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: Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:40 pm 
Hi, I managed to get the front wheels as close as possible to dead straight, then gave up to be honest. Flattest area I could find to work in was the local school car park. I may have another go if it is reasonably dry on Saturday. An added difficulty is that the tracking bar I borrowed of my mate does not have a big enough set in it to get the measurement at the centre height of the wheels. Also I have noticed that the 'new' steering shaft I fitted is starting to show some play in the UJ already - it's only been on for about 600 miles! £45 quid down the pan!


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 27, 2014 9:09 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:36 pm
Posts: 1214
Location: Andover Hants
Just take it to a decent tyre place, they'll do the tracking for £20-30

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Modified Dolomite Sprint MSO 662P VA485 1973 Mimosa Sprint
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 1:03 pm 
Yep, suppose I should, just being a bit tight I guess.


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 9:29 pm 
Bad weather and dark nights, along with the work I am doing on the MX5 mean the 1850 has had nothing much done to it. The steering has gradually got looser and that is down to the steering knuckle. I bought a new one from Rimmers in their sale, will get it fitted next weekend.

The car has now done over 1100 miles since the MOT in the summer, not used any oil or lost any water. It still struggles to get much over 65mph unless I pull the choke out. Probably needs a good tune-up. The temp gauge needle never gets to the middle of the gauge -it goes up to about the 1/4 -1/3 point. Not sure if the engine is over cooling, the cabin never gets too hot to have to turn the heater control down. I tried another thermostat - the proper one with the foot - but it didn't make a difference. Also I need to get some antifreeze into the car as the weather is regularly dropping below freezing overnight.

I did wrap the exhaust manifold with fiberglass bandage, it seems to have solved the problem with the starter motor not kicking in occasionally when the engine was hot. the main reason for doing it was to reduce the under bonnet temperature.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 10:22 pm 
Last month, as I had a poorly sealing rear tyre on one of the Sprint alloy wheels, it would go flat after 5 days. As I had a small can of Tyre-Weld in the back of the garage I used it to pump up the flat tyre and then drove the car for 10 miles. It has never dropped any pressure since, so another great accomplishment :lol:


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 9:21 pm 
Dammit! I got a hissing brake pedal! Each time I press the brake pedal I hear a hissing sound coming from behind the dash, sounds like the brake servo is on its way out. Anyone have a spare they are willing to part with - or are there any repair kits?


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 9:30 pm 
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Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:52 pm
Posts: 7566
Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
Have you checked the non-return valve? This is connected to the servo hose. New ones are prohibitive but somebody might have one they're willing to part with for the appropriate beer tokens.

_________________
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: Sun Jan 25, 2015 12:38 pm 
I'll have a look at the non return valve but there are some other problems now.

My "Dollopy" is on the take again - it has rarely given much back to be honest. So the failing servo unit aside, I was driving up the hill to get home this morning after having just nipped to the shops, when the accelerator cable snapped! I managed to coax the car up to the left hand turning of my road using the choke to get some more revs/power but the hill gets even steeper there and it could not make it. Lots of backed up traffic and annoyed looking road users. All I could do was give an apologetic smile :oops: .

Unfortunately I had no tools in the car so I had to use the door key to screw down the idle screws on the carbs, that gave me enough guts from the engine to get up the hill and home - not nice driving along with a tick-over of 3500 rpm and no right pedal.

So it is time for it to come off the road again, as now it will not go and it will not stop properly either as the brake assist from the servo is beginning to be reduced.

It is such a pain sometimes, I had replaced the steering knuckle and had the wheel alignment set yesterday, the car was running quite sweetly, then whack! 3 miles of nice driving and the car does its thing!


Last edited by Karlos on Sun Jan 25, 2015 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 9:11 pm 
So having got the car home I had a cup of tea, then I decided give the Dollopy some more love. I fixed the accelerator cable by removing the old one and putting in a new core. I had a spare bicycle brake cable that I cut to length, it is made from stainless steel. It is actually slightly thicker than the original:
Image

I welded a blob of stainless onto the end:
Image

Well at least that is fixed, however I then discovered that the area where the lower set screw of the accelerator pedal fixes through the bulk head is rotten. So next job is to remove the pedal again and patch up the bulkhead, at the same time I'll repair or replace the servo.


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 11:31 pm 
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Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:52 pm
Posts: 7566
Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
I've had a throttle cable snap on me. Fortunately, I had just left home and was going up a hill so it was downhill all the way home. I just bought a replacement and it is still going strong to this day. That part of the bulkhead where the throttle pedal is bolted to is a known problem area. It is usually a fatigue crack caused by the usage of the throttle. The autos had a reinforcing plate because the throttle gets more stick with the kickdown. I'm sure Alun was looking into making this reinforcing plate.

_________________
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: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:11 pm 
Not a lot happening - obviously! Car was off the road for a while, but recently I resurected it. I had to do some work on it for the MOT:
Weld a hole in the sill,
Weld a hole in the bottom of the front inner-wing/turret area
Fit new front pads
fix a bad connection in the rear indicator circuit

Got it through the MOT so it is back on the road but now the radiator is leaking, looks like it has rotting at the bottom. Anyone know of an adequate replacement from a modern car - something I could pick up from the scrapper really cheap? Or are there any cheap ones about through the forum?


Last edited by Karlos on Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:28 pm 
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Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!
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Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:52 pm
Posts: 7566
Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
I think Ian runs a SAAB rad (93 I think) in his 1850 with a Volvo expansion tank. I'm sure he'll be on here if he's reading this thread. I've only just got mine back on the road after 6 months. I finally got that subframe mount repaired properly, uncovered another problem along the way and the MOT ran out so that needed doing. I got the tracking done yesterday because I had a new steering rack fitted and the car drives fine. Getting back to your radiator, you could have your old one recored or start a "wanted" thread.

Glad you're back on the road. Are you going to the TDCIR if you get your rad sorted out?

_________________
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: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:52 pm 
Unfortunately I can't do the TDCIR, it's bad timing due to the start of the school term and I can't trust the car for a round trip of 300+ miles.


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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 6:15 am 
Hi Karlos, hope you are well? Just found your 1850 thread and enjoying reading about your car, how are things with it?

Kind Regards

Russell.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:58 pm 
Hi Russell,

Thanks for showing interest in my efforts to keep the car running. At the moment it is MOt'd, taxed and insured. Unfortunately the servo is not giving any assistance due to a leaking non-return valve. I checked the prices for a new one and saw they are a bit pricey new.
The sunroof leaks like a sieve as does the radiator, as does the front screen window seal. So over the last month I have had water in the footwell up to 2 inches deep. Water dripping on my head and water spewing out of the bottom of the radiator. The front drivers seat gives you a cold wet backside, even though it looks dry a couple of days after the rain has stopped.

The starter motor is very temperamental, it is always fine from cold but if the engine is hot it will fail to turn over, I hear the solenoid clicking but no motion from the starter. Due to the starter, brake and radiator problems I have not driven the car at all as it cannot be trusted.

Not all doom and gloom though, I have got a replacement radiator to be fitted this weekend and will get the servo off to give it a clean up and figure out if it is completely shot. Also I'll see if I can re-seal the front windscreen.


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