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

[JeeExEll]

(Any news re your job situation Captn? Did you get contract renewal?).

That last pic above is total class, pure Autoshite.

[Mally]

The rear wheel cylinders only have a piston in one end, by design.

When that brake lining hits the drum the wheel cylinder is supposed to slide and push the other brake lining into contact.

The cylinder may be a little hesitant to slide, thus one side wears faster.

TADTS.

[plasticvandan]

It pedal isn't spongy and goes half way,that to me says drums aren't adjusted up enough.squish noise possibly sound of master cylinder going further than it should normally

[captain_70s]

(Any news re your job situation Captn? Contract renewal?).

That last pic above is total class, pure Autoshite.

 

Extended until the end of May. I have another few weeks before I get to start properly panicking again...

 

The rear wheel cylinders only have a piston in one end, by design.

When that brake lining hits the drum the wheel cylinder is supposed to slide and push the other brake lining into contact.

The cylinder may be a little hesitant to slide, thus one side wears faster.

TADTS.

 

 

Thems me shoes. Clearly gouged from the drum being scored due to the shoes being run down to the rivets for quite some time at some point. Looking at them seems to suggest the bit getting pressed by the piston is nearly on the rivets with the opposite side matching in wear pattern, makes sense I guess.

 

The adjusters on the drums are currently wound way out but if I dial them in any tighter the shoes start binding on the high spots on the drum. I think at this point I need to replace the drums or have them machined to be true again... On a related note if anybody has some half decent Dolly drums laying around or knows of a cheap machining firm in the Glasgow area do let me know.

[vulgalour]

Drums are supposed to be round, not oval.  Chompy (formerly of this parish) ovalled the drums on his Beetle when a tractor pulled out on him and he had to emergency stop.  One of those things where you hear about it happening, but you never expect to know someone that actually did it.  Beetle did not hit tractor and a new 60-0 time was recorded for that model year.

[alf892]

On drums you very often do not get uniform rubbing when trying to adjust.

 

As Mally says make sure the cylinder is nice and free to slide before trying to do anything else.

 

When you changed the shoes did you make sure the handbrake mechanism was nice and free?

 

Do the above and fit the handbrake cables and it will work.....regardless of what the hydraulic side is doing.

[captain_70s]

I'll have another look on Sunday (seeing t'burd on Saturday) and check the sliding action of the cylinders.

 

Going to phone Wins Int on Monday as they list second hand drums on their website and I'd like some that aren't as badly scored and oval. The handbrake levers have both been freed off, one in particular wasn't hinging properly and took a fair bit of PlusGas and hammer action to restore it's full movement, before fitting the shoes I wound back the cables far enough they weren't applying any force to the levers.

 

My process for adjusting was as BenHar (and my Haynes Book Of Lies) described, not sure if the brakes are doing very much on the hydraulic side of things but when I parked up and yanked the handbrake up out of habit it stopped the car from rolling so they are at least functional. Even before I replaced the shoes the handbrake held the car better than the Civic's does...

[rainagain]

Re hammering the drums back on, fit a grinder bit to a drill and remove the lip on the drum. This will let you adjust the shoes properly and still be able to fit the drum on.

[timolloyd]

Wins is a couple of miles from home, so if you ever need someone to collect in person and kick-start a shitely dispatch North, let me know

[captain_70s]

Couldn't source any second hand drums from a reputable supplier so have purchased two new examples, also bought a good used N/S bumper corner 'cause my three examples have all mysteriously fucked off. New shock for the Acclaim arrived today and has been dropped off at the garage and should be fitted soon. That's another £300+ put towards the two least roadworthy cars in the world...

 

To shamelessly steal from SiC this is currently my life:

 

[SiC]

Liked for mutual feeling of no matter how much you earn, money gushes away like water. Like water, its very hard to keep stored without it running away.

You keep muttering yourself "WHEN WILL IT STOP??" but it never seems to make any difference.

