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

[captain_70s]

While picking t'burd up at Morrisons like a proper pensioner yesterday afternoon the Acclaim decided to go utterly ape shit. The indicators flashed ridiculously fast and also flashed all the dash lights that were currently on, switching on the headlights actually killed the entirely electrical system briefly to the point where the engine would stop running for a second. Upon re-entering the car after getting some shopping everything was utterly fine again...

 

Weird...

[SiC]

Its possesed!

 

To be honest it sounds like you have some dodgy earths. Check (or just replace) the strap from the engine to the body. You can run another in parallel with the other one too. Also check the earth lead from the battery to body.

[captain_70s]

Yup, the battery to body earth is a bit scuffy tbh, not checked the engine to body one.

 

I think have some spares kicking about anyway...

[cms206]

This car comes with the coveted SVM Seal of Approval.

 

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[320touring]

Seconded

[Datsuncog]

This car comes with the coveted SVM Seal of Approval.

 

I can see why... had Volvo been looking in the early '80s to sack off the Daf-conceived 340 and build their own small saloon with styling cues from the 240, what are the chances it might have come out looking a bit like an Acclaim?

 

Top cars, and top night from the looks of things!

[captain_70s]

You know that self adhesive plastic chrome trim so loved by giffers and people who own PT Cruisers? I used some on my car, and improved it...

 

 

 

The "chrome" trim on the Acclaim's rubbing strip is actually just a layer of shiny tape with a layer of clear tape over the top of it, water gets in and it all goes horrible and peels away. I've stuck 1cm trim over the bad bits, it's not quite right as the original looks to be about 1.2cm but for £5 fuck it, right?

[oldcars]

That looks spot on.

[captain_70s]

Fitted new speakers. The good news is that they are very much better than the single broken stock speaker and the random Alpine that it previously had fitted. The bad news is that they make the dash vibrate terribly. The good news is that at speed the dash vibrates terribly anyway so I'll not notice...

 

[Eddie Honda]

You don't get pictures of my welding because fucking hell it is shite.

 

[M'coli]

Its possesed!

 

To be honest it sounds like you have some dodgy earths. Check (or just replace) the strap from the engine to the body. You can run another in parallel with the other one too. Also check the earth lead from the battery to body.

I'm glad someone else thinks this too - get it done soon rather than having yet another person suggest it in a week or so, i.e. before any more cosmetic enhancements. Even if it just eliminates the possibility of a shite earth being the cause of electrical demons.

[purplebargeken]

Look, Triumphs of any flavour are always prone to shitty earths. It's the law. First thing to rectify. 

[RoadworkUK]

Incidentally, that flourescent clock was one of my favourite Acclaim features. It may not have been cool in quite the same way as the earlier rotating-drum type, but pressing the hinged cover to make it glow into life when the ignition's off is inestimably cool.

[captain_70s]

Body/engine/battery earths have already been disconnected and cleaned, need to check for smaller ones I may have missed!

 

Oddly the driver's side rear light is earthed locally to a bolt in the boot, need to check if this is right or a prior fix. The passenger side's earth vanishes into the loom.

 

Once I find my/buy a new multimeter I'll go through the circuits, hopefully today if the weather holds out...

[Eddie Honda]

buy a new multimeter

£5.59 if the robbers on GWR have any(thing) left, but if the parking is a headache, then roll on down to the one at Abbotsinch.

[captain_70s]

Reet, more faffing about with my new multimeter I got from Screwfix (also got some more welding rods for chassis leg fun). While sitting with the keys out and all doors closed there is a steady 0.07 amp (70ma) draw on the battery, this vanishes if you pull the fuse for the clock. I don't think a draw of that size should have any real effect on a battery left for 12 hours overnight. The battery reads at about 12.7v when fully charged with the engine off and 13.9v at 2000rpm.

 

Perhaps the battery is just shagged? I've found no fewer than 3 sets of battery terminal caps in various places in the car over my few weeks of ownership so it seems like it's electricity problem is nothing new! It's done more miles since I bought it than it'd done in the previous 10 months and it used to get trailered to shows, not much chance for battery charging...

[bigfella2]

Is the clock and the stereo on the same fuse? Am sure old Honda's used the same fuse for this, that could explain the drain.

[captain_70s]

Incidentally, that flourescent clock was one of my favourite Acclaim features. It may not have been cool in quite the same way as the earlier rotating-drum type, but pressing the hinged cover to make it glow into life when the ignition's off is inestimably cool.

