The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 29, 2021 8:36 pm 
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Hi All,

My name is Olie, a new member to this forum, and about to send off to join the club. I have been a classic Mini man for over 10 years. Currently owning a 1972 Mini 1000, a 1979 Clubman estate and a 1990 Mini City. However as long as I can remember I have really been after a Dolomite. For years I have been looking and was looking for an 1850 as I figured the Sprints are all well outside of my budget, even for major projects.

I recognise at least one member on the forum, who I believe to be a youtuber - we need more dolomite videos! Also love your 5th Gen Celica (use a 6th Gen as my daily)

Anyway to cut a long story short a couple of weeks ago a project car came to my attention, fairly local. The car was on eBay as an auction, and was ending that day. I was at an MOT station having one of my Mini’s MOT’ed but rang the seller and organised to view that day.

I went in knowing this was going to be a huge project (car last on the road May 1997). Structurally the vehicle is surprising sound. Other than re-commissioning pretty much every system being required, I couldn’t see too much that jumped out at me. The seller had ran the car up for a few seconds from an external fuel supply. Bringing cars back to the road, doesn’t overlay frighten me having re-commissioned my Clubman estate (having been off the road 5 years), and returning my 1990 Mini to the road after a 10 year layup. After a good while looking over the car, I asked the seller if they would accept a sensible offer to close the auction immediately. Thankfully the seller accepted and the Sprint was mine!

I love vehicles in this condition, utterly original. The vinyl roof it missing, but for me this is a plus, im really not keen and would much rather see the condition of the metal. For some reason I like to see a car that was clearly not considered a classic when it was last on the road, just a daily driver, and the owner did what ever they could (often on a budget) to keep it on the road. I would much rather what I call ‘a rough runner’ than a pristine show car. Just as well really with the state of this one ;) The aim of the project is simply to have a solid, original enjoyable car, the car will not be repainted, and will just be enjoyed as far as possible as is - once its a safe, reliable runner!

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The very next day I had the vehicle transported back to mine (using a company I have used several times before for transporting my Minis), and then set to work. I needed to get the car running and driving in order to move it around the drive way so it wouldn’t block my other cars in!
First job was the tyres, they went down in a matter of hours, and was a pain pumping them up. Thankfully I have my own tyre machine, so after a quick refurb to the inside/bead seating surfaces a new set of tyres were fitted.

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I then moved on to the fuel system, removing the fuel tank. The outlet pipe was fully gummed up, and I couldn’t even poke solid core wire down it. I drained what little remained in the tank, and then let it soak with boiling water and washing up liquid. Unfortunately this did little to touch the gum that had been 4 star fuel in the bottom of the tank. I then moved on to something stronger adding warm water and then a rich mix of caustic soda (basically drain cleaner), and left the tank soak overnight. This I repeated until I was happy no gunk remained in the bottom of the tank, and I could freely poke the wire through the outlet pipe and see it emerge inside the tank.

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I then moved on to the outside of the tank. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that the tank was holed with a good amount of pin holes. Tell-tell pitting on the boot floor was evident, so I imagine this had been developing in the mid 90s while the car was still in use. Rather than condemn the tank, I thought I would have a go a sealing it. I thoroughly wire brushed and cleaned the bottom of the tank. Then purchased some Petro Putt and JB weld (the original slow setting stuff). First went on a whole tube of Petro Putt, this was then left a day to fully cure. Then went on a whole set of JB weld over any areas I considered slightly suspect. Again this was left 24 hours to cure.

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The whole tank was then painted with Hammerite smooth. A new sender, seal and lock ring were fitted, and the tank re fitted to the car using a new breather/vent hose with new clips. Underneath a new 5/16” outlet hose was fitted with new clips.

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I then moved on to the engine bay, replacing every fuel hose I could find, and fitted a new fuel filter. A new battery was fitted, along with a new battery earth to engine block crimp (old one had broken off).
I then started to fit new spark plugs, Plug 1 (nearest front of car), came out, but was tight so soaked with Plusgas, and rocked back and forth until happy with it, and it came out with no dramas. I was not happy with Plug 2, it felt solid! Even with a ½” ratchet, so I soaked plenty of Plus gas down the spark plug tube and moved on to 3 and 4. Plugs 3 and 4 came out easy, no problems. Replaced the plugs that I had removed and gapped to 25 thou. While waiting on the Plusgas in plug 2 to soak I fitted a new condenser (old one a Lucas part date 09 1987). I then carefully set about Plug 2 (had been sitting over an hour). Unfortunately it very quickly sheared, and left the plug threads in the block! No! disaster! In over 10 years dabbling with old cars I have never had this happen! Anyway I decided to re-group and tackle the next day.

The next day I removed the rocker box and attempted an easy out, but didn’t go to mad as really didn’t want it to break in the spark plug hole. After no success I tried a T45 torx bit hammered into the remains of the spark plug, it felt like it was coming, but just sheared a little more of the remains of the shoulder of the plug. I decided at this point to source a 12mm drill bit and carefull drill out what I could and try and clean up the remains of the threads with a tap. Unfortuntley the threads were too damaged and the tap was unable to clean up the threads (plug was loose). I then had no option but to look at inserts/heli coils!

Heli coiling was not something I had needed to do in the past so spent a while looking into options, and how best to achieve. I settled on a v-coil kit from amazon. I then fashioned a 3/8” ratchet wrapped in masking tape the fitted perfectly down the spark plug tube to give me a guide to get the tap started at the correct angle. I lubricated the tap with old engine oil and removed it every couple of turns to remove swarf. Once I had finished taping the new oversized hole, I hovered out the spark plug hole/cylinder with a ¼” hose attached to a vacuum cleaner. I then carefully inserted the heli coil (and snapped off the tang with a set of very long nose pliers). I then hovered the cylinder/spark plug whole again just to be sure. After that the rocker box was reassembled and the spark plug re installed.

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Before attempting to start the car, I removed the bottom hose, and connected and hose via the top hose, to flush the radiator through. The header tank was removed and cleaned, and new coolant added to the system.

I was finally ready to start, it turned over great, coughed a couple of times, but refused to start. I could see almost no fuel in the filter. I immediately suspected the fuel pump. So removed it and manually pumped into a bottle, seemed to be working just fine. Re attached to car and span over with outlet into a bottle – half filled a 500ml bottle in very few seconds. Re attached filter/plumbing and tried again – this time with full choke, the car just barely started (idles at approx. 500rpm). However after the car is revved and the choke backed off a bit and warmed up a little car runs fairly nicely and idles happily at approx. 900rpm. Im still far from convinced as there seems very little fuel in the filter, but clearly enough for the car to run. I have since also replaced a short section of 5/16” hose on the passenger side just in front of the mid exhaust box on that side as that was perished, unfortunately this has not improved the starting/running.

Once getting the car running, I moved on to making it move under its own power for the first time since May 97. For this the clutch hydraulics need some attention, the pedal went straight to the floor and the master reservoir was bone dry. Knowing availability issues with parts (I have since found the club can help), I decided to attempt a rebuild. With my Minis I wouldn’t usually bother as a brand new master cylinder would be between £40 - £70 depending if going with plastic or metal body type. Anyway I purchased a repair kit and set about stripping the old cylinder down. However I immediately hit a problem – the spring had broken right at the end! The bore of the cylinder looked great however after a good clean. I was unable to find just the spring anywhere, so started to take apart old Classic Mini master and slave cylinders on the hunt for a suitable spring. In an old Verto clutch slave cylinder I found a spring of a perfect length but fractionally to wide (3/4” bore). I decided to attempt to shrink it, to do this I carefully wrapped it around a 3/8” extension and heat treated with the trusty blow lamp. The new spring was a perfect fit and seems to work a treat! I proceeded to clean up the cylinder and reassembled with lots of brake fluid on the new seals. The master was then fitted back to the car, with a new flexi hose between reservoir and master.


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Underneath the car I change the slave cylinder in situ with the car on axle stands – what a job! Didn’t enjoy it at all (I know it can be done inside the car but didn’t want to disturb the interior), took 4 hours all told. Anyway a new clutch slave was fitted, along with a new clevis pin (horrific wear in old one, which made it all the more difficult to remove).
With the help of an assistant I then proceeded to bleed the clutch. Went through 500ml of fluid and nothing! Loads of air coming out but no pedal. I was most disappointed, thought my master cylinder repair must be no good, having bled many clutches on Minis before I was certain I had the technique right. After reading a post on here, I decided to just try carefully pump the clutch pedal with the cap off, to my amazement after about 10 minutes of slowly working the pedal I began to feel some pressure! A huge amount of slop in the pedal at the top, but the clutch felt like it may just work.

