The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Excellent work Derek. Puts me to shame, what with being an ex fabricator/welder.

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Sprintless for the first time in 35+ years. ... Still Sprintless.

Engines, Gearboxes, Overdrives etc. rebuilt. PM me.


1997 TVR Chimaera 450

You too Mart ? Nice one

Front subframe fully rebuilt with new discs, new pads & pins, new wheel bearings, new steering rack, new track rod ends & upper and lower ball joints, new poly bushes throughout, braided brake hoses & refurbished calipers with new seals and pistons. Just to the left ready to fit are new unipart shocks with new 175 lb springs



Mounted with new poly bushes



And a freshly painted engine bay



Just need to put it back on its wheels and I can start on the rear.

Looks like we were both doing the same thing yesterday. Looking good Derek, wish mine was back with me.

_________________
Sprintless for the first time in 35+ years. ... Still Sprintless.

Engines, Gearboxes, Overdrives etc. rebuilt. PM me.


1997 TVR Chimaera 450

the chassis leg fabrication is fantastic derek. You've made it look lego-like simple, but getting the whole thing to mount up accurately is an art.

thanks for the pics, great thread.

stu

Looking excellent, especially love the fabrication work

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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

Cheers chaps. I know it's easier to buy a ready made part and slap it on, but I don't get the same satisfaction. Daft I know, but there we go.

HWL is back on its wheels tonight. Shocks now fitted. I then ran out of time so axle removal will start ASAP. Most of this weekend spent preparing the 2000 for tomorrows MOT..welding, brakes etc..fingers crossed.

Hope it passed OK.
The back brakes, especially the handbrake, on a mark two are a dreadful arrangement if the truth be told.

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Oh tell me about it Ian. Had to replace the shoes and cylinders. What a PITA !

Anyway it passed

Now off to the Post Office tomorrow to get my FREE car tax.

Sorry, did I mention the car tax is FREE . Not many pleasures in life, but getting FREE car tax is just fabulous.

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PLEASE help us to maintain a friendly forum,
either PM or use Report Post if you see anything you are unhappy with. Thanks.

Managed to remove the bootlid, tank, lights, bumper and rear axle tonight before running out of time.

Closer inspection reveals the rear arches are original and virtually rust free bar a small amount of surface rust. The boot floor is a little perforated where the boot floor joins the rear arches but is surprisingly good needing little work.

The axle tie bar cups are totally rust free and intact. I chipped some of the Schutz coating off the rear trailing arms to reveal nice shiny factory black paint. How refreshing.

Now, where's that wire brush ?

OK, a mixture of satisfaction, amazement and disappointment today.

Satisfaction in that I stripped, cleaned, de-rusted and painted the axle, trailing arms and ARB

I also took the diff cover off, drained old oil and inspected the crownwheel and pinion which looks in fine fettle. Won't know for sure until it's on the road tho. New gasket and Wellseal sees it back together.



Amazement in that I started stripping all the crap from under the O/S rear wheelarch to reveal nice original paint and original inner arches needing no welding. Just a good wire brushing and some Kurust and it'll be fine. I am astonished to find the leading and trailing edges totally original. A first for me in Dolomite ownership. Pics are poor as from mobile phone.



Looking rearward


Looking forward


Disappointment in that further investigation has revealed the boot floor section is rather thin where water has sat in the recesses. It will be easier to put a new boot floor panel in. The inner arches and bit of boot floor which is actually part of the rear panel are fine and rust free.

If anyone has a boot floor panel either new or removed from a car, I'd be interested.

Made a start on stripping the paint today. Good news is that it's all original, no filler etc but found the onset of tinworm under the paint. There was little evidence of this prior to stripping. Just goes to show a bare metal respray always pays or this would have been festering beneath new paint. The shiny bit of the arch lip is where I had to let in some new metal. I actually found some rust

Couldn't agree more Derek.

Looks like I should've bought that one in the first place.

_________________
Sprintless for the first time in 35+ years. ... Still Sprintless.

Engines, Gearboxes, Overdrives etc. rebuilt. PM me.


1997 TVR Chimaera 450

Nah, don't forget I've had to replace the whole front end, chassis leg and now the boot floor when I can find one.

Can't wait to see PFJ in paint BTW. Gonna be a few weeks yet before I get there.