The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Thanks, kind comments like these really do help give me motivation when working!

I have some pics of the suspension but my phones dead... Bloody technology.

Well I finally rebuilt the front suspension on the passenger side with new bushes, bolts, refurbed calipers, new hoses and grease caps. Was I right in hand tightening the castle nut and then backing off a little bit? No wobble from bearings etc thankfully.

I did notice however that the when I turn the hub, the disk rubs on the pads inside the caliper? I can manually "move" the pads off with my fingers. There is no brake fluid or anything in the system as I've only just put it back together. Drivers side next







Is my TRE correct too? The seal seems a bit "squashed" to this side? Guess it will change when steered? My tracking is way out as well with the wheel straight inside the car too.

Don't worry too much about the brake pads or the TREs (did you fit new brake pads?). New pads will need to bed in so be gentle on the brakes for the first few hundred miles. You will need to torque up the bolts with the car on it's wheels

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Toledo Man

West Yorkshire Area Organiser
Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 8.00pm at The Old Brickworks, Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Bradford, BD11 1EA

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 - a 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), NYE 751L (1972 Dolomite 1850 auto) 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

Yeah I completely stripped my calipers down with new seals, pistons, pads etc. I'll be sure to go easy. The bottom shock bolt isn't fully tightened yet anyway and I havnt torqued any of the other bolts yet either.
Thanks for your help.
Louis.

Don't do your tracking straight away. Put some miles on it first and once the front end has settled you can get it done.

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Toledo Man

West Yorkshire Area Organiser
Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 8.00pm at The Old Brickworks, Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Bradford, BD11 1EA

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 - a 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), NYE 751L (1972 Dolomite 1850 auto) 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

I've finally got her back on four wheels after rebuilding the suspension on the drivers side.





It's nice to have her back like this! Gives me more motivation to keep moving forward but i'm going to uni next week so wont get any chance to play again until Christmas.

I have also made a start on the rust at the rear radius arm bracket.



Need to plug weld this part in to the boxed section behind.

what a cracking resto thread, I'm disappointed I didn't spot it earlier, hidden away in general chat. You are doing some great work here. A labour of love and you are doing real credit to the art of restoration, I wish I had your skill and patience !

Well done and thanks for taking the time to post up all of the pics and commentary, great job

Good Restoration ! Well Done. One thing I meant to add was on the lower front suspension trunnions. There is a specific tightening torque for these as the brass trunnion pivots around this point. Too tight and it can break off. Too slack and it wears the lower arm.
Tony.

I had originally posted it in the restorations thread but it got moved here as it's not a Dolly/Toledo. Thank you for the kind comments aswell I tightened the trunnion up and then backed it off 360 degrees as when 180 it still seemed tight in some positions. Will this be okay? It's even on both sides anyway.

I have completed the welding of my rear radius arm bracket today too. Chuffed with how it went, it may not look the best but it's solid which is all that matters.

I would invest in a Haines manual from ebay for a Spit 1500 or somesuch.

It will tell you all you need to know about trunions and wheel bearing end float.
With wheel bearings you do it with the caliper off and the felt oil seal well soaked in EP90.

Finger tighten to settle the bearings as you keep rotating the hub, and then mark the castleated nut so it goes back in the right position once you have the correct end float. It should reallu be measured with a dlal gauge but the merest hint of end play is about right IME.

Trunions need to be filled with EP90 too and done up to the last thread. There is a rubber seal to keep the crud out. They are handed too. Make sure you get them round the right way,

Jonners

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Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

Hi Jonners,
I do have a haynes manual but misplaced it somewhere... Will have to have a look I know the inner wheel bearings are OK, i did these a while back, it's just the outer as i'm unsure whether it has actually "seated" properly. It could be that the castle nut maybe isn't on tight enough. I'll have a look tomorrow

In regards to the trunnions, I have my oil can and oil ready to top it up but wanted everything right before I did that. Is there a way to tell which trunnion goes on which side? I tried both on either side and went with the one which felt the best on the vertical link. No doubt I got this wrong but there's a 50/50 chance. When I put the trunnion on originally I tightened it all the way around then backed it off 180 degrees, but when it was like this it seemed to get tight as it obviously went up on the vertical link, and the seal seemed to get "squashed". This led me to back it off again as I was worried this was too tight and not right?

Cheers,
Louis.

The threads on the vertical links are handed too, so it wont go on the wrong one.

One is left and one is right handed. The left hand thread obvioulsy does up the wrong way. I cant remember which side of the car is which. The trunions have a different shaped base for the lh or rh one.

I fill them with oil before fitting. It does squirt out as you tighten them but at least then there is some in there. You really want them up as high as possible so they can still go lock to lock without binding. if its tightening on one lock go down a thread.

Make sure the threaded part on the vertcal link shoes no sign of fine cracking at the top where it starts. One of mine broke last year....not nice.

Jonners

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Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

Well since I last updated I have painted the radius arm bracket etc black, and then put underseal on the underside. It doesn't look pretty but I just want to make sure it doesn't rust again. You wont see this anyway under the carpet so not to worry. Also welded up the other hole near the rotoflex mountings.



I have oiled my trunnions at the front, and checked my wheel bearings and everything seems to be OK.





Looks better than it was before, I'm very happy with this!

I started painting the bonnet too and it's looking more like a car again. I am really happy with the fitment of the bonnet, aswell as the fitment of my valances which I tested today! Those valances are fibreglass aswell and cost me 99p on the Bay ;D









Also test fitted my bonnet latches which I'm happy to say also fit well.



I also welded up the sheet metal inner of the rear quarters from inside the boot as when I did it, it hadn't been very strong as i'd struggled with the leaning over welding and lack of light. I proceeded to then put tetra schutz on the areas where I have welded (front bulkhead, rear radius arm, boot, inner sills) will this be OK? I had zinc primed first but I felt this just completely sealed any pinholes etc which existed. Was I wrong to do this?It's put my mind at ease really as it's one less thing to worry about and looks much better.

Not updated in a while as im away for uni and only get back at term times.
Here's a quick photoshop of the look im hoping to go towards with the spitfire.
Unsure on the black wheels but i quite like the colour and the stance.

That low at a spitfire you have to photoshop your rear wheels like this.

Jeroen

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Classic Kabelboom Company. For all your wiring needs. http://www.classickabelboomcompany.com