Time to see if we have movement, I engaged 1st gear, clutch down and started car, dumped forward. Try again, same result. One more time, hit brake pedal to try to stop me going in road – nothing! Handbrake thankfully stopped car moving forward any more. On trying to roll car back brakes were found to have locked up on the front! The brake pedal however is still utterly solid (must be a seized master). Luckily by putting the car in reverse and spinning over the starter the car slowly worked its way back. I decided to free the clutch off my best bet was to warm the car up for a few minutes. I left the car running for approx. 5 minutes, it quickly became apparent however that coolant was pouring out of the slot below the water pump! After 5 minutes we were up to temp, so shut off and select 4th, started car – bang! Clutch free! Very happy to say the least!
I then very carefully selected 1st and brought the clutch up, bite point was less than a 1” of the floor but it moved under its own power and around the drive way.

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May have made a slight mess though... :)

Sorry for the massive post but that brings up to the present day from 9th Aug. I will try to update as frequently as possible.

Just a few questions from me as I proceed with the project.

• Clutch bite point very low! – Is this normal? I do have some play in the pedal, looking at it the hole in the pedal has worn oval. On my clubman estate I had similar with a very low bite point, I just replaced the pedal with a brand new one, I’m guessing not an option with the dolly. Although the clevis pin was in fairly unworn condition would like to change this as well, is this the same size as the one used on the slave? Any other tips to bring the bite point up a little, its only just driveable as is.
• Water Pump – What’s the thinking on this, bearing in mind the car has been laid up since 97. Is a rebuild kit likely to cut the mustard? After than length of time how likely is it that the water pump shaft is corroded/pitted? Any options on best kits to use, whole pump replacement – advise from those who have done the job before
• Hard starting/rough running till warm – Any advice on this, still don’t think adequate fuel in the filter from what I can see. Any hoses I may have missed (replaced tank hose, hose half was down length of car on passenger side, engine bay pipe to filter, filter to pump, pump to carb distribution pipe and both carb pipes – anything I missed?
• Brake master cylinder – car is single line, best option for this? With it looking like its seized what’s my options – leaning away from a DIY rebuild – club master? Who do I contact?

Sorry for the epic post, and thanks everyone for this community and your time.

Regards,

Olie


Last edited by sprint-revival on Sun Aug 29, 2021 10:59 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:05 pm 
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Welcome! Club membership is well worth it for things like the spares support.
I'm sure some Sprint experts will be along very soon to answer the questions.
Cheers, Sam

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 3:56 pm 
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Welcome Olie,

The Sprint does have a relatively low bite point, but your's sounds excessively low; there are several factors which can cause this.

Externally:

• As you've pointed out, oval holes don't help. Not only the one in the pedal shaft itself, but also the push rods at both master and slave, and also the one in the cross shaft lever that the slave pushrod acts against
• Clutch cross shafts are prone to fatigue on the lever and it's not unusual to find the lever cracked or previous repair welded.
• The master to slave hose can weaken over time such that it expands when the clutch pedal is depressed meaning travel is not fully hydraulically transmitted. The OE hose is rubber, but the Club supplies a braided stainless replacement for £47.00 inc postage.
• You may have a small amount of air left in the system; the bleed nipple on the slave should be in the uppermost hole, and the slave piston should be fully depressed when bleeding

Internally:

• A broken wedgelok bolt may be allowing the clutch fork to rotate slightly on the cross shaft


The Club can supply a single line brake master cylinder fully reconditioned and sleeved in stainless steel for £85.00 on a postage inclusive but exchange basis. We can only sell to paid up members, however, as we are not a retailer

When a slant four car has been standing for a while, the water pump can leak upon recommissioning. If it is just a drip, then they can reseal themselves once commissioned into re-use, but if it is pouring out then yes, a new seal kit is the minimum requirement. Seal kits vary in quality and price, but I have some decent ones here. It is important to follow procedure to the letter when replacing a water pump seal.

Rough running the cold and poor starting, as you infer the problem doesn't occur when warm I'd look at the choke linkage bar and make sure both carbs are operating simultaneously; the choke operating arms are clamped around the linkage bar so could easily be out of synchrony.

I keep a lot of Club stock here, so you can contact me and I can take your membership application at the same time, or follow the instructions elsewhere on this forum for how to join and place your parts order at the same time as that. We have one single line MC in stock, but there are several units away being sleeved at the moment.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 9:51 pm 
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Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2021 8:19 pm
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Quote:
Welcome Olie,

The Sprint does have a relatively low bite point, but your's sounds excessively low; there are several factors which can cause this.

Externally:

• As you've pointed out, oval holes don't help. Not only the one in the pedal shaft itself, but also the push rods at both master and slave, and also the one in the cross shaft lever that the slave pushrod acts against
• Clutch cross shafts are prone to fatigue on the lever and it's not unusual to find the lever cracked or previous repair welded.
• The master to slave hose can weaken over time such that it expands when the clutch pedal is depressed meaning travel is not fully hydraulically transmitted. The OE hose is rubber, but the Club supplies a braided stainless replacement for £47.00 inc postage.
• You may have a small amount of air left in the system; the bleed nipple on the slave should be in the uppermost hole, and the slave piston should be fully depressed when bleeding

Internally:

• A broken wedgelok bolt may be allowing the clutch fork to rotate slightly on the cross shaft


The Club can supply a single line brake master cylinder fully reconditioned and sleeved in stainless steel for £85.00 on a postage inclusive but exchange basis. We can only sell to paid up members, however, as we are not a retailer

When a slant four car has been standing for a while, the water pump can leak upon recommissioning. If it is just a drip, then they can reseal themselves once commissioned into re-use, but if it is pouring out then yes, a new seal kit is the minimum requirement. Seal kits vary in quality and price, but I have some decent ones here. It is important to follow procedure to the letter when replacing a water pump seal.

Rough running the cold and poor starting, as you infer the problem doesn't occur when warm I'd look at the choke linkage bar and make sure both carbs are operating simultaneously; the choke operating arms are clamped around the linkage bar so could easily be out of synchrony.

I keep a lot of Club stock here, so you can contact me and I can take your membership application at the same time, or follow the instructions elsewhere on this forum for how to join and place your parts order at the same time as that. We have one single line MC in stock, but there are several units away being sleeved at the moment.
Thanks for the pointers with the low clutch bite point.

• The slave push rod looked a little bit out of round while it was out (although I did replace the totally worn clevis pin) - will take the push rod out when next under the car and see if it can be repaired.
• Your spot on with the clutch arm on the side of the box (cross shaft) - this has been welded, not pretty but a solid enough looking job. I was almost pleased to see that it has been repaired as I had read about that being an issue.
• I had considered replacing the master to slave hose, but backed out when I was placing a rimmers order. The equivalent on a Mini in rubber would be under a tenner (note to self stop comparing parts availability and pricing!) Will consider the club master to slave hose, once I have gone through the other pointers.
• I have the bleed screw at the bottom as it was on the old cylinder and as per Haynes, I admit im probably making life hard for myself, but if Triumph had it that way...?
• No idea about the wedgelock inside the box, just praying I don’t need to remove the box right now. From the few minutes I had in the car moving it around the driveway, it felt smooth enough, and went in and out of the gears just fine, just had to remember to push the clutch pedal right to the floor.

Thanks for the tips re cold/rough running - will look into the choke mechanism/linkages - will be a perfect opportunity when the intake is off for access to the water pump.

Have sent you a PM re membership and ordering parts via the club.

Regards,

Olie


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 9:55 pm 
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Haynes is not Triumph ;-)

Triumph had it on top.


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:39 am 
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I know I have not been great at keeping this up to date.

I have been working on the car, and let’s now bring the thread up to date.

During the winter I was a bit disheartened, as I was being mucked around by the DVLA. The process of getting the logbook in my name ended up being many months of back and forth letter writing and phone calls etc. At times it felt like the chicken or the egg situation, sorry we are unable to register the vehicle in your name as it is not taxed – ‘yes that’s right the car has been off the road since 1997, I’m unable to tax until the vehicle is in my name and I have the logbook’. Anyway eventually common sense prevailed and I received the logbook and registered the vehicle as historic, and was finally able to tax the dolly for the first time since May 1997!

By the time I had sorted the above it was early November. I started by fitting the rebuilt club brake master cylinder I had received in September, along with new front brake flexi hoses and removing the brake callipers for a rebuild.

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For a while I got distracted by a Sinclair C5 I started to rebuild, before returning to the dolly.

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The callipers were next to be rebuilt with new seals and pistons, before being given a wire brush and a coat of hammerite smooth silver.

