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

[plasticvandan]

Staggered.anything is possible

[Datsuncog]

Played for - and won!

 

Tip of the hat to you, Cap'n. An object lesson in how to 'do' Autoshite in its purest sense - fix it, drive it, relish it. And bollocks to the naysayers (like me).

 

After last week's pit of despair, you seem to be on something of a roll.

 

Long may you run!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

MOT of the year.  Or MOT tester of the year.  Either way.

[mercrocker]

A 66% fleet useability is not to be taken lightly.   Excellent news.

[Felly Magic]

Well played, you didn't let this beat you, a well deserved Triumph

[junkyarddog]

Well done!

 

Really happy for you.

 

I had faith.

You are become an accomplished shitter.

 

[dave j]

What a turnaround! When I read about the mot fail I wasn't sure this car had a future. Hats off to you sir!

[320touring]

Huzzah!

[dome]

Top work!

[SiC]

Congratulations! I bet you're chuffed to bits?

[dozeydustman]

Epic. Always had a soft spot for the Acclaim, don't know why as I've never driven one, nor (knowingly) been a passenger in one. They just look 'right'. Nice to see you didn't frag it/sell on at a loss.

[davehedgehog31]

Brilliant.

 

Great to see the fruits of your hard graft. Enjoy driving her.

[cort16]

Well done !

[captain_70s]

Cheers chaps. Major thanks to FOAD once again who facilitated the car's repair and Nisfan for lending me the AS bike to facilitate me being able to get to work!

 

Congratulations! I bet you're chuffed to bits?

Most pleased! 

 

I took the car to work this morning and when my shift finished at 14:30 I drove straight to Dunfermline and arrived with 15mins to spare before the MOT. Over the course of the drive over I'd gone from being fairly sure of it passing to being sure it'd fail on something. I then got to watch the car get tested while making small talk with the lady in the reception. It was quite the relief when I was told it'd passed! Just after I took the pictures of the MOT pass the bloody electrics went haywire and the car died. Positive cable had jumped off the battery terminal!

 

Going back to the Acclaim after the Rover makes it feel very old and slow in comparison although I soon got used to it being a bit buzzier at motorway speeds. The gearing in top is actually identical to the Civic with the engine doing 3k at 60mph and 3.5k at 70mph. It actually drives pretty nicely though, my only complaint is it is a bit crashy over bumps (the 220 is the same) and it tends to wander a bit, possibly down to the Moggy Minor spec tyres.

 

I took the Doloshite for a quick spin tonight as well, same route as before. Going back to the Dolomite after the Acclaim makes it feel very old and slow in comparison although I soon got used to the car feeling like it was going to explode at any second. I also got commended by a passing chap who has a Stag in storage! The oil light still comes on when it gets hot, I've ordered a new sender as that's £7 and an engine rebuild is more. May try to free up/clean the front calipers tomorrow if I can be fucked.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

SHIT THE BED.

 

From Another one bites the dust to We are the Champions in one fell swoop. The Reverend is IN ORE.

[oldcars]

Fair play, not only is it fixed to a good standard its fixed in about a week. Result, Enjoy it, you deserve it.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Well played, you didn't let this beat you, a well deserved Triumph

A Triumph in all senses of the word. Fair play to ye.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Triumph over adversity yo.

[nisfan]

Well done on the pass! Does that mean I'm getting the rover back? Currently have 0.5 working cars

[captain_70s]

I'll arrange getting it back to you asap!

 

Tried to do the brakes on the Doloshite today, couldn't get the hubcaps off. I think I may have left my hubcap levering tool at Foadwerx and despite trying many other things nothing was quite up to the task. I also took the oil sender unit out and cleaned it up by blasting it with WD40, at first I though it'd helped but after a slightly longer drive (10ish miles) the oil light was back to flickering. The fact that cleaning it has made any difference to it's behaviour does suggest it might be iffy though...

I also managed to re-shape the clamp for the distributor so it now actually holds it in place so the timing no longer drifts and the idle seems to be staying where it should.

 

Something is squeaking in a really annoying fashion in the back of the cabin but I can't find the source, the steering column also rattles at low rpm, I'll need to check that as well.

[vulgalour]

You can pop hubcaps off with a stout dinner or butter knife usually and failing that, a teaspoon.  May need strategic hitting with fist on the opposite edge to the lever used.

[captain_70s]

Acclaim is still daily transport and going well, Doloshite is being used for tootling over to Moodiesburn to the bird's place and local shopping trips.

 

On the latest jaunt it decided to play silly buggers half way up Great Western Road.

 

 

Stalled as I tried to pull away and then refused to restart. A kind passer-by helped me push it out of the way...

 

 

It'd turn over fine but wouldn't fire, a few splutters at best. I decided to let it cool down a bit as there are worse places to wait than a leafy street in the West End on a sunny Friday eve. Once it cooled down it fired back up and would idle. I pressed on as home was only 2 miles away until...

 

 

Exactly the same problem halfway along Crow Road. I pushed the car out of the way myself this time... Once again I waited for the car to cool down a bit and then drove it the remaining mile home.

 

I suspect vapour lock due to the 25C heat we've been having. Bombing down the motorway at 60+ and coming straight on to stop start traffic on GWR will have made the engine bay properly toasty with the mechanical fan, although the water temp gauge never went higher than the halfway mark. The fuel lines also go right next to the block and right past the heater hoses and the carb itself sits on top of the exhaust manifold. The car has suffered from hot start problems before, although Aberdeenshire life meant it's avoided any really warm days for most of my ownership...

 

[davehedgehog31]

I like how you still had the presence of mind to take a photo of it broke down in the middle of a busy road for us perverts, bravo!

 

At least you managed to limp home. It wouldn't be authentic 70s motoring without minor mechanical bother and much inconvenience.

[Felly Magic]

Hopefully it is just down to this heatwave, and once it returns to our normal 14 degrees and drizzling, it behaves again

[M'coli]

I've seen this sort of thing occur when a condenser's on its way out, was there a spark when it cut out?

[SiC]

I agree. Sounds very similar to when my condenser failed on my MGB. How old is it and is it a modern one?

 

Alternatively the coil is breaking down and failing when hot.

 

I remember reading somewhere that a large amount of fuelling issues are actually ignition related.

[vulgalour]

Another vote for condenser.  The Princess used to do exactly what the Triumph is doing, pretty much word for word.  Impossible to hot start.  Often tried to and succeeded in dying completely when coming off the motorway and sat at idle, usually a problem when setting off just like you had.  Sometimes it would catch, but usually it would just behave like it was terminally broken.  I ended up doing the coil next, and the plugs, and the leads, and the rotor arm, and the points...

 

As soon as you can afford to, grab all the electrical gubbins the car takes and stick them in.  Don't bin the old ones, keep them in the car just in case.  Some new components are really appallingly shit so having the old stuff as back up is very sensible.

[captain_70s]

Back when I first got the car it had a brand new stock ignition system fitted by the PO but it was utter garbage and caused no end of problems so I replaced everything in 2013 and fitted electronic ignition.

 

Having said that 2013 was a long time and a lot of miles ago considering the "quality" of modern parts...

[D Spares & Tyres]

Coil

[mrbenn]

Don't know the ignition set up on these but had similar on my Minor caused by the low tension wire on the side of the dizzy.