit with big-ass steel bars...

 

So I went and ordered a new bespoke downpipe from a local specialist. Naturally the manifold studs fell apart so I sent it away to a local garage to get them replaced, of course one out of three snapped, of course it was the one that was closest to the block and impossible to drill in situ, OF COURSE the garage had to take off the inlet manifold and carb to remove it and naturally they billed me appropriately higher than I'd expected...

 

With the exhaust fitted cabin noise was greatly reduced and the angry pitchfork wielding mob outside my house dissipated, oil usage did go up however presumably as it's now getting sucked through the exhaust valves far more efficiently. Top speed is reduced to 48mph, any faster and I burn a litre of oil a day... I also cleaned it too vigerously and made a hole, I fixed it used the standard certified BL method:

 

20150723_174725%20Copy.jpg                      20150723_175718%20Copy.jpg

 

So, that left me with £40 to my name and an overdraft that was entirely used up, so spending money is now out of the question and my diet consists almost entirely of Tesco's 25p noodles...

 

As thus I set in to the 1850HL with the hope of getting it MOT standard before I bankrupt myself from buying industrial quantities of 20/50W mineral oil. First I tried to take off the brake pipes but got bored and set at the flaky black stonechip paint with a paint scraper. I then realised that having exposed metalwork beside the sea was a dumb idea and quickly sprayed it in red oxide. I've now also managed to get all the front brake pipe unions undone aside from the one twixt the caliper pipe and the flexi hose, this may well be a hacksaw job as the fittings are well fucked. Also tried to rehang the exhaust and sheared all the mounting bolts, grand times.

 

It's looking great...

 

20150725_183537%20Copy.jpg

 

I've also taken delivery of a spare 1850cc engine and half a rear wing, eventually both of these will wind up in/on the yellow car.

 

Y'know, I think I might be a masochist....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In theory yes, but the amount of work required makes it a crap idea. I'd need an 1850 subframe for it to sit in for a start, everything in the engine bay would be in the wrong place, the diff would be all wrong etc, etc.

 

It's only really worth it if I wanted to make it an 1850 permanently, and I'd rather keep it with the 58bhp OHV lump for some perverse reason...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

People kept mentioning my feature in Craptical Plastics, so I figured I'd provide a copy (don't have a scanner, so it's shit). Amusingly I no longer buy the magazine because money is tight and I can only look at so many pictures of MGBs before I go insane but the girl with the Morris Minors on the opposite page posted a photo to Facebook and I noticed the words "Scottish" "two" and "mites" and a fraction of a photo which looked a bit like the rockery outside my house so I bought a copy!

 

20150806_235658%20Copy.jpg

 

Some of you may notice the suspiciously innacurate/flattering pictures and text, some of this is lying in order to make myself sound less of a wanker and some of it is just out of date...

 

Here is a more accurate/up to date summary:

 

20150813_183947%20Copy.jpg

 

The 1300's alternator rattled itself lose during the exhaustless period and the mounting hole became oval, it eventually stopped charging the battery and I ran out of electricity on the way to work one day after having the audacity to have the wipers, lights AND radio on simultaneously...

 

20150806_075841%20Copy.jpg

 

Dad came out and took me to work and took the battery home and charged it, when home we did our best to tighten the alternator and get it sitting straight but it was fucked and the ignition light was constantly flickering, I drove for a few days with it like this while using as little electric as possible until a new one arrived and was fitted... In the rain... At 10pm.

 

20150810_214748_LLS%20Copy.jpg

 

Also the handbrake is giving up so parking on hills is now done 70s stylee:

 

20150801_135016%20Copy.jpg

 

On the 1850 front all the front brake pipes/hoses are now replaced, the old ones snapped too easily for my liking...

 

20150726_144337%20Copy.jpg

 

Also wrestled the bumper corner off as the side mount had snapped, sanded down the rust and painted it red for street creds.

 

20150802_172956%20Copy.jpg

 

With the front brakes (sort of) done I shoved the front wheels back on and the celebrate fired the old bastard up to charge the battery as I'd not ran it in months. Turned out the underseal I'd peeled off the fuel line was structural as although the car ran really nicely it also pissed petrol all over itself and the driveway.

 

20150816_134409%20Copy.jpg

 

First I figured this wasn't too bad as if the car blew up next to the house it might take me with it and world would be muchly improved, then I lamented the fact I'd probably have to sort it out so it didn't blow somebody else up and 'cause sand is expensive. Then I realised I was a mongtard, drove the 1300 to the beach across the road and "borrowed" some sand from nature...

 

20150816_211343%20Copy.jpg

20150816_212301%20Copy.jpg

 

There, fixed 4EVA. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...