The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum http://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/ |
|
Not a Dolomite http://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=33416 |
Page 1 of 2 |
Author: | rolf [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:02 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
Nice van! Although I'm totally hooked on my VW T25 (Brick), I love the barn doors on your van. Engine in the back, strong sidewinds and oncoming trucks make driving these vans an ultimate experience. Rolf |
Author: | Mahesh [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:47 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
I like it, and as said the side barn doors are a plus plus point. |
Author: | dollyman [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:10 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
What a very nice motor I used to love the corvairs back in the 70'S when there were a few about.... It also reminds of the russian UAZ 452, but with twin headlamps Nice to stand out in a crowd. The heaters never worked in the saloon's either, so best of luck with that one Cheers, Tony. |
Author: | Tony Burd [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:12 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
Lovely looking van, the condition looks to be very good. Another vote here for VW T25, I fitted a Subaru 2.5 flat 4 to mine which has transformed it. |
Author: | tony g [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 7:34 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
A great story and a great looking van!. I'd always liked the saloon and never realised there was a van version. Looks like a very nice example. I wonder if there are bolt on disc brake conversions etc for them? Be nice to modernise it to make it nicer to drive, but all reversable Im also already thinking of a 2.5 Subaru non turbo motor Tony |
Author: | Reg [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:16 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
An unusual and fabulous choice! I never knew such a car existed.. |
Author: | SprintMWU773V [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:22 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
If you have an old car then people often comment but I was surprised to get such a comment at our first pit stop just a mile or so down the road. I just want some nice weather now and I can do a bit of servicing on it and go for another drive, though I really should fit some seat belts. |
Author: | Pippin [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:45 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
As it has twin headlights, I guess this must be the Sprint model! |
Author: | Carledo [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:56 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
What a beauty! And an excellent choice over the common as muck and heavily scene taxed VW. But you mustn't winge about the lousy road manners as you can't possibly be unaware of American consumer safety campaigner Ralph Nader's unequivocal condemnation of the Corvair as "Unsafe at any speed!" With the passing of time, there are cetainly a number of things that can be done to improve the van's performance, braking and handling with bits from "Year One Chevrolet" amongst others as well as factory "parts bin" upgrades. The decision in your hands is how far to go with such an original vehicle. Improving the heater is a bit of a lost cause as they use the same inefficient and likely-to-poison-you-with-carbon-monoxide-fumes heat exchanger system as air cooled VWs do! And they rarely work either! With 20/20 hindsight, I would have bought a Ford Econoline from the same period, which looks almost identical, has none of the mechanical drawbacks of the Corvair and even better parts backup. But that's just me being a smartass! Congratulations on a stunning and thoroughly left field choice, I love it! Steve |
Author: | mbellinger [ Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:35 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
A wonderful vehicle Mark - I love it. The look, the colour, everything. Contrary to popular belief, the heaters can be made to work very effectively, but it is a painting the Forth Bridge job to keep them that way. A really lovely vehicle. well done for getting it and good luck with it. |
Author: | NickMorgan [ Fri Dec 15, 2017 1:11 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
I love it!! I know the feeling of buying unseen from the USA and waiting for the vehicle to arrive. It is so exciting, but there are often a lot of things wrong, which seem to not bother the safety inspections over there. I hope you wife will love it to and you will enjoy it for many years to come. |
Author: | SprintMWU773V [ Fri Dec 15, 2017 3:44 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
Yes Ralph Nader's book is a great read. I bought it some years ago and he did raise some really interesting points. I'm not entirely convinced the Corvair was any more dangerous than a lot of other cars at the time but it certainly helped to make some things safer. It's funny because safety never became an issue again until the 70's. BL made several safety cars which pioneered some 'modern' safety features such as run flat tyres, ABS, side impact bars etc. long before they became the norm. It probably wasn't until the early to mid 90's that safety became important again. If I remember Ford had a terrible time with the 1990 Escort in crash tests but come 92/93 the Mondeo led the way being Europe's first car equipped with a standard drivers air bag. Now everything is all about safety and star ratings. Only this week the Fiat Punto was given a Zero star rating which is odd because a few years ago it got 5 stars! Safety in modern cars is much better but you do feel more of a passenger than driver. We did see some Ford Econoline's but they do lack the air cooled charm that comes with the Vair. Quote:
What a beauty! And an excellent choice over the common as muck and heavily scene taxed VW.
But you mustn't winge about the lousy road manners as you can't possibly be unaware of American consumer safety campaigner Ralph Nader's unequivocal condemnation of the Corvair as "Unsafe at any speed!" With the passing of time, there are cetainly a number of things that can be done to improve the van's performance, braking and handling with bits from "Year One Chevrolet" amongst others as well as factory "parts bin" upgrades. The decision in your hands is how far to go with such an original vehicle. Improving the heater is a bit of a lost cause as they use the same inefficient and likely-to-poison-you-with-carbon-monoxide-fumes heat exchanger system as air cooled VWs do! And they rarely work either! With 20/20 hindsight, I would have bought a Ford Econoline from the same period, which looks almost identical, has none of the mechanical drawbacks of the Corvair and even better parts backup. But that's just me being a smartass! Congratulations on a stunning and thoroughly left field choice, I love it! Steve |
Author: | SprintMWU773V [ Fri Dec 22, 2017 12:27 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
With no Dolomite to run I took the Greenbrier to our club meet last night, the first run since it came home. I'd suffered a battery failure earlier in the week so had to source a replacement. Fortunately we have good contacts at work and one arrived within the hour. Weirdly American battery sizes have different codes to ours but an 053 seems to be the exact same size as a Group 51R! Taking the original battery out I was slightly concerned at the state of the terminals. The positive one had no cover and used a spring type clamp which seems a bit rubbish. The battery wasn't clamped in either so I fashioned a clamp up from some bits and feel a bit better now that it's secure an less likely to short out on the lid. Next job is an oil change. The oil in there is past its best and of course being air cooled the oil is critical to cooling. I've got some filters in stock, 25 litres of 10w30 oil, now I just need some decent weather to find the drain plug. Being an old car there's about a million grease points too so I can do that at the same time. |
Author: | SprintMWU773V [ Fri Aug 31, 2018 12:01 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Not a Dolomite |
I've been pretty busy doing some work on the Greenbrier over the last few months. Parts have proven to be easy to get hold of and delivered within a few days which has been handy. Biggest job so far was replacing the exhaust. Naturally manifold studs broke so that required use of a torch to heat them up, thankfully my neighbour had one. I tried getting a system made locally but it didn't work out so I bought one from the US. The first pipe out the manifolds differs slightly between cars and vans so I needed to modify a car one as van ones were not available. All told the job took a few months but the weather was horrible so it didn't matter too much. I used the time to clean the underside too and apply some Dinitrol to some key areas. The underside is 100% original, no rust and no signs of welding. Couple of other things: 3 point front seat belts fitted New tyres have been fitted to replace the 25+ year old previous ones Interior clean and decor New brake master cylinder New fanbelt (old one shredded leaving me stuck on the A50) Most recent job has been to try and solve the issue of jumping out of top gear. Seems they all did this from new and many were given a modification in period, mine had not. I fitted 2 rubber blocks between the suspension arm and gearbox mount which was a real pain but seems to have solved the problem. Doing this job I also now understand why the heater was so ineffective when we bought it back home in December. Can you spot why? The other weekend TDC North West members had the chance to poke around the van at Tatton Park. Now back to the Dolomite! |
Page 1 of 2 | All times are UTC |
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited https://www.phpbb.com/ |