1st week of ownership

Message

148S · #1 Post by **148S** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 10:36 pm

Stripped her down and ..well she's in a lot worse condition than I first thought. Found that most of the front, rear and many other bits are filler. The chassis leg thingys now have lots of holes in them after I decided to have a prod with a screw driver and the bits of the car that aren't rusted consist of weld upon weld. 
 
I direct this next question to those of you who may know of a cheaper source of parts than ri**er & friends. 
 
Do I attempt to painstakingly rebuild her spending a fortune on panels or do I risk buying another dolly and transfer all the good bits across. The good bits being bootlid, bonnet, engine carbs spax, newish springs etc. Basically all the running gear is sound. Do dollys with good shells and knackered running gear etc exist? It always seems to be the other way around.

148S · #2 Post by **148S** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 10:50 pm

Just noticed a cheap 1300 for sale near me. Apart from the subframe and the obvious stuff is there any difference between the shells?

Neil Russell · #3 Post by **Neil Russell** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 10:54 pm

You have fallen into the trap that magatsu will soon plunge into. 
you have bought your car and found that the front and rear jacking points are crusty, the sill section middles where you prodded are probably sound, only the front and rear ends seem to rot, the upper inner wing strengtheners are probably also crusty, along with pieced and filled rear arches and various underfloor sections. 
If you have been really unlucky your front scuttle will have succumbed too. 
 
Don't loose too much heart. go to your local club meet. sills are easy to fabricate and the outer skin sections are readily available. the only pain with a dolly is having to cut the wings off to repair properly the sub structure. 
 
people tend not to want to pay lots for project cars (read magatsu's thread elsewhere) and as such find themselves sooner or later doing the work to the car which they all need. 
 
stick with your car and repair it. because you aren't going to find much better in another 25 year old shell. 
 
this is why rust free shells are advertised for £4000. look at it this way. if you properly restore a car with a brand new shell costing you say £6-9 k if you really want a car of this type, its still alot cheaper than going out and buying a mondeo etc. 
 
if you can do it yourself then all the better, it just takes time. 
Go out and buy a good welder and argoshield kit from BOC then teach yourself. you will be surprised at how easy welding is. just take your time when fabbing the bits and only weld when everything has been ground down to shiny metal. people only struggle to weld coz they hurry or try to weld rust and paint. 
 
good luck and may the force be with you. 
 
Neil.<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /happy.gif ALT=":D">

Jon Tilson · #4 Post by **Jon Tilson** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 10:47 am

There is a lot of truth and experience in what Neil says but it is possible and a lot cheaper to source a good Dolly shell from a late 1300 or any other model. You just need to be patient, look hard and buy from some old boy who's had it garaged from new. 
You will have grief fitting the front lights if you get a low rent one and a Sprint also has a unique sub frame and the engine steady bar. Lots of previous threads on this subject so I wont bore everyone with more. 
Jonners

148S · #5 Post by **148S** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 9:43 pm

Well I've ordered the rimmer catalogue, I'm going to strip everything off and work out how much it'll cost me, if its too much I'll have to go for the second donor car and nick the shell (idealy one with the round lights save me having to fart around too much :P). 
 
I would like to rebuild it from scratch but I haven't got £6-8k spare and I want to try and get this car up and running in a about 6 months to a year. Then after I get used to the power it's time for a V8, cos I love the sound <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /laugh.gif ALT=":lol"> .

magatsu1 · #6 Post by **magatsu1** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 10:03 pm

Think I've up-set Mr Russell. 
How would you verify the condition of a donor car without taking that apart as well, 148s ?

148S · #7 Post by **148S** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 10:15 pm

Well you can check the cills,subframe and common rust spots pretty easily. Lack of any welding is also usually a good sign. Besides the car I have now was bought on the assumption that it would need a fair bit of work, it was half stripped and sprayed in a lovely colour scheme of yellow and grey primer with hammerite instead of the vinyl roof. 
 
