The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Dunno what you think are head dowls but the ones I mean go between the head and the block and can't be seen with the head on!
I hope its ok for you but the degrading of the standard fit plastic dowls which carry high pressure oil through the head joint to the cams is the first nail in the coffin of the head gasket.
Since this can't be stopped other than by removing the head and replacing the things with pukka steel ones, the chances are that they will fail sooner or later and this in turn will let high pressure oil into the cooling system. Its not so much a case of IF as WHEN!
As you say, the engine seems fine at the moment but in my experience every mile you get over 50k is a free bonus!

Steve

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'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.

I agree with what Steve has said having suffered a poor K series engine firsthand on my R8 shape 214 (an otherwise lovely car). Best to have the uprated head set with the steel dowels to hand for when it does go pop. One of my brothers had the later R3 with the same engine and it didn't give him a moment's bother until the day he was hit by an uninsured driver. If I wasn't looking at taking on the Astra that belongs to my partner's son I'd consider getting another Rover 214 and have a head gasket set handy should it go pop.

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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

This is what we were told by the mgf forum


"Preventative" head gasket replacement makes no sense to me at all. Gaskets aren't service items that perish. They do fail unfortunately, but treat the car well (most importantly, never put the engine under full load or rpm above 3-4k before the oil temperature is up into the operational range) and the engine will serve you well


The car has only done 39000 miles

Darren

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1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

Well! I don't want to set myself against the experts BUT.....
The head gasket is made of 3 or 4 sheets of shim steel peened over round the bores and other holes and with rings of silicone like stuff around the water and oil galleries. The flaw is this, the high pressure oilfeed to the cams passes from block to head through the plastic head locating dowls which gradually degrade until they start to leak pressure into the silicone ring which is not strong enough to contain the pressure. Adjoining this ring are 2 more rings around water galleries and since the oil pressure is much higher than the max water pressure there is only one way it can end! The later (and all modded type) head gaskets have a deliberate gap in the silicone ring around the oilfeed which lets excess oil drain harmlessly back to the sump. This in conjunction with steel dowls which don't degrade and form a much tighter seal, effectively ends the problem for good! It's just a pity they didn't get it right the first time! But then BL always was famous for letting their customers do their development work!

Steve

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'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.

Thanks for your input Steve

I will keep an eye on it, and get the kit just in case once it's on the road. Is there a way of checking if it was ever done Steve.

I also think at some point the engine may have been changed, sure I read somewhere that all Jap exports had the vvc engine in them, and this has got the standard engine in. Where would I find the engine number?

All the best

Darren

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1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

Theres no obvious checks you can do, documentation is usually the only way to know, however at that mileage it is unlikely, not impossible but unlikely. If it has failed in the past there are usually traces of mayo left cos you can NEVER get it all out no matter how careful you are or how many times you flush the system.
That car is too old to have ever had a VVT engine which was not available until 97 IIRC. The export car I did also had a standard non VVT engine and that was a 98S.
I believe the engine number is on the edge of the block adjacent to the bellhousing joint and on the rearward side - but I might be thinking of something else!

Steve

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'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.

Thanks Steve, I will keep my EYES peeled. You know what wives are like driving a car, "I got a problem with the car darling, how long you had it, ooo erm erm a couple of weeks" get my drift

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1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

Bin there, heard that, know exactly what you mean!
Check the oil? Or the water? What's the point of marrying a mechanic if I have to do this myself? Unquote!

Steve

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'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

The good news is the MLS gasket and lower rail work so if/when you have an issue you'll be fine unless the engine is a scrapper. Until then enjoy the car! They are starting to rust though aren't they?

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Mark

1961 Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier Sportswagon
1980 Dolomite Sprint project using brand new shell
2009 Mazda MX5 2.0 Sport
2018 Infiniti Q30

Hi Mark

This one is surprisingly good, apart from the welding I had to do on the n/s sill, she will be getting wax oiled before she goes back on the road.


Darren

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1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

They still rust less than MX5's. Mine is rust free pretty much whereas some, especially MK2's are horrendously rusty.

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Mark

1961 Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier Sportswagon
1980 Dolomite Sprint project using brand new shell
2009 Mazda MX5 2.0 Sport
2018 Infiniti Q30

Hi Chaps, it's been a while

Well she went in yesterday for a pre-MOT, and she has come out rather well. She needs 2 new tyres, problem with windscreen wash not working and I can't get a reading on the meter. Pump worked when I connected it to the battery direct. So will probably bypass with a nice push switch near to the steering wheel. And finally the rear fog light not working, bulb is fine seems to be the dash switch.

After fitting the stainless steel coolant underfloor pipes and me flushing the system we now have a leak from the water pump.The water seems to be coming from the bottom half of the black plastic cover over the timing belt. (if you look from the back of car past the coolant bottle you can see it)

The coolant was absolutely horrid see pics Maybe because it has stood for so long

The seat belt light stays on, so we need to purchase a twin plugged seat belt stork, we have now got one on the way. Bloody Jap imports Uk models didn't have the seat belt light

It's been too cold to paint even with the heater, so I will leave that for a few weeks. The mechanic that we took it too for a pre-MOT was surprised how good she was underneath. When we picked it up we went for a blast down the lanes and even I was surprised at how well she handled. Very easy to get the back end out. And she is the none VVC so I was even more surprised.

We pick up another set of alloys on Saturday with new rear's (matched) and slightly worn fronts (matched) mini lite style for £100 so a good buy. There going onto my Vitesse once that is finished.

Some Pics









All the best

Darren

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1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

I like the mgf very nice but if memory serves me well but wasnt the k series engine at the beginning not a official engine developement and was worked on by 2 rover engineers in a shed at home at weekends ,my mate has had a k series engine swap in a 216 cabriolet new engine is a sweet as a nut the mechanic who swapped it over said the same leave head gasket alone let engibe warm up and keep coolant and oil topped up and changed regularily it will be fine

The mileage makes no odds to HGF. My Mum's R25 went at 30k, my wife's MG ZS went at about 40k then again at 55k. My R8 and later HHR never failed and they'd done much higher mileages. I like the MGF but is is utterly spoilt by such a crap engine. If and when it goes go down the MLS gasket route though make sure you find someone who knows what they are doing as due to the appalling build tolerances of these engines many are scrap before you even start the job.

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Mark

1961 Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier Sportswagon
1980 Dolomite Sprint project using brand new shell
2009 Mazda MX5 2.0 Sport
2018 Infiniti Q30