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

[captain_70s]

Even better, I've been immortalised on Google StreetView

 

[captain_70s]

So, as mentioned in the thread of grumping some kind individual decided to smash in my backside and then do a runner this morning... In the automotive sense, you understand.

The situation is as thus:

In this highly detailed and professional diagram I was following the route marked blue, indicator on, ready to merge right in a queue of cars going about 45mph. Somebody a few cars ahead weighed anchor for reasons unknown (not uncommon at this merger as you have to check over your shoulder for traffic if you're going right and in most moderns this is right in peak blind spot zone), I got a good warning of this as the Freelander in front looked like it was going to do a front flip, this brought the traffic in the green area down to about walking pace. The chap in the Corsa E behind me either didn't notice or couldn't out brake a car with rear drums and went in to the back of me.
He then immediately barges his way into fast moving to traffic to the right and goes along the route marked black as fast as possible, I can't follow him until several cars are between us because I now have to pull out into 50mph traffic from a standstill.

So he's long gone and no doubt any reporting of this criminal act will result in fuck all other than me wasting my time and having worse insurance premiums.  If they cunt had stopped I'd probably have just said fuck it, shit happens, but as they ran off I'm fairly fucked off about the whole thing.

Thankfully the impact speed was very low and I was still moving forwards slowly at the time as well so damage was confined to the rear bumper. I popped out after work today with a rubber mallet, a breaker bar and a bit of wood I found in some fly tipped crap round the back of the flat and smashed the fuck out of the car until it looked vaguely straight.

That's as good as it'll get without taking the thing off the car. Not that it can get any better, as the car is clearly concourse now anyway.

Drama over.

[Split_Pin]

An actual bumper, bumping. More of this sort of thing.

Shame about the horrible driver of the Corsa. Hopefully, because modern, his bumper is cracked and the 'crash' bar behind  is bent in, perhaps puncturing his air conditioning condenser.

[big_al_granvia]

the corsa will be a write off after that contact, my bawbag neighbour has a big flashy jag and he has been rammed up the arse 3 times in the last 6 months. could not happen to a nicer guy, hopefully next time it might push him ans his horrible excuse for a wife off a bridge

your trusty triumph remains mint thanks to a lump hammer, real cars dont feel pain

[Yoss]

^^^ Liked for your swift adhoc repairs, not the twat in the Corsa running into you obvs. 

[TrabbieRonnie]

^^^Also this... well done Cap'n.

[captain_70s]

3 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Shame about the horrible driver of the Corsa. Hopefully, because modern, his bumper is cracked and the 'crash' bar behind  is bent in, perhaps puncturing his air conditioning condenser.

One can only hope, usually I'd say he's already suffered enough with having to drive a Corsa E but in this case I'll make an exception.

3 hours ago, big_al_granvia said:

the corsa will be a write off after that contact

I'd not be surprised if it was surprisingly close. When I bumped a Mk6 Fiesta a few years back they wanted the best part of £400 for a new bumper alone...

[M'coli]

There are traffic cameras around that part of the M8, perhaps they've not wiped the tapes yet - it should be easy enough to spot a dinged Corsa on them.

https://trafficscotland.org/map/index.aspx?type=26

 

[Spiny Norman]

Glad to see you got this fixed.

Back in the days when bumpers did what they said on the tin that's how we dealt with the odd ding. A mate of mine skelped a wall on some black ice a couple of years back and cracked his bumper. The insurance bill was £1200.

It's a long time since I've spent that much on a whole car.

[rainagain]

It's things like this that make me glad I've got a dash cam, which paid for itself last year when an arsehole in a Lexus was texting/otherwise distracted and punted a traffic cone at my car as he wondered across the lanes in some road works. Considering how cheap they are nowadays if I was driving in Glasgow regularly I'd be tempted to get one, I'm assuming it's a mental as I remember from driving though it most days five years ago.

[Aston Martin]

I'm assuming some PCP twat. I'm impressed at how the bumper hasn't shattered into a thousand pieces... Which is probably what's happened to his.

[captain_70s]

3 hours ago, Aston Martin said:

I'm assuming some PCP twat. I'm impressed at how the bumper hasn't shattered into a thousand pieces... Which is probably what's happened to his.

It won't shatter, it's a big fuck off chunk of steel! You can see in the "after" shots above the amount of rust that fell out of it under hammering...

[Yoss]

That's because it's a proper bumber. Must have been one of the last cars to have one. 

[vulgalour]

What a fekker.  Fortunately, pragmatism is your superpower.

[captain_70s]

So t'other weekend Girlfriend_70s and I went to Cannock, in convoy with @davidfowler2000 on the way down south. Originally we were going to meet up with @cms206 and family at some point but they had some issues with non-functional cars and were delayed.

Averaged 45mpg at a steady 60-65mph. Nae bad. Special thanks to @kirton who rescued my phone at dinner that evening as I'd casually abandoned it at a table in the Beefeater (after also managing to break the screen somehow earlier in the day)... The family_CMS arrived not long after us despite leaving hours later, we did some maths and worked out if we'd all set off at the same time from the same place the speed the diesel Proton was holding would have seen it at Portsmouth by the time the Tronda and Volvo hit Cannock...

