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

[captain_70s]

Man the sun still sets fast at this time of  year...

Anyways, first things first. I checked the bulb for the 740's battery warning light.

It's fine, illuminates with the ignition on but goes out when the car starts, connections to the alternator are fine, it isn't noisy. Assuming voltage regulator/bushing failure.

I set it aside as I'd like a functional car for the weekend, have no parts for the Volvo and have limited daylight...

Threw carbs at the Acclaim.

It runs, after a fashion. It'll still only idle on choke, although it isn't dying as soon as it drops under 1,500rpm like it was before.

You can drop it right down to 800rpm but it chuffs away like it's runing too rich.

Something definitely isn't quite right, I'll play about with the choke/throttle stops in daylight. Once you're driving it's fine, as seems to always be the case with the Acclaim...

[GingerNuttz]

On 07/02/2025 at 20:48, captain_70s said:

Man the sun still sets fast at this time of  year...

Anyways, first things first. I checked the bulb for the 740's battery warning light.

It's fine, illuminates with the ignition on but goes out when the car starts, connections to the alternator are fine, it isn't noisy. Assuming voltage regulator/bushing failure.

I set it aside as I'd like a functional car for the weekend, have no parts for the Volvo and have limited daylight...

Threw carbs at the Acclaim.

It runs, after a fashion. It'll still only idle on choke, although it isn't dying as soon as it drops under 1,500rpm like it was before.

You can drop it right down to 800rpm but it chuffs away like it's runing too rich.

Something definitely isn't quite right, I'll play about with the choke/throttle stops in daylight. Once you're driving it's fine, as seems to always be the case with the Acclaim...

These should have pilot jets yank so em out and blow through em with compressed air or replace em.

I had some bother with the pilot jets blocking until I put a better fuel filter in it the Herald so if you have a see through plastic filter before these remove it and fit a canned fuel filter under the car at the tank, makes a huge diff.

Pilots are for tick over up to 30% throttle on Keihin carbs so it might be your issue.

[captain_70s]

4 hours ago, GingerNuttz said:

These should have pilot jets yank so em out and blow through em with compressed air or replace em.

I had some bother with the pilot jets blocking until I put a better fuel filter in it the Herald so if you have a see through plastic filter before these remove it and fit a canned fuel filter under the car at the tank, makes a huge diff.

Pilots are for tick over up to 30% throttle on Keihin carbs so it might be your issue.

It was deffo the pilot jets before, it had the same problem a year ago. I'm gonna stick a canned filter back by the tank, @juular has offered one from his stock.

Went back out to it in the daylight, tried to start it, wouldn't start. Popping through the carb, generally being a piece of shit.

Pulled the air filter housing off and found one loose vac hose and one which should have been blanked off but had lost it's cap. Replaced that shit, car fired up and ran perfectly. Took it a spin for a few miles, flawless.

2 hours later, need to run to the supermarket. Halfway there it starts spluttering under throttle.

Now though the problem has shifted. It idles perfectly, completely shits itself and seems to drop to two cylinders between 1,500 and 3,000rpm and then clears back up again if you force past it.

Rechecked the vac hoses, all good. Sprayed carb cleaner about the rubber mounting blocks and they seem fine. Either it's another blockage or a sticky piston. Shall pull it back apart over the weekend, I'm getting pretty fast at it now. 😂

Today I was messing about with the 740. Checked the continuity for the 3 wires that go to the alternator and they're all fine. Pulled the alternator.

As you can see it lives under the oil filter and in the path of the inevitable rocker cover gasket seepage.

There was evidence I was not the first person to have removed it...

The bushes were a decent length, online seems to suggest they can be nearly flush with the housing before they are totally dead.

I tested the resistance for the diodes and then rigged the alternator up to a battery and ran it off a drill for bench testing.

Completely dead. Will need to dig into it further. Don't get why the battery light in the car is going out, despite no charge, when my test light doesn't. 

I also finally sorted out the stuff that was recovered from Girlfriend_70's gran's shed.

The metal toolboxes were right underneath the hole in the roof.

The big cantilever one has actually rusted through on the bottom. Most of the contents will have to go in an acid based de-rusting solution of some description and we'll see what will actually be salvageable.

[captain_70s]

So, Acclaim carbs back off.

It seemed the RH piston was getting stuck. Using a screwdriver It'd rise slightly then stick then pop free. No oil damper on these, like an SU, just a weak return spring.

I also stripped both down completely and blasted everything through with carb cleaner. Again.

Reassembled and tried to lift the pistons with a screwdriver, both jammed solid. U wot m8?

Took the domes off, both pistons free to move in the carb body. Put the pistons in the domes, both free to move there too... Hm. There was some marking to the edges of the pistons so I polished them with wire wool.

Reassembled, one piston moved and then jammed, the other was stuck solid. Right, started removing the domes and as I loosened the screws I heard the jammed piston dropped back down.

It seems with the screws tightened the domes either don't centre properly on the carb body or are sitting at an angle and jamming the pistons. I tried rotating the domes 180 but the problem persisted.

I might have accidentally swapped the pistons/domes, which could potentially cause issues. Or I could have overtightened the domes previously and damaged the aluminium surface where the screws locate. Not sure.

Either way I just tightened the screws bit by bit until the pistons started getting resistance and then backed them off a touch. There is a rubber seal and it shouldn't be loose enough to vibrate itself looser.

Reassembled and went for a test drive, drives fine. No issues at all.

Perfect. With this in mind I have immobilised the car in a new way.

This is because the mobile tyre fitter is coming over tomorrow to replace these...

Which could be charitably described as "well used".

I prefer to remove/refit the wheels myself if possible, prevents squashed sills/chassis rails from being jacked up in the wrong place and means I can do the wheel nuts up to a torque which allows roadside removal in the case of a flat. 

@MrsJuular kindly volunteered to test the 740's alternator and found the bridge rectifier was fucked. Replacement was £130 odd from Europe so just bought a new alternator. 

Cadged a lift to an auction and didn't even come home with a car...

Some weird stuff is worth money these days...

There was a very shiny Inca Yellow Dolly 1850HL like my old one up for grabs. Up close there wasn't much right with it. Wonky sills welded to the front wings, evidence of rear wheelarch bodgery and wobbed door bottoms just at a glance. I think it went up to £5k odd, not sure if it made reserve though.

Obviously I went out to the work van this morning to find it sat in a puddle of oil...

This really isn't my problem but it'd be rude not to look...

Naturally, having been serviced last Tuesday, the sump plug was loose. Tightened it, drove to site and it was still dripping but with it hot I could get an extra 1/2 turn on it which seems to have stopped it.

The last time it was serviced they left a rear brake bleed nipple loose... As I discovered approaching a roundabout outside Redcar, downhill, off a dual carriageway, at speed.

And people wonder why I try to avoid having garages work on my cars...

[captain_70s]

New rubber for the Acclaim. Only the finest... *squints* OVATIONs...

New spinsy winsy for the 740 acquired but not yet fitted.

I did replace the rad hoses though.

Finally started working on the Cresta as well... First time since November...

I'm being a bit haphazard given how much of this is hidden by chrome and lead. I need to get used to being able to put a bit of heat into the panels, it's a different beast after the Acclaim!

I made a start digging into the A pillar but ran out of gas...

[Sunny Jim]

Did you get your money's worth out of those rad hoses? How old were they?

[danthecapriman]

On 17/02/2025 at 22:54, captain_70s said:

So, Acclaim carbs back off.

It seemed the RH piston was getting stuck. Using a screwdriver It'd rise slightly then stick then pop free. No oil damper on these, like an SU, just a weak return spring.

I also stripped both down completely and blasted everything through with carb cleaner. Again.

Reassembled and tried to lift the pistons with a screwdriver, both jammed solid. U wot m8?

Took the domes off, both pistons free to move in the carb body. Put the pistons in the domes, both free to move there too... Hm. There was some marking to the edges of the pistons so I polished them with wire wool.

Reassembled, one piston moved and then jammed, the other was stuck solid. Right, started removing the domes and as I loosened the screws I heard the jammed piston dropped back down.

It seems with the screws tightened the domes either don't centre properly on the carb body or are sitting at an angle and jamming the pistons. I tried rotating the domes 180 but the problem persisted.

I might have accidentally swapped the pistons/domes, which could potentially cause issues. Or I could have overtightened the domes previously and damaged the aluminium surface where the screws locate. Not sure.

Either way I just tightened the screws bit by bit until the pistons started getting resistance and then backed them off a touch. There is a rubber seal and it shouldn't be loose enough to vibrate itself looser.

Reassembled and went for a test drive, drives fine. No issues at all.

Perfect. With this in mind I have immobilised the car in a new way.

This is because the mobile tyre fitter is coming over tomorrow to replace these...

Which could be charitably described as "well used".

I prefer to remove/refit the wheels myself if possible, prevents squashed sills/chassis rails from being jacked up in the wrong place and means I can do the wheel nuts up to a torque which allows roadside removal in the case of a flat. 

@MrsJuular kindly volunteered to test the 740's alternator and found the bridge rectifier was fucked. Replacement was £130 odd from Europe so just bought a new alternator. 

Cadged a lift to an auction and didn't even come home with a car...

Some weird stuff is worth money these days...

There was a very shiny Inca Yellow Dolly 1850HL like my old one up for grabs. Up close there wasn't much right with it. Wonky sills welded to the front wings, evidence of rear wheelarch bodgery and wobbed door bottoms just at a glance. I think it went up to £5k odd, not sure if it made reserve though.

Obviously I went out to the work van this morning to find it sat in a puddle of oil...

This really isn't my problem but it'd be rude not to look...

Naturally, having been serviced last Tuesday, the sump plug was loose. Tightened it, drove to site and it was still dripping but with it hot I could get an extra 1/2 turn on it which seems to have stopped it.

The last time it was serviced they left a rear brake bleed nipple loose... As I discovered approaching a roundabout outside Redcar, downhill, off a dual carriageway, at speed.

And people wonder why I try to avoid having garages work on my cars...

I share your pain with garages on work vehicles.

I once took my old Sprinter work van in for service and it came back but started becoming harder and harder to start. Then it wouldn’t start but absolutely stunk of diesel with a puddle forming underneath. 
Had a look, and they had changed the diesel filter but not tightened it up! It was loose enough to start sucking in air, hence the hard starting, then must’ve gotten looser and leaked!

Not very confidence inspiring!

[captain_70s]

29 minutes ago, Sunny Jim said:

Did you get your money's worth out of those rad hoses? How old were they?

They predate my ownership, I got the car in May 2021, the bloke before me only did 50 miles in it after pulling it out of a hedge, last tax disc is 2005. So, old.

I've had replacement hoses in the boot for years and never been arsed swapping them...

[comfortablynumb]

42 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

I've had replacement hoses in the boot for years and never been arsed swapping them...

Sort of thing I do, buy bits, keep for ages, go to fit, and discover I've bought the wrong ones...🤦

[juular]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

I share your pain with garages on work vehicles.

I once took my old Sprinter work van in for service and it came back but started becoming harder and harder to start. Then it wouldn’t start but absolutely stunk of diesel with a puddle forming underneath. 
Had a look, and they had changed the diesel filter but not tightened it up! It was loose enough to start sucking in air, hence the hard starting, then must’ve gotten looser and leaked!

Not very confidence inspiring!

In my case after having a clutch done on my Vivaro they failed to tighten up the hoses to the intercooler, so as soon as I floored it up a slip road there was a loud pop and a lot of black smoke.

I was standing at the side of the M9 trying to tighten up the jubilee clamps using a butter knife as it was the only thing I could find in the van resembling a screwdriver. 

I still got them tighter than the garage did.

It does feel like any time a garage touches anything I am nervous for ages waiting for the things they've touched to leak / fall off / explode.

[captain_70s]

So, the Acclaim had developed a nasty wheel wobble around 57-68mph. Ideal.

Took it to the guys that'd fitted the new tyres and they rebalanced them with the machine at the garage rather than the one in the mobile fitters van.

Still exactly the same. Arse.

I did get my telly working though...

 

As @MarinaJosh had suggested may be the case the tuning buttons weren't working properly. You had to hold them in to maintain a picture. 

Got to be a bit cautious with these things as they can hold voltage and launch you into low Earth orbit...

Those yellow chunks were once spring retaining washers. I found suitable replacements and reassembled and now they latch in place properly.

It is being fed signal through the finest Chinesium.

£19 from eBay. I remember when I was last looking for a CRT back around 2010 such a gadget would be nearer £100!

Sadly the capacitors show evidence of leakage so it'll need more work to be properly preserved.

[MarinaJosh]

Nice one! I can't see any signs of leaking caps in that board pic, the crusty looking stuff looks more like solder flux. I have also spent some time today playing with a 12" monochrome set!

[captain_70s]

Fleet update.

Volvo 740

Fitted the new alternator so it's back to being a functional car again.

I also fitted some new headlight bulbs.

They're fractionally brighter and whiter than the old bulbs but the issue of my being completely unable to see anything if there is oncoming traffic persists.

I think the unfortunate truth is that you simply sit too low in old cars and modern headlights are just too bright when pointed at you. I have less of an issue in the van, where I'm sat up at SUV level.

