The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

It is a shame about the local forums but luckily we have access to the UK ones. I am on this one now and the club triumph forum for the big saloons.

Went a bit mad, after years of keeping the same cars and not much progress sold the Stag, Spitfire, Mk1 and Mk2 saloons, then bought a MK1 PI, sold that bought a 2500S (LPG powered) and now the 1300. Stag actually ended up in SA.

The 1300s are not exactly plentiful and this was the first one I have seen advertised since I was looking for on in 1993. Almost as hard to get as a big Triumph estate. The other cars I want are still hard to find, a 13/60 convertible, 2500 estate and herald estate (know where there is one though).

Funny you should mention Ballarat but there is a chap there with pretty much the best collection of dolly spares and several of the original import 1300s. Went there a couple of years ago as I heard about the collection but what was there was rusty rubbish that had been scattered around the property. He had 3 or so sprints, a 1500FWD (also very rare here), many rusty 1300s in bits, a 1300TC from NZ, and a few Toledo bodies all this was inherited from his father and he didnt want to sell any of it as I was keen on the 1300TC and the 1500. might try again now for a rusty shell for parts though.

The Skoda is great, first new car I ever bought and a bargain price at $18 grand on road. I was really after a wagon but the cheapest I could have had one for was $21K plus shipping from SA and rego here.

Hi Stu
I think Adelaide is about the same size as Auckland. We live about 45km from the city centre, work is a 40km commute taking anything from 30 to 60 minutes, but all that allows us to live on more than enough land to have the essential barn. Last time we were in Adelaide it seemed to be quite easy to get well out of the suburbs and into some very nice surrounds. Hope the move goes well.

Geoff

The view we get (city is where the horizon meets the hill- Sky Tower stands out best - and white area on extreme left is the airport):

Brilliant last week.
Feel very uncomfortable with Froome cheating by taking energy gel when he did. What could have happened if he hadn't done that, he was still a way
from the summit?
Felt sorry for Perau (the replay still makes me wince). Delighted French got the win on Alp D'uez with (his team mate) Riblon.
Quintana, what a performance. Surely the future star of Tour cycling?




Ian.

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aye Ian, we need a TdF thread ! Brilliant tour, deserving winners, great racing, well done to Chris Froome and his team. Quintana is just a star.

The way Chris Froome explained why he had to take the gel when he did excuses him imo, his team car was waylaid at the start of the climb and he wasn't able to take on supplies during the allocated time. I thought 20s was a harsh penalty. Cavendish on the other hand escaped unpunished. Liggett and Sherwin both got heated about Cavendish just after the crash, predicting he would be disqualified, but 24 hours later they changed their tune.

I just want to take 6 months off and tour France everytime I see the TdF coverage. Just amazing scenery.

thanks for the pic Geoff, yeah, we know Adelaide fairly well, not afraid of commuting. It can't be as bad as Sydney back in 1996, 45km trip to work took 75 minutes !

stu

Bet I can beat you with my commute is longer than yours..in Sydney 70kms that took up to 75 mins depending on traffic or going by train, which I did alot, 2 hours.

Current commute is 105kms and takes 95mins - 20min car, 70min train, 15min tram.

Stu this interesting thread has several little sub plots to it with comments being passed on 1300’s and the bigger 2500’s as well as commutes, moves to Adelaide, possible loss of shed space and so on. We have family up in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. I am sure you are going to be able to find a shed, a replacement shed, an even bigger shed perhaps all within an easy commute – surely!!

Geoff has chimed in with his comments and a picture of the view from his shed looking towards Auckland. I am almost tempted, looking at that picture, to move up there.

Our commute from here and my collection of sheds used to take 30 minutes into the centre of Christchurch. It takes a bit longer now for, firstly the centre of Christchurch has disappeared – been demolished, and secondly the roading network is in chaos (I was going to say utter chaos but that is a relative term now to us who are continuing to endure the now, lessening swarm of earthquakes), (now totalling many thousands). The storm (of earthquakes) for want of a better word is now plaguing the capital city and might, finally might, prompt the politicians to do something to alleviate the distress here. So the commute has gone from 30 mins to 60 mins depending on the detours and the direction you choose to travel.

Sport? Be unfriendly I feel for a New Zealander to broach that subject today!!

But coming back to your restoration. How did you get that photo of the inside of your petrol tank? Perhaps the coating material you used might be the sort of stuff my dentist should be using on what is left of my teeth, if you think it is indestructible. And by all accounts considerably cheaper than what my dentist charges me for what ever he puts in my mouth.

Robert

ha ha, I'm just about to pay the dentist another visit as well. Bits of amalgam falling out. Talking about glues, I've just discovered that a pre-treatment super glue is good enough to repair the gearlever console-tray, the one that always splits down the back, through the screw hole. It has succeeded in making a very strong join. Win.

I think I just stuck the camera into the tank and snapped away.

