The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 11:02 pm 
^^^^^^spot on mate did that method and success!!^^^

in addition to that by switching the heater hoses its airlock promtly cleared as i think the water was trying to push air in a down direction to exit the matrix

ive done about 100 miles since last week and it seems to be basically in sound running order aside from its ridiculously restrictive exhaust and knackered SU carburetors limiting the rev range

the temp does go quite high but with the heater on and the windows down it holds a reasonable temp wether in traffic or on the motorway so i think a 3 core rad of similar size will allow the heater to be used when desired rather than as a relative necessity

fuel economy has been vaguely checked and i think its best is around 30mpg ie not pressing the right pedal at all if possible and a mix of gentle and hard use brings it down to around 20mpg, continous hard use is best not thought about


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 Post subject: Aye............
PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:10 pm 
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It is good to see this coming together.



If I may suggest......
Quote:
ive done about 100 miles since last week and it seems to be basically in sound running order aside from its ridiculously restrictive exhaust and knackered SU carburetors limiting the rev range
Before changing these about, I'd try advancing the ignition timing (as far advanced as possible without pinking under load).
Timing that is too far retarded will make overheating more likely and also limit the engine's ability to rev.

With a decent exhaust fitted it may prove necessary to change the SU needles for richer ones.




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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 2:15 pm 
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:) i was having a good look at this on wednesday night at the metrocentre, liked the side exit exhaust


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 4:23 pm 
Is it running hot or does the meter show.
This device is ideal of measuring the exact temp and should be in the glove compartment of every Dolomite.

Sometimes youre busy solving a problem what isn't even there.
First to know what the exact temp is.


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Noncontact-Digita ... UK_Gadgets

Jeroen


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 6:18 pm 
Quote:
:) i was having a good look at this on wednesday night at the metrocentre.......
Hmmph! Guess which pillock forgot to turn up for that..... :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:43 pm 
john i had a scout around for the 1850 but alas i was the only dolomite lol,,i guess there will be ice cream meet/kirkley hall/next metrocenter/brierdene meet going down sometime anyhow

the first drive was marred by the timing being way too retarded,,which made it feel really flat and made the manifolds glow so its now been advanced as far as viable for cheap petrol which increased the torque hugely but the current problem is it reaching 4000 rpm and basically self limiting (2" 8-4-2-1 single exhaust pipe with a really bad center silencer and a very bad restriction at the manifold down pipe joint flange i think is the cause)

i think the running temp is probably fine as it doesnt pull v8 strongly untill the temp needle (missmatched to temp sender) is at the uppermost parts of the gauge but that gadget looks to be indeed the thing to have

although i think the engine is starting to run cooler due to it also freeing off after quite a involved rebuild the engine had just before i bought it

once i get paid i might splash out on wheel balancing, and something better than 2 150'000miler SU's for fueling 8)

mr_27 i assume i was talking to you briefly oblivious to the fact you are on here :oops: if so good to meet you the other day (some one randomly gave me some titanium sheet too!)


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 7:35 pm 
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Unfortunately it wasnt me you were talking to but i was hanging about having a look whilst you had it ticking over, Nice to see a Triumph there for a change mind!
Im hoping to get my Toledo down there at some point once its finished.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 10:51 pm 
I think there's only one more outdoor event there before they all head for the cover and warmth of the Bowes Incline bar for the off-season meets. Unless October's the last outside one?

Either way, I intend to make it in September as I'd quite like to hear V8 music before Ryhope, last Sunday in October.
Where's the season gone? :o


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 6:54 pm 
well its been 4000miles since it came on the road and ive only really had issues with the carbs being worn and having seized adjusters etc, so to simplify it and get a decent kick on throttle aplication i did the age old weber mod

i procured a late sd1/RR manifold which is said to be a better flowing item than the odd p6 one i had fitted up and hacksawed the SU pent roof adapter off (a year ago lol)
then last week a trip to chirton engineering ltd (wallsend) had the roughly hacksawed surface milled down which resulted in this once i made up an adapter plate to bolt on
Image
the carb is a weber 40dfi from my carbs shelf which seems to have no power valve ,,,i think this is why it needs 190 main jets with 115 air correctors :shock:
anyhow apart from a tiny stumble from idle to main circuits the engine seems to have gained alot of torque all over the rev range and pulls very aggressively to 4500rpm before it hits the exhaust restriction
one consequence of this v8 torque has been the bushs on the lower arms collapsing so out with the spares again to sort it
Image
the new top arm bushs seem to be fine with it though
Image


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 10:06 pm 
:shock: jeez! Looks like you need some nice, tough polybushes!


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 11:05 pm 
Quote:
:shock: jeez! Looks like you need some nice, tough polybushes!
He has a point there Ron! That said, the pivot end of the lower arm is the one place that the last thing you want is something too hard, or the next thing you'll be welding together will be one of the lower arms, I fitted solid bushes (in place of original voided ones), but in stock "softness" to each end of each arm on the brown car. Even without the voids, they'll still allow sufficient twist in the pivot to avoid having the arms doing the twisting, but slightly harder ones everywhere else would be a plan since that animal of yours clearly has enough torque to tear itself apart.