Acclaim

As the tyre fitters were unable to balance my wheels properly I transfered the wobbly ones to the rear. Problem solved*.

The night before Twixfest it was making a nasty scraping sound from the OSR wheel. @Talbot and @juular lended assistance.

A flange welded to the drum, seemingly as a bit of a dust cover, had disintegrated and the remains of the welded tabs were flaking off and getting stuck/melted in the bottom of the drum. 

The crusty bits were chiselled away and everything was fine upon reassembly.

The following morning we set of towards Hexham with no issues until just passed Lauder south of Edinburgh.

My feet started feeling a bit chilly and a hand over the demisting vent revealed cold rather than hot air. A glance at the temp gauge showed it at 2/3rds and climbing rather than the usual 1/3rd. Bollocks.

It was quickly discovered that coolant was escaping via the pump weep hole in a torrent. Clearly the shaft seal had shat it big time.

Everybody collated their liquid containers and @Talbot drove back to Lauder to fill them with water at the petrol station. 

With a total of 11 litres of fluid in containers we drove back with the cap loose on the expansion tank to relieve pressure and stopping every 15 mins to refill the rad.

By bizarre coincidence @comfortablynumb had found an Acclaim water pump he wanted to sell a week prior and kindly sold it to me. I've not yet fitted it as, with Spring looming, I elected to prioritise fixing...

The Dolomite

This has been sat since suffering water pump failure enroute back from FotU '24. It also developed a horrible rattle from the front end so I wanted to check out the timing chain.

All seemed well. Chain was tight on both pulleys and when compared to an old one and brand new one seemed identical in length. Everything was coated in a good amount of oil. The tensioner, again, was worn through the anti-friction coating to shiney metal within 1,000 miles...

I reassembled with the engine's original (probably factory) chain - Just to rule out aftermarket part fuckery.

I had a brand new water pump, but given the last brand new pump lasted about 1,000 miles that doesn't mean much. I found the engine's original (probably factory) pump, dressed the rust off the impeller and chucked that in.

Finally I dropped in the radiator, which I had recored last autumn. 

All back together, running fine with no nasty noises.

The best test is a roadtest so, having come in for the night at 10pm  we set off the following morning at 9:45am for a 170 mile jaunt up to Aberfeldy and back with @Andyrew @juular and @MrsJuular...

The car largely performed well aside from briefly blocking a jet and dying, forcing me to pull into a bus stop. This was cured by pulling the choke out and revving it until the blockage cleared...

Also my new rad seems to be leaking. Naturally.

The original front end rattle has fucked off and been replaced by another, which sounds even more like a loose timing chain. I'll have to dig back into this as I'd rather it didn't completely fuck up and introduce the pistons to the valves.

It still saw some use this weekend trundling around locally and is driving really well.

The Cresta

Hasn't been touched. I did get more welding gas but other, more functional,  vehicles take precedent...

[hairnet]

[hairnet]

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/805383a4-f483-4fb9-b98d-78b582cb9232

[captain_70s]

Updates:

Dolomite

Still making horrible rattling noises from somewhere around the front end of the engine. I did note the alternator is a bit loose as the mounting is worn, so I'll shim that out. Did 240 miles of A/B road running at 55-65mph over the Easter weekend as Fiancée_70s and I went down to the borders for a bit of a holiday. I do want to check the big end bearings before Rustival. When I stripped the engine the ones in there seemed fine but it seems a bit slower to put the oil light out and seems to be developing a bit of a growl under load, so well worth a look.

I also desperately need to re-foam the front seats as the driver's side one has completely disintegrated and gives me a sore back after an hour or so.

It did average about 38mpg though, which is pretty good for a 4-speed mated to an archaic OHV!

The main reason I took the Dolly on holiday was the usual daily was out of action, which takes us to the...

Volvo

The drivetrain noise/vibration was getting pretty bad so it was finally time to investigate the cause.

Put the car up on stands and found the centre prop bearing carrier was shot and there is also a bit of a weird sound from one of the rear wheels. I then dropped the back of the car back on the ground, moved around the front to do the same and realised as the front wheels hit the ground that I'd left it in Drive with the handbrake off.

Turns out I can't hold a Volvo 740 on a slope, merely slow it's rate of progress. My main concern was my jack and work lamp I was running over but in the end I just had to hop out the way and hope for the best.

Thankfully the jack handle goes completely flat backwards and the 740 doesn't exactly ride low. If it'd gotten jammed under the car and dragged along that'd have been significantly shitter.