The following morning a fried breakfast was consumed and a Cannock was done.

11/10 - Would attend again. Girlfriend_70s beat me at the auction game, because of course she did.

After the Cannock the SVM (Haulage and Malaysian divisions) and I headed to Chesterfield as I had things to collect...

We arrived at a bungalow in Chesterfield just as it was getting dark which was utterly unassuming, aside from the engine-less Triumph Dolomite, partially dismantled Proton Saga (meaning @cms206 had seen three Protons in 24 hours, making that a very good day) and beige Skoda 120 sitting in the driveway. This was home of @Jikovron, a man who has very kindly built me a Triumph SC engine in his impressively well appointed shed. This was strapped into the insultingly commodious Volvo with relative ease, indeed it could also carry four tyres...

Originally Mr @Richard was going to be aiding with the collectioning with his Volvo 850 estate but he ended up working at short notice. There was the emergency option of levering it into the back of the Acclaim but the Tronda is a bit of a torqueless wonder and isn't amazingly geared for motorway work with 60mph being 3,000rpm and 70 being 3,500. Indeed, on the trip down South quite a few hills had to be assaulted in 4th gear to maintain 60mph even without a rear mounted engine. So the ever generous Mr Fowler stepped in with ALL THE TORQUES by way of a SVM Assist Engine Recovery Vehicle (SVMAERV740GL). SVM Malasyian Division had also come along for the ride so we convoyed back North with the freshly collectioned engine and made damn good time on the road back to Sctchlnd, with a Burger King break enroute and arrived in Glasgow around midnightish.

The following morning Maister Flowers came over to my place and we moved the engine from the Volvo to the Dolomite using the POWER OF MAN STRENGTH.

You'll note it's currently in the wrong end, this will need to be rectified at some point. The car is also #stanced now.

I'm really rather glad we didn't have to use the Acclaim as transport as I suspect the rear springs would have made an escape through the strut tops. The Volvo was far better for the job, I really need to get myself one...

With that said the Acclaim did marvellously considering it's an ancient old thing now, 640 miles in total over the weekend with no bother, the only liquids required were petrol and screenwash. Indeed it managed 45mpg on the way south and 42.5mpg on the way back to Scotland. I should probably wash it at some point...

Many thanks to all the folks who helped me in this ridonkulous endevour, notably Girlfriend_70s for inexplicably wanting to join me on the trip, @davidfowler2000 for providing transport for the engine, @cms206 for providing fucking dreadful jokes and @Jikovron for building an engine for me in his spare time. It was also grand to meet so many folk at Cannock which in many cases I'd either never met or hadn't seen since ShiteFest in Aberdeenshire.

In summary - This place isn't what it used to be, apart from when it is, which is frequently.

[davidfowler2000]

The engine wasn't as heavy as I was expecting. That said the Nivomat self levelling rear dampers did go all out to keep the arse from sagging. With only the weight of about 2 passengers added on, performance didn't really suffer. The amount I left you by on the punishing uphill section from Barnard Castle to Brough on the A66 shows that and god only knows how the Acclaim would have coped with it had you decided to take the engine yourself. Like you say, probably a very good idea to get the 740 to do the lugging.

And if you think a smallish engine and 4 tyres in the boot makes an impressive photo, I can't wait to see how the V70 will look on it's rescue mission next week.

[Jikovron]

It was certainly nice to meet you all, with some notice I could have prepped a food order lol, I bet that engine would have been an XL passenger in weight for certain although clearly no issue for a redblock !

 

[rml2345]

SVM Assist; The 42nd Emergency Service. Having loaded quite ridiculous amounts of shit into 700/900 estates I had no doubt it would cope easily with a Triumph engine and four tyres. Performance is seldom affected by weight other than requiring more stopping distance. 

Good job all round to those involved though and the rebuilt bottom end looks bonny. 

[SiC]

I bet the Volvo probably could have carried all that as well as towing the Acclaim too.

[captain_70s]

11 hours ago, SiC said:

I bet the Volvo probably could have carried all that as well as towing the Acclaim too.

Most likely. I really should acquire one before prices go all 240ish but the good lady assures me any further additions to the fleet would result in me being newly single as it proves I can't be trusted to maintain myself financially...

I should also have used this week's rare spate of sunny weather to start prepping the Doloshite's engine for removal, but I didn't because I'm a lazy piece of shit.

 

[somewhatfoolish]

Is there going to be a Doloshite street party/engine transfer ceremony? I could probably drag myself to the big smoke for something as auspicious as that.

[Yoss]

Does that Rover belong to anyone here? 

The reg is quite close to my old one... 

Which coincidentally is also adept at lugging Triumph 1300 engines around. 

I cheated and used an engine stand as I was doing it single handed, though it was just about possible to carry the bare block. On the FWD cars the gearbox /diff unit is also stupidly heavy and and an awkward shape too. You can see it here under the engine. 

