The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

The Number One Club for owners of Triumph's range of small saloons from the 1960s and 1970s.
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:04 pm 
Built the new dizzy today. I was able to get the faces pretty spot on with some care and file and used the Delco shaft to align the two halves for welding. The welding was very difficult to start with, I couldn't get the parts hot enough to melt the rod and react so the aluweld just fell off. In the end I gave up on the £5 Hellfrauds blowtorch and bought a proper plumbers torch. It's very important to get the entire work piece hot and and not melt the rod with the torch to start with. It's all in the video posted below. All in all I'm very pleased with how the weld came out.

Image

Image

I didn't get the tolerances quiet as good as the factory so I've had to use a shim but it doesn't matter. The shaft turns freely and easily and when fitted the modification won't be visible.

James


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 12:26 pm 
It's on the road at last! :D I took it for it's MOT on Thursday morning and it failed when the indicator stalk fell out during the test again and one of the front brakes bound. Luckily they had a a slot for a retest that afternoon so I rushed back to get it all sorted. I tried some different glue on the stalk, I think the aruldite I'd used was past it's best cos it hadn't set.

On the brake side of things I discovered one pad was falling apart with only half the friction material left and the other very worn. The car had come with a load of spares including some 2nd hand worn but useable pads so I popped them in. At first the brake wasn't working at all but after a bit of use it stopped jerking so hard to the left, enough to pass the MOT anyway.

The uneven braking hasn't really improved since the MOT so I'm going to get hold of some new pads today and re-bleed the brakes. That should get rid of the terrible squealing too!

James


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 1:59 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:19 am
Posts: 3210
Location: Old Basing, Hants.
I'd be concerned at it being a sticky piston in the caliper. Does it get warm after a drive, more so than the other side? I think the test was to check the wheel nuts and how hot they are.
Nice to see it on the road though!

_________________
1978 Sandglow Dolomite 1850HL The Lolomite - MOT pass! (broken again in 55 miles though...)
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it.
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 8:59 pm 
Good call on the piston Oli, turns out that's exactly what was wrong! I checked by taking the wheel off and touching the pads while the peddle was pumped. I could feel one moving but not the other and it was loose between the disc and piston.

I took the caliper off and put in the vice then gently pressed the piston back into the caliper with some wood and a g-clamp. Put some new pads on all round and bled the system and it seems to be fine, just needs a bit more air bleeding from the system.

I've been offered for not too silly money a rather good looking free-flow tubular exhaust manifold and twin Weber 40s. Are either worth fitting? The exhaust feeds under the subframe but as I'm not planning on slamming it any time soon I don't see that as being much of an issue?

James


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 10:00 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:19 am
Posts: 3210
Location: Old Basing, Hants.
You may end up having to replace the seals or possibly seals and piston in that caliper, I did, it wasn't too difficult!

I'm not certain about this, but I'm fairly confident that the tubular manifold won't actually fit the Dolly, I think it'll clash against the suspension turret, though a small scallop can be cut into the turret to get around this, depends on the manifold in question really.

I'm of the opinion that the carbs and manifold are wasted on an otherwise stock engine, but further tuning and you'll run into issues with the rear axle giving up... Not sure about the auto box and how well that'll sustain it.

_________________
1978 Sandglow Dolomite 1850HL The Lolomite - MOT pass! (broken again in 55 miles though...)
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it.
Image


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 11:24 pm 
Thanks Oli, it's being driven daily now so I'll find out pretty quickly if the seals are shot as well.

Apparently the manifold does fit without any alterations so I'm tempted. If I get started tuning I won't stop with just carbs and exhaust, I've got a spare cylinder head ripe for porting and some larger valves. I don't think I can uprate the cam hugely because of the gearbox but it's not going to be a racer.

I'm not worried about the auto box, the BW65 was used on XJ6 and V8 P6s amongst others so a few more horses from a carefully driven TR7 engine.

I hear a lot about rear axle failure on Dolomites, what part of the axle actually gives up?

James


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:38 pm 
Been a long while since I last updated and have to admit that progress has been slow thanks to lack of money and now work takes up a lot of my time. Life eh? :roll:

The car was last driven at the end of August but it all went rather pear shaped driving along the A21 at dusk when I noticed the headlamps getting dimmer and the voltage dropping. The no charge light didn't illuminate so I carried on hoping to get back before the battery died on me. After another few miles disaster struck and the engine dropped a cylinder or two and started to run really roughly. By this time there voltage was below 12 and I was driving with just side lights when other cars weren't visible to save charge. A carried on like this for another few miles (still half an hour away from home mind) nursing the engine desperately trying to stop it stalling on me before a horrible grinding noise started to come from the engine bay and the engine began to struggle yet more.

