The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Still using my speeduino 0.4.3c Dave. Tunerstudio is the preferred program to use it though there are others -it's pretty capable from what I've seen (have only really used it for basic stuff so far) but its mostly configured by the speeduino firmware, which is just some C code that runs on an arduino/teensy board. It comes with a base map, you enter num of cylinders, trigger pattern, firing order wasted spark/individual ignition and batch fire/sequential injection and a few other bits which should get the car running. The paid version of tunerstudio has a learning function which trims fuel/advances timing based on AFRs etc. which will probably do the work for you! Only thing I would say is by design its not really a "ready to go" solution like a haltech/link would be as its supposed to be generic enough that you could adapt it to an existing ECU or use it from scratch like I'm doing. Have had to decide which connectors i'm going to use etc. myself!

as a first start all im really doing is getting it to read the temperature sensor and trigger a thermo fan relay so can't say just yet what the tuning side of it is like really - will let you know when i've done the ignition side of it.

PS I believe max with his Jag v6 dolly is also running one - he may be better suited to give his opinion as his car is further on than mine!
https://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/vie ... hp?t=36047

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1973 2-door honeysuckle Triumph Toledo 1300 Thread here

Finally happy with my thermo fan setup!

Here it is reading the temp - my laptop has been used and abused for the last 8 years or so, which is why its in such a state. My switch-on temperature is set to 90 degrees, with a hysteresis value of 5 degrees (as in, switch on at 90 then switch off again at 85) as I have an 82 degree thermostat in. Had to run the car for ages to actually get it to switch on - guess that is the big radiator's fault!




I modified then 3d printed a case I found on the internet specifically designed for a 0.4.3c speeduino. it seemed to be missing the hole for the onboard MAP sensor, so had to modify it in fusion360. The Deutsch DT connectors basically just press in with a vice and fit really nicely. I'd guess this whole thing is now pretty close to being weather sealed, though wouldn't want to chance it. I have the "loom" going through the grommet underneath the washer bottle as this goes directly through to the car and behind the parcel shelf. I still need to tidy up the wiring a bit and shrink wrap it, but the DT connectors are so easy to de-pin that its not a mammoth task to do so.



Bay doesn't look too bad now even before really tidying it up. I used conduit from an old ford focus loom which seems to help it hide away!



Next up is fabricating the hall sensor bracket. I am planning on mounting it on the plate that fixes the engine to the mounts rather than the crank cover. Have seen it done before on a spitfire and it looked fairly tidy. For now though, I'm just going to try and use the car a bit more!

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1973 2-door honeysuckle Triumph Toledo 1300 Thread here

Been actually using the old girl recently! Went for a nice pub trip in convoy with my dad's Marina which went OK. One of the bullet terminal blocks for my side lights/indicators on the drivers side has gone pretty loose, so decided rather than try and fix it i'd convert to use some modern connectors (obsessed with Deutsch DT series atm)





I plan on doing all of the light connectors as they aren't really very weather sealed, and probably haven't been touched in 50 years.

On Sunday the Toledo managed a nice 160-mile round trip to retro rides gathering at Mallory Park! Ran really nicely the whole way. The only slight issue was that when I opened the radiator cap (not the expansion bottle cap) there were a few bubbles after being parked up for 5 or so hours... maybe pressure in the system still? perhaps this is normal. The car did sit in traffic beforehand, but the radiator fan was blowing the whole time. I should really have been logging the temperatures.... either way still pulling well for a little 1300 and wasn't struggling to get to 60mph.

I really want to refurb the front end of the car for suspension, subframe bushes and so on as even with the coilovers installed its still not handling how I'd like it to. Steering seems really heavy despite the new ish steering joints in the column, so think maybe either the rack or the tie rods are due replacement. Or maybe I'm just used to a Fiesta with electric power steering! Job for the winter I think.

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1973 2-door honeysuckle Triumph Toledo 1300 Thread here

Just a bit of an update from me:

I've had a bit of motivation to work on the car recently as i'm getting married next year and plan to use the car as my wedding car. The car isn't handling as well as i'd like it to so have decided to refurbish the front suspension as I suspect(ed) that a ball joint is stiff and I know some of the bushes are fairly old too.

I also wanted to crack on with the next stage of the ECU conversion so decided to tackle the hall sensor mounting and wiring. A while ago I bought an a-series bracket which had been CNC'd in the wrong orientation for this as I thought it may be easier than trying to make my own. After some thought and inspiration from a megajolt'ed spitfire I came up with this:



which seems to work really well! I haven't taken the car out yet for a proper spin, but idling it for a bit while logging showed there wasn't any sync loss at all ie. each tooth on the trigger wheel had been picked up by the hall sensor and in turn processed by the ECU. This means for the first time ever this car now has an RPM gauge! See video here for my dad demonstrating a quick rev:

https://youtube.com/shorts/PBklH0V4BrA?feature=share

I plan on using an old android phone as a gauge cluster, I've tested this and it works fairly well.

As for suspension, I have started pulling apart the front. I have tested the ball joints and the conclusions are as follows:
Uppers are new ish, both fairly free with the hub+disks attached, hopefully this is a good enough test
track rod ends OK, also fairly recently changed
lower ball joints are both completely rogered. Here they are off the car:



Will be replacing these I think. Have also bought a set of superflex bushes for the wishbones, ARB, tie bars and TCAs (I'm a bit confused with these TCAs, I bought Toledo bushes but I think dolomite style ones may already be fitted?)



Have done the ARB bushes, i used a cable tie to keep the ARB brackets assembled when putting them on the car, this means they are a bit less fiddly and you can just cut the ties once you've got one bolt in:



and end links:




Also done engine mounts, I think these are in the correct orientation as they are lifting the engine slightly? The old metalastic ones were in OK nick, but had warped a bit I think as the engine was sitting fairly low compared.



Also replaced the heater hoses, these were starting to split a little and were really the only ones I hadn't replaced, so for peace of mind I did the two heater matrix ones and the little bypass hose underneath which was in fairly poor shape.

I also made up the wires for the coil, so once i've made a bracket for it to mount it on the turret and made some spark plug leads we should be good to go for spark! I'm holding off on this so I can log the trigger sync and make sure it's reliable before I switch over from the dizzy. May leave this in for a bit as well until the new system has proved itself.

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1973 2-door honeysuckle Triumph Toledo 1300 Thread here

The one in the pic is a wasted spark VAG coil used on most lower end Vw/Audis. It basically takes a low current 1&3, 2&4 signal, a common ground going to your star point, and a high current 12v feed. A lot of coils don’t have a built in driver like this so you need a separate ignitor module, seemed like it’d do the trick! Will let you know if it’s any good when I’ve got it running.

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1973 2-door honeysuckle Triumph Toledo 1300 Thread here

Gosh, you have been busy Jack!

I am sure the new bushes etc will transform the car. The engine mounts look like Chris Wittor ones? They are really good and seem to last much longer than some of the alternatives out there.

Catch up soon.
BW

MC

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Matt Cotton

TDC Oxfordshire Area Organiser.
TDC/TSSC group meeting - 3rd Tuesday of the month


1980 1500HL - OPD
1976 Sprint - SWU

They are indeed CW mounts Matt - I've gone a bit mad and bought most of the bushes for the front end of the car in superflex, minus the subframe ones as I'd guess replacing them is a bit more involved (engine out?) though recently bought TCA bushes for a Toledo when my car seems to have dolomite ones fitted - if anyone is reading and wants the Toledo ones shoot me a message and I'll post them to you as i've now bought the dolomite style ones.

Managed to get the TCAs and tie rods out last night, after dealing with the nuts on the end of the TCAs. I've never had to put so much force into getting a nut off a thread, but maybe as they're facing the front of the car they get loads of the road debris. The threads had lots of grit in so going to chase them with a die and replace the nut with a new shiny one.

Pic of nut in question (though both sides were TAF)



Didn't quite have a hydraulic press or a big enough socket to "cup" the rose joint, so used two thin ones in a vice.


Shiny ish



Tie bar bushes not in great shape, so glad I'm replacing these as well.


Going to fit the bushes and new lower ball joints, then put the bottom half of the link back together. After this I'll probably take the upper wishbones off and replace those bushes as well.

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1973 2-door honeysuckle Triumph Toledo 1300 Thread here

Have been following this thread with interest.

In your last picture,
you can see wear on the tie bar threaded end where it has been rubbing against the subframe.
I don't know how much loss there has to be for it to be rendered unsafe?
On my Sprint both were worn to about half their correct thickness so I did away with them and have
fitted an ST conversion (which uses shortened T2000 tie bars and their bushes) which eradicates the problem (I trust).


RE. the subframe mounting bushes,
these can be replaced without having to remove the engine,
although you will need to disconnect the steering shaft and probably the radiator and heater hoses too.
Do the bushes in pairs, ie both fronts at once then both back ones
If you are going to do this job, I suggest it is best to fit the Dolomite Sprint front bushes because these are
way better than the cup type employed by the early Toledo, 1500s and Dolomites. Chris Witor sells new washers.
From memory the bolts are 1/2"UNF by 6" long.
They long mounting bolts can be difficult to remove......


Ian

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On my car i also had wear on the tie bars, i built up the wear with weld and then put them on a lathe to bring it back into shape

Dave

Thanks both. Am i right in thinking that the wear you're saying about is this?



and the bit in the middle where the metal has been rubbing on the subframe?

Are T2000 tie bars pretty much a bolt on replacement? just done a bit of research and it seems they are slightly shorter - my car is a bit lower than a normal Tolly so thinking this might help to correct some of the castor?
if hard to find I may have some other tie bars in the shed - managed to source a complete dolly 1300 subframe and front suspension assy. a while ago. my partner was not happy when I put it in the new shed and it took up most of the room...

Did the TCA bushes tonight. Am i correct in thinking the bushes are symmetrical ie. doesn't matter which way they face? seems like one side sticks out further than the other, but this may be just because it was pressed from one side. maybe it'll correct itself as it settles...




btw, when doing subframe bushes, guessing I need to support the body of the car to lower the subframe slightly? is there a preferred area to do this? just under where the front arch finishes and sill starts?

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1973 2-door honeysuckle Triumph Toledo 1300 Thread here

Yes In a word, no.
They need to be shortened and have additional flat bar (or washers) welded to the TCA end and
if going this far, welding cup washers to the subframe is prudent I believe
I set the wheels on stands made from (railway) sleepers do gain access.


Ian

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PLEASE help us to maintain a friendly forum,
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hmm, ok cheers - perhaps one for future upgrade in that case, shouldn't be too hard to change out. Will have a look at the ones i've got in the shed.


PS, any tips for fitting the upper wishbone bushes? have managed to get 2 in so far, but feel like i'm bending the bushes too much as they aren't going in easily. They're very long and thin, with others i've just been able to push them in with a socket in a vice, these aren't playing ball...

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1973 2-door honeysuckle Triumph Toledo 1300 Thread here