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It's my theory that, so long as you use Triumph parts from any of the Dolomite range and just keep schtum at the rego inspection, no one will notice your little "upgrades" and it will pass fine. After all, the inspecting authority are not Triumph experts and would not and could not be expected to know what was standard and what is incorrect on a 40+ year old car, going only by the comm number! I do, but i've been involved with the things for nearly 50 years and even I sometimes get the dates wrong!
I rather fancy that, if you had fitted a Mazda rotary engine, they might notice! but swapping drums for discs and adding a roll bar or two is almost certain to slide beneath their radar if they're anything like their British counterparts.
Steve
Steve is fundamentally correct, but if for any reason, your car is implicated in a collision, either directly or indirectly, your motor insurance could potentially be declared void, owing to breach of contract, as a consequence of failing to declare to the insurance company, all and any departures from a vehicle’s factory-standard specification. This implies that you would personally be liable to meet all insurance claims against you, which could run into millions of NZ$ in extreme cases!
Likewise, if any non-declared departures from factory-standard specification became known (e.g. via this forum or Facebook) to the New Zealand WoF inspectorate, LVV inspectorate, police or other statutory bodies, there could be serious legal consequences if one or more upgrades were liable for LVV certification and plating. Your vehicle might even be seized, impounded and possibly even sent to the crusher!
Remember the saying: “When we practice to deceive, oh what a tangled web we weave”.
Given that most if not all of the desirable Dolomite / Dolomite HL / Sprint components are virtually interchangeable with those of the Toledo, I would be surprised if they (excluding engine swops or modifications) required LVV certification, but in my opinion it would be better to openly declare what has actually been done; explaining how closely related the Toledo is to the Dolomite range, if the relevant authorities don’t already know this.
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Yes the upgrades to the car are going to be:
- Dolomite steering wheel
I have already posted my comments as follows, about the general desirability of using a Triumph Dolomite 14½ inch steering wheel on a Triumph Toledo; preferably in conjunction with a Dolomite HL or Sprint adjustable steering column:
Board index » The Triumph Dolomite Club » The Public Bar - General Chat » The consensus on the best steering wheel size
https://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/vie ... 57#p321239
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Yes the upgrades to the car are going to be:
- Overdrive - (although this might be later on down the track)
Unless there are “high-speed” motorways and/or dual-carriageways in New Zealand, it’s debatable how much benefit you would derive from retro-fitting an overdrive gearbox. The maximum national speed limit of 90 km/h (circa 56 mph) is close to the maximum torque point (2700 or 3000 rpm) in 4th gear, for the pre-1972 or 1972~73 Triumph Toledo 1500 engine with single carburettor, so I suspect this would already give close to optimal fuel-economy for cruising.
Many years ago, when Triumph Spitfire 1300s were still relatively common and there was a reasonable possibility of finding one in a local car breaker’s yard, I wondered about the benefits of substituting an overdrive gearbox into my 1974 Triumph Toledo 1300, whose engine & drive train were still of factory-standard specification; as they still are.
One concern is whether there would be sufficient torque at the rear wheels in 4th gear with overdrive and the 4•11:1 final-drive ratio (even with 155 R13 or 185/70 R13 tyres fitted), to cruise at speeds where the reduced engine speed might benefit engine-wear rate and fuel consumption.
I wonder whether this potential disadvantage could be overcome by using the Morris Marina Van’s 4•55:1 final-drive ratio (possibly in combination with 185/55 R15, 185/60 R15 or 185/65 R15 tyres to fine-tune the overall effective gearing); simultaneously giving better hill-climbing ability and acceleration in all four gears without overdrive, plus cruising gears for 3rd & 4th gears with overdrive.
Ideally one would predict the effects of such modifications using a sophisticated simulation package on a computer, with information about the car’s aerodynamic-drag characteristics, rolling resistance re tyres & drive-train and the engine’s characteristics re torque, power & brake-specific fuel consumption (under different load conditions), but sadly I don’t have access to such facilities.
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Yes the upgrades to the car are going to be:
- Brake booster from a later model 1500 (this car will be a 1500 - but the shell is a 1300) from what I can tell this is the only difference between the 1300 and the 1500
- disc brakes on the front
I have never driven a Toledo with front drum brakes, but I imagine that factory-standard Toledo or Dolomite front disc brakes and vacuum servo assistance would be a useful upgrade, especially when driving on New Zealand’s mountain roads.
At one stage, I did contemplate retro-fitting a second pair of brake calipers, with the intention of creating a triangular-split, dual-circuit braking system, but I was very concerned that this would bias the front-to-rear brake balance too much towards the front wheels, as a consequence of doubling the front-wheel braking torque whilst leaving the rear-wheel braking torque unchanged. There should be a progressive non-linear increase (graph of a similar shape to the capacitor charging characteristics graph of voltage vs time) in bias towards the front brakes as deceleration (measured in m/s²) increases.
This is an extremely important consideration with regard to vehicle stability under all braking conditions as well as overall minimum stopping distance. Ideally, all of the wheels should lock up at the same instant or front brakes marginally before rear brakes, implying optimal distribution of braking torque to each of the wheels.
If one gets the brake balance radically wrong, one not only compromises braking efficiency and stopping distance but potentially introduces braking induced over-steer or under-steer.
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Yes the upgrades to the car are going to be:
- anti roll bar at the front
I originally retro-fitted just a Dolomite Sprint rear anti-roll bar and later retro-fitted a Dolomite Sprint front anti-roll bar as well. I noticed progressive, significant improvements in handling characteristics with each anti-roll bar fitted. The rear anti-roll bar is easier and quicker to fit than the front one and requires no expensive rubber or polyurethane bushes. Costing just £5 each in 1982, the front & rear anti-roll bars were one of my most cost effective upgrades.
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Yes the upgrades to the car are going to be:
- Engine - 123 distributor, larger carb HS6, electric fuel pump, oil cooler (but this might be later on down the path)
Fitting a
larger HS6 SU carburettor might qualify as being a significant modification requiring LVV certification.
Unless you intend to tow a heavy trailer and/or engage in mountain driving involving long, steep-gradients, it’s debatable whether you would need an oil cooler, but be guided by the readings you observe from your oil-temperature & oil-pressure gauges. If I recall correctly, the maximum national speed limit in New Zealand is 90 km/h (circa 56 mph), so on normal roads the oil is unlikely to overheat unless you experience extremely hot weather with the engine subjected to high loads.
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Yes the upgrades to the car are going to be:
- Minilites (if i can ever find any second hand ones - due I think to their obscure stud PCD second hand ones rarely come up for sale) for now I will make do with the standard wheels and get them blasted and painted. (Id be happy with some sprint wheels which seem to be common enough in the Uk - but are expensive to ship overhere - If you have a spare set and are happy to cooperate in sending them to NZ please let me know!
Assuming you can source a set of five Minilite style wheels with 3¾ inch (i.e. 95•25 mm) PCD, they might to be of an appropriate rim width or offset for the Triumph Toledo. Different countries have different regulations about fitting wheels whose rim-width and offset specifications differ from those of the vehicle’s standard factory fitment.
In Australia, one would need to undergo their equivalent of LVV certification, if one fitted wheels more than 1 inch wider than the widest wheels that were factory-fitted to that car model.
Although the Dolomite models are closely related to the Toledo models, it could be argued that they are not the same model, despite both arising from Project Ajax.
In Australia, any change in wheel offset must NOT result in a decrease in track, but an increase in track of up to 25 mm is permitted without the need for certification. Hence for a Triumph Toledo or Dolