Project Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - To gas or not to gas(less MIG) - 09/11/24

[captain_70s]

Triumph is sounding pretty healthy at least and it's good the brakes are improved.  That rear panel dent is going to be a nuisance to remedy, even with the tank  removed.  You could risk pushing the dent out even further than you have but you might end up stretching it too far the other way.  Jobs like that are a pain to put right.  Can you cheat and use washers to space out the bumper from the car?  It's not a repair, per se, but it might allow you to get the corner fitted back on.

I'll have to see how much of a fight the bumper bolts put up and how much free space they offer, if I could washer it out enough to allow the bumper to fit that'd be nice... Both the inner and outer rear valance panels are dented, you can buy both from Rimmers but everything is welded together and frankly it's a huge expense I don't give enough of a shit about to actually spend. It's a shame as before I bashed it the rear panel and bumper were the only perfect bits of the car...

 

The Civic's calipers are going to be a fucker, whether it'll be a 6 week ordeal we shall see...

[Zelandeth]

Kwik Fit in Bicester put a wheel on my Saab so tightly that I wound up jumping on the end of an eight plus foot long breaker bar while holding my toolbox in hand for extra mass, until the socket (one of those black impact ones) exploded with a godawful bang. I wound up having to take it to my local garage and get them to remove it. Their description was that it was "f-ing tight!". Is a torque wrench really such exotic a tool?!?

[Christine]

I was just looking at the before and after pics of the Triumph brake shoes on the previous page .

One of them is fitted  wrong...?? The lining on the left is upside down or the right way up or on the wrong side ???? Its in a different position on the shoe...

Edit ...Or I could be wrong , its a different side !!!! Silly me ,as you were ..

[vulgalour]

Don't forget, when you space out the bumpers you've got the bolt that goes through the valance and the bolts that attach the bumper to the bracket so you should be able to push it out quite a bit if needed.  Providing the bolts come undone.  Which they probably won't.

[plasticvandan]

Regarding mots,if you have or know of a classic friendly tester use them,even if not your nearest,I've been using the same guys since I was 16 on bikes,tricycle and cars,even though I'm now 25 miles away.

[Alusilber]

Is a torque wrench really such exotic a tool?!?

To a Kwik-Fit fitter, it probably is

[captain_70s]

So, today was a thing.

 

I eventually managed to get the Civic's rear calipers off. Couldn't split the two halves to had to pull them off whole. What was left of the O/S pads and retaining clips fell apart in my hands although I did managed to separate the two parts of the caliper

 

 

 

On the N/S the pads were in far better shape but I couldn't seperate the two halves of the caliper, not yet at any rate.

 

 

On both sides the pistons are well stuck, the O/S seems to be jammed at full extension as pressing the brake pedal has no effect on it at all...

 

Obviously I'm going to need new parts to reassemble the car in some sort of working fashion which leaves me with zero functioning/road legal cars. Hence why tomorrow I'm going to Fife on a train to acquire another car. Not to keep mind you, Nisfan has generously lent me one of his fleet to use until the Civic parts arrive.

 

I also pulled the Triumph's front wheels off today to fine... Sticking disc brakes. I've decided to not even entertain the idea of working on them until the Civic is finished, I quickly wire wheeled them and applied PlusGas to all the bolts. I did however do a cheap and nasty refurb on the wheels and wire brush/Vactan a few areas of surface rust on the sills and front valance...

 

 

I also had a prod around underneath and have come to the conclusion that it definitely can't have gotten the same tester as the Acclaim and I'm just going to wait till it's exempt before doing anything else with it...

[JeeExEll]

It's lookin good tho.

[captain_70s]

A few more pictures:

 

 

Actually very good for a Dolomite, the front valance on my 1850HL was 100% paint.

 

However the underside of the front wing looks like this:

 

 

Frankly I've no idea what's going on here, from the fit of the front wing and the car it is quite a bit less rusty than the opposite side I'd say it's been replaced at some point and the way it's been attached at the bottom seems to have been with copious amounts of underseal which has since dried and crumbled off.

 

Bah. To rub salt in the wounds as I was walking home from the Chinese a very tidy early Moggy 1000 came flying down the road as if to show me what could have been.

[Guest Hooli]

You know those calipers on the civic need the piston screwing in right?

 

You can get a proper tool but I just lean hard on them with thin nose pillers prodded in the slots on the piston to wind it in. With worn discs & knackered pads it may well be at full extension already, hence the lack of movement, I once had brake failure on a Merc when the inner pistons on both back calipers fell out due to worn discs & pads....that was fun*

 

 

 

*80mph into a 30mph corner between stone walls, at least I can say I managed a Swedish flick once in my life. I could never do it deliberately though.

[captain_70s]

Aye, I was trying to wind it in. Not a lot of working room though and it is very disinclined to move. I think I'm going to take the caliper off the car entirely for ease of access, buy some refurb kits and strip the whole thing down...

 

In happier news I noticed a chap from the building next door loading rubbish bags into his new DS3 this morning, then he set about stuffing in a roll off carpet. I enquired as to taking ownership of said bit of carpet and can now work on the car in shag pile comfort...

 

 

Also the bloke who lives in my block and usually drives a Range Rover Sport had something a wee bit different yesterday...

 

 

[captain_70s]

So today I managed to loosen the two brake pipe hoses for the calipers but the bracket which holds the handbrake cables in place are seriously stuck on both sides. So I headed into town, met up with the girlfriend and drove to Cowdenbeath to borrow a car from Nisfan which some of you may be familiar with...

 

 

Yes, the AS bike Rover 220Sli is now in my hands! It drives really quite well, although that is to expected as it's barely even run in:

 

 

My girlfriend approves of it in theory but I'm banned from keeping it. She also says it needs to be seen in motion from the outside to truly appreciate it's unique aesthetic qualities.

 

 

Artsy shite:

 

 

This should tide my over until either Civic or Acclaim is fixed, whichever gets done quickest. A thousand thanks to Nisfan for lending me the car, he's a real life saver!

[Guest Hooli]

Roverlicious!

[SiC]

Just don't break brake this one!

[Tam]

Haha you actually escaped an earlier meeting with the bike when I had it. I was gonna offer to lend you it when you were in need of a motor once before! Not sure what happened but you solved the problem yourself.

Looks like it's picked up a few bruises and a controversial set of wheels!

[richardthestag]

So today I managed to loosen the two brake pipe hoses for the calipers but the bracket which holds the handbrake cables in place are seriously stuck on both sides. So I headed into town, met up with the girlfriend and drove to Cowdenbeath to borrow a car from Nisfan which some of you may be familiar with...

 

DSC_2882 (Copy).JPG

 

Yes, the AS bike Rover 220Sli is now in my hands! It drives really quite well, although that is to expected as it's barely even run in:

 

5666805059402174056 (Copy).jpg

 

My girlfriend approves of it in theory but I'm banned from keeping it. She also says it needs to be seen in motion from the outside to truly appreciate it's unique aesthetic qualities.

 

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Artsy shite:

 

rover.jpg

rust.jpg

mirror.jpg

 

This should tide my over until either Civic or Acclaim is fixed, whichever gets done quickest. A thousand thanks to Nisfan for lending me the car, he's a real life saver!

 

4 x May 2019 calendar pic recommendations in this post alone.

[captain_70s]

Just don't break brake this one!

 

Not long after I left Cowdenbeath the Mk4 Civic Nisfan was using lost it's master cylinder, if anything I've spread the curse...

 

Haha you actually escaped an earlier meeting with the bike when I had it. I was gonna offer to lend you it when you were in need of a motor once before! Not sure what happened but you solved the problem yourself.

Looks like it's picked up a few bruises and a controversial set of wheels!

The wheels are from Bub's old Variomatic Ovlov, fitted as they have alright tyres.

 

The car actually functions as a car pretty much perfectly aside from a noisy wheel bearing, it certainly doesn't feel like it's done 160k!

[captain_70s]

What a motley crew...

 

 

If only the Acclaim were here, then I'd have a representation of a small family car from every decade from the 70s through 2000s...

[Aston Martin]

Imagine how happy you’d be if you still had the Corsa...

[davehedgehog31]

Oh, fancy.

 

The rear arches are even more rust-tastic than mine.

[oldcars]

What a motley crew...

 

DSC_2885 (Copy).JPG

 

If only the Acclaim were here, then I'd have a representation of a small family car from every decade from the 70s through 2000s...

Yes, you have a three wheeler now too 

[captain_70s]

Imagine how happy you’d be if you still had the Corsa...

The Corsa was garbage, £190 a month on finance payments and it lost £3k of value in less than a year... Dad has bought a new Corsa van and it keeps having to go back to the supplying dealer for warranty work all the time, his courtesy car is a Civic ironically enough.

 

Yes, you have a three wheeler now too 

 

Two wheeler actually!

[Aston Martin]

The Corsa was garbage, £190 a month on finance payments and it lost £3k of value in less than a year!

Mines slightly less a month, but it’s lost £9k in 15 months. I guess buying 3 years old cars make sense.

[captain_70s]

 

 

Three generations of quality* British* motor vehicles.

 

I washed the Rover last night and linseed oiled the bumpers because I felt sorry for it. In process of doing so I locked my house keys and phone in the flat and had to break into my own home with a chisel I borrowed from the bloke who lives across the hall...

 

Today the garage finally gave the Acclaim back with it's new shock fitted so now the weldathon can be planned.

 

[davehedgehog31]

The three amigos. 

 

Does the Dolomite feature a coin tray like it's two newer companions?

[Ghosty]

You need to find a 213 to complete the set!

[captain_70s]

Sadly the Dolly lacks a labelled coin tray, although there is a space above the radio which I store coins in...

 

I did lament my lack of SD3 in my FB post!

[Zelandeth]

That generation of Rovers were astonishingly nice driving little cars, and always felt to me just "right" from behind the wheel.

 

Quite how I've not wound up with one yet I'm not sure.

 

We had a TD example at the garage for a while which we struggled to sell, never did figure out why...seemed a lovely little car to me.

 

Didn't have the wacko exhaust system tow two silencers at opposite sides of the car at the back the earlier 200s had either...I recall those being a swine to fit straight.

[Yoss]

You just need this to complete the set.

You seem to like a challenge.

[chancer]

 

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Absolutely love these photos as its where i sit to have lunch in the van when im in the area.... nice wee peaceful spot. Must remember to look out for your cars next time