Ownership Verified: Cpt.70's NotAHonda - 1983 Triumph Acclaim L

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[Matt2000]

Nah you're way off with that, clearly he needs a Rover estate.

420Si. Mmmmmm...

I tried to find one on Ebay and there are hardly any Rovers at all. Probably means something...

 

[public]

Finding a still-useable condition 405 Break will be tough, but how about a 406 wagon? Those have a good reputation by now and you might still find some.

 

[captain_70s]

View attachment 3559588

I haven't won the EuroMillions son.

Nah you're way off with that, clearly he needs a Rover estate.

View attachment 3559589

420Si. Mmmmmm...

I tried to find one on Ebay and there are hardly any Rovers at all. Probably means something...

These were considered, rare as fuck. I've only ever seen one in person, and that was in the Netherlands... One was offered to me for £NotVeryMuch but it was very much in full on project territory... I do like an R8 Rover though.

Finding a still-useable condition 405 Break will be tough, but how about a 406 wagon? Those have a good reputation by now and you might still find some.

Also a viable contender, I was actually in a raffle for one the other week, but I didn't win...

I'm not gonna' actively look for another car until summer anyway, no money and can't be arsed.

 

[Matt2000]

I do like an R8 Rover though.

I thought as much, don't forget that you can tell everyone that it shares parts with one of the worlds best supercars - the Jag XJ220.

Out of interest I checked the MOT on my dad's old 1998 Rover 414i (jellymould Honda HH-R model) and it dropped off in 2011, the rot was setting in. Even for a late mainstream British-built car that's a disappointing lifespan. The K-series was also eating head gaskets for breakfast.

 

[ScarFace88]

I thought as much, don't forget that you can tell everyone that it shares parts with one of the worlds best supercars - the Jag XJ220.

Out of interest I checked the MOT on my dad's old 1998 Rover 414i (jellymould Honda HH-R model) and it dropped off in 2011, the rot was setting in. Even for a late mainstream British-built car that's a disappointing lifespan. The K-series was also eating head gaskets for breakfast.

Interestingly, the first Vauxhall Omega my dad had as a company car while living in the UK drops off in 2009, with a couple of prior fails, but only for burnt bulbs being burnt out. The weird thing is that the DVLA says the car does not exist, I'm assuming it got exported to Ireland.

 

[Andeh]

Interestingly, the first Vauxhall Omega my dad had as a company car while living in the UK drops off in 2009, with a couple of prior fails, but only for burnt bulbs being burnt out. The weird thing is that the DVLA says the car does not exist, I'm assuming it got exported to Ireland.

What's the reg? You can check if the car has a valid export marker here:

Get vehicle information from DVLA

Check a vehicle's details, tax and SORN status and expiry dates on the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency (DVLA) database - online and telephone enquiries

www.gov.uk

It's a separate service to the MOT check.

 

[ScarFace88]

What's the reg? You can check if the car has a valid export marker here:

Get vehicle information from DVLA

Check a vehicle's details, tax and SORN status and expiry dates on the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency (DVLA) database - online and telephone enquiries

www.gov.uk

It's a separate service to the MOT check.

The registration is/was P81 FOE. It is/was a white Vauxhall Omega base model, not even a GLS.

It comes back as "Vehicle details could not be found", which seems really weird. Maybe it's in Hangar 18 with the Roswell spacecraft with a bunch of aliens in cryogenic stasis.

 

[Matt2000]

I suppose maybe a company bought the registration to sell as private? I can find plates all around it for sale such as P80 FOE but not that one.

The BMW warranty site that apparently has the entire DVLA database in it and used to give you the entire VIN has the details:

Vehicle Registration Number
P81FOE

Model
VAUXHALL OMEGA 2.0 16V SELECT A

First Registration Date
20/12/1996

Select...

Probably should've put this in the random thoughts.

 

[captain_70s]

Yo dawg, heard you like blue.

It's sanding back well but taking an age to dry due to being January...

Now it's painted the bumpers are going to look like utter shit, so I'll need to do something with them....