Darkness had fallen completely by now and the headlamps were next to useless so I ducked off the A21 and took a B road to Tunbridge Wells with the intention to making it to my Grandmothers where I could safely leave the car overnight. I wasn't going to stop until I got there or the engine died. For what seemed like hours I maintained a constant speed driving by what little moonlight there was turning the pathetic candles whenever an oncoming car was seen in the distance terrified that the voltage would soon be unable to bridge the spark gap, or the terrible racket would see me stranded. Finally I made it and the car stopped, completely devoid of charge just outside the house.

After a few moments to accept that I'd actually made it back alive I slowly lifted the bonnet to investigate the damage. The misfire was down to the dizzy cap splitting and the terrible sound was the long alternator bolt protruding into the path of the fan. The alternator was still plugged and apparently in good order so I guess it was the new diode pack/soldering that had given up the ghost. I got the car on charge the next day and made some quick repairs to get it drivable again before driving it the extra few miles home where it sat until a few weeks ago while I got adjusted into my new job and raised some cash.

With the prospect of finally being able to get insurance for sensible money looming I got hold of an Accuspark kit for the old Delco on eBay which really helped with the running. I also replaced the alternator with a 45 amp Mini type. While doing this I spotted some suspiciously shiny looking metal protruding from the baulk head (there are some advantages to working at night with a torch!). On closer inspected the steering rack was missing the bush all together and was slack. The lower joint was also showing signs of wear and tear to the rubber washers so I got the intermediate shaft off tonight which I'll take into work and pop in the parts washer tomorrow. It'll make a nice change from the normal Mercedes W125 tat! :lol:

I am now debating what the best course of action is. I don't really want to replace like for like so have been looking at a poly bush for the baulk head and either poly bushes for the lower flexi or going for a UJ. I prefer the idea of a UJ but can't find anything definite regarding fit or which part to use. Is there an off the shelf UJ that's properly made and that will fit without either cutting the inner wing flange or shaft/column?

Thanks

James


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 12:37 pm 
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Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:52 pm
Posts: 7566
Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
The buklkhead bush is available in SuperFlex. Chris Witor has these in stock so he's your man. It needs to be fitted from the inside. There's a big flat "washer" (for want of a better word) at the bottom of the steering column which will keep the bush in situ.

The coupling that fits between the column and the rack comes in 2 parts. There's the upper section with the UJ (part No. 157659)and the lower section with the rubber (part No. FAM1718). These can be had from the usual suspects. There's an aftermarket (Rally Design springs to mind) coupling that has been used by a few forum members on their cars. I'd be happy to use original spec parts as long as the quality is decent. I found the upper section HERE and the lower section HERE on Rimmer's website.

_________________
Toledo Man

West Yorkshire Area Organiser & forum moderator
Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 8.00pm at The Old Brickworks, Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Bradford, BD11 1EA

1972 Dolomite 1850 auto (NYE 751L - Now for sale)
2003 Volvo XC90 D5 SE (PX53 OVZ - The daily driver)
2009 Mercedes-Benz W204 C200 CDI Sport (BJ58 NCV - The 2nd car)
1991 Toyota Celica GT (J481 ONB - another project car)
Former stable of SAY 414M (1974 Toledo), GRH 244D (1966 1300fwd), CDB 324L (1973 1500fwd), GGN 573J (1971 1500fwd), DCP 625S (1977 Dolomite 1300) & LCG 367N (1975 Dolomite Sprint) plus 5 Acclaims and that's just the Triumphs!

Check my blog at http://triumphtoledo.blogspot.com
My YouTube Channel with a bit of Dolomite content.

"There is only one way to avoid criticsm: Do nothing, say nothing and BE nothing." Aristotle


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:51 pm 
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Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!
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Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:19 am
Posts: 3210
Location: Old Basing, Hants.
I seem to remember it'd be this.
http://www.chriswitor.com/proddetail.php?prod=145377RM

_________________
1978 Sandglow Dolomite 1850HL The Lolomite - MOT pass! (broken again in 55 miles though...)
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it.
Image


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