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

[Dick Cheeseburger]

I think you're overly critical of the Acclaim...........................................

The paintwork looks pretty darn good from where I'm sat. Has it not hardened off in the last few weeks during the Scottish summer*?

[captain_70s]

16 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I think you're overly critical of the Acclaim...........................................

The paintwork looks pretty darn good from where I'm sat. Has it not hardened off in the last few weeks during the Scottish summer*?

The paintwork looks great, but I leant on the bonnet and my jacket left corduroy print in it... When fitting it's radio I briefly sat the radio on the roof while I unlocked the door and it left a gouge just from it's weight.

 

It'll probably still look fine for a year or two, but it'll age badly as the amount of damage it'll accrue from general use and washing will be extreme.

[brownnova]

Corduroy print Acclaim sounds perfect to me. Sit on more of it! 

[captain_70s]

I've not done masses to the cars recently, mostly light tinkering.

The Volvo got a bit of a tidy as it'd rapidly become a storage shed, as estate cars do...

What is in the box? A Mk3 Polo radiator, generously donated by @jaypee which will be massaged into the Acclaim at some point.

I also stuck all the interior back together having got a working radio.

With the earthing problems yet to be discovered I found the biggest issue was that the rear wiper ran with the headlights. Obviously the solution to that was to unplug the rear wiper...

The plug for the motor is behind the motor, it is inaccessible, the loom that feeds it is also inaccessible.

So I jettisoned the entire motor.

I also tweaked the driver's door lock as it didn't fit properly and was making an annoying hiss at 50+ mph. It's had that door replaced at some point, evidenced by it being entirely white and not grey on the inside...

Then it was time for greasy stuff.

The alternator belt had also started screaming, so that needed looking at.

Yes, that'd be an issue. Actually more of an issue than you'd think because a large chunk of the tensioner was missing. It should look like this:

In it's absence all I could do was pry the alternator with a bar against the engine block and tighten up a new nut on the slider.

The PAS pump has a similar set up, but less of it was missing.

I found a bolt that was long enough to work and reinstated it.

I also replaced the oil cap seal as it was weeping* a bit*.

Finally, as I'm going to house sit for my parents this week I needed to swap out the blown driver's speaker.

£15 worth of shit speakers. Should be easy, right?

Of course Volvo riveted their speakers in...

You may also note the shape of the speaker. Not round. Well, kind of round, but with squared off edges.

Fun fact, stock Volvo speakers sit between common sizes. A round speaker of the same diameter fouls the cover, so I bought a size down, bringing a different set of problems...

I was going to drill new mounting holes but they were just too close to the speaker cut-out and the door card just fell to bits. Right...

It was @Tickman's idea to use the original housing to mount the new speakers in. You can get adaptor plates, but not fast enough for them to get here tomorrow...

Fuckers mint.

Fleet functionality fairly high. Only the genuine BL contingent are off the road.

[captain_70s]

To folks saying the Acclaim's paint looks not too bad. This 24hrs of bird shit wiped off with a wet cloth...

Fuck't

 

[Split_Pin]

Ooft, that paint looks quite soft eh?

Still, at least it's attached to the car. I'm envious of that.

[captain_70s]

13 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Ooft, that paint looks quite soft eh?

Still, at least it's attached to the car. I'm envious of that.

Scratches with a stern look, don't spray a car when its -3C outside, kids.

I need to locate a passenger side wing before respraying the car, the current one is humped on the inside and is already blistering.

It was patched up as well as possible but if you chopped out all the compromised metal there'd be no wing left.

[captain_70s]

Oh. I filmed the Volvo too.

 

[Split_Pin]

On my watch list!

[GingerNuttz]

Aye the paint should never have done that even a few days after being sprayed. 

Best course of action is to do what I've done on the galaxie and strip it to bare metal and start fresh but use base and clear or a higher end direct gloss, that 5L for £99 stuff is more for commercial coverings that are being baked in booths hence how it's Iveco blue 😂

No hassle to respray it again as long as it's no snowing or minus outside this time.

[big_al_granvia]

paint it the old fashioned way, 75% liquid gloss 25% liquid varnish, thin it 50/50 with petrol, use a hvlp spray gun (high volume low pressure) it used to be called tinkers paint as the travelers and showmen used to use it. hard as nails mix,,,, will last 20 years.... for longer lasting spray a oat of clear varnish.... we did a train that way at bo'ness in 2000 and its still looking great

[captain_70s]

The other day I came out of the flat to find the Volvo's driver's side mirror pointing in some random direction. Weird.

Readjusted it, hit the road and thought nothing more of it. Until I set off from a set of traffic lights a bit harshly and while most of the car lurched forwards toward the horizon the mirror glass instead flopped out and shattered on the ground in my wake into a billion pieces.

Closer inspection show some scuffs to the mirror casing, so something has smacked it and dislodged the glass. Bit odd as the mirror wasn't folded back or anything. Whatever, replacement sticky back glass ordered.

@rml2345 very kindly donated me some wheel trims too, so I now have a full set for maximum stainless steel content.

 

Other than that nothing to report, both Acclaim and Volvo remain essentially functional, helped by not being commuting hacks. Although now the weather is turning this is the prime time for them to shit themselves.