Wait... It's not supposed to be lit up all the time? Mine is...

 

(It does dim when you put the lights on so it doesn't dazzle you though!)

 

 

Edit - Fucked about with the clock, the button behind the cover that causes it to come on/off with the ignition switched off is sticking. With the lock not lit up battery draw drops from 70.6ma to 04.5ma...

[SiC]

At 70mA draw...

 

50Ah battery realistically you don't want to remove more than 50% of the energy if you want to start a car again. Also continuous draining to 50% capacity will shorten its life.

 

25Ah / 0.07Ah = 357hrs / 24hrs = 14.8 days

 

However if the battery is tired (especially from constant draining), it will reduce that capacity even further.

[captain_70s]

The battery is a 45Ah Yuasa, doesn't look very old at all, clean compared to the rest of the engine bay! The alternator belt was very loose when I picked up the car and given that the PO stored the car 200 miles from his house I imagine the battery has been drained completely dead on a few occasions and frequently not charged properly. If I leave the car overnight with the battery connected it will turn over the next day, just very sluggishly, luckily the Acclaim usually fires on the first turn of the key! The only time it utterly refused was at 6am on a frosty morning at about -3C, but at that point the battery was completely dead.

 

I think the next port of call is checking out the starter motor connections to make sure it's actually getting the power it's taking, then checking the alternator output throughout the rev range. However it's too cold for that shit tonight and the latter will require an assistant to man the throttle.

 

The car is also slightly lumpy at idle, I'm praying that this isn't the carb because parts for them are seemingly unobtanium with people breaking otherwise good cars for spares due to carb issues. I did however find that I had the entirety of autumn trapped in the air box...

 

[RoadworkUK]

That's more like it! Yeah, I can imagine the clock nomming a fair bit of power if it's displaying all the time. Not just Acclaims, either - My Dad's old Sierra Ghia's clock properly hoovered the amps.

[cms206]

Yuasa batteries are fucking pants.

 

We've ended up replacing Yuasa with Bosch in our coaches and surprisingly it has cured many electrical gremlins, most notably in the Bova Futuras. We thought it was a windup but our autospark was right on that occasion.

 

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[captain_70s]

Yuasa batteries are fucking pants.

I've had a couple and not rated their longevity, never seemed to get more than a year out of them.

 

The Doloshite currently has a Lucas one fitted, I've no idea who actually makes it but it warms the cockles of the heart seeing Lucas badged electrical equipment in such a motor car.

[purplebargeken]

Yep, make sure all the starter motor connections are clean. Ask me why that was important. 

[captain_70s]

Pulled the fuse for the clock, the battery no longer dies overnight but the starter is still sluggish on a cold morning. I suspect this battery is just shagged as the starter spins fine after a run. Still need to check the starter connections but the weather is forecast to be shit for the rest of time itself so that'll have to wait...

 

So far it's proving to be quite practical, taking me to work, taking me to Scotoshite, taking me and my keyboard to a jamming sesh at a mate's place, transporting me and the burd down to the Botanics for a stroll. QWOLITY TRANSPORT!

 

 

Still need to get the Doloshite back from the garage, bored of waiting now. Still need to prep the Civic for sale, been too busy tinkering with the Acclaim...

[danthecapriman]

Looks fab captain! Much nicer with the non smoked rear lights too.

[captain_70s]

Properly cleaned, polished and waxed the Acclaim for the first time since buying it today, the many bird shit stains in the paint were doing my head in.

 

 

Me and t'burd are going to a mate's wedding tomorrow so I wanted the car to look half decent parked in front of the stately home that is the venue...

 

 

The paintwork itself varies between presentable and dire, with the driver's side rear wing having a rattle can finish and the roof being covered in microblisters despite the whole car having been "resprayed" not too long ago. The above pictures show it as good as it's gonna' get without welding up the sills/arches and repainting it which I'm hoping I can put off until the height of summer.

[vulgalour]

are those headlight wiper holes under the headlights?

[They_all_do_that_sir]

are those headlight wiper holes under the headlights?

That really would be the icing on the cake however I'm struggling to find a pic of one on t'internet with such a device fitted

 

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[Yoss]

No I don't think so either. The CD had headlamp washers but not wipers but they were mounted in the bumper.