The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I went to collect a rare early 1850 today. The elderly lady wanted it gone as it was her late husbands car, he had passed away 2 months ago aged 91. The car was his pride & joy, he took it off the road 10 years ago as he found modern driving a bit hectic. He kept it stored on blocks while continuing to give it regular maintenance including a new stainless complete exhaust & a carpet set. The lady prefered it to be returned to the road & not scrapped as the car was so cherished by her late husband, after a quick look under the car I confirmed it was far too good to scrap, the underside has absolutely NO CORROSION what-so-ever having been regularly covered in grease! The body work is also good, the worst thing about it being a cheap respray to Brooklands green from its original white, I shall repaint it Old English White.
Being such an early car in such incredibly solid condition its got to be restored to near original condition.
Can some of the clever people on here tell me the build date?
The long road ahead

The lady, Mrs Shepperd, brought me sandwiches & tea while I put the wheels back on.

Daylight for the first time in 10 years.

A bit of a sqeeze on her drive.

Back in Lincs


Those sills are amazing




Love the early details like central courtesy light & the washer pump, rubber boot mat, no head rests etc

Bloody early that's what!!!

Is the club still doing those free BMH/factory checks anyone?

I see from the DVLA they say it was registered 3rd of Jan '72, allowing for Christmas Holidays that would give it a build time of late '71 then.

This is fantastic news it is going to be restored, I am sure the previous owner would be very happy to know that.

Wel done Roy.

TOD without checking i thought was a London issue reg, yet I note the sticker in the rear window is for Archers of Shirley. Lived just round the corner from there when I was a lad, spent a lot of time in their showroom looking at the cars. Site redeveloped over the years but still has a Stratstone Jag dealership on part of the site, the original Garage was redeveloped a few yaers back then when Rover went pop, the redeveloped site was redeveloped again, some shops on there now, but not a clue which even if I do drive past a couple of time a week

Good luck, see you not fond of gardening......too busy playing with cars

thats not my house, cheek of it! I'm hurt now thats just somewhere I store cars.
Ok, I'm no gardener but this is mine;

Further proof, were any required, that early ones are better built!
My Ice Blue auto was built in 1971, for the Cyprus market, and that had the round, centrally-mounted interior lamp, this white/green one also has the earliest type of carbs, the CDSEV versions with their thermal compensator circuit and the float chamber vent valves, they were only fitted up to engine #WF6801E, then CD150s without the thermal doo-dah were fitted right through until the SUs came along.
You'll probably find that the inlet manifold on that engine (if original) isn't machined for the olives that sit inside each rubber gasket on later cars, that early they'll simply have two layers of rubber with a cardboard separator.

Good luck with it, it will be a real peach when it's white once again.

Don't you mean WF929, not VA929?

Looks like a brilliant project, and it will look great in OEW!

OD is a Devon registration.

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1978 Triumph Dolomite Sprint (project thread)
1966 Volkswagen 1300 (project thread)
1962 Austin Mini (project)
1962 MGA 1600 Mark II
1965 Mobylette SP50 (project)
2001 Rover 75 2.5-litre V6

Now corrected, smart sod !

I blame it on over-exposure to Sprints

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1978 Triumph Dolomite Sprint (project thread)
1966 Volkswagen 1300 (project thread)
1962 Austin Mini (project)
1962 MGA 1600 Mark II
1965 Mobylette SP50 (project)
2001 Rover 75 2.5-litre V6

Is there such a thing

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Previous owner of 42 Dolomite shaped vehicles, 14 Sprints, 12 1850s, 8 1500s, 3 V8s, 3 Toledos and 2 SEs

Oh yes...though I may have just purchased the antidote...




Pleased you are saving this Roy, it will indeed be a peach. Overdrive?

no, original 3 rail 4 speed

I did check the dates when i the lady called me but ive lost my notes, it was nov '71 iirc.

This is an absolutely cracking find...
Mine is WF 50** and is pimento but used to have the rubber boot mat and the round interior light. Think it must be late 71 build as mine is April 72 reg date. Dont know the build date as Ive never needed to find it. While I still have the original engine and box its now got a 7 lump and a 3 rail o/d box to replace its tired originals...

Not a fan of white myself but like you say...return to original is justifed on such an early one.

Could well have fought you for that if I hadnt been stateside but well done and good luck anyway....

Jonners

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Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

Wouldn't have been much of a fight as it was advertised in the members section to start with.
Roy had already arranged collection before i posted it in the save a dolly section (without contact details)

Yet another good reason to join the TDC.

I missed this thread, great news another early 1850 has been saved and is going to be returned to former glory. Nice to see it has retained it's early features.

Steve