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Early January the fuel tank sprang a leak and dumped fuel in the boot and all over the driveway. The tank was removed and the boot inspected (a fair bit of damage had been caused). A new tank was sourced, and while awaiting for this to arrive the boot was cleaned out and given two coats of Bonda primer. Some less than ideal historic repairs were found, however as these proved to be sound have been left for now. Once the boot area was clean and tidy, the second hand tank that I had cleaned and painted was fitted.

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The underseal on the underside of the boot was scrapped away, given a wire brush and then two coats of Bonda primer applied.

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I then moved on to the rear offside jacking point that was in a bit of a sorry state. Clearly previously repaired and then poorly jacked in the past. After a bit of poking a fair bit of rust fell out! In the inner wheel arch a superb historic repair was found, I had heared about the technique employed being used, but never seen it in person. A repair patch loosely brazed in place and then plastered with a tub of filler!

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I began by cleaning up the area, which made things look somewhat better and not as bad as I had feared!

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Next a repair section was made up for the jacking point stiffener, and this was welded in and then sprayed with a zinc rich primer.
Once I was happy with the above, I built back up the inner wheel arch and welded (rather than braze as per the previous chap), the sections back in.

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Once this welding was completed, I wire brushed the underside and applied two coats of Bonda primer to the underside of the car, which immediately smartened the whole thing up. I will be applying some stone chip on top at a later date.

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Next I turned my attention to the exhaust, unfortunately funds will not permit a replacement stainless exhaust at present, so I have no option but to make do with the exhaust presently fitted. I have the receipt for the exhaust currently on the car, which was fitted in May 1989! Luckily it is fairly clean and sound condition, however the very tips of the tail pipes had suffered over the years.

I cut this back, and sourced myself some 32mm tube, which I welded in place to replace the metal removed. Not an invisible repair, but functional! The whole exhaust system was wire brushed and painted with some very high temperature silver paint.

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I spent some time working on the clutch hydraulics. Repairing the push rods by welding up the clevis pin holes and re drilling to remove slop from linkages.

I was not 100% happy with the clutch master I had rebuilt. I sourced a NOS girling clutch master, rebuilt with a new NOS girling seal kit (dated April 1981) and fitted back to the car, along with a new clutch hose. While under the bonnet I also fitted a new coil, in readiness to concentrate on fettling the engine.

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Before refitting the rebuilt brake callipers, new brake disks were fitted, bearings re greased and adjusted, checking for play (all found to be ok). The callipers were re fitted, with a new set of brake pads, and fitting pins and clips etc. On the passenger side I noted a split dust cover on the track rod end. This I replaced with a new boot I had in stock (for a classic mini) which fitted perfectly.
New old stock (Veco brand) top ball joints were sourced and fitted (originals had lots of play and totally missing dust boots). The original rebuild able type were retained.

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The door locks were then cleaned and lubricated before the door capping’s (which were missing from the car when bought) were re fitted along with new window seal rubbers (I made the tool for fitting the clips).

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While working on the interior it was noted that the time clock was faulty, a replacement used clock was sourced and fitted.

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I have gone through the electrics, and got most systems back into operation. The dash was removed to access the hazard switch, as the contacts needed cleaning. At some point someone had removed one of the 35A fuses from the fuse box, however after checking for shorts and cleaning the fuse box terminals all systems worked fine. Just having some working electrics and lighting somehow makes the car feel more alive!

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This now brings us up to date, with work so far.

Hopefully won't be such a long gap for the next update!

Olie


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2022 2:55 pm 
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Time to bring the project thread up to date after my ‘Sprint engine – Knackered?’ thread.

Early April the engine in XLK 467S was found to be running on 3 and with no compression on cylinder 2. The cylinder head was removed and a damaged bore and piston were found on cylinder 2. The engine was removed and investigation work began. The block was found to be over bored to +20thou – with ‘G pistons’.

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Various options have been looked into, including using a local machine shop to re-bore/sleeve the old block, purchasing an old 1850 block and re boring etc and then employing the services of an engine builder to build the block back up. Ultimately several factors have decided the route for the rebuild, budget, practicality of lugging engines around (more on this later) and turnaround times (at least I control that bringing it all in house, it’s on my schedule). Plus, I’m hoping a certain sense of satisfaction from doing it all yourself.