[plasticvandan]

if it was me i would be flogging the acclaim for whatever you can get and put the money into the dolly,the acclaim has already proved to be no better structuraly or mechanically than the dolly,so why keep it

[vulgalour]

...the acclaim has already proved to be no better structuraly or mechanically than the dolly,so why keep it

Misery likes company. That's why.

[captain_70s]

The two cars serve different purposes in the fleet. I can jump in the Acclaim and drive it to work without thinking about it, since pulling the clock fuse it has never suffered a FTP.

Its main job is as a Civic replacement as it costs a fraction to insure/service/repair and with an MOT is worth more money. It'also currently the car that is cheapest to get repaired right now.

 

Also selling it now would be wn £800 loss that I can't afford!

 

The Dolly is a long term project which needs a fuck ton of work that will see it being unusable for weeks/months at a time. However with tax and MOT exemption next month it will also cost almost nothing in upkeep. It also isn't practical for daily use, it can't keep pace with modern traffic and at motorway speeds the engine is very unhappy.

 

The Civic has to go. It costs far too much to insure and everytime it goes to a garage £400+ leaves my bank account. To sort it's myriad of current niggles would cost more than sorting the Acclaim and isn't accounting for big jobs in the near future

[vulgalour]

Who was it told you a Honda would be less painful to own than your horrible Triumphs again?  They seem to have been wrong.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Who was it told you a Honda would be less painful to own than your horrible Triumphs again? They seem to have been wrong.

But the Acclaim is a Honda, no?

[plasticvandan]

Frankly all three seem a disaster that will end in a nervous breakdown

[captain_70s]

Frankly all three seem a disaster that will end in a nervous breakdown

Accurately describes every car I've ever owned aside from my first, a 2008 Yaris 1.0.

 

Part of my problem is a change in lifestyle. From living in a cottage with a driveway but driving 60 miles a day on b roads to living in a top floor flat with no off road parking and driving 20 miles a day on motorways.

[captain_70s]

Woke up late today so got fuck all done. I got the choke rigged up in a fashion that is bodged as fuck but works, also washed the car and got half the roof polished before it started raining.

 

 

I then added a tartan travel rug to the rear seat for maximum giffer points:

 

 

Also polished up one of the hubcaps with tinfoil as a test, it's come out alright considering how badly pitted it is:

 

 

The steel wheels are in awful condition and will be wire brushed, Vactan'd and painted in the near future. Not sure where to go stock silver or black as I like the contrast against the chrome...

[captain_70s]

Fucking about with the Civic today as the 3/4 calipers are now seizing badly enough to render the car nearly undrivable, despite being the only car in the fleet which is MOT'd I'd say it's probably the least usable.

 

My trusty 37 year old socket set finally failed me today, when after decades of working on cars ranging from my Dolomites to my Dad's first car, a Mk2 Capri 1600, I managed to shatter a socket trying to undo the Civic's wheel nuts. Every brake fitting rounds as soon as I look at it and even mole grips can't get a hold, it's by far the worst car I've ever had to work on including the 1850HL which looked like it'd spent it's life in the sea. To say I can't afford to buy new calipers would be the understatement of the century but at this rate it doesn't even look like I'll be able to get the old ones off...

 

While I left the Civic to absorb copious amounts of PlusGas I swapped the drums on the Dolly and adjusted them, just need to take it for a quick spin round the block to make sure all is good and then I'll set the handbrake.

[Noel Tidybeard]

you must be the only person in the world who can make a civic unreliable!

[captain_70s]

Progress has been slow this week, the Acclaim isn't due back until Tues/Wed and I was waiting on parts arriving for the Dolomite. As I couldn't do very much I lent my jack and stands to another Glasgow based old car enthusiast who has a Moggy Minor and daily drives a Mk2 Scirocco:

 

 

Once my parts were delivered and the jack/stands returned I set back to work...

