The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 5:11 am 
Car 43 was an Australian built race car engineered by the Ron Hodgson Leyland Dealer Team using the Broadspeed built Dolomite race car, which is now owned by my brother Philip, as a design standard. This car was built as a spare, or T-Car, for Bathurst in 1977, however due to a disagreement of eligibility of some engine components the team withdrew from the event which meant that the car did not compete as part of the Hodgson Leyland Team.

When the Hodgson Leyland Team was disbanded all the cars were sold and Car 43 moved into the ownership of Gerald Kay as part of his “Jagparts” Dolomite Team.

The car later passed into the hands of Martin Power who competed in the car in selected Group C touring car races, and like the 42 Car into the Group A Touring car era. Car 43 is believed to be the last Dolomite Sprint to compete in an FIA sanctioned event in the world when it competed at the Australian Grand Prix support race in 1985.

I purchase the Dolomite in 1990 in poor condition and undertook an extensive body and mechanical rebuild to Group C specifications. Car 43 then competed in a number of classes and before moving into Improved Production where alongside Car 42 both campaigned in the NSW State Championship. .A number of modifications and enhancements had been applied to make it more competitive alongside later specification cars, the most significant being a custom built Electronic Fuel Injection and Engine Management System. However all of these modifications have been applied so that the car could be returned to Group C specifications if so desired at a later date.
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Car 43 regularly competed in this category until April 2008 when it was the innocent victim of another driver’s mistake during Round 1 of the State Championship at Wakefield Park and was for all intents and purposes destroyed. Fortunately for me without sustaining any serious personal injury. The body shell has been in storage, awaiting the resources to restore it once again to Group C specifications. Thankfully after a long wait, as of today the body shell was moved to a repair facility where the work has now started on its repair and restoration.
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The panel shop that as done several repairs on this car over the years was reluctant to take the repairs on due to the time (cost!) involved in squaring and repairing the shell. A former employee of this business now works as a teacher at a TAFE (Technical And Further Eduction) and although it has taken nearlyy 12 months to get it into the TAFE shop, the body shell was delivered there today to start the repair.

I will be supplying another body shell which they will cut up as necessary for parts to repair the race car.

The intention is to rebuild/restore the car to its Group "C" specification, which means it will be eligibly for Historic racing. Australian Group "C" Touring cars is a growing catergory in local Historic race meeting. You cannot construct a car for this catergory, it must be the original vehicle that competed at the time, ie, no replicas.
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How long before the car returns to the race track is anyone's guess, as time is tight (still racing the red #43), but hopefully it will be soon rather than later.

I will try and keep you all updated as time, and progress permits

Mark


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 3:08 pm 
Good stuff, it will be nice to see it back in one piece, please do try and keep us updated


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:07 pm 
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Location: East Lothian, Scotland
So glad to hear that you are keeping the original body shell. I look forward to reading about the restoration. Good luck with it.

_________________
1959 TR3A, 1970 Triumph 1300, 1974 Toledo
Image Thanks Photobucket :(


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:08 am 
excellent work Mark, interesting to read the info about why she didn't race at Bathurst. It'll be good to see this resto proceed.

stu


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:14 pm 
I took the "donor shell" to the the TAFE facility today for them to remove whatever parts they need for the repair of the race car.
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The car is only being worked on 1or 2 days a week by apprentices, with very close supervision from the head teacher. I am very happy with the progress so far. They have started to straighten the shell and have how removed most of the right hand sill and B pillar. Both the left hand doors now open with no problems, probably better than before the accident.
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Mark


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:04 am 
Had a look the car today, and it is looking good. Basically the shell is now straight and awaiting the fitting of the sill, centre pillar and associated bits and pieces. The sill and pillar removed from the donor shell is still in rough cut state.

Progress will stop over the next few weeks with TAFE holidays. Had intended to take some photos, but found the batteries in the camera were flat when I arrived at the repair centre.

Mark


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:06 pm 
Excellent, good luck.

Always good to see a challenging repair being undertaken - too easy to throw it away and substitute a diff shell

http://www.mattenglandracing.co.uk, we bent our chassis in Jan. Sharp intake of breath from an expert declared it 'beyond repair'. I know it was really meant as beyond 'economic commercial repair', so we did it ourselves with the help of the design technology class room and design tech teacher at my lads school - it is why the skills are being learnt is it not - to restore motor vehicles


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 8:56 am 
I haven't been to see my car for quite a while, so a telephone call last week to tell me that the repairs were finished came as surprise.
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I am very happy with the repairs. Remember that the repairs were done by 3rd year apprentices, with a very experienced teacher overseeing everything. The teacher tells that it was a good challenge for the students, as a side impact repair is considered one of the most difficult to do, front and rear are generally much easier. The RH side wheel base had been shorted by approx 20mm, which is now all back to where it should be.
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I am sure that the concours people could find fault, but remember that this is a race car, and has been for over 30 years, and the cost to me has been NIL :D :D :D

This afternoon the car was to be moved to the paint shop for priming. It appears that the car is also going to be painted, so I will be returning it to its original "Group C" colour scheme, similar to its current scheme, but different! Once again, I don't expect a concours job, but the price sounds right. :D

Mark


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 2:21 pm 
fantastic news Mark, very handy facility you have there. The luxury of being able to pass it on to them with no real time constraints is a bonus. Looks like they have done a great job.

stu


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 10:54 pm 
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Location: East Lothian, Scotland
Mark,
That looks great. What a fantastic job. I hadn't realised that the repair was free of charge. That makes it even better! Can't wait to see the finished paint job.

_________________
1959 TR3A, 1970 Triumph 1300, 1974 Toledo
Image Thanks Photobucket :(


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:37 pm 
First time i have seen this thread
Great to see your car coming back together
Keep us informed

Steve


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 6:08 am 
It has been quite a while since I have seen my car, so I thought that I would give the TAFE a visit today, and what good timing it was.

The car is now painted. All that is left to be done is the black on rear panel, and a light buff of the paint work. Although the teacher that has been overseeing the job is a little disappointed with a few small "things", I am over the moon with it. This is ONLY A RACE CAR, so it is going to get stone chipped the first time that it is used. It looks fantastic to me. The engine bay, boot area and inside will be painted by myself, I didn't like to keep asking for more jobs to be done by the TAFE staff and apprentices. I shudder to think how many hour of labour has gone into the repair and paint.

The car should be ready for pickup next week, but due to my work hours I will not be picking it up until the following week, As I am in the process of moving house hopefully the car will be placed in its new garage with in about 2 weeks.
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Mark


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:00 am 
imagine, 5 sprints in the garage, on the word GO, each driver has to open their rollerdoor and it is a race to the shops. :lol:

nice looking place Mark, I think you'll still be short of space though.

what happened to the sale on ebay of #44 ? did it go through ?

stu


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:05 am 
Quote:
what happened to the sale on ebay of #44 ? did it go through ?
No 42 actually. No Stu I haven't found a buyer yet. I need to move it soon though as I am sick of trying to juggle 8 cars, car trailer, box trailer, and caravan on a residential house block!! I need the space (and money) for the new race car.

If you know anyone point them in my direction. Ex BTCC, genuine Group C, same owner for last 30 years, only driven on weekends- and maybe 10 weekdays in the last 30 years.

Philip


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2010 12:24 pm 
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Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2006 7:45 pm
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Location: East Lothian, Scotland
Wow! What a place, what a paint job. Look at that weather - blue skies and palm trees. You lucky man! How can I convince my wife that there are warmer places to live than Scotland?!!

_________________
1959 TR3A, 1970 Triumph 1300, 1974 Toledo
Image Thanks Photobucket :(


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