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: Thu Aug 05, 2021 8:51 am 
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TDC Oxfordshire Area Organiser

Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:32 pm
Posts: 470
Superb Steve!

How about a thinner single coach line in black? You could always try this (or your own bespoke design) first before committing to fit the original style.

BW

MC

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The Duke at Clifton - OX15 0PE

1980 1500HL - OPD
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:06 am 
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Location: Andover Hants
Quote:
Few more pix


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I still have a small dilemma, I have a black Sprint coachline, but still can't decide whether to fit it or leave it off. The car won't have the rust trap lower rubbing strips, I kinda like the clean, minimalist look, OTOH, a Sprint should have a Sprint coachline!

Steve
Put the coachline on Steve, the car looks too much like mine, apart from the vinyl roof/C pillars, chrome, bumpers etc...
Don't want people to get confused when judging best modified... :lol:

Looks great by the way, hope you are going to keep this one polished.

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Modified Dolomite Sprint MSO 662P VA485 1973 Mimosa Sprint
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:56 am 
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Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:13 pm
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Location: Over here...can't you see me?
Have you put the coach lines on the white one yet???


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:19 pm 
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Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:12 pm
Posts: 7013
Location: Highley, Shropshire
Quote:

Don't want people to get confused when judging best modified... :lol:

Looks great by the way, hope you are going to keep this one polished.
Heaven forbid THAT should happen! Yes I plan to keep this one a little cleaner, it might last longer that way!


Well, I decided, for better or worse, I paid for the thing, might as well use it!


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The stripe for the white one is still in the glovebox, need to T-cut the wax off before applying it!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:39 pm 
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Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 12:46 am
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Location: Midhurst, West Sussex.
Looks much better with the stripes.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 07, 2021 11:24 pm 
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Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!

Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:55 pm
Posts: 436
Location: Maidstone
Agreed, it looks great! The minilites look right too. Excellent work on the conversion, I hope to see your cars in the flesh at some point. :thumbsup:


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 9:51 pm 
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Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:12 pm
Posts: 7013
Location: Highley, Shropshire
Finally made it outside and blinking in the sunshine!

Not as simple as one would think as there were 4 other Dolomites between the Dolomega and the road, one of which was a non-runner!

Mileage count today stands at 24 miles, though I've not been more than 4 miles from home so far!

Snag count stands at..........several!

The BIG one is the transmission! It's leaking fluid from the rear seal, not a massive amount, but noticable. This can be fixed in fairly short order, if I can obtain a new seal. More serious is that occasionally, when shifting up from 2nd to 3rd, it finds a false neutral and revs it's little socks off. Sometimes if you let the revs drop, it will clonk into 3rd, or you can select "winter" mode and get 3rd that way, or drop it down to 2nd on the manual holds and then shift up manually. Once it's IN 3rd, it stays without slipping or other problems, shift up into 4th perfectly and downshifts or kicks down to 3rd fine. Other times it shifts up without drama. So I don't think it's anything fatal, but time is short now! I was hoping it was just low on oil from the leak, but, after topping it up the problem is still there, a LOT less frequent, but it's still there. I suspect there's a bit of muck or something in the valve block. it was absolutely fine when the motor and trans was removed from the donor, but that was 2013! I'm gonna ring PennAuto tomorrow and seek advice, but I reckon i'm in for an oil and filter change on the trans as a minimum.

Then, whilst it was idling on the drive and I was underneath, topping up the trans (level must be checked with engine running and trans warmed up) it blew a hose off on the water pipe to the header bottle. TBH, I think I just didn't tighten it enough the first time, it's been run up to fan-cutting-in temperature several times in the garage without trouble, so again, I don't think it's fatal, just annoying!

The steering wheel wasn't central despite my several tries to get everything there right and the steering lock and indicator canceller centralised. Putting the wheel right was easy but getting the rest back to the "new" centre will take time!

A last minute failure last week on the brake master cylinder (it started "by-passing") saw me change out the master for a new club one a few days ago. I only bled the master and the pedal SEEMED fine at the time but was rather low in service when actually trying to brake. Re-bleeding the entire system served no useful purpose and resulted in no air apparent, but resetting the rear self adjusters fixed that one.

When driving out of the garage, there's quite large step which caught the exhaust downpipe clamp and made a slight blow. This is easy enough to fix, more important is the exhaust is hitting 3 or 4 spots on the body and axle on bumps now the suspension is settling, flippin sports system! I'm gonna have to re-align the whole thing I think!

The fuel pump is disturbingly noisy, with a buzz/vibration that can be felt and heard throughout the car. I've never been happy with this pump and have already bought another as a spare (from a different supplier, though I fancy it's apples and oranges) I'll try the new one and if it's still as bad, i'll have to investigate a more insulated mounting method. If push comes to shove, i'll nick the old, used, Espace pump off the Carledo. It's not exactly silent, but it's nowhere near as loud as the one on there now!