 

Essentially summarises my day:

 

 

 

Essentially I tried to remove the Civic's rear wheels and calipers, removing the O/S wheel was a pain but just about do-able, this revealed the caliper was jammed on hard. I wire brushed and PlusGassed everything, the first bolt I tried to remove rounded instantly. Fuck it, let's try the other side. 

Attempting to remove the N/S wheel shattered my 19mm socket as apparently my wheels were fitted by fucking Zeus.

 

 

I doused everything I could reach in PlusGas and went to fuck about with the Doloshite instead.

 

First the new drums were fitted and then the rear brakes were adjusted, then I tightened up the handbrake cables.

 

 

I went for a quick spin and everything seems fine, good pedal feel and the handbrake holds the car on a moderate hill...

 

 

I then started trying to sort the dent in the rear panel, firstly with a lot of prying and hammering and secondly by bracing the car's scissor jack against the rear bulkhead and winding it out. I had limited success...

 

 

It's better than it was but still not good enough to have the new corner bumper fit. Jacking the panel out works but it just returns to being bent inwards once the pressure is removed. The worst of the dent isn't accessible without at least removing the fuel tank which is more than I can be arsed to do. I unbolted it to see if I could shuffle it about a bit but there isn't enough wiggle room.

 

Calling it a day for the Dolly I went back to the Civic and managed to get both rear wheels removed by jumping on the breaker bar as seen in the tail end of my video. At that point a mate came around for a cup of tea and a chat so I called it a day. I'll be back out tomorrow...

[Guest Hooli]

I did that to a 19mm socket years ago. I've always got a 19mm impact socket in my toolkit since to avoid the issue again.

[Felly Magic]

Chimps in fast fit tyre places doing wheel nuts up too tightly with sodding impact guns is all too commonplace. 

[captain_70s]

Chimps in fast fit tyre places doing wheel nuts up too tightly with sodding impact guns is all too commonplace. 

It's a pain in the arse... I though I was going to snap my breaker bar!

 

Tomorrow's jobs are to strip the Dolomite's front brakes down and clean everything up, wire brush and paint all the wheels in Hammerite Black (as I happen to have a tin here) and continue attempting to free off the Civic's calipers. 

 

Once that's done the Dolly will be ready for it's MOT, I am wondering where to send it though given how poorly the Acclaim fared at my local garage...

[SiC]

Is it worth sending for an MOT yet? Only 15 days till exemption. If it was me, I'd drive it up to the tester that FOAD uses.

[captain_70s]

It gives me the fears having the car sat on the street SORN'd, knowing my luck it'll be towed and bean canned the day before it becomes exempt... I can't actually declare it to be tax exempt without a valid MOT until it becomes MOT exempt on the 20th either... 

On the flipside it is a complete waste of £40 that I can't really spare, especially given I know all the things it failed on have since been sorted.

 

FOAD's tester is over 1.5 hours of driving each way at Doloshite speeds. Makes sense to take the Acclaim if it is at Foadwerx being welded anyway, less so for me driving over there from Glasgow in the Dolly.

[vulgalour]

It's not just tyre fitters that do that, dealers do too.  My housemate of old's brand new Pug got a flat tyre and we bent the wheel brace it came with trying to undo the nuts.  Once the nuts were removed by someone with an air powered noisy gun, the wheel still wouldn't come off because it had stuck to the brake behind with dissimilar corrosion.  These days I'm in the habit of taking the wheels off my car whenever I have tyres fitted so I can refit them myself, it's a chore.

 

Triumph is sounding pretty healthy at least and it's good the brakes are improved.  That rear panel dent is going to be a nuisance to remedy, even with the tank  removed.  You could risk pushing the dent out even further than you have but you might end up stretching it too far the other way.  Jobs like that are a pain to put right.  Can you cheat and use washers to space out the bumper from the car?  It's not a repair, per se, but it might allow you to get the corner fitted back on.

[cort16]

It once took me 6 weeks to change a caliper on a bmw 7 series if that makes you feel any better.?

[dome]

you must be the only person in the world who can make a civic unreliable!

I beg to differ...