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

[Guest Hooli]

I had similar when the output amp was failing on electronic ignition on my Bonnie, so yeah check for a spark when it plays up.

[Guest Conan]

Hello! Been following your Triumph adventures both here and on another certain forum for quite a while now. Always fun to read!

That issue does appear to possibly be the coil. More prevalent in hotter climate indeed.

[captain_70s]

I'll have to have a nosy at the Dolly at some point, it's been a bit neglected the last few weeks as I've been super busy!

 

So, last week I went up to Shitefest 2018 on Friday afternoon, about 123 miles north. The car performed very well indeed and happily chugged along the motorway at 65-70mph. It even survived me bombing down the dirt track to Saabnut's house and bottoming out the back box on all the potholes.

 

 

After Shitefest I headed further North on Sunday to Banff to meet up with my Renault hoarding pal:

 

 

He is also the fella I gave my 1850HL to:

 

 

It still runs and drives believe it or not and has had quite a bit of welding done underneath. It's actually more solid than my 1300 in places... The fuel tank however was fucked so we drove to Jimbo's yard (who's wife used to run my Acclaim as a daily a few years ago) as he has two Triumph saloons which may yield bits...

 

 

He reads the forum and was pleased to see the Acclaim was still on the road and looking good!

 

I managed to acquire a fuel tank which wasn't full of holes and also enquired about being able to get the interior out of this:

 

 

Last on the road in 2008 when a front end collision saw it off the road, it's too far gone now having sat under trees in mud for a decade but the interior is utterly immaculate to the point where I think the mileage may be genuine...

 

While I was in the area I also took the car back to it's supplying dealer!

 

 

Anyway, I took the tank back to the 1850 and cleaned it out and now it just needs a coat of Hammerite before it goes back in and a fuel line routing in. We also gave it a bit of a T-cut and the original yellow actually came back!

 

 

The guy is hoping to have it back on the road this year but has been struck down by numerous medical issues recently so progress has been slowed dramatically.

 

A couple of days camping at his and then I went to visit the parents who live near Strathdon before making my way back South over the Cairngorms on Wednesday:

 

 

 

The weather steadily deteriorated over the trip as the light faded making it a long and lonely journey back home, I arrived at about 1:30am. Obviously that didn't stop me from pulling over to get a photo of a Volvo...

 

 

Then on Friday me and the girlfriend set off on holiday to Argyll... I'd booked a room at a guest house on the shore of Loch Fyne which served as our base of operations and we visited Inveraray, Lochgilphead, Tarbert, Campbeltown, Southend, Mull of Kintyre, Kilmartin and Oban...

 

 

That's roughly 800 miles added on the clock in 12 days, averaged between 38-42mpg with nothing other than occasional checks of vital fluids.

 

I did suspect at some one the head gasket might be on it's way out due to grim looking coolant and mayo on the oil cap but I topped up the header tank and it's no lower 300 miles later... One thing I have noticed is a bit of a rumble from the engine when under load. Being a OHV Doloshite owner this sort of thing gives me the fear because big ends. The oil looks pretty clear and the level never drops, I rarely rag the car about and it's a genuine low miler but if anybody was going to buy a car with a reputably indestructible engine for it to inexplicably fall to bits it'd be me. 

On the other hand it could also be the gearbox, or the exhaust of much bodgery rattling against something.

 

Now I'm back at home the car is going to get a full service, oil, filters, coolant flush, valve timing, etc. So we'll see how it goes. Well, it will when I get paid anyway, I'm down to the last £30 of my overdraft...

[mercrocker]

Excellent, exactly what old cars are for.    Its nice to have some memories other than lying alongside it in the pissing rain trying to un-break it.    That poor old Oxford, though......

[Squire_Dawson]

Great photos.

 

If you can pinpoint the rumbling to the engine it might not be too much to worry about, it should rumble on like that for many miles. I sometimes get 'paranoid hearing' but usually its nothing to bother about.

[captain_70s]

Excellent, exactly what old cars are for.    Its nice to have some memories other than lying alongside it in the pissing rain trying to un-break it.    That poor old Oxford, though......

 

Given the fella' got the yard in the early 1960s and the tree has grown around the car I reckon it's been there a while!

 

Great photos.

 

If you can pinpoint the rumbling to the engine it might not be too much to worry about, it should rumble on like that for many miles. I sometimes get 'paranoid hearing' but usually its nothing to bother about.

