This must be one of the lowest mileage Acclaims about. The condition of the interior backs up the low mileage.

Another interior shot. That lovely velour upholstery is unmarked. I doubt that back seats have ever been sat in!

Just thought I'd post some pics. This car has been unmolested and here is the original radio/cassette and it is in working order.

Acclaimed!

I've been working on both of my Acclaims. First up I managed to improve Becky's handbrake. I took the drums off and adjusted the self-adjusters until I was just able to fit the drums and it has made a difference. I did the same with Project Blue and I've got a working handbrake there. With the addition of £5 worth of petrol I got Project Blue running and drove her round the block. There seems to be a flat spot above 2000 rpm. I should follow the advice I was given and put some additive in the tank. With only a small amount of petrol the concentrated dose should do the trick!

More work on Becky

I made a start on treating the rust that has started to appear. I applied Jenolite on the wheel arches and one of the sills has also started to dissolve so I'll be looking at a replacement sill. I'm surprsied that it got through last year's MoT.

I removed Project Blue's mixture screws and squirted some carb cleaner into the holes. I need to put some more petrol in that car but lack of funds has put a hold on that.

Got it sorted!

I managed to source a replacement inlet manifold from the Guru. I bought some more Hylomar, an thermostat and some Radweld (the radiator I'd fitted was leaking slightly) and set to work. Things went quite well until I came to fit the thermostat. There was a rubber seaing ring on the thermostatat and when I bolted the housing down it cracked! Fortunately, I had a spare so that was put into service. This time I removed the sealing ring and used Hylomar instead. To avoid the problem which I'd encountered in the first place I used copper grease on the thermostat housing bolts when I tightened them. The troubles didn't finish there. The top hose was leaking so I ended up replacing that with a spare one I had. After that I refilled the cooling system and the car has been fine since. Better still, it is running cooler than before. The needle sits above the notch on the gauge only rising to just above halfway when idling in traffic. I believe that replacing the thermostat has made a difference.

From bad to worse

I tried drilling and tapping the studs that had sheared off and one side was fine but the other side didn't work so that means I'll have to replace the inlet manifold. Hopefully, the local Acclaim guru will have one spare otherwise I'm stuffed! Before anyone suggest it, no I'm not robbing any more bits off Project Blue!

Disaster!

I don't have anything to report for ages (I was rained off recently with last week's 48 hour rainathon!) and then something goes wrong.

Becky's been losing coolant like nobody's business just lately so I decided to swap the Triomatic radiator that I put in with the correct radiator that I have in my collection of Acclaim spares. One of the thermostat housing bolts sheared off. I was hoping that it wouldn't leak but it is. This means I'm gonna have to drill out the remains of the bolt and retap the thread or get one of those stud extractors. Another alternative would be to get another inlet manifold but this involves removing the carburettors. For now I've had to put Snowdrop back into service until I can sort this little problem out. I hope the weather stays dry.

One more thing eliminated

I finally got round to doing a compression test on Project Blue and all 4 cylinders were giving a reading of 12 bar each so the engine is fine. One thing less to worry about. The filter had caught some more crap so I cleaned it out using some carb cleaner. I think I need more petrol as well.

What is is with this car?

I gets ready to drop the tank and then it dawns on me. I added £10 worth of petrol and the car ran. On the road it wasn't too responsive. I bought a carburettor balancer and a Colourtune. I set the timing dynamically (it was reatarded) then I balanced the carbs. I fitted the Colourtune and my suspicions were confrimed. Project Blue was running too rich. No amount of tweaking with the mixture would make any difference so I set them to their initial settings. Things were better on the road but the car started misfiring and would cut out when I tried to set off in drive so I ended up leaving it for now.

I've got my desktop PC fixed so I can now post pics. This one is from Tuesday when I got the car running. I've been having problems since then. I've tried another set of carbs, I used the ignition module on Becky for an extended test. I'm certain that the ignition is fine because when Project Blue was running it was fine for a while then it would cut out and when I got it running again it would stall within 5 seconds so I suspect a fuel problem (have I been there before?) I know the fuel line is clear from the filter so I'm going to have to face the inevitable and drop the fuel tank. On a slightly more positive note my Autodata manual has arrived and in some ways it is better than the Haynes. Once the BL/Austin-Rover workshop manual arrives I'll have all the technical info I need.

IT RUNS!!!!!!

Yesssssss!!!!!! I've got Project Blue running again. I even took it round the block a few times and it seemt to drive fine. It is running better but I reckon a good run would work wonders. Shame about the lack of tax & MoT. Also the brakes still don't seem quite 100%. At least I know I can bleed them on all 4 wheels. I reckon a tune up would be beneficial as well.

The latest

I feel I'm getting closer to getting Project Blue running again. The car will turn and fire but just won't run. I now have fresh fuel coming to the carbs and the fuel pump works. The rotor arm, distributor cap and spark plug leads are known working items. That just leaves the spark plugs so I bought a set of NGK plugs from Champion Motor Spares (told you I'd be naming names!) for £6.60 and once they're gapped they can go in when I get an opporunity. (weather permitting) There was a rattle coming from one of Becky's rear wheels and upon investigation I found out that the rear hub cover had worked looses. I decided to remove the drum and the brake shoes and when I'd reassembled everything the handbrake had improved! I'll have to do the other side as well then it'll be fine. Money's too tight to mention (as the song goes) so I won't be spending much on my fleet until I can get my finances under control. Still no sign of the motherboard so I'm still having to do this on my laptop. That docking station was the best £10 I ever spent! I can still use my monitor, mouse and keyboard from my desktop.

A bit on Project Blue

On the spur of the moment I decided to do a bit of work on Project Blue. I removed the fuel pump and then I operated the pump by hand and petrol came through. I then reconnected the fuel pipes and primed the carbs and rebolted the fuel pump on. Unfortunately I was unable to start the car because my brother came back & I had to move Becky out of the way as Project Blue still has to be jump started becuase there isn't enough power in the battery to crank the engine. At least I know that the fuel lines are clear so that's one less problem. If you're wondering why I haven't posted any pics for a while it is because my desktop PC is still out of action awaiting a replacement motherboard so I'm having to do everything on my laptop.

Brake-through

I think I've made a breakthrough on the rear brakes with my Acclaims. On closer inspection of the Haynes manual I think I've reassembled a couple of the springs in the wrong place. Once the rain lets up and I get some time I'll be taking a look. Fortunately this is something which won't cost me any money and will give me a working handbrake at last!

Snowdrop is back in use only because I'm going to a Triumph Dolomite Club meeting so I feel I should turn up in a Dolomite!

Curse this car!

Project Blue has me beat. I don't know why this car won't run. I think I'm gonna have to have a break from it for a while. There's no desperate rush to get it back on the road and when I come back to it I'll be in a different frame of mind. I've bid on a couple of factory workshop manuals on eBay so some more info will be of help to me.

I filled up Becky with petrol for the first time this year! I'll see how far she can go on a full tank. I took her for a trip over the Pennines (with my good lady) and round Manchester and she didn't miss a beat. I wish Project Blue was like that.

Project Blue

I managed to replace the brake pads. The old ones weren't all that bad but I managed to bleed the front calipers and the pedal feels firm. I replaced the rear shoes and now I've no handbrake! Why is it that when I replace brake shoes the handbrake stops working? I've tried starting the car and I'm still no further. I even put another £5 worth of petrol in the tank. I removed the fuel pump cover and all was fine. I think I'm gonna have to face the inevitable and drop the tank and clean it out.

Project Blue is braking me

The good news: I fitted the new wheel cylinder, bled it and the pedal feels like it should.

The bad news: When I removed the drum I noticed that one of the linings had come off the brake shoes so they'll have to be replaced. Fortunately, they're quite cheap so I'll replace the pads at the same time and then the brakes should be 100%. This means that Champion Motor Spares (the trusty local motor factor) will be getting some more of my business.

Latest on the fleet

First up Becky suffered a puncture so it was off to my local tyre fitter who repaired it for £6.

I've bought a new fuel filter for Project Blue. It is a generic one but as long as it does the job I ain't too bothered. I also bought a new one-man bleeding valve in readiness for finishing off the brakes. A new wheel cyinder has now been ordered from my trusty local motor factor (I think I really should be naming these places so I'll do it from now on) which will arrive tomorrow. I was hoping to get some work done but I've been rained off this evening.

Snowdrop is now getting a rest since completing the HCR at the weekend. I also want to sort out the clutch before I put her back into service. The biting point shouldn't be on the floor.

Working on Project Blue

I turned my attention towards the fuel system on Project Blue. Like I did on Snowdrop I managed to flush the main fuel line that goes from the filter to the bulkhead. Using an old fuel pump and some clean warm water did the trick. The car is now getting fuel through but when I can get it started it will run for a short while and then cut out. Next up will be the fuel pump.