 

[captain_70s]

So, the world's (formerly) most rotten Acclaim was thrown back together and an MOT booked.

For the last few days I was coming over to the workshop to work on the car in the mornings, then driving to work to do a backshift which was most unpleasant. On the last day I caught the train over so I could drive the car straight to it's MOT.

Behold the natural beauty of central Scotland:

Luckily the weather had remained ideal for assembling a car.

All the door gaps still need tweaking and a lot of trim needs fettling to get it sitting right, bumpers need replacing and they're completely rotten, but the car is back together. So, I hopped in and set off home.

About a mile down the road it became obvious all was not right. The car simply wouldn't pull below 2,500rpm or so, it'd splutter and cough like it had no fuel and was only running on 2 cylinders but as soon as you hit 3,000rpm it was like flicking a switch, it'd run smooth a silk.

Right, I'll take it out on the motorway and give it a good thrashing once it's up to temp, seems as it's not been run in a month. Once up to speed it ran fantastic although it was odd being behind the wheel of a non-PAS car for the first time in weeks, very tight and springy!

Getting into to Glasgow I applied the brake for the first time in about 20 miles to allow a lorry past so I could get to my slip road and the pedal simply went to the floor. Nothing. Total brake failure.

Thankfully the sliproad I was aiming for was incredibly long and has a hard shoulder along it's entire length so the car could easily be stopped on it's handbrake.

I scrabbled around underneath and couldn't find any leaks, the reservoir still had fluid in it. The only thing I found was a pipe was rubbing against the axle strut and was hot to the touch. But as the pipe and strut would be moving in tandem together surely it couldn't have generated so much heat to boil the brake fluid via friction?

With nothing better to I figured I'd see if the brakes would pump back to life, and they did!

A few tentative drives backwards/forwards along the hard shoulder and I decided the brakes would suffice for the 2 miles home if used sparingly.

Right, car home. The MOT was booked for the following day so I figured I'd just leave it at the flat so I'd have some time to investigate the brake issue before it went in.
I came home from work that night to find the passenger door hadn't closed so the interior light had been on for 9 hours. No joys...

Next morning I went out and did my best to clean the interior which was covered in dust, sorry Henry...

I then set about trying to find a nut to fit the rear suspension arm, it'd been taken off to facilitate welding repairs but had gone AWOL and the only thing we had to had that'd fit was a wheel nut... Naturally it was a Metric fine thread which isn't stocked anywhere, thankfully a mate had a tub of them and I got that fitted as well.

Source of the brake failure was also found.

A mixture of a sticking handbrake mech and a over-zealous auto-adjuster on the drum had caused the rear brake to bind and 20 miles at 70mph had cooked the brake fluid... I never heard it because most of the interior was still out of the car and there were parts and toolboxes rattling around in the boot.
Anyway, I sorted that out and ordered a pair of new cables so the rear brakes are now less fucked.

Took the car over for it's MOT and was told "computer has died, don't know when it'll be fixed". Ah.

So the Acclaim has just been sat outside waiting for it's next MOT slot on the 3rd of Feb.

It still needs a shit ton of work to finish but at least it's mostly An Car now. Also think the shade of blue we went with is way nicer than the colour it was previously (and better than the stock colour it was before that).

Current to-do list is something like this:

Change numberplate light
Reattach front upper bumper trim
Reattach missing wing rubbing strip
Refit various interior plastics I cunningly left at the workshop
Refit wheel arch splash guards
Fit new mudflaps
Fit and wire in front fog lamps
Service and re-balance carbs (suspect a pilot jet has some shit in it causing the running issues below 2,500rpm)
Replace clutch
Tweak door hinges for better panel gaps
Replace bumpers (need to find some...)
Custom two tone wheels (yes, really.)
Mega clean inside and out

 

[captain_70s]

Crawled out of bed on Wednesday morning on a giddy 5 hours of sleep and went to take the car for it's MOT test in the freezing rain.

Turning the key results in the starter slugishly giving half a turn and then nothing.

Flat battery. Bollocks.

My jump leads are in the Dolly. Fucking bollocks.

I take the battery out and lug it upstairs to charge it. Can't find the charger. Destroy the flat looking for the fucking thing.

Attach battery to charger and... Nothing. Charger is dead.

Wiggling cables and cleaning connections does nothing but while moving the charger I note that turning it on it's side causes an angry buzz and the dial to jump about.

I violently shake the charger until it seems to be working consistently and gingerly place it down to charge for an hour.

After this time has elapsed the battery is refitted to the car and it actually starts. I dump it at the garage and walk home.

About an hour later:

So close... I dash up to the garage, take the Acclaim back to the flat and swap to the Saab to go to work.

Fast forward to today and the car is back in the workshop and this occurs:

Also stuck the plastic bumper trim back on with a couple of blobs of Sikaflex, didn't fancy drilling holes in the new under grille panel. Cable tied on for now until the stuff sets. MOT retest booked for Tuesday, so I just need to find and fit a suitable numberplate bulb tomorrow and we're golden!

I also found some suitable mudflaps to fit. Not sure if to have logos front and rear or go for plain black ones at the front...

 

[captain_70s]

Woop! Goal for next year is advisory free MOT action.

Celebratory snow:

 

[DanRoM]

I just had a thought: What you do is like test-driven development. Run tests (go to MOT), see failures, fix failures, run tests again, repeat until fixed...

 

[captain_70s]

I just had a thought: What you do is like test-driven development. Run tests (go to MOT), see failures, fix failures, run tests again, repeat until fixed...

Back up north I used to send my cars for a "pre-MOT", essentially an MOT with none of the paperwork. That way I'd have a to-do list to work from while still having a road legal car as failing an MOT overwrites a previously valid one even if it hasn't expired.

It was a pre-MOT that condemned my Dolly 1850, which is why it never actually got a fail, it just expired and I didn't bother sending it for an official one.

The Dolly is MOT exempt, and the Acclaim will be in 2023, but I'll keep sending them in once a year anyway. £40 for a basic safety check, pretty much a no brainer.

 

[93Flareside]

Back up north I used to send my cars for a "pre-MOT", essentially an MOT with none of the paperwork. That way I'd have a to-do list to work from while still having a road legal car as failing an MOT overwrites a previously valid one even if it hasn't expired.

It was a pre-MOT that condemned my Dolly 1850, which is why it never actually got a fail, it just expired and I didn't bother sending it for an official one.

The Dolly is MOT exempt, and the Acclaim will be in 2023, but I'll keep sending them in once a year anyway. £40 for a basic safety check, pretty much a no brainer.

Wow, nice. Here when I’ve told a mechanics shop to “go over the vehicle to make sure I won’t be stranded in my 30,000 mile/yr driving for work I do” they’d do the oil change, tire rotation and give it back. By me, you can’t get a shop to actually look for things that may need doing. Hell, reading the recommended maintence is impossible even when you tell them.

 

[captain_70s]

It was getting harder and harder to find a place that'd do that sort of thing to be honest, it was an old school type garage and they knew me and the cars and were well aware I'd have repairs done fairly frequently. In a way it was in their best interest, as they'd usually get some work out of it.

Now I just send it for an MOT and hope for the best. If you fail an MOT and have it retested within 10 working days it's free, and they only have to check that the failed items have been rectified rather than go over the whole car again.

My MOT retest was booked for Weds morning, but when I went to drop the car off on Tues afternoon (I was working early the next day) the bloke who'd done the first test saw me pull up and said if he could see it'd been welded up and I could hang about for 5 mins he could put it through the system there and then.

 

[RdKetchup]

I just had a thought: What you do is like test-driven development. Run tests (go to MOT), see failures, fix failures, run tests again, repeat until fixed...

Missing the "search stack overflow for solution to problem" in there

 

[captain_70s]

Well, that's weird.

 

[BerserkerCatSplat]

That is strange. WTF.