The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Will do, going back up there tomorrow to get her running time permitting, then see if she will move out then off for welding...

Managed a few hours today, now running ! A drop of fresh fuel in each float chamber and away she went, amazing...! Topped up the tank with a couple of gallons and she sat there ticking over happily, smoked a bit to start with... Alternator is knackered I think, battery likewise obviously. Fires up instantly now, quite unbelievable really.

The exhaust is clearly finished, well the back box anyway.. there was a mild backpressure problem initially which suddenly sorted itself with a fwump and the rear box dropped off...

The damage to the roof is contained to an area that would be cut out for a webasto or similar so if anyone has a decent one of these knocking about, or has an undamaged roof please do get in touch!!

Next week will see her out of the garage for the first time in 20 years, all the tyres still hold air, am gaining confidence, have also been poking about and really cannot see too much rot other than the o/s sill ends and rear inner arches, I'm quite amazed really... even the coolant is still a fresh looking bright green...

Onwards !!

Iain

Nothing like hearing an engine running sweetly for you to keep the motivation going, well done.

Yeah, really was great to hear her again, even if the exhaust is a tad noisy and smoky !! Even washed some of the muck off would look great if the roof wasn't burnt to heck ...

Hi All,

Two steps forward and three back this week... picked up a new battery and alternator this week, fitted those, turned over and started eventually, then stalled and now will run for a few seconds then stops.

Going to clean the tank out as this I suspect is the problem, Carb jets were seized partially and not returning to off choke which hasn't helped the smoking obviously. Freeing those led to the front carb mount dissolving! hey ho !

Then thought i'd replace the expansion tank which i'd borrowed for my Vanden Plas a few years back, ended up with a length of hose in my hand and discovered the little stub on the thermostat housing had just fallen apart...

Not deterred I thought id bleed the clutch as it was a little on the low side and spongy... yes you guessed it, the master cylinder seals dissolved with fresh fluid and the flexible hose fell apart as I removed the master cyl.... thoroughly miffed I called it a day and now on the hunt for replacements..

So does anyone have a spare thermostat housing, or clutch hose? I've got a repair kit on order for the master cyl (even if this just gets her mobile) and have ordered new carb mounts from rimmers... but the stat housing is obsolete and the hose is £50 + !!

More to follow shortly, gonna give her another try this weekend, hopefully will make more in the way of progress this time...

Cheers

Iain

There are alternatives to Rimmer Bros. Some parts are only available secondhand and this forum is the best place to start. One good source of secondhand part is our very own MikeyB who runs Northern Classics. I'm sure he can supply you with whatever you need. You are going to come across more problems as you revive this car. Getting it running is a big step forward. Keep up the good work.

_________________
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

Yes it is going to be a long slog, I've been lucky so far but you are right, after 20 years there are going to be a few more issues to deal with yet..

Update for today..

Rebuilt the master cyl with a kit I found in my spares stash.. now have a working clutch (after some jiggery with a clutch hose and some copper pipe.. ordered a new hose though)... and with the help of my long suffering partner (or bleedin assistant as I call 'em) bed the clutch and...amazingly... it wasn't seized, and for the first time she crept out of the garage into the (rather grey) daylight..

Still need to drain the tank and get some fresh fuel in her as she runs erratically at times, and has no power under load... getting back into the garage up the slope was a lengthy process... but she moves !

Replaced the back box so now quiet again, need to replace the intermediate pipe though its toast.. lost about an inch from it, fortunately I managed to attach the back box to the remainder...

Working tomorrow so cant do any more this week.. more to come.. in a few days, had a good look around, changed the 20 yr plus oil... no more smoking... boot floor solid, main floor solid bar two holes in the front footwells,

os outer sill ends and jacking points front and rear are toast though, as is the bulkhead on the o/s right up by the windscreen hole about 1/2 inch there and some awful plating right on the end of the o/s chassis leg by the inner front panel that needs removing and redoing... otherwise very much better than I had imagined it would be after 20 years in a leaky lock up.. roof is finished though after the fire...

We inch forward...

More to come shortly..

Iain

Well done....

Sorry I didnt get to you in time to give advice re the clutch hose. Howard at Collectors Car parts in Sipson near West Drayton has a box of clutch hoses in nylon and you would find one to fit the union sizes you need. Its very common for the old pipe to fail as its removed from master or slave. The unions just bind to the pipe
and its impossible to get them out without shearing the pipe.

You can quickly bleed an 1850 clutch by simply running some rubber hose from bleed screw back to the master reservoir. If you keep the free end under the fluid level and pump away it bleeds out the air very quickly.

I suspect you have a perished section of fuel pipe joiner which will be sucking air. Go through those and you should get much better fuel delivery.

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.

Cheers Jonners am going to drain the remnants of the 20yr old leaded still sloshing in the tank have already got some 5\16ths fuel pipe to replace all connecting pieces as existing def not unleaded friendly and perished !! Hopefully then ready to roll.

Another update...

Still not running correctly, drained tank, (now need new tank adaptor yikes) refilled with fresh freed off sender unit that was stuck in the 1/4 full position.. Now got about 20 litres of nasty smelling petrol to get shot of.. by this time had stopped running for longer than 20 secs at a time.

Fresh fuel in, changed plugs, brought fresh fuel up to the pump, emptied carbs and fuel lines, now running better but still not all that happy. For a while wouldnt run at all and had to wind back into the garage on the starter, not something i like doing but no option as it was raining and i was on my own...

Changed other carb mounting in case there was an air leak there, checked servo for leaks, (none) breather hoses, carb vacuum pipes and inlet gaskets, no leaks yet still will only run on half choke...

Started tipping down again and light fading fast so packed up for the day... more to follow, once running happily will get her shifted to welders.. def needs o/s outer sill as gone at both ends and outer at rear about six inches from arch.. (i still have nos one so that's good) Inner is solid as is rear floor...

So list for welding so far is;
Outer sill O/S
Outer sill N/S complete welding (started many moons ago)
O/S rear arch
Inner rear arches at lower rear edges
Undo and tidy up o/s chassis leg end under battery (tatty old welding)
O/S frt inner arch / flitch / inner wing
Both front floor pans
Small patch needed at upper o/s bulkhead/windscreen panel on the inside as this is holed
Two front wings !
Oh and the roof of course... minor point lol... the more i look at it the more a webasto or similar looks the best route.. really looks awful atm...

Then it should be ready to start cleaning and prep for rustproofing, filling, priming..... he says hopefully... Just need to save up for it now !

As well as brakes and suspension and steering..

If i could get her running properly then that would help...

More to follow..

Iain

Another update...

Finally got her out of the lock up from hell.... now in my garage but only just fits at the moment no room to do anything (need a clear out)

At least is now safe from the vandals now need to get the welding sorted (makes note to contact welder Jonners mentioned)

Am thinking that I will strip the remainder of the shell and then send it off for welding then on to paint n prep once I have enough money....

So wish id got her out of there before they burnt the roof, looks dreadful, was wavering at one point but the fact she started and (albeit limping) made it onto the transporter under her own steam has made me think I must complete this... its an against all odd scenario I think...

More to follow soon

Iain

Finally got to spend more time on my pet project, two jets and needles and now running very sweetly indeed, will even idle down to 500 rpm and no shaking, quite amazed, now waiting for some dry weather to get cracking on the rest. At least now she runs and moves properly under her own power !

Best of luck with the project, will be nice to see her done.

Regards Paul

any progress TKLR?

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