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: Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:59 pm 
Hi Dazas Dolly!

My daily driver is a 1978 Dolly 1500. I had my engine rebuilt by a club member in the West Midlands last year (several people on here now have his engines in their cars). His prices are very reasonable and the quality of work is fantastic. This might be another alternative to you taking on both bodywork and mechanical work in one project?

Cheers
Angie


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 5:12 pm 
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Hi

Thanks Stan for the kind words, Also Angie could you let me know details.

There is a sptfire 1500 engine on the bay, thats not been tested, does anyone think its worth a punt.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

Not done anything today on the old girl, had too go to the inlaws :oops: Keeps the wife happy I suppose :roll:

Regards

Daz

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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: Sat Mar 20, 2010 5:40 pm 
Hi Daz,

The chap posts on here as "Jod Clark." Why not PM him to discuss your potential requirements? Othewise I think he comes on here quite often so he might see this thread....

People have lots of different opinions but I personally would rather pay out money for a really good rebuild than an untested replacement engine as in the long run it's usually less hassle. However it obviously depends on how much of a hurry you are in, what money you have available etc etc. The 1500 engines are not known for being particularly strong so having a rebuilt and slightly improved one is probably a good thing :D

Hope this helps

Angie


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 5:50 pm 
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:bluewave:

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PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:06 pm 
:bluewave:


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:03 pm 
Quote:
Hi

Thanks Stan for the kind words, Also Angie could you let me know details.

There is a sptfire 1500 engine on the bay, thats not been tested, does anyone think its worth a punt.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

Not done anything today on the old girl, had too go to the inlaws :oops: Keeps the wife happy I suppose :roll:

Regards

Daz
If that engine stays anywhere near its start price it's more than worth it hust as scrap iron :lol:

Seriously, if it's within a distance you could collect without too much trouble (and you have somewhere to put it) then a complete spare is always worthwhile - for that point where you strip yours and find that the no compression is a bloody great crack in the block, for instance!


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:18 pm 
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Hi guys

I was thinking the same will definately try and get it, even if its just for parts, as the guy is about 2 hours from me. And if cheap enough could be a good buy, plus if I did get and it worked could run around around in the dolly once body work is done and rebuild the original engine with unleaded head. But that engine looks similar but I don't know if it would fit etc

Regards

Daz

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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: Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:06 pm 
Hi Daz, apart from the engine, what is first on your resto list? Done anything esle yet?

Ken


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:17 pm 
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Hi Guys

I had a great day today, took out radiator, brackets etc, all water pipes, inlet manifold and carbs etc and removed the water pump/thermostat housing and the cylinder head. But it's been a great day, took me back out a bit taking the cylinder head bolts out, that was hard work :D

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To me it looks just like the head gasket as gone but not too sure, it has defo gone between pot 1 and 2. Seems that there was lots of cracks in it as there was water in the pots. When I turn the pulley the pistons seem nice and smooth and there are no scoring marks in the pots. Also the water that was in the pots when i turned the pulley came up and out, not down into the sump, Hopefully yoou can see from the pictures. The top of the pistons, no 1 is smooth and looks like someone has attempted to clean it in the past, pots 2,3,4 have heavy deposits of carbon.

Also I think you can see in the pictures a small screw, seemed to come out of the cylinder head when I was taking the pictures of the cylinder head on its side.

How do I know now if the piston rings need changing?

Tomorrow now start with the stripping of the bodywork down to bare metal, im gonna start at the front and work towards the back, I saw in Kens thread of his TC and will follow the same course of action. I'm going to use hammerite smooth brown for the front valant etc and engine bay, wheel arches etc.

I said to the wife when I bought my TC that she would look good in off white, Honeysuckle sure looks good. But mine will stay brown.

Also please look at my dashboard in page 2, and tell me whether she should have hazards etc, there doesn't seem to be any fitted, the dashboard seems quite bare to all the Dolomites I've seen.

Kind Regards Too All

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 9:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:33 pm 
Great work mate, keep the momentum going you're doing fine :thumbsup:
Quote:
Honeysuckle sure looks good.

:mrgreen:

:lol:


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:36 pm 
That doesn't look too bad at all, Daz!

To be getting zero (or nearly zero) compression from either bore or valve problems you'd have very visible signs - like bits of ring-belt broken up or exhaust valves with nice V-grooves burnt out of them. Can't see either of those in your pics so the chances are that head gasket will be enough to at least get her running and driveable. Check the head isn't warped before doing this (although the OHV really isn't prone to this - they're much, much tougher than those nasty slants where you can warp the head by turning a hairdryer on 100 yds away :twisted: )

Obviously, at that point you may find more problems (oil burning / knocking and so on) but for the sake of a head set it's definately worth giving the valves a quick grind and putting it all back together.

As for the screw, can't see it in the photos and can't think where one might have come from - unless you have an external oil feed to the rocker gear and someome had blanked the original feed with it?


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:00 am 
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Hi guys

Started work on the body work, in n/s front wheel arch, realised I haven't got the tools to do so will but at the weekend.

Thought as I had limited time, I would start on the o/s rear wheel arch and see how bad the rot was, well where do I start its already had at some point a replacement, but the rot goes all the way round to the sill. And then through to the boot area where the wheel arch ends, trying to get the old filler off the arch to see the damage is hard work anyone have any ideas or is it just to keep chipping away at it.

Also how do I grind the valves, is that with the compound and re-seat them?

Also how do I clean the cylinder head, and the top of the pistons, any ideas?

Thanks To All

Regards

Daz

P.s I will post pics of the wheel arch tonight, work beckons again, these weekends are too short

_________________
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: Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:35 pm 
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Try using a wirebrush attachement on a drill. That's what I did when I did the headgasket on my blue Acclaim.

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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)
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:43 pm 
Quote:
Hi guys

Started work on the body work, in n/s front wheel arch, realised I haven't got the tools to do so will but at the weekend.

Thought as I had limited time, I would start on the o/s rear wheel arch and see how bad the rot was, well where do I start its already had at some point a replacement, but the rot goes all the way round to the sill. And then through to the boot area where the wheel arch ends, trying to get the old filler off the arch to see the damage is hard work anyone have any ideas or is it just to keep chipping away at it.

Also how do I grind the valves, is that with the compound and re-seat them?

Also how do I clean the cylinder head, and the top of the pistons, any ideas?

Thanks To All

Regards

Daz

P.s I will post pics of the wheel arch tonight, work beckons again, these weekends are too short

Hi,

I would use a good strong degreaser on the cylinder head and something like a nylon pan scourer that won't scratch the metal. Same goes for the pistons. I'd not use a wire brush or anything like that personally, but it's each to their own i guess.

Lapping the valves in is very important and incredably easy. Once freed from the spring/collets, simply start with (if bad) a dab of the coarse grinding paste and then move on to the smoother paste, aiming for a nice consistant grey stripe all the way round the valve and seat. If it's only mildly marked then move straight in with the fine compound. I remember doing this to a nova and I found it weirdly theraputic!

It's incredibly easy to handle the collets that hold the valves in by putting a tiny dab of grease on a screwdriver tip and "picking it up" with that. If there's a stem seal down there under the springs, I would change those whilst the head is in bits to save doing a job twice.

Someone will probs come along and say i'm talking crap now!

Cheers,

Phil


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:53 pm 
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Hi

The picture's of the o/s rear arch

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Image

Thank you

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 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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