Unfortunately for me it looks like it needs more attention then I first thought (I don't mind a challenge but this car needs to be brought back from the grave) 
 
Basically the point I'm not making is that I can't do anyworse than spend £500ish on a car that has been regularly used and maintained that shows no obvious signs of any major corrosion. Even if it needs a few panels replacing its gonna be a damn sight cheaper than replacing all of them. Plus I'll get the interior to boot <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"> .

dollyman · #8 Post by **dollyman** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 10:23 pm

just like to have my say <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /happy.gif ALT=":D"> , what ever you do dont lose heart, which ever way you decide to go, i for one didnt pay thousands for my car, i got a 1976 1500hl for £50, which is totally solid and was given a sprint free that had more hole's in it than metal, its taken a time to do but ive swaped everything over and just finished respray so she looks real nice,all thats left is vinyl roof <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... ohwell.gif ALT=":"> 
and i was also wondering about advertising on this board!!! seems certain people can get away with it <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /devil.gif ALT=":evil">

#9 Post by **triumphdolomiteuk** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 9:44 am

Any blatent advertising will be removed from this board,no matter who posts it.Everyone knows the rules,it's not just the Club being petty,there are practical reasons as to why we don't allow adverts on here.If adverts do occasionally slip through,it's because I don't always have the time to monitor the forums or because it's borderline as to whether the post constitutes an advert.I like to think I'm a pretty easy going chap and so I usually give people the benefit of the doubt. 
Our <a href="http://www.triumphdolomite.co.uk/sales&wants.html" target="top">Sales & Wants Pages</a> are regularly updated (often two or three times a week) so there really is no reason to post adverts on here.<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"> 
-Andy.

Chris Field · #10 Post by **Chris Field** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:19 am

You're worrying me now! 
 
My first week of ownership has consisted of locking it in the garage and not having time to look at it since due to domestic commitments. Keep on like this though & I'll be too scared to look closely at it! 
 
Good luck!

148S · #11 Post by **148S** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 1:56 pm

I've decided to try and repair the one I have as opposed to buying another one in better condition and swapping the bits across. 
 
My main concern is welding the new bits onto the old bit. Wings and door skins etc I'm not to bothered about but any tips on how to weld new chassis arms with a mig would be most appreciated. 
 
One last thing any recommendations on a suitable make model of mig. 
 
Cheers

Jod Clark · #12 Post by **Jod Clark** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 3:35 pm

Mig 
 
Pay more and get a proper unit that will last. SIP, Cebora, Otter or Oerlikon will do well. Buy a Clarke one from Machine Mart and live to regret it. A proper one will be a joy to use. Also, there is no need to buy one that takes a large reel of wire. Unless you are doing production welding / fabrication the long wire reel will be rusty and of no use before you have used half of it. 
 
Jod

148S · #13 Post by **148S** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 3:59 pm

So the Nutool ones are out of the question <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /laugh.gif ALT=":lol"> . 
 
What is the minimum ampage you would recommend and how much difference does the gas actually make? 
 
How were the original chassis arms attached, they don't appear to have been spot welded like all the other bits?

Silvery · #14 Post by **Silvery** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 4:16 pm

My crappo Clarke 100 works just fine, and was the cheapest thing around here (65 quid s/h - SZure they're half that up north..). Sure, it blows holes and feeds wire far too quick at anything over the lowest setting, and randomly goes from good to bad back to good welds on the same bit of metal, but still... 
 
Actually, thinking about it, maybe it is a load of crap after all!

SMIFTER · #15 Post by **SMIFTER** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 5:51 pm

What about the 'no gas' MIG welders? Sounds like a contradiction to me (MIG = Metal Inert GAS!!)

<a href="http://www.smifter1971.pwp.blueyonder.c ... >Smifter's Dolomite Sprint Website</a>

The Triumph Dolomite Club - EzBoard Archive

1st week of ownership

1st week of ownership

Re: 1st week of ownership

Good shells

Yes but...

Re: Yes but...

Uh-oh

Re: 1st week of ownership

Uh-oh

Re: Uh-oh

Oooooh don't......

Welding

Re: Welding

Re: Welding

Welding

Re: Welding

Who is online