That's my current hope, especially as there are no parts available for these engines!

 

Almost forgot my video of our quintessential Scottish mid June holiday experience:

 

[barrett]

Hey, nice one! You are quite literally waving your cock and balls in the faces of everyone who thought this was scrap fodder (myself included) and it's such a relief to see an update from you where you're actually blezzing about in one of these old heaps instead of lying underneath it in the street getting frostbite.

 

Love those pics of the yard, looks a fantastic place. Got any more?

[captain_70s]

Love those pics of the yard, looks a fantastic place. Got any more?

 

It has it's own thread!

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/21555-cornhill-yard-of-dreams-ii-electric-boogaloo/

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

A proper Triumph over adversity here and hats off - that looks a gorgeous way to spend the weekend. Some fantastic scenery..... and the grassy bits look great too.

Get your head under the bonnet with a sonic amplifier (long metallic screwdriver or bar) and hunt the knock if you can. Can't* be any more of a job to tackle than the marathon you've already conquered.

 

Chod speed sir......

[barrett]

I commented on that other thread, too. Must pay more attention.

 

I'm also going to give some unsolicited advice re Dolomite: although my technical knowledge is limited, it is my understanding that ignition coils do not simply 'break', but a failing coil is the sign of something amiss elsewhere in the ignition system. Once a coil has got super hot and started to break down then it's toast, but there isn't any point just swapping the coil as it's likely the cause of the problem lies elsewhere. 

[oldcars]

Great fun, nice to take an old car on a wee holiday x 2.

[D Spares & Tyres]

I'm also going to give some unsolicited advice re Dolomite: although my technical knowledge is limited, it is my understanding that ignition coils do not simply 'break', but a failing coil is the sign of something amiss elsewhere in the ignition system.

 

No sorry, that is bad advice. While it is possible that something can kill a coil, it is just as likely for a coil to fail in this way without something else causing it.

[captain_70s]

In my experience all the components that make up an ignition system of any variety are shit at the best of times and repo parts are worse.

 

Took the Doloshite to Morrisons today because:

 

A - It has fuel and I can't afford to use the Acclaim's, need that for work.

B - It's not been driven for a while.

C - Thems all the excuses I need.

 

I think I've finally managed to get the choke set up correctly, pulling it halfway is now a fast idle and all the way out richens the mixture. It starts much easier now and every time I drive it the engine seems to be a little bit smoother and happier to actually run. I do forget just how small the thing is sometimes...

 

 

I also went to the liberty of "Pixaring" my cars, because why the fuck not?

 

Daisy the Dilapidated Dolomite of Disaster:

 

Trevor the Tenaciously Terrible Triumph:

 

Angus the Arguably Adequate Acclaim:

 

 

[captain_70s]

New £8 oil pressure sender fitted to the Dolomite, time will tell if it stops the oil light from flickering or if I'll need to fit a new £400 engine. It doesn't really have enough fuel for me to go driving it until it gets warm and I don't really have enough money to put more fuel in it, I started it up and the light went out at the same time as the bottom end stopped knocking (Triumph OHV engines are a wonderful design) so it does at least work.

[Squire_Dawson]

 

I started it up and the light went out at the same time as the bottom end stopped knocking

 

That is the time taken for the oil circulating to the various parts of the engine. Hence the knocking stops once pressure is built up. It could indicate worn bearings allowing the oil to escape through greater clearances, possibly the oil pump is tired also, but if treated with care should soldier on for a while yet. Take it you have 20w50 in it?

[SiC]

I get a tapping noise from my top end on the MGB if I've left it for a while. I've taken to removing a coil connection, foot to the floor and cranking it over until pressure builds up (your case light out). Then reconnect coil and start as normal. Might work in your case to get oil around the parts before the explosions start happening.

[captain_70s]

Aye, 20w50. Anything lighter simply leaves the car in puddles and as smoke in even greater quantities.

 

Triumph OHVs all rattle on start up unless you crank it on the starter until the light goes off, I think you can get oil filters with no-return valves which stops all the oil draining back into the sump which helps the situation but I don't think mine has ever had one. They are also famed for eating big end bearings, mostly the 1500 but the 1300 suffers the same to a lesser degree. The knocking returns under hard throttle between certain rpms and has done for the last 15k so the bearings are deffo well worn but I see no point replacing them until I can afford to overhaul the entire engine given the crank will likely need ground and the cylinders re-bored...

