Froggy Dolly

[dololo]

Hello,
Before writing anything else , I apologize for my poor English, i am french ( nobody's perfect ), quasily Belgian ....
I am the new owner of an auto 1850 HL , it now shares the garage with a 72 spit mk 4 and a mini restoration project
I found you forum while i was desperatly looking where to find engine serial numbers .
The dolly needs work on brakes (blocked) and new soft carburators pipes replacement
I already possess a spare engine , with an manual OD gearbox .
I would like to convert my car with this gearbox , but haven't got the right transmission axle .
Do you think it is possible to convert a sprint axle into a 1850 manual one ???

Laurent

[sprint95m]

Welcome to the forum Laurent.

Your car looks a good project.


In answer to your axle question,
fitting a Sprint axle is not the best option.
It is higher geared (3.45:1) than a 1850 manual (3.63:1) and the differential is a different shape which would mean
swapping the entire axle and having a bespoke propshaft made.
An 1850 auto differential is much higher geared (3.2:1) than the manual version so is not really suitable for a manual car.

[Toledo Man]

Bonjour Laurent. Je parle Francais - un peu!

Welcome to the forum. Your English is probably better than my French! My sister-in-law (brother's wife) is French so the language barrier isn't going to be a problem.

Ian, you're right about the 1850 auto having a different ratio axle. The best way to convert would be to use the 3.63 ratio diff. I think it would be best to leave it as it is as there's comparitively few 1850 autos left. LHD 1850 autos must be even rarer!

[JPB]

.....I think it would be best to leave it as it is as there's comparitively few 1850 autos left. LHD 1850 autos must be even rarer!

Well said Toledo Man! Leave the high ratio diff and the automatic transmission in there & enjoy the economy and the smoothness of it all.

If you really want a manual car, autos will always find a buyer so you could sell that and buy the one with the extra pedal.


Oh, and Welcome to the forum.

[NickMorgan]

Welcome Laurant. Your car looks to be in lovely condition. I bet there aren't many other LHD 1850s near you!

[dololo]

thanks for your comments
i don't know any dolly 1850 , only 1 sprint in the club
i bought this one because the body was in a very nice condition (dinitrol treatment)
maybe because of the sticky brakes(maybe not) , the gearbox leaved its oil on the road when testing the car , that's why i guess to swap the gearbox ,if necessary, because nobody able to work on a borg-warner auto gear box here .

[DavePoth]

Laurent, the gearbox you have is a Borg Warner 35, as fitted to automatic Citroen DSs. I understand they're quite popular in France. It was also fitted to the Citroen SM, which I know is quite rare, but I guess there must be one or two specialists that could help. The casing may well be a bit different, but it will work the same as your dolomite one.

[JPB]

Laurent, the gearbox you have is a Borg Warner 35, as fitted to automatic Citroen DSs. I understand they're quite popular in France. It was also fitted to the Citroen SM, which I know is quite rare, but I guess there must be one or two specialists that could help. The casing may well be a bit different, but it will work the same as your dolomite one.

The Dolomite doesn't use the BW35, it uses the smaller BW65 and was the first car to do so. Triumph used a 35 in other models until around 1975/'76 when the 65 was put into those too.

[DavePoth]

Laurent, the gearbox you have is a Borg Warner 35, as fitted to automatic Citroen DSs. I understand they're quite popular in France. It was also fitted to the Citroen SM, which I know is quite rare, but I guess there must be one or two specialists that could help. The casing may well be a bit different, but it will work the same as your dolomite one.

The Dolomite doesn't use the BW35, it uses the smaller BW65 and was the first car to do so. Triumph used a 35 in other models until around 1975/'76 when the 65 was put into those too.

That means wikipedia is...WRONG.



I'll go and change that in a second.

[DavePoth]

A bit more investigating reveals the BW 65 was also used in 1970s BMWs as well as Land Rovers, Jags and Rovers. Hope that helps.

[JPB]

'70s yes, but the first car to use a BW65 was the Dolomite and it was the only one to use it until a few years later. Somewhere, I have a period motoring mag with the Dolomite's launch featured and, as was usually the case in those days, the advertisers all got in on the act with ads that featured their contributions to the new car: Dunlop Groundhog tyres, Brico Metals for the camshaft, buckets, shims & valve seats, Southern Bros of Bolton for the seat frames, Coventry Hood & Sidescreen of Telford & Bedworth for the seat fabrics, Callow & Maddox of Exhall for the finished seats, Burgess for the exhaust system, Formula of Gravesend for the steering wheel, Alford & Alder for the front suspension components & the steering rack, Metzeler of Peterborough for the rubber to metal bonded suspension and subframe bushes, Holroyd of Rochdale for the valve guides and some manual gearbox parts, Girling for the brake components and so the list could go....

Anyway, potentially far longer story shorter; Borg Warner's piece in the mag states that they

were proud to be associated with the new Triumph Dolomite and were delighted to be able to supply its maker with their all-new type 65 transmission

before said transmission would gradually be

made available for use by other manufacturers.

So in other words, every owner of a pre-HL** Automatic Dolomite was, effectively, a guinea pig for BL and many of the world's other car manufacturers.


**The launch of the HL badge coincided with other BL among other makers' products beginning to be fitted with the 65 in place of the 35, so it suddenly wasn't exclusive, not when every bugger else could have one.

[dololo]

OK, so it's a 65...or a 35
an other silly question . Does anibody know where the klaxon is hidden (mine doesn't want to make some noise), and i suppose it is simply ...absent
I will finish the brakes this week , and will begin the gearbox oil replacement , and kickdown cable change

[JPB]

Klaxon? Would it be the horns you're referring to? They are to the left of the radiator, one above the other inside the engine bay.

[dololo]

Yes, the horn so it means it disappeared ...
brakes are finished, gearbox OK
i need a new battery ( none one the car when bought) but don't know which size to buy , how many Ah for a 1850 ???
Is it normal that when the engine runs , to have à 24 volts output from alternator ????

[fega72]

Is it normal that when the engine runs , to have à 24 volts output from alternator ????

Hi!
Yes, it's normal - without battery.