I saw yours parked down by the dog track a couple of weeks ago as I was in at your place after air filters. It surprised me that the people whose brand name would have been on the original items from the '70s told me that I was quite incorrect to state that my Dolomite had been built with Stromberg carbs and that the pair they could get (for later Dolomites, with SU carbs...) carried a part number which had been current from 1972 right through to 1980. :roll: :lol:
Thank Goodness for James Paddock and their incredibly good quality repro 1850 filters at only £12 for the pair.

Anyway, is the blue one coming to Ryhope? I'll turn out if it's going to be there, otherwise I can't be arsed. :o


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 3:25 pm 
just been down to a decent local rolling road to get the car tested (PDTuning, boldon, south shields),,,principaly to give a benchmark as to what the car is doing currently with what i thought is a bog stock 10A engine on an incredibly restricted exhaust and a by feel tuned weber carb on drilled out jets,,,,i was suprised given the engine is originaly meant to have 155bhp @ 5500rpm and 200lb/ft @ 2500rpm rather than 30+ years later from BL's manufacture giving 151bhp@4400rpm and 220lb/ft @2900rpm ,,something tells me it's cammed via a high lift and slightly longer duration cam fitted,,,but cant make use of it further up the rev range as the exhaust restriction kills the gains off

looks like the exhaust is the first port of call for improving with it being a series of abrupt diameter changes,90 deg t junction,,mitre joint bends and a single none straight through silencer


Power at the flywheel
Image

Air Fuel Ratio

Image

bizzarely the car felt quite abit more lively after the test lol


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 6:42 pm 
I decided to improve some area's of the car that have been lacking since going on the road namely a small leak from the axle ,,and takeoff shudder/vibration from the propshaft

I tackled the propshaft by setting up the U.J. running angles by way of a new gearbox crossmember and relocating the center bearing up
first task tho was to clear away the snow of the drive
Image
then set the centerbearing up over with spacers to set the rear prop section correctly(embarasingly it was running 6 degrees at the CB and 0.5 at the rear axle)
Image
then it was a case of removing the rubbish Xmember I made before and replicate with much stiffer mount bush's and using a tape measure this time to work out where to drill
Image
and once fitted I could shim the gearbox up to set the font prop running angle
Image

next job was concerned with whipping off the diff cover and both checking the condition of the planet gears,,,and sealing the gasket properly
Image

test drive seems to have revealed less power getting wasted by the prop,,,and for the first time total v8 style smoothness


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:10 pm 
i have been wanting to try out fuel injection one these for some time, this car is wasting fuel via evapouration to a tremendous degree in stop start traffic ,but reasonable when at speed

So i decided to invest in some lucas 'L' efi ,these are known for being reasonably tuneable and capable of decent performance and economy when setup nicely
the xpack capri carb wasnt really giving much feeling in the throttle response,higher revrange or fuel economy stakes
I was getting up to 30mpg via it,but only if you kept the momentum up
so now it runs via vintage lucas 'L' efi which has been very hard to find quickly but a worthy improvement over carbs

Image
i bought the above components from a breaker for 100 quid, note the incorect afm thrown in the box and the usual chopped wiring carry on that breakers usually do
a week later I found a full system minus afm for 30 on ebay which negated the point of the above system.

I then jet washed the alloy bits and painted them black
Image
it initially ran on 5 then after 30mins settled on 7 ,swapping the ecu made no difference so after locating the dead cylinder by touching the exhaust manifold and feeling for changes in temp ,,i found it on the first branch which was warm,,,next one felt abit like recieving a knife into the finger heat wise which proved that method to work,,but not be practical or safe
swaping the injector in seen it running on 8 8-)
this system along with the ported heads and twin pipe exhaust have released some very strong performance particularly from 4000 onwards and added torque all over the shop


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:26 pm 
Also with the fuel economy in mind i added a gauge panel to the place where the radio would normaly fit the important gauge being the manifold vac gauge which i can quickly check to see i havnt let the throttle become applied more than needed for cruising speeds,,the others to balance the setup are oil pressure (nice healthy 20psi at hot idle) and oil temp (to be connected)
Image

the origional sender required the bellow part removed and the base drilled and tapped for a bspf fitting to the gauge feed it was sheer chance that the only tap i had was suited to the fitting provided ,one thing i did do tho was drill slightly into the bronze sponge so the gauge isnt fast reacting,,i will need to remove that part
Image
i made the holder basically without measuring the length of the heater outlet ,,hence the overhange and wrapping the tabs around the corner

Image
next on the list,,,the sump gasket as the board placed under it is gradually getting saturated with 20w/50
Image


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