The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:06 pm 
Greetings!

It’s been ages since my last posting so I thought that as we now have a Resto/projects section I should let you know how I’ve been get on with my 1850HL

Some of you may recall I bought my car of a forum user, a young chap from Stockport, Manchester back in February.

It looked like this at the time

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We just about managed to get it to my son’s home under its own steam but within a few days refused to run above idle speed. After hours of trying various solutions suggested here, we came to the conclusion the carbs would need a rebuild and the rubber mounts replacing. All this was around the time of the Stoneleigh Triumph day which we attended and late in the day I spotted a TR7 manifold including HS6 carbs on Aluns’ stand. He explained they should bolt straight on with a suitable gasket. So that’s what we did and within seconds of fitting the car was running, I fitted a spare TR7 air box /filter we had from when we fitted K&N’s to our 2.0L DHC and we were able to get it off the Ex’s drive and back to my place to work on it further.

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Once home we started to tackle the brakes which did not inspire confidence! On removing the rear brake drums we noticed that the wheel cylinders were clogged with dirt and grease and one of the “auto adjustment “ levers had snapped off

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A replacement was sourced via a “wanted add” on here and at the same time the pads and pins were replaced at the front end, resulting in a car that stops!

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All the wheels were pretty grotty looking

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So while they were off the car I cleaned them up

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Primered and painted them up including the hub caps (not the best job but smarter than they were)

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While I had the matt black out I also tidied up the head lamp surrounds.

The cars paint was flat and patchy and there were rust bubbles in various areas so even though I hadn’t tried before I have had a go at tidying these up ,it’s only a rattle can job but its turned out well enough and will do for now.

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While this was ongoing I decided to strip out the seats and carpets and give them a clean. It was at this point that I noticed a small hole in the passenger foot well to bulkhead seam! (Fairly common I hear)

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Inevitably it got bigger as I investigated!

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By the time I had finished messing I realised that it had be patched before and filled, also I could see that the chassis leg was holed as well, so I took a look from the underside and found that the leg had also been patched and filled

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As this wasn’t something I felt confident tackling myself, I put the driver’s seat back in and took it to “Totally Triumph” which is a few miles up the road (a very hot and loud trip without the transmission tunnel in place!)
While the car was away I cleaned up the transmission tunnel and what remained of the rubber seal

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When the car came back I managed to get the overdrive working by repairing the wiring loom and took the opportunity to top up the gearbox oil before refitting the tunnel (using the whole contents of a small tin of Dum Dum paste)

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Then it was back to painting the offside and replacing the mouldings and C post trim

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In with the repaired parcel shelf and clean carpets

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Then in with the cleaned up seats

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My rear squab was in shreds so I sourced a replacement (spot the schoolboy error!)

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Yep it’s not got an armrest (I’ve since found the correct one in decent condition)

With that done I turned to the nearside paintwork. When I got the car it looked like this

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So I tidied it up, re-primered it

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Moved along to the lower doors panels and sill

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Then hit it with a Halfords rattle can a few times

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Just needs the door and sill trims refitting.

Next I removed this (sorry to those that like them!)

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Polished it up (you can still see the ghostly image!)

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Then the whole car was G3’d G6’d and polished up

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Ready for my first club outing to the Lancashire Classics show near Preston

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There is still plenty to do such as a nasty scab on the front panel above the nearside headlights, the mat black rear boot panel also needs repairing and painting.
As for how it runs, well it creaks from every corner so I want to look at replacing the springs (I have 4 new shocks waiting to go on) and I will check and re-bush the front and rear suspension when funds allow. Engine wise it runs nicely although it tends to flat spot very slightly so that will need remedying at some point. I guess I should eventually return it to using HS4’s but for now the HS6’s are doing the job.

Any thoughts, comments, hints or observations gratefully received!

Regards Duncan (Alfabax)


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:31 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:19 am
Posts: 3210
Location: Old Basing, Hants.
Excellent work! You've done yourself proud there.

How does it run on the HS6's?
I'd thought about going that route myself, until Jeroen (apologies to him if I spelt that wrong) mentioned that later TR7s had EFi.
But still worth asking.

Very nice colour that is too.


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:35 pm 
Duncan that is brilliant mate.

I do love to see full size pictures rather than puny thumbnails, you almost feel as though you can reach out and touch the car. 8)

Very well put together post, clear and concise. Know your limitation (ie chassis leg) is all important, it is the graveyard of so many an "abandoned project" purely because they have bitten off too much.

I admire your dedication to getting the car this far.

Well done :thumbsup:


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:45 pm 
Good job!! Great pics and detail, gives me the motivation to get on with my toledo. Well done and keep us all updated.


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:04 pm 
Thats a really nice job you've done there. The interior has come up really well. She looks very tidy indeed now, well done indeed.

Ken


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 10:56 am 
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Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:52 pm
Posts: 7566
Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
Max at Totally Triumph is sh*t hot at welding. He did the welding on my very first Acclaim back in 2005. His son is a team leader on the night shift at the Sainsbury's where I work. Nice to see it all sorted out.

_________________
Toledo Man

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

1972 Dolomite 1850 auto (NYE 751L - Now for sale)
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 - another 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) 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


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:03 pm 
Thanks for the comments and encouragement, I will keep you all updated as I progress

Oli_88, Re the HS6’s it starts and runs fine, but I have no point of reference as I never got it running on the HS4’s. What I would say is I was pleasantly surprised how quick off the mark it is, really quite nippy. It will sit comfortably @ 70 on the motorway in overdrive with at least good 10 mph in reserve if needed.

cheers, Duncan


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 3:46 am 
Duncan, excellent work and shows what can be done with some effort and few resources. She looks really good.

stu


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