The gearbox is at the back, the diff at the front behind that hexagonal rubber driveshaft coupling. All in very heavy cast iron. There is a big, also cast iron, tube running through the middle of the sump carrying a driveshaft between 'box and diff (unlike the BMC FWD cars of the era the fluids for engine,' box and diff are all kept seperate). 

 

In older days I did carry engines in the 1300 itself but I'd remove the back seat, which is very easy and strap it to the seat base. The boot is more awkward to get to than in the Dolomite and the cardboard boot floor didn't inspire confidence. 

 

 

Note also, as discussed earlier (a few months ago now) the dipstick hole in the gearbox casing, just by the rear of the engine. The casting where the RWD dipstick goes is plainly visible but plugged, or simply not drilled out. 

[captain_70s]

I think the 75 belongs to @Kiltox?

The engine is mostly resting on the fuel tank/spare wheel, so relatively well supported as long as the boot floor doesn't drop out... The rwd dipstick hole was pre drilled but plugged.

There is potential for an engine swapping party, simply as I don't really have anywhere to work on the car that isn't a public road or private car park... Something will be arranged when the engine is closer to being moved to the correct end. I need to salvage quite a few Dolly specific bits from the engine that is currently in the car first.

[captain_70s]

In lieu of doing productive work on the cars I've been spending money.

Oooh. A box, but what does it contain?

Tis the last NOS Triumph Acclaim OSF wing in stock at Rimmer Bros. £60 delivered, not bad considering the alternative is a fibreglass one at £140...

Providing the car doesn't fail it's next MOT miserably it shall be replacing this:

Which initially doesn't look too bad until you realise that it's rotting from the inside out, that the trailing edge is made of painted gaffer tape and that the area under the bumper is also rotten through...

Some of you may also be wondering why I've done this when the car in question had the structural rigidity of wet cardboard, to which I shall shrug nonchalantly and mutter something about not being here to make sensible decisions.

[somewhatfoolish]

Are arches unobtanium now then? A fun* day out might be taking a measuring tape to a scrapper and seeing if something else might donate something that can be bodged into place and wobbed up to look nice.

[vulgalour]

I wonder how close a profile something like Audi TT arches are?  Not for the full arch obviously, because plastic, but might work for repair sections.

[captain_70s]

The front arches on an Acclaim aren't actually identical to the rears anyway, the rear isn't as deep. I've been looking at "off the shelf" panels, preferably cheap ones... Mk2 Golf items might work with a bit of flattening and filler, BMW E30 arches are also similar...

[captain_70s]

Acclaim re-insured, £240 with Lancaster. Was previously with Footman James but they were coming out at £100 more.

Also finally replaced the wiper blades.

The bolt and locking nut have held up fairly well due to a good coating of copper slip when initially installed.

I was going to wash the car but by the time the new blades were installed I couldn't feel my fingers so I chickened out and went back inside... It must have been 3 months since I last cleaned the thing. Quality winter beater.

I've also periodically checking the Dolly's rear mounted engine to make sure it's not rusting as all my cars fill with water like there is no tomorrow.

[captain_70s]

Today I fucked about with the idle speed, it seems one carb is doing much more than the other, hence the increasingly rough running.

I also took it for a spin with the lid off the airbox. It wasn't any faster but it did get louder and sound much angrier...

I also noticed it's loosing coolant out the rad, which is nice.

I also replaced the rear silencer mounts as the exhaust was rattling like a bastard.

[tobyd]

I'm not sure if your carbs have vacuum points you can get to, or if there is an easy to get to sync screw or if they even work the same way as Mikuni bike carbs but you if have two glass bottles and a few meters of pipe and some blue tac you can make a sync tool quite easily - might smooth up the running a bit.

One length of hose goes between the two bottles to the bottom and another length goes from the top of each to a carb. You fill the bottles with enough water (i put food colouring in to make it easier to see) so that the total isn't enough to reach either carb-tube (or the carb will drink the water and bad stuff happens).

Then you bung up the bottle tops with loads of bluetac until its air tight. with one carb end covered you should be able to suck and blow the other end and move the levels of the fluid in each bottle.

Then, you plug either tube into a carb and run the car (warm, off choke) and adjust the sync screw until the level doesn't change, revving it lightly between adjustments. Doesn't matter if the level is different just that its stopped moving. If you have a vacuum leak anywhere that will piss the proceedure up. You do have to use glass bottles, plastic ones will deform under the vacuum.

Might be your carbs don't have vacuum take-offs anywhere and you have to do it some other way, but this method is effectively free if you drink (Aldi knock off Corona is probably the cheapest clear glass with a narrow neck you'll find.) Tube came from a pet shop and was a couple of quid. I put some homemade Gin i was given (that is vile and gives you a headache within a minute) in the water to try and prevent it going rank but it still went rank after 6 months and the blue food colouring broke down.

Plenty of youtube examples - they are technically called a Manometer.