RBRR 2012 Prep

So, day one of RBRR 2012 Prep on Arnie, my new 1982 Triumph Acclaim CD.

First off was an MOT, which it flew through yesterday with a couple of minor advisories, but nothing major at all.

First off was to find out why the O/S Headlight stopped working halfway through the MOT? Well, perhaps this is the reason?

So, new bulb and all is well. I did want to uprate the headights, but these old types of bulbs aren't available in uprated so I'll have to stick with these. I may be considering some spot lamps on the bumper now though.

Next was the N/S Headlamp, which was a little dim. The reflector was rusty, but I had a new one in a box in the boot that came with the car! (Thanks Rob!) So, little bit of fiddling and in it went. Job done!

Next problem to address was the Temperature Gauge. It didn't work at all. I was pretty convinced it was the sender, so after breaking my arm in 5 places trying to reach it, and then after removing half the inlet manifold, I found it. I was planning to pull the wire off and earth it to check and see if it was the sender, and as I pulled the wire off, the middle of the sender unit came away in my hand....... that'll be the problem then! Again, thanks to Rob there as a new one in a box in the boot, on it went. Whilst I was doing this I decided to drop all the coolant, flush the rad through and then refill with new antifreeze. What came out looked pretty gunky, so I'm glad I did this. All done, back together and running nicely. Got it up to temp, fans kicked in, all good.

Next thing to play with was the stereo. The original unit was still in the dash, with a modern one slung underneath. Problem was, I kept catching my foot on it as I used the clutch, so I took it all out, and put the radio where it should be (kept the original one just in case though!). Then where the stereo used to be I then put in a 4 way charger pod. 2 phones, Sat nav and an ipod dictates we need more than one. Works and looks great now.

 I then fiddled about with replacing the saggy sun visors, (again, new set in the boot!), new wiper blades (yep, out of stock in the boot!), repairing the rear window as it had come out of it winder, and going over everything I could think of trying to find a fault.......... I couldn't!   It is as good as we all thought.

 I then jacked up the front and took the front wheels off ready to go and have the new tyres fitted I have got. Whilst I was there I checked the pads, 75% remaining, so no issues.

Bradley popped over and we spent a happy half an hour clay barring it and getting the shine back. Needs a quick polish and that will be done.

All that's left on the list is to have the new tyres put on, oil and filter change (got the oil but no filters in stock, ebay here I come!) put the stickers on, polish it and we're ready to go!

If only all RBRR prep was this simple!