She keeps right on going

Nothing new to report on Becky since I replaced the water pump. She's running as sweet as a nut and I'm sure performance has improved since I fed her some BP instead of the usual diet of Morrison's unleaded. I nearly used the BP Ultimate until I saw the price! I suppose they have to find the money for the radio adverts (that I've been haring on Virgin Radio) somehow. I went to Club Triumph's North Wales & Cheshire meeting last night and there's my North Yorkshire meeting tonight so Becky's done a few miles this week! Good practaice for my Peak District Run, the HCR and the RBRR. All I need is a co-driver for the HCR & RBRR!

Done it!

I've finally got the new water pump fitted and Becky runs a LOT quieter now but it was an absolute struggle. I managed to get the bolt loosened by the garage and last night I tried and gave up. After work today I went straight to Anita's and started working on Becky. The job took a couple of hours and apart from a small scare with one of the water pump bolts it went quite smoothly. Somebody suggested that I change the cambelt but it looked fine to me so I've left well alone. There's just some routine servicing which I can carry out once I've got everything I need. I'm even thinking about using Castrol GTX as it's a bit cheaper and Becky deserves the best. We shall see...

Got the water pump

I picked it up today but fitting it is gonna be a nightmare! I'll need to remove the cambelt cover and crankshaft pulley to get at all the bolts. I've there fore enlisted the help of the garage that did Becky's MoT and one of the lads there is gonna loosen the crankshaft pulley nut saving me a lot of grief. I'll get him to do the same with the water pump pulley and then I'll be laughing.

Squealing like a pig.

That was because the alternator drive belt was slipping so I left it until I fitted the repaired alternator and it has been fine since. While I was doing that I noticed that the water pump pulley seemed wobbly and when I spun it by hand it was making a rumbling noise similar to one I've heard when Becky is ticking over. I was going to leave it because the water pump is working and there are no leaks. A mate strongly suggested that it would fail so I've ordered a brand new water pump from my trusty local motor factor which is gonna cost just over 14 pounds so it is worth doing. I just hope I can get the water pump off to be able to do the job!

Alternator repaired

Got Becky's alternator back today from the auto electrician. It cost me 35 pounds to have it repaired and it looks as good as new. Well worth it and cheaper than buying a new one. As for Baby Blue's alternator, once I did get a new one I would have to take Baby Blue down to have her wired up for the alternator and that isn't possible at the moment unless I get her road legal and that seems quite far off.

Alternator update

I took the alternators in for repair today and the news is mixed.

First up, Becky's alternator just needed new brushes and bearings. The news on Baby Blue's isn't so good but a brand new alternator will cost 45 pounds and will have more output than the original. I've decided to have Becky's alternator repaired and I'll hold fire on Baby Blue's for the time being.

Exhausted part 2

I rung the guy up and he still had the exhaust. Better still, he lived local and when I went down to his house to look at it I realised that it had been taken off fully assembled (Aclaim exhausts are two-piece systems) so there was no way I could take it anywhere to get it fitted. He kindly offered me the use of his gargage so I went over to Anita's house (where I keep Baby Blue) to get my tools. Fitting the exhaust wasn't too much of a problem except for one of the manifold nuts which I managed to round off necessitating the use of the nut splitter. I managed to get the nut replaced at a local tyre fitter. (the same place where I had the puncture repair done) The exhaust cost me £50 and the guy even gave me a spare headlight with a bulb.
On a positive note, I'll be getting Becky's other alternator and Baby Blue's alternator repaired. Somebody at the last local TSSC meeting recommended a place the does these sort of repairs and I've arranged to take them in. Both alternators are in Baby Blue's boot so I'll have to go back up there again tonight but I'm glad I'm making a bit more progress with things. I'll have to get the Toledo alternator off Baby Blue and back on to the Toledo.

Exhausted

Becky's exhaust has started to fall apart at the seams. (literally!) This is the first time I've come across this on an exhaust. I tried welding one of the brackets on the centre silencer that had split and it only improved things for a short while but I'm now back at square one. I was offered a complete exhaust which was almost brand new. Fortunately, I still have his number so I'll give him a call after I've finished working at the pub today. Hopefully, I won't have too much trouble fitting it as I'll have my Haynes to help and the experience of a few fellow Acclaim owners to draw upon.

And here is how the back seat looks. Those Dolomite Sprint seats were a real bargain at �1 on eBay and the seller lived local which was even better! A pity Sprint alloys don't fit... 

I finally finished refitting the door cards and cleared everything out of the interior. Not perfect but a whole lot better than it was before as you can see from the pic. Once I've fitted the rebuilt steering column it will be fine. 

I put on the third coat of varnish and it has done the trick. The pic is of the door cappings taken just before I fitted them back on Baby Blue. I even managed to fit the front door cards! It looks a lot better with the varnished door cappings. A job well done! 

More varnish

I put a second coat of varnish on and I'm still not happy with the finish so it looks like I'm gonna need at least 3 coats of the stuff. Hopefully, the third coat will be the last one so I'll five it a quick rub with some fine sandpaper and a wipe with some white spirit. (I bought some when I was at the local B&Q)

I've just been going through my pics of Baby Blue and this is the state of affairs under the bonnet. I reckon a good clean with some degreaser and a bit of Hammeriting will improve things no end! 

The pic is of the door cappings all sanded and ready to varnish. I bought some Ronseal clear interior varnish from my local B&Q. I've already applied the first coat. They're ready for the next coat now. I'll be taking more pics when the job's done. I reckon it will need 3 coats but we shall see. The door cards came up clean so once I've vaccuumed the car out and fitted the varnished door cappings and refitted the door cards the interior should be more or less done. 

Back to Baby Blue

At last! I've finally got back to working on Baby Blue! Its been too long. Fist I cleared all the remaining spares out and took them down to the garage where the spares car is kept. Before I went down to the garage I removed the door cards and the wood cappings off Baby Blue. The door cards had got a bit wet (it was raining when I removed them. Typical British weather and the forecast was going to be dry as well! You can't trust the Met Office!) so they're in the house drying out until I can get round to giving them a good clean. I got my knife and scraped the remaining varnish off the door caps in readiness for sanding and varnishing. I'm going to get some Ronseal (it does what is it says on the tin!) wood varnish from my local B&Q which should do the job. The dashboard seems to be fine so I'll be leaving it alone.

Something actually went wrong!

Yes, I had a problem with Becky last night. The ignition light came on when I was driving her. My thoughts immediately turned to the alternator as being the culprit. This suspicion was proved right when I got my multimeter out and took a voltage reading across the battery terminal when the engine was running. I got a reading of just over 12 volts and it should be 14 volts. As it happened I had an alternator among my colletion of spares so I dug it out today and swapped the alternator after work. Becuase all my tools are kept in Baby Blue's boot I had to go over to where she is kept to be able to do the job. The one thing I like about Acclaims is that they'll still keep on going even if something has gone wrong. Anyway, back to the story. (as Ronnie Corbett would say!) I swapped the alternator over and it has done the trick. I was talking about this to Brian (a work colleague and fellow Triumph enthusiast - He's restoring a Herald 13/60 covertible) who thinks that the brushes might need replacing. I'm going to have this alternator repaired and then I've got a spare once again. WHen I was over there I had a closer look at my new welder. The hand-held mask is absolutely pathetic! I've got a proper welding mask off Brian and that just needs a lens before I can use it. Unfortunately, the lens for the hand-held mask is too small. A trip to Machine Mart, Arco or Halfords is called for then I can get what I need to start welding.

More stuff

I now also have a welding mask. All I need are the gauntlets and some pieces of steel plate and I'll be ready to start practaising my welding skills. Hopefully, I'll be able to get Baby Blue patched up and ready for the MoT

I've finally got one!

In an act of great kindness Anita (at whose house I keep Baby Blue) has bought me a MIG welder. One of her daughters' boyfriends is a mechanic and can get this sort of stuff at trade price. Just need the protective gear, some steel and a pair of cutters and I can get started. My local Arco, Machine Mart and eBay are all beckoning..

Fixed!

Yep, I sorted out my slow punture. Following the advice of a work colleague I avoided Kwik-Fit and went to a local tyre place and got the puncture fixed for only 5 pounds (Why don't Blogs display the pound symbol? The British economy is the 4th richest!) Cheaper than a brand new tyre which is what probably happened if I'd gone to Kwi-Fit. All is well with Becky again and a good thing because I'm going to a Club Triumph meeting tonight.

Tyre problems

One of Becky's rear tyres has a slow puncture. Today I found out why. I jacked her up, put her into gear (to lock the front wheels. Becky's front wheel drive remember), released the handbrake and turned the wheel and found a nail in the tread. Looks like a job for Kwik-Fit. They do puncture repairs (if it can be repaired) but if the worst comes to the worst it will have to be a new tyre.

Other than that, she's still running fine.