 

I also think their are oil delivery problems at the top end as it always looks alarmingly dry and sounds tappety as hell, this is another issue these engines seem to suffer from. When I first got it there were sure signs of prior neglect and top end oil delivery problems:

 

 

A rocker arm snapped on the shaft within 300 miles of purchase.

 

I lashed it back together with a second hand set of rockers and it's been like that ever since. In retrospect the oil pump and oil ways through the block are probably all clogged with sludge but back then I didn't have the confidence to strip an engine and just wanted the car back on the road. One day when I have funds I'll repair it, until then I'm just going to be trying to reduce further damage as much I can while keeping the car usable.

[junkyarddog]

Is the engine still in that low mileage 1500?

[captain_70s]

Is the engine still in that low mileage 1500?

It is indeed. The yard also contains a stripped Dolly 1500 which also drove into the yard and has an engine.

 

The thought has crossed my mind before, in fact I agreed to buy the Dolly 1500 shell several years ago for it's engine but the sale fell through do to my constant battle with finances...

[D Spares & Tyres]

I love your logic.

 

"The head gasket and big ends are going on the car. That can only mean one thing.... Road trip!"

 

Ps, I always disagreed with Pixar. Cars already have faces, they don't need eyes on the windscreen!

[Aston Martin]

Headlights are the eyes!!!

[Guest Hooli]

I get a tapping noise from my top end on the MGB if I've left it for a while. I've taken to removing a coil connection, foot to the floor and cranking it over until pressure builds up (your case light out). Then reconnect coil and start as normal. Might work in your case to get oil around the parts before the explosions start happening.

 

I wouldn't floor it, that just floods the bores with fuel & washes the oil off the rings.

 

 

 

As for Captain's rattley lump, if you used 2nd hand rockers they'll have a different wear pattern to the valves & will always rattle more than parts which have always worked together.

[captain_70s]

As for Captain's rattley lump, if you used 2nd hand rockers they'll have a different wear pattern to the valves & will always rattle more than parts which have always worked together.

 

The top end rattling doesn't bother me, it's the bottom end I worry about.

 

Anyway, I took the car for a spin this afternoon and it behaved perfectly. No oil light flickering at idle, didn't cut out, pulled well. I did notice the coil was fairly hot after the run so that'll need checking over.

 

It has now developed a very annoying squeak from the rear suspension somewhere and the engine/gearbox seem to feature too much movement for my liking. The steering column also moves up and down and rattles. Not really surprising as every rubber component is probably about a million years old.

[Guest Hooli]

TADTS

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

As long as it doesn't move up n down extreme amounts while you're Tonkin along I wouldn't stress too much. Mine did it no matter what I tried......

 

Have you checked the thrust washers..... iirc these have a tendency to slip out of place a little and cause untold noises from the bottom end. That may be me talking out of my arse though as it's from dim distant memory.....

 

Love the yellow dolly.... I MUST own another at some point in the future. I miss the old Sprint most of all the terrible shite I've ever had the pleasure* to own

[captain_70s]

Started servicing the Acclaim with the bits that have arrived, fitted the new air filter and then moved on to the plugs.

 

There were a few issues. Two of the HT leads had old plug caps stuck in them and were just jammed ontop of the plugs, one of the plug caps snapped off on removal.

 

 

Manged to pry out two of the stuck plug caps but the properly snapped one was not for moving, I managed to substitute a spare Dolomite 1300 lead by swapping cables of various lengths around. Car still idles like shit, new leads have been ordered. I'm still waiting on an oil filter arriving...

 

I also topped up the 1300's oil and noticed that it had lost some more excess weight on the drive home last night:

 

 

They all do that, sir.

[Guest Hooli]

That's evolution increasing the cooling for the hot weather.

[junkyarddog]

Speed holes!!

[Squire_Dawson]

Those plug tips are an ideal colour - you really could not ask for better. So at least you know the mixture is perfect.

[captain_70s]

Those plug tips are an ideal colour - you really could not ask for better. So at least you know the mixture is perfect.

I'm used to plugs fouled with 4,000 miles worth of burning oil from the Dolomite!

 

Here is some fresh new video content for y'all: