The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

My 1850 engine is now completely in bits and going through a full re-build.

As you can see from the attached picture, the inside of the block appears to have been painted black. This seems rather odd to me and my uneducated mind. In that, I am thinking in terms of the strong possibility of paint either dissolving in high heat and/or chipping off and then maybe blocking oil ways and subsequently leading to various parts of the engine suffering from oil starvation etc.

Does anyone know if I am right to be concerned? Should I immediately rush out and buy huge quantities of paint stripper to get the stuff off, or, is it a factory originating substance that I should just leave alone and carry on with the engine re-build with a confident peace of mind?

Any help/advice/guidance in answering my question would be gratefully received.

Went to Halesowen Engines today and they advised that I will never get the black paint off with conventional techniques, such as paint stripper etc. It was factory applied and was Triumph’s equivalent to red oxide paint. Apparently, some manufacturers painted inside engines with red oxide and others, like Triumph, painted the inside of their engines using a very similar oxide substance that will only eventually shift after rigorous blasting, direct application of extreme intensive heat etc. The advice I’ve had is to leave it be. There should be no problems and my Engine will be fine after its rebuild.

Yes Dave. Complete rebuild from scratch re 1850 slant 4. Also, new three rail gear box with overdrive and new suspension all round with all new Polybushes. Looking forward to the new year and 1st drive. What is happening with your Dolly?