 

[SiC]

Get some zip (giffer?) ties on those shiny trims before you loose them!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

On 9/2/2021 at 1:25 PM, big_al_granvia said:

paint it the old fashioned way, 75% liquid gloss 25% liquid varnish, thin it 50/50 with petrol, use a hvlp spray gun (high volume low pressure) it used to be called tinkers paint as the travelers and showmen used to use it. hard as nails mix,,,, will last 20 years.... for longer lasting spray a oat of clear varnish.... we did a train that way at bo'ness in 2000 and its still looking great

Does this method work for metallic paints?

[captain_70s]

5 minutes ago, SiC said:

Get some zip (giffer?) ties on those shiny trims before you loose them!

Don't think they have any way to be tied on, they're stainless trims on a 15" RIGEL alloy wheel, tabs grip them to the centre hole. They're quite tight, they click into place quite securely.

There is also a 14" wheel which follows the same concept.

Earlier cars got stainless trims over 14" steel wheels.

[big_al_granvia]

1 hour ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Does this method work for metallic paints?

not known of anyone using it for metallic as that was not common 40 years ago

[Fumbler]

You can now get metallic coach enamel paint which might do the same job.

[captain_70s]

Tipex restoration. 👌

The trims and flaps have deffo elevated it from old junker with holes in the floor to cherished classic with holes in the floor.

[Jikovron]

Almost a retroreflective quality to the tipex repair,,Safety flaps 

[hairnet]

posh bit of weegie then as thats no a accent fae whir @320touring hails frum

 

[hairnet]

the disco lights will the erfs

see all sierras and transits pre 2010

 

[hairnet]

10:28 is that the bridge at linwood?

 

[colino]

Looks more like the Bearsden Road next to the much missed Anniesland Trade Sales. 

[captain_70s]

13 hours ago, hairnet said:

posh bit of weegie then as thats no a accent fae whir @320touring hails frum

That'll be my being from Leeds ruining everything.

1 hour ago, colino said:

Looks more like the Bearsden Road next to the much missed Anniesland Trade Sales. 

This.  Less adverts for Talbots.

Pondering applying reflective tape for MAXIMUM VOLVO SAFETY. It was a dealer option and if you're going to Volvo you may as well lean into it as hard as possible right?

I quite like the red at the back, unsold on the front though. Looks a bit fussy.

[GingerNuttz]

Do the stripes neon pink to go match your handbag. 

[hairnet]

red oan tha front aye

has there been a mass stampede from paisley yet

 

[captain_70s]

21 hours ago, GingerNuttz said:

Do the stripes neon pink to go match your handbag. 

 

@davidfowler2000 popped round last night for tea/biscuits/Volvo fixing.

 

Previously the extent of the dash lighting was three out of four bulbs in the instrument cluster and that was it. Now we have new bulbs in the heater controls and behind all the switches, the wiring for the radio was rejigged so the 'leccy antenna is now working again and functionality was restored to the fag lighter/12v socket. 

We also spent a while pulling relays and flicking switches to try and diagnose some of the electrical chaos. Current suspects are the ignition barrel and intermittent wiper relay.

I also spent some time underneath t'other day trying to identify a rattle from  the arse end of the thing, I couldn't find fuck all and am starting to think it's a bit of interior trim... The amount of suspension travel is obscene.

The thermostat also seems to have jammed open as it is running a bit cool. It's two nuts to change but I don't have one and me and Girlfriend_70s are fucking off to Scarborough for a week tomorrow so it'll have to wait.

[captain_70s]

Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry  Volvo to Scarborough and it's footwells were moist.

Started well as I loaded the car, me and Girlfriend_70s climbed aboard and the radio was dead. Like no power dead. Pulled all the centre console apart multiple times and eventually got it working on one speaker, no idea why the other speaker no longer works, I even tried another speaker to no avail. Set off about an hour later than intended and the journey was largely uneventful. Except when I went to drive home 4 days later the driver's footwell was full of water.

It was greasy and unpleasant and my first thought is that the heater matrix has died to death. I've been keeping an eye on things and I think the coolant level has dropped slightly but I've driven the car a few times since and it seems to remain dry. I'm not sure how it'd even manage to get inside the floor mat. It hadn't rained a massive amount either. Fucking bizarre. I could just take the mat out and then all the water would drain through the big fuck off hole in the floor, but y'know...

Also the car's unique artex textured paintjob was grand at absorbing every bit of loose tree in North Scarborough...

Rough mpg calculation (odo is dead) of around 25mpg on the trip down taking the scenic route over the Pennies and 32mpg on the return leg using the motorways.

Disappointing lack of chod too. I did spot a Vauxhall Victor 101 estate parked on the way into Scarborough and on the trip home saw multiple MGBs and a Spridget but other than that this is yer lot.

[mk2_craig]

21 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

eventually got it working on one speaker, no idea why the other speaker no longer works, I even tried another speaker to no avail.

I had this with a Ford Courier years ago, but intermittently and it drove me crazy until I pulled off the door cards and found one of the speakers was non-original with a terminal shorting out on the door frame. 
 

One pair of proper Fiesta speakers salvaged from a dead XR2i in my fave scrappy layer and the problem was permanently solved, though I did also fit the high spec wiring loom to the doors to gain central locking and electric windows. 

[captain_70s]

So the dead radio was because the earth wire had somehow dislodged despite having not been touched since being fitted. Once reinstated it worked fine.

The driver's side speaker is dead. I swapped the speaker to a spare and that didn't work either, it's wired up at the radio end so I've no idea what's up. Maybe the radio itself is buggered from all the faffing. 

I'll look at it again when I've not got 250 miles to do in it the same day...