The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

The Number One Club for owners of Triumph's range of small saloons from the 1960s and 1970s.
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:29 am 
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Location: Colchester, ESSEX
Hi to everyone

I am trying to renovate my triumph 1500TC 1974 (N), that i recently bought :lol: but where do i start. The guy i bought it off was going to way it in. So another Dolly saved from the crusher.

I thought trying to get the engine running would be the way to go, but turns over and I have got spark but nothing else. Next door neighbour told me it was down to low compression, and squirt redex down into the pots, i tried nothing, then i was told to put diesel down there which I done but nothing. Then on reading the haynes manual, I found that the firing order was wrong and was set too 1243, when in fact should be 1342 anti clockwise but still nothing. I then got tdc and rotor arm pointing at bottom left of dizzy, then when i turn pulley 1 full circle i then get rotor arm at the top right corner, but still nothing (i need help)!!!

So I have started stripping the front end, both wings are fibreglass and both sills have been done at some point, but off side sill now has more holes then the titanic :roll:

Both inner wings look good, needs some welding towards the bottom of the pillars, inners look good and behind the headlights needs some work, all Chrome work is in good condition.

Its got the sprint alloys but at somepoint would like to swap with originals rims.

Also the old girl hasnt got no ignition barrel I had to take this out as I bought the car without keys :oops: well i got a boot key :D

I will list some photo's when i work out how to do it

Please help guys

Regards

Daz

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa


Last edited by DazasDolly on Sun Feb 04, 2018 10:32 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:48 am 
Hiya Daz and welcome. Another TC saved, well done. Fibreglass is ok, especially the stuff available from the club. Steel stuff is available but pricey. Can't advise re: engine but no doubt others will. Godd sills available through the club as well, but ya gotta join.

Rims are standard Dolly stuff, easily available and cheap. people do actually give 'em away. It's the wheeltrims that you need, again, not hard to get. They were modified to fit the ordinary rims. Sienna, nice colour.

We love seeing piccies on here, so try and post some up. Gives a better idea as to what you are dealing with. You'll have to register with an image hosting thingy like photobucket first though.

All the best.

Ken


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 8:33 am 
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Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:44 pm
Posts: 1162
Location: Colchester, ESSEX
Thank you ken i have been reading your thread and others for a few weeks, amazed at what people can do. hopefully these piccies will work!!!


Image

Image

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa


Last edited by DazasDolly on Thu Feb 15, 2018 9:53 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:37 am 
Well done Daz - another one saved! Lovely colour.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:53 am 
Great stuff. Thanks for saving another one. 8)


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:42 am 
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Thanks Guys the wife hates the colour lol.

When i have been jacking the front end up I couldn't get the wheels of the ground, just found that there is no anti-roll bar fitted :oops: so will have to source one. anyway got the wheel off by letting the air out of the tyre :D

Nic to work on the old girl before I go to work

regards

daz

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:53 am 
Welcome Daz, and as the others are saying, well done on rescuing the car. Sienna on a '74? :scratchin: Have to admit that it looks a lot like it though....

I'm almost amazed to see that those GRP wings actually fit! They look good.

One thing though; didn't Titanic only have the one hole? OK, so it was a f**kin' big one.....


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:58 pm 
Nice pics Daz. That is a tidy looking car. The fit of the fibreglass wings do look very good indeed. That is a nice colour, I remember it well.

Always useful to post some bits wanted in the appropriate bit of the forum. Someone will usually have the bits. The sills from the Club (via xvivalve) are simply the best. Well worth joining up for on their own.

Jod, Jonners and others no doubt will advise re: engine maladies.

Keep at it.

Ken


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 2:13 pm 
Hi Daz, and welcome. That looks like it's got loads of potential once you get it up and running! The following is general engine advice which works on just about anything. I can't be more specific cos I don't have a TC so don't know what things like timing marks look like on them, but a Haynes manual is invaluable for those little details.

A non-starting engine can be about the most frustrating starting point possible but it doesn't have to be if you approach it logically. All an engine needs to run is some compression (not a huge amount), about the right amount of fuel and a spark at (about) the right time to light it. Given those three it will run, even if badly, and from then on it's a lot easier to diagnose any remaining problems. So tackle each of those areas one at a time.