I'm secretly glad the cricketers are getting such a thrashing. They deserve nothing less. Pumped up primadonnas, media hungry, self promoting, dummy spitting children. They couldn't win with good grace, now it appears they can't lose with any style either.

otoh, the most impressive aspect of Chris Froome winning TdF is how composed and earnest he has been in front of the camera. He comes across as an absolute gentleman. Not that that is a prerequisite for a TdF champion, Cadel wasn't exactly media friendly (or savvy) and Wiggin's was a tad petulant, but Froome has been a breath of fresh air in a sport where egos are the rule. It makes me a bit sad to learn that Sky released all of Froome's power data for the last 2 years in order to dismiss speculation he is cheating. It suggests that each cyclist is going to be confined to past performance figures and stepping over them will simply cause doping allegations. I'd like to think that a cyclist can dig deep on that one, critical stage and break through the barrier, taking the risk that going so far into the red might end in failure, but doing it anyway. Jens Voight did so on the last mountain stage. Stupid sports science is ruining human endeavour.

Another Liggett/sherwin clanger, talking about Quintana's background in Columbia, they suggested he would be an expert at hot wiring taxis !

back to cars...anyone have an answer about how to set float chamber levels ?

stu

Surely the most impressive thing with Froome was the "low-fives" with Rodriquez's children .




Seriously, he deserves to be knighted for his diplomacy under intense questioning, reminded me of another Chris,
Sir Chris Hoy.





Ian.

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Float chamber levels can only be adjusted on these later SU HS6's by sticking a washer under the float valve body where it threads into the lid.


Jeroen did a post on this....with diagrams. Have a hunt for it....

Jonners

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thanks jonners. got it.

at last, back on the road !

completed the vehicle identity check, got the historic rego inspection done and now with plates on she made the 130km drive to and from Mt Gambier to pick up the new exhaust. I had done a trial drive of around 20 minutes last weekend with no significant problems, noticed the radiator expansion tank overflowed on getting home, so cleaned the expansion cap thoroughly and topped up. Filled her up with 25 litres of premium and set off this morning for the drive.

No issues at all except the temp gauge is intermittent (very worrying) but the engine pulled smoothly and usual rattles and clatters. Expansion bottle did its trick again on arrival at the exhaust place, but only dropped about 50ml I reckon. Once up on the hoist it was evident that there was a significant oil leak above the starter motor, probably the rocker cover gasket area but otherwise excellent.
so, with a new exhaust and full of confidence I took her home, thinking naively that the 25 litres she was carrying would be ample for the whole journey (260km). A few nervous moments when the fuel empty light came on and stayed on, but I got back to Lucindale very relieved and filled her up. Now I can hear the engine, it sounds very different to my first sprint, this one growls and throbs a bit, rather than the smooth free revving of the other. I think forgetting the insulation over the tunnel might have something to do with the noise.

The other difference is how much smoother and less radical this one is to drive. The other sprint bounces all over the road and takes corners in several chunks, this one is point and drive with no skipping or alarming changes of direction. I'll have to look into that.

The sad news is that the other 2 dolomites (1850) aka Red and Green have been sold to a guy from Geelong who want to strip them (he'll cart one home on a trailer and strip the other), for the princely sum of $1 each. I'll make sure nothing useful gets crushed or wasted and Green is terminal anyway, but a sad end to the big shed. I've just bought a place in Adelaide (well, the offer has been accepted) and I'm down to a twin sized garage. I will have a decent sized back yard that is completely bare though, so room for another shed, but the house requires a lot of work so priority will be the house.

Oh yes, the stag sold as well, $3500, so I dropped $500 over 4 years for a helluva' lot of fun and good times.

stu

All good Stu .



Having converted my 1850 to use a Volvo 850 expansion bottle (there are others that'll do the same job) I can see just how rubbish the original types are.
I will post a photo in due course sometime soon.

The rusty fuel pipe is a no-no here in the UK......
8mm bore kunifer is fine to use. It is perfectly feasible to route it down the offside, thereby avoiding the need to cross over above the exhaust.



Hope your move to Adelaide goes well.



Ian.

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Hi Stu

Can I just point out that I think your gearbox mount may be fitted wrongly. This can transfer a huge amount of noise through to the cabin if it is too hard a compound repro unit, or fitted incorrectly. It should sit in the crossmember from above and the plate on the underside of the long gearbox bolt should be fitted the other way up and sit up into the underside of the mount. I'm not sure from the picture, but I think the mount itself may be upside down too. It should be lumpy side up and hollow side down.

I hope this helps with your engine noise.

Lovely car! Enjoy!

Tom.

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1979 Carmine Dolomite Sprint
1974 Saphire Dolomite Sprint (Soon to be tastefully modified)
2005 Mystic blue BMW M3
2004 Mystic Blue 330d
2001 Peugeot 206 Hdi180

good advice, thanks Tom, I'll look into that and see if I've stuffed it up, which is a strong possibility. At least the prop shaft isn't vibrating. Lots to do still with around 300km under my belt on a rebuilt car. I'm impressed that the engine is as good as it is considering all I did was replace a few seals and keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks Ian, fuel line rust noted. I'll have a look, but I think the fuel line does go down the left (near) side and avoids crossing the exhaust, but I'll check that out as well.

stu

Yes well spotted that mounting is wrong. The rubber bit fits the other side of the cross member and the long bolt goes in from the top as well and the domed plate thing fits the other way up dished side towards the rubber and sort of presses up into it.

It will make a very big difference to driveline refinement. Sahme you couldnt save the red 1850 but sometimes life just gets in the way.

Find me a software developer job in Adelaide and I'll come and join you...

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.