The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

You didn't sound confident about the other week at the Xmas dinner about the state of the original shell. Such bodgery must be responsible for many cars being scrapped, that chassis rail is just shocking! I may have a wiring loom available if it's of help.

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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!

Great to hear from you. And thankyou for your reassuring words .

Indeed, ive basically come to the conclusion that mending the yellow shell would be a minefield of issues and (possibly) not worth it. however, i wont sell it without having a go at it in the future (we might have plans for it), hence removing the guilt mentioned above.... keeping an open mind on that one though

Wiring, we are going to build a loom. it would be a bodge to wire in what we need for stuff that isnt standard.

update(with pictures) on its way!

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1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

here it is,



constructed spit....







not much rust at all. this is the only real patch. i think its recently been restored to a good standard, with patches and LOTS of filler. but not much rust underneath



rusty blukhead panel bit but not terrible at all



mended.....



there are other bits but i think thats enough for now! we have pretty much investigated most of the car so if you want to know what a certain bit is like ill see if i have a picture!

(sorry for the big photos)

pete

_________________
1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

couple of pictures.

new plate to replace the badly repaired rust in the wheel arch



and finished/ground off!



i would appreciate anyones opinion of what im doing? all seems very quiet

_________________
1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

Great photos, you are certainly repairing the new bodyshell to a high standard. The original body certainly looked a mess!!

Will you be returning the car to the original Pageant Blue? It's a fantastic colour, although I do have a slight bias towards it

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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

i must confess, i am employing a man to do the fabrication and welding, but i am helping him do it! friend from somewhere i used to work. yes his standard of work is very high!

im still not sure about colour. pageant blue is indeed the original colour of the original shell(yellow one) and is the colour which david myers had it when he owned it before he moved to canada. it was then painted yellow by the previous owner i believe. personally i like this colour....although it isnt original triumph(im not a purist so im not sure if that matters)

basically i will decide what colour to do it when i need to decide!

_________________
1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

...this was my car circa.2002/3 - I sold it to Dave Myers - by then it had been restored to quite a good standard the first time around - the roof section having been replaced, along with a couple of panels - I gave Dave a clutch of photo's showing the work involved when i sold him the car in Jan 2003 - Probably lost in the mist of time...
I did love this car tho' and took it on many trips, one notable trip was my Honeymoon to St,Davids in west wales - some trip from Nottingham! - it was faultless..even took it on the ferry to Rosslare from Fishgard - very enjoyable driving thru' the mountains...some 400 miles in all, never missed a beat...

I was very sad to see it in such a rotten state - I know dave did some supersonic milege in it - as I saw it down in Hathern when He lived in leics - looking very weather-worn - the car - not Dave...!
... I did think of buying it back at that stage, as it certainly needed another restoration by that point, and sentiment does sometimes get the better of you...but we moved - and I never saw it again....untill now

Nice to meet you! Another piece of the story .

I must apologise (on the behalf of the previous owner) for the current state of the shell. I don't know exactly what they were thinking. We aren't going to scrap it but it made sense to re shell KLJ for track day purposes.

Ok so it was tatty when dave sold it? If only the previous owner had repaired it properly!

_________________
1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

...I'll have a look for any pics we might have kept - she was a stunning car when I bought it - even better when I sold it to Dave - pm your email, and I'll send them along...

...just to add, I've seen welding much worse - on the sprint we broke a couple of months ago, we had to break it ...litterally in two - it had been a cut-and-shut many years ago - two different halves " welded " together - bolted first, then licked by an asthmatic pigeon...! - truly terrifying that anyone would have drove it...!

Yeah it's scary what's going on out there. I felt the same about the yellow one! Obviously not to the same extent ...

_________________
1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

more progress today

panel for repair section in inner wheel arch. amazing what can be done with stretching and shrinking!



welded in....



repair section for outer wheel arch



NOW WITH SWAGE LINE!



more welding



cut out rust. in the top right of the picture, the wing sheet is all lumpy and bumpy. this will be repaired with.....



this green repair panel! . the lower section will be repaired with a club repair panel.



im really enjoying this! even though im paying for the work to be done, me and Alan are working together on it and its really really rewarding. .

any queries, questions or abuse(only in jest) welcome!

_________________
1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

Nice work with the swage line

....and I thought WE worked fast!

...although the thought of racing around KLJ in anger really would spur ME on I suppose....

Great work there fella - she'll be as tough as all the Ford Falcon's on the circuit built with girders in their loins....

. I watched alan create the swage line with a few hammers and bits of metal!

Ohhh it will certainly be as strong as that but not as heavy . More updates later!

_________________
1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

more updates to feast your eyes on

lots of fiddly stuff so not very many impressive pictures...i hope you like

holes....




slightly less holes....




boot floor repair...



repair section for inner arch...



tadaaa!




i also did some welding on a test piece, he said "a born welder!" pretty much fell on the floor.

_________________
1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

Great work there - that's never your first go...? is it....?