Anyway, nuns and kittens were hurriedly dumped in a shallow grave and the Volvo and Dolly swapped places on the drive as I figured the 740 would be out of action a while.

The rear of the driveshaft came out easily. 4x 15mm bolts with 17mm nyloc nuts, pull it out.

The front bit not so much. The join is directly above the gearbox crossmember, making it impossible to get at with normal spanners. I ended up buying wonky ones specifically for this job...

You do have to mark the sections of the propshaft as they aren't keyed, so you can put it back together out of balance.

The bearing was removed with a chisel and lump hammer because I don't have a puller. Not ideal but as long as you don't fit the shaft and you go around in a circle and don't drive it at an angle it's perfectly do-able.

There are a couple of metal washers, one of which got pretty mangled but I doctored it back true in the vice.

Refitting was the reverse of removal, being very careful to tap it on straight and only hitting the inner race of the bearing.

Unlike the picture shows you have to do this with the rubber bushing and cage in place as the bearing only goes in one way.

Naturally having gotten the bearing all the way home I realised that, despite having checked my reference images multiple times, I'd put it on backwards. Removing it a second time put a tight spot in the bearing but by this point I was hacked off so I put it all back together anyway in the understanding that the bearing is here for a good time, not a long time, and at least I know how to replace it.

With this complete the car wouldn't start. It'd turn over and not fire.

Eventually, after much fucking about, I found it wasn't sparking and found this:

Now I reckon the hall sensor wiring connector isn't supposed to be dangling under the dizzy cap hanging by it's own wires and saturated in oil.

No idea how long it's been like this. I avoid the ignition system on the 740 as best I can because Volvo decided to move it from the side of the block, where is should be, to the rear of the cylinder head. It's jammed up against the bulkhead where it's impossible to see, and the cam seals tend to fail and fill the thing with oil - As evidenced here.

Naturally the hall sensor itself is riveted in place, fucking up while drilling the rivets out, or while replacing them, renders the dizzy itself scrap and refurbished ones cost over half what I paid for the entire car...

Thankfully cleaning everything up got the car running again but this is going to be a problem that comes back to haunt me and I'm increasingly wanting to chop the 740 in for the simplicity of a 145...

In simplicity news...

Cresta

Not masses of stuff going on here, but I figured I'd at least start cleaning bits and working out exactly what rebuild kits I need to order.

AC fuel pump was in decent nick under the grime. Quite a bit of alloy corrosion in the top of the float bowl but it cleaned up. Diaphragm was rock solid, as you'd expect. With stuff like this I'm cleaning it up and reassembling with the old gaskets unit rebuild kits arrive, firstly to keep everything together and secondly because I've heard tales of alloy bits like this warping if left disassembled...

Lucas DMZ6A. Again, in good nick, nothing seems worn out, sucking on the vac advance made stuff move. Lots of grime, condensor is probably dead but the points cleaned up.

The dizzy cap has been scored with the cylinder nos!

The HT leads are pretty crusty but it'll be a shame to get rid, as they're almost certainly the originals.

Next step is the carb I guess.

It'd be quite handy if it could run and drive, just to move it around and let other shitboxes into the garage for repairs. As I suspect it'll be a WIP for a significant amount of time...

[paulplom]

Lucky escape with the volvo!

[SiC]

6 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Fiancée_70s

I dunno/missed when this happened but congratulations!

[Angrydicky]

Ethanol does attack those old AC fuel pump diaphragms so it would be a good idea to replace with a modern ethanol-proof one. 

Obviously I didn’t practice what I preach as after getting recovered home, I used a nos kit I had in stock to rebuild it. Hopefully it’ll last a while. I use valvemaster which is supposed to have an ethanol stabiliser in it.

[Split_Pin]

Yes congratulations on your engagement!

[danthecapriman]

I’m late as usual, but congrats to both of you @captain_70s on your engagement.🥳

Great progress on the cars too!

[LightBulbFun]

Ditto what everyone else said! Congrats on the Engagement  I hope the wedding cars will be suitably Autoshite! (dare I ask if thats the plan for the Vauxhall Cresta? )  and I am enjoying the fleet tinkering as ever  

[captain_70s]

Cheers all!

We've been together nearly 8 years and she hasn't tried to do a runner yet, so figured I should probably show some commitment in return!

I dare say the Dolly will feature in wedding proceedings in some form. It's been kicking around too long to not be involved...

Not sure on the Cresta, I do at least have a year or two to get it finished!