You already have a spark which is a good starting point. Is it a nice "fat" one at the plugs or a weedy "can just about see it" one? If it's there but weak then you need to check through the ignition wiring for voltage drops. A multi-meter is useful here but at least make sure all the connections are clean and tight. Do these have a ballasted coil? If they do, are you getting the full 12v feed when the starter's engaged? It sounds like you've already made sure the plug leads are in the right order so, once you've got a nice fat spark, use the Haynes manual instructions to set the static ignition timing. You've then got one of the three essentials for a working engine.

Next concentrate on fuel. Is the pump actually delivering any from the tank? Disconnect the inlet to the carbs and drop it into a jar. Crank the engine over and see if fuel is being delivered. If there's none then you're looking at fuel pipes, the pump or an empty tank (wouldn't be the first time :D ).

If you've got fuel to that point then open up the float chambers on the carbs and see if it's getting through the float valves. If it's not then check the valves and floats (are they stuck or leaking or sinking?) Once you know that fuel's getting into the float chambers there's really not much else to go wrong with an SU as far as just starting an engine is concerned.

So on to compression. This is a bit trickier without a compression gauge (about 20 quid from Halfrauds) but you gan get an idea by pulling all the plugs then replacing one at a time (individually), cranking the engine between each plug. If there's any meaningful compression you'll hear the cranking speed drop noticeably as the cylinder with the plug in is on its compression stroke.

If there seems to be a problem here then check the valve clearances to make sure you haven't got one valve not closing fully and, if that doesn't sort it, you really need to get hold of a compression gauge to see what each cylinder is reading.

Finally, if all that seems ok, but it still won't fire, then get a tin of Easi-start (or Start Ya b'stard if they're selling it near you :D ) and give a quick squirt into each carb inlet. That should at least make her fire, if not continue running. If she starts and runs at this point then you have a running engine which is a lot easier to fault find. If she fires but doesn't keep running then re-check the fuel system.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 3:34 pm 
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It doesn;t look half bad! Well done that man. 1500TCs did not have anti-roll bars, as they share the Toledo's suspension.

R


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 6:41 pm 
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Location: Middlesex
Nice one Spunky. That saved me a yard if typing...

Feed it some fresh fuel from a can and a squirt of eezistart will sometimes tell if you have a good enough spark.
I'd also check that breather hoses around the carbs are all in place and not letting in gobs of air...


Jonners

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Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:02 pm 
ARB's can be obtained quite easily, tidied up the same and then struggle for hours to fit, then discard in a cupboard until you can be arsed trying again.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:33 pm 
no need for strugling ken, it took me 20 minutes to fit the ARB to my TC.
my method for a none starting problem, i would look at the fuel and spark plugs, make sure the plugs and top up the carb dash pots with oil are clean then remove the air filter, lift the carb piston with a screwdriver, squirt in lots of carb cleaner into both carbs, then try to start,if the car either runs or pops, bangs and misfires then you know there was no fuel supply (the car will run on carb cleaner) if no popping banging or misfiring then its a spark problem


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 8:50 pm 
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Hi guys thank you for your kind words. Im well pleased with the old girl, even tho she doesn't run.

I do get a good spark from her, I put the sparkplug up against the head and got the wife to turn her over, then I told the wife it was ok, as i held the sparkplug to take it out of the HT lead, she cranked it again :oops: woke me up a bit tho.

I get fuel to the pump, i had a play this morning again, i've filled the 2 float chambers with fuel and when you turn her over she feels like she wants to go if you know what I mean.

When I turn the engine over with the top off the fuel pump you can see it moving up and down and fresh petrol there. One of my friends from work has borrowed me a compression tester which I will do in the morning, but I will also make up a makeshift tank near to the carbs with fresh fuel in to see if she fires then.

Now that I know how to do the photo's on p/bucket I will do some of the front end without the wings, bonnet, lights in place, as i have already sripped this down.

I have also cleaned the rear brake drums as these were seized, had pleasant surprise and found that everything was new, including the cylinders and shoes, just cleaned everything and reset the adjusters so that she moves freely.

Regards

Daz

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:16 am 
Keep up the good work mate, are you planning on reusing the original panels? Nowt wrong with fibreglass.

Always a good plan to replace the fuel hoses as a matter of course, and stick an inline fuel filter just before the pump too. I have no doubt that she will soon be running.

More photos - oh yes!

Ken


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