With the above in mind I have gone down the route of a new old stock standard bore sprint block, which I will build up myself in my garage some 20ft from the car. The block represents a fair chunk of the rebuild budget.

The block was purchased from a forum member on here, and was collected on Easter Sunday, using my trusty work horse 1979 Mini Clubman Estate (essentially my van). Collection was arranged more locally to me. Everything went great until on the return journey I got to the Brook Street roundabout (those from the area will know this junction). Pulled up at the lights, I could feel the car chugging and the ignition light flickering, so raised the revs to keep her running, lights change select 2nd and slip the clutch (so not to crunch the box), engine dies – just no guts, refuses to start! Stranded on a major junction!

Luckily I had a co-pilot who I had jump in the driver’s seat to steer. Next time the lights changed the car was pushed (got up to running speed) to make the light changes! About 5 minutes later thankfully made it round the roundabout and to the petrol station where I could catch my breath and look at the car.

As this was Easter Sunday I had no desire to contact the RAC to be told of hours and hours of wait time, and then have my premium put up for their trouble. Started checking the basics, all HT leads tight, power to coil, battery voltage, spark at plugs etc. Then moved on to fuel, removed carb float bowl lid to find no fuel! Disconnected fuel hose to carb and asked passenger to crank engine = no fuel. Traced my way back right to the pump (mechanical type), no fuel right at the pump outlet. Praying the pump diaphragm wasn’t ruptured I turned my attention to a short piece of hose connecting pump to the metal pipe running to the tank. Once removed it was obvious this had seen better days and was riddled with cracks. I figured when engine is cool or at high enough revs (pump and hoses right down back of engine near exhaust manifold) the pump could draw fuel through ok, but when warm cracks opened up and pump was drawing in air.
Unfortunately, no spare fuel hose was on board in my spares box, I did however have a roll of self-amalgamating rubber tape, so promptly wrapped the hose tightly in the tape, and reconnected. Disconnect fuel hose to carb, and asked passenger to crank engine – fuel promptly shot out of the fuel hose! The hose was re connected and we were on our way, in a little under an hour from the initial break down!

Only the second time ‘the blue meanie’ (as named by the previous owner as was forever breaking down on them) has let me down in 7 years, the first was on the 2016 London to Brighton run when she boiled over in horrific traffic jams in south London.

Anyway let this be a lesson to us all, check your fuel hoses! the ones that had failed were only 6 and a bit years old!

Anyway made it back with the sprint block, and lifted it out and on to my work area.

A fair amount of time has gone into sourcing other parts needed for this rebuild. A set of good used standard grade F pistons were sourced, along with a bucket of pistons, valves, shims, collets, connecting rods etc that I took a punt on @ £40 – all turned out to be Sprint items, so have ended up with 11 pistons – 6x ‘F’ and 5x ‘G’ (not including my original ones from the knackered engine). Almost all other parts have been sourced from Robsport (what an amazing service!).

So far I have cleaned up and sprayed the filter bowl and sump. Parts were checked as they came off the old engine, the big and main bearings were all Vandervell but all well past it! The timing chain has clearly been neglected and left to run slack, and had started to eat the timing cover. The camshaft sprocket had also suffered corrosion/pitting and looked a mess. Luckily I was able to source replacement items which I collected with the Sprint block.

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Before starting to build up the block, it was given a thorough clean (had been coated in grease at the factory). After cleaning the bores and block surface were given a liberal coating of oil.
The main caps were removed and cleaned in brake cleaner, followed by a spray oil, before the main bearings were installed with a plenty of assembly lube. Before the caps + bearings were installed each clearance was measured with plasti-gauge. Then once happy one by one each bearing cap was installed and the crank checked for smooth turning at each operation, once all 5 were installed and smooth turning still confirmed all were torqued down. End float has been measure at 12 thou with original thrust washers installed (just out of spec), so have order a set of standard and + 5 thou thrust washers so I have options. Original thrusts measure just under 92thou.

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The old 1960s elora 12 point socket set has been proving itself very useful again!

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That’s where I am at the moment with it. Rather enjoying the rebuild if I’m being honest, take my self-off to the garage and tell myself I will do an hour, then when I check have done 4! The time flies when you’re having ‘fun’ :D

Olie


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2022 5:02 pm 
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When using NOS engineblocks, not all have the oil gallery plugs already fitted.