Less important but still present, i've had to change the rear foglight switch. When I did the rewire, I put a genuine Dolomite rear fog switch into the dash in the hole previously occupied by the seatbelt warning light. Only since I screwed the dash in, has the foglight blown it's fuse as soon as switched on. Turns out, the switch was fouling and shorting on the heater control linkage! Fortunately I had a much shorter aftermarket push-button switch available and that works OK.


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On the upside, it starts perfectly, handles nicely, stops as you would expect with oversize TJs and pulls like a b****y train! Kickdown performance is little short of EPIC!

Just need to iron out a few niggles!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 8:17 am 
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Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:35 pm
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Location: Filey, North Yorkshire
Quote:
Just need to iron out a few niggles!

Steve
Best get ironing! Time is short! I'm thinking of turning out to see the show northbound at Wetherby and then again southbound at Tebay, so I'm hoping you clear enough of the niggles/snags to be confident on the run.

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 1:13 pm 
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TDC Cheshire Area Organiser

Joined: Wed May 17, 2017 6:28 pm
Posts: 1405
Location: NANTWICH.
Re the box problem Steve, is the kickdown cable adjusted correctly? I bought a Stag that was like that, now adjusted correctly and behaves itself.

Tony.

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 9:24 pm 
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TDC Shropshire Area Organiser

Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:12 pm
Posts: 7013
Location: Highley, Shropshire
Quote:
Re the box problem Steve, is the kickdown cable adjusted correctly? I bought a Stag that was like that, now adjusted correctly and behaves itself.

Tony.
I wish it were that simple Tony, The trans is a GM AR25 and fully ECU controlled, It doesn't even HAVE a kickdown cable, or a throttle cable for that matter!

I spoke to the guy at Penn auto today, and was left thoroughly dispirited by the conversation. He reckons the box is effectively toast, unless I want to spend £1700 +vat having it rebuilt!

I know standing still doesn't do anything much good, especially autoboxes, but it was fine when I pulled it out, having tested it in the donor car for several months (it was taxed and tested, rude not to) The fault is intermittent and once it's IN 3rd it doesn't drop out again or slip.

The guy was very disparaging about this trans, saying that, in their heyday they were doing at least 1 a week. But he also insisted it was a "4L30" box when it's officially decribed in the manual, and on the trans as an "AR25", he also thought winter mode starts it in 2nd gear, when in fact it starts it in 3rd, so i'm wondering if he's thinking of the right thing. I'm gonna drop Harvey a line and see if I can pick his brains about it.

But if I can't solve this, RBRR is looking like a bit of a no-go! My co-driver Les is in favour of trying it anyway, and if it breaks we can always get it recovered! I've probably got enough time to build up the Grey car to drivable condition in the time i've got left, does anyone know the cutoff date for getting your entry fees returned if you bail? This could affect any decisions I make!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 9:29 pm 
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Location: Filey, North Yorkshire
Without wishing to disparage Penn Auto it sounds like they are just trying to flog you something that potentially you don't need.
I'd go for a fluid/filter change, give it a few miles and double double double check all the electrical connections - if you have an op-com hook it up live and make sure things like TPS are stable signals.

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:28 pm 
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Location: Harrow Middlesex
I dont know much about autos,but changing the oil and filter may help

Dave


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:38 pm 
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TDC Shropshire Area Organiser

Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:12 pm
Posts: 7013
Location: Highley, Shropshire
Quote:
Without wishing to disparage Penn Auto it sounds like they are just trying to flog you something that potentially you don't need.
I'd go for a fluid/filter change, give it a few miles and double double double check all the electrical connections - if you have an op-com hook it up live and make sure things like TPS are stable signals.
My thoughts exactly Sam, i've already bought (this afternoon) 2 gallons of the correct trans oil. I need to go to Vauxhall for filter, oil seal for the tailshaft leak and sump gaskets (it has 2 sumps!) I'm pretty sure the trans takes it's TPS signal from the throttle POT on the pedal, certainly the kickdown works from there, you can feel the ridge in the pedal. If there was fault there, i'd know about it. But it revs smoothly. I've got an OP-COM and the socket to plug it into in the car too, salvaged along with 30 miles of other wire from the donor, but i've never used and don't know how. My limited Blue Point OBD2 reader doesn't list ANY trans faults ATM. And yes, i'll put some miles on it and hope it gets better with use, once i've fixed the leak and changed the oil.

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:47 pm 
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Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2016 9:53 pm
Posts: 1699
Location: Harrow Middlesex
Another possibility if you had to change the gearbox, i know cavalier boxes are hard to find now, try 4hp22 used on Jags,Bmw and range rovers,there a 4 speed auto but there Not ecu controled,they need a kick down cable,and the bell housing comes off, the 5 speed,need ECu and built in bellhousing,so there harder to modify



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PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 10:17 am 
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TDC Cheshire Area Organiser

Joined: Wed May 17, 2017 6:28 pm
Posts: 1405
Location: NANTWICH.
I forgot the box was fly by wire so to speak Steve, what a pita after all your graft :( I really hope an oli and filter change do the job for you. Good luck :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Tony.

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