1983 Triumph Acclaim... restore or scrap fodder?

[Lankytim]

Picked this up today from an ARonline forum member.




Not quite sure why ive bought it, it was on its last chance to find a new home before it was scrapped though. That kind of sob story is sure to get my attention!

Its moted until February and starts and drives very well indeed and despite being parked up for 4 weeks it started without any trouble. Main problems I can see are the ends of both sills are rotten by the rear wheels and the back arches are scabby. When I saw the rotten sills I thought about scrapping it on the spot, as theres ALWAYS much more rot to be found on such cars but I cant find any. The doors, wings floors e.t.c are good, apart from the odd scab and dent. Even the screen surround is immaculate... how do I know this? Local kids (probably from a broken home, so its not their fault) smashed the windscreen so thats first thing to be fixed. Its pretty wet inside!

Talking of the inside, its bloody mint and a very nice place to be, if not wet and a bit windy.

Next steps? I'm not sure. Its a "nice" car. it feels really well built and not like a BL product at all so I think its worth saving although I'm not going to be spending huge amounts saving it. It would make a great daily. Maybe Ill just fix the screen, tax it and smoke it until February or maybe ill get welding... Fun fun fun!

[mrzee]

Cool!!!

[Sir Oinksalot]

Might be an idea to advertise it on a Triumph site so it has more chance of being saved if you don't fancy it yourself.

[Lankytim]

Its already been round all the forums, Austin Rover online, Triumph forum e.t.c. I think the only one it missed was this one! There was pretty much zero interest in it for some reason. Maybe its too much Honda for the Triumph bods and the the BL brigade?

[Davenger]

Restore it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's so rubbish, it's cool.
It's one of those cars that will cease to exist if everyone dismisses it as curse word.
It needs to be rescued

[Lankytim]

For a curse word car, its not that curse word! The engines sweet, it smells nice and the doors shut with a nice "thunk" rather than a tinny rattle you get from most British Leyland cars.

To the man in the street though, yeah.. its curse word!

[Thrasher]

Whats the PCD ??

surely a quick slam and nice rims, mop and polish. and that'll look pretty cool

[allthingsauto]

These are really nice cars to drive and quick too as they have twin carbs.I had one years ago only got rid of it as it was getting rusty.This was only the second car i had owned at the time and all my mates took the pee as it was classed as a old mans car.They all had escort MK3/4's orions astra's at the time.They soon stoped taking the pee when they got left behind in my dust.I would save this car theres not that many around now so could be a little money maker in time.Be carefull with the door handles (outside ones) they are prone to snapping off.Check if your's are cracked in the middle.If so be very carefull when you open the door.

[Lankytim]

I think the PCD is 4x100, if so theres plenty of scope for nice rimmz.

They are quick cars, 70 BHP and the engine is a nice revvy unit. You don't realise how small they are until you get up close to one, its tiny! Like a 3/4 scale orion or something. The inerior is comfortable although slightly crampt and my head just touches the roof, the boot lid is more like a flap too. Still, all this small stuff must mean its pretty light.

Being Honda based, I wonder if any more modern Honda lumps would bolt in and up to the box?

[milfordcubicle]

I reckon the twin-carb 1.4 used in the late '80s Civic would be a good match, they're little screamers too, but economical and fairly powerful (100bhp IIRC).

[Negative Creep]

Worth keeping I think, it may not be a TR but it's a bit of history nonetheless

[bortaf]

It's a honda so the build quality should be better than any british tin, localised rot i usually a sign of a well used car, when the sit about for ages they tend to rot everywhere.
Get it done that man

[xbo11ox]

Looks a winner man. Is twigzbury giving you a free window for it? I reckon you should defo persevere with it, cheap tax, 40 mpg easy and a great revvy drive - excellent. Give the wheels a luzz of silver hammerite while you're on.

[Lankytim]

Yeah, Twigzys stripping one and has said I can have anything I want (within reason, obviously) so thats a HUGE head start!

Ive just spent the afternoon hooving out all the glass, no doubt for the next few years more glass will drop out from behind the dash when someone shuts a door. It looks much better now anyway.

Unfortunately ive had to evict my Allegro from the garage to keep the Acclaim dry until I can fit a screen. Bah!

[alfazer]

I did my driving test in one, back in '86. Nice little car. I'd say they are not that desirable but might be a good candidate for the retro J / bozo type thing.
Engine was good in it's day; they revved well and were all-alloy I think. I remember they were popular for use in mud-plugger trials cars. My mate's late '90's Honda Civic has the exact same window winders that the acclaim used!
Go for it...RESTORE
Al

[gearoil]

My Dad had one yonks ago, nice little car, 1335cc Honda lump IIRC....?

Jumped out of 5th gear in its later life, which probably sealed its trade in fate against a Honda Ballade.

I think you should keep it.

[79cord]

There's also the early civic forums for support.
www.1stgencivic.org/world/c1zr/m1/forum/

At least its windscreen looks like it was still rubbered in! I just spent Sat morning cutting the bonded windscreen out of a donor for my '81 Prelude (shared the same floor pan).
They're probably worse rust wise & also tended to develop holes in the plenumn under the cowl panel, hidden under the wiper motor & bitumen insulation pads.

[Lankytim]

Cheers for the limk. Yes the screens bonded in so "should" be a 10 min soapy rub-a-dub job. If not the screen will probably shatter all over the place, which is precicely what happened last time I tried to swap a screen.

[Deleted]

restore is my vote too, these were ace cars and so nice to use
the honda motor is the dogs as well, bloke at our work had one and was determined to blow it up, he never managed it though

[Lankytim]

Just returned from Twigzys gaffe without the screen. I managed to crack it taking it out so I'm still on the look out for one! Managed to salvage a headlight to replace the goldfish bowl o/s unit that currently graces the Acclaim. I also picked up a clock that reminds me of Marty Mcflys alarm clock from Back to the furture- pretty funky, if it works.

Gutted about the screen but it happens. Great to meet a fellow RRer and have a chat, and thats what its all about!

Now, anybody got a screen??