Jeroen

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2022 8:28 pm 
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I think you may be right Jeroen. Just looking at the block tonight there is a hole where a plug should be just in front of where the distributor goes, looking at the old engine there is a plug there. Anywhere else I should look out for these missing oil plugs? When fitting the jack shaft I did notice there is a plug roughly in line with the back of it in place. Picture below showing some of the plugs in the engine, pretty sure they are all coolant ones. Will a normal core plug set include these oil plugs?

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Had a look in my workshop manual, but can't find any detail on this.

Something else I have noticed is that the NOS block is missing the dipstick tube. I was hoping to just buy a new one to fit, but these seems NLA. Any tips on removing the one from the old block? Dont want to mark it up with grips etc.

Olie


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2022 11:50 pm 
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Here you go.

The dipstick tube I believe can tap out from the inside. I also did it once with the engine in situ with a rod inside the tube and grip pliers around and then with a slide hammer pulling out. This way you won't squeeze the tube.

Jeroen

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2022 2:14 pm 
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Time to update the project thread again.

Lots of progress has been made between May and late October.

A new old stock clutch master cylinder was sourced, and rebuilt with new seals. The clutch push rods (both slave and master) were refurbished and the clevis pin holes welded and re drilled.

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I was very fortunate to source a bucket of assorted ‘Dolomite engine parts’, all of which turned out to be for the Sprint. In the bucket of goodies were many usable pistons (both standard and + 20thou), a full set of new valves, shims, collets, springs etc! A bit of a bargain for £40! This bucket of parts + the set of 4 standard pistons I bought (only three turned out to be matched) provide all the pistons, valves and collets for the build.

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Many hours were spent cleaning the pistons and removing the old rings.

A new rear main seal + housing gasket were fitted.

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Around this time, I picked up some parts, including a cylinder head that I later built up (yes I had the rocker gear and cam for it elsewhere not shown). The seller informed me he had, many other spares but an associate of a member from the forum based in the midlands had already visited and taken all they could. I assume this was xvivalve on here? I ended up taking all the left overs which included a fuel tank, a set of bumpers, carpet set, starter motor, alternator, 2x cars worth of door capping’s, crankshaft, cylinder head, steering rack etc.

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Next I refitted the flywheel, and flipped the engine over for one last inspection before fitting the sump pan with a new gasket and some Toyota sealant that I use on my old 6 gen Celica.

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Unfortunately, the dipstick tube broke on removal, I still can’t believe this part is no longer available and the club haven’t brought this back into production, yet. In the end I had to fashion my own replacement, which looks fine and is functional!

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A new county oil pump was fitted, but not before replacing the relief spring with the one as advised by Robsport.

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Original chain guides refitted

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Fuel pump checked before fitting (profile and part no of original pump pictured, may be useful for reference for others).

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New chain fitted, and the original Renold branded tensioner was refitted.

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A replacement good used chain cover was fitted, as the old one had deep scoring were the old chain had been allowed to run slack.

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Work on the cylinder head had been ongoing in the back ground. The surface was dressed using a sheet of glass and various grades of wet and dry. New valves were lapped in, new valve stem seals fitted before valve clearance were set with shims (some values I didn’t have were purchased from QED motorsport – lotus twin cam type).

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A new headgasket was fitted to the block, before the head was placed in position and torqued down.

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Timing was checked

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A set of club plug tubes fitted

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Next I turned my attention to the engine bay (this was mid August at this point).

Some rust was found in the front offside chassis leg were it meets the front panel. Repair panels were fabricated and welded in, I know not the prettiest but it is solid now!

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I then turned my attention to the gearbox, namely the simple task of replacing the clutch release bearing – as it turned out not so simple.

Sadly even after much care the wedge lock bolt sheared, and left me with a bit of an issue. In the end I had to grind the pins of the clutch arm, fit a lever bar over the clutch arm and force the clutch arm downwards, breaking the remains of the wedge lock bolt. This was I was able to save the cross shaft.

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The clutch arm was replaced with an item from Chris Witor. Word of warning on these replacement clutch arms the pins that support the bearings/little rubbing blocks are very slightly different sizes to the originals. I worked out original pins were 7.8mm and replacement was 8mm. I drilled my bearings/little rubbing blocks to 8mm + a tad extra with a needle file, these then fitted perfectly.
The whole lot was then reassembled with a new genuine RHP bearing + wedge lock with locking wire this time!

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A new friction plate was fitted, checked to have 16 rivets (cracks evident in the original, even though it didn’t look to have had that much use), the original pressure plate was however retained as the quality of the replacement was not as good.

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The engine was finally fitted to the bay during the 3rd week of August.

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Old block looking sorry for itself.

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I then set about fitting ancillaries.
The water pump threw a curved ball. The newly rebuilt pump dropped in without issue.

However, I was unable to get a sensible even reading with the feeler gauges to set the clearance/select the correct gaskets. Then it became obvious it was a 12 vane cover! The pump removed from the original engine was a 6 vane, no wonder it leaked like a good un!

Luckily in my box of spares I had been accumulating I had a 6 vane cover, a little worse for ware, but with a dab of my Toyota sealant on the mating surface went together just fine.
Dizzy was fitted and position checked

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Rad fan, alternator, aux belt etc

Unfortunately, the bolts on the radiator bracket all sheered when attempted to remove to clean up and paint the rad. I had to carefully drill the rivets/solder that held the top and bottom frame of the rad together, ground off the captive nuts and fitted riv nuts in their place. The frame was then soldered back onto the rad, and the whole lot painted in satin engine paint.
Rad back on the car and plumbed up. Unfortunately the set of hoses from r.brothers are ok, apart from the bottom hose, which is just a tad short, it does fit, just looks odd!

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Did battle with a new old stock downpipe, which once in fitted beautifully! Only took 3 hours of wiggling (while being incredible careful around that heatshield (which im certain is asbestos backed!)

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The engine ran for the first time on Saturday 29th Oct, having rotated the dizzy 180 degrees following advice from the forum.
The recommissioning of XLK 467S continues…

Aiming for a return to the road late next spring in time for 50th anniversary of the Sprint.

Another epic post. Hopefully now the big jobs are done, I will have more time to update this thread more frequently.

Thanks for reading.

Olie


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 10:38 am 
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Hi Olie

I love the colour of your Sprint, one of my favourite - they look really smart in this colour.

I notice you have a really snug cover on it, do you mind me asking where you got it - haver you a full photo of it.

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Thanks
Murdo

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Triumph Dolomite Sprint,RNK 957W

Built 26/6/1980 (one of the last built), Auto, Porcelain White - Genuine Mileage 52,820 (warranted).

Only 3 previous owners, (2 within the same family).

Supplied by Lavender Hill Garage Ltd, Enfield, London, by garage owner Jimmy Metcalfe on 30th September 1980 to Geoffery Robinson, Enfield.

Club Membership No: 2017092


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:20 am 
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Quote:

I notice you have a really snug cover on it, do you mind me asking where you got it - haver you a full photo of it.

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Thanks
Murdo
Looks very similar to mine, a medium size bought from Halfords.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:02 pm 
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Quote:
Quote:

I notice you have a really snug cover on it, do you mind me asking where you got it - haver you a full photo of it.

Image


Thanks
Murdo
Looks very similar to mine, a medium size bought from Halfords.
Is your one a snug fit?

_________________
Triumph Dolomite Sprint,RNK 957W

Built 26/6/1980 (one of the last built), Auto, Porcelain White - Genuine Mileage 52,820 (warranted).

Only 3 previous owners, (2 within the same family).

Supplied by Lavender Hill Garage Ltd, Enfield, London, by garage owner Jimmy Metcalfe on 30th September 1980 to Geoffery Robinson, Enfield.

Club Membership No: 2017092


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 10:39 pm 
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Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2021 8:19 pm
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Quote:
Hi Olie

I love the colour of your Sprint, one of my favourite - they look really smart in this colour.

I notice you have a really snug cover on it, do you mind me asking where you got it - haver you a full photo of it.

Image


Thanks
Murdo
Hi Murdo,

The cover is just one I picked up from Rimmers. Its their 'Eclipse' outdoor cover - RX1734E. The fit is excellent, as is the quality of the fabric, straps are also provided that run just in front of the front and rear wheels underneath the car, which are handy for severe weather. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the cover fitted to the car on hand right now. The only consideration is that it does not have wing mirror pockets, so best to have the mirrors folded in before fitting the cover. Comparing it to the covers I have for my classic mini's the quality is far superior, I use stormforce covers on these, and usually after 12 - 18 months UV exposure has destroyed the fabric, the Eclipse cover on the Dolomite however seems to be holding up much better. Yes its not cheap, but feel its well worth it to protect the car.

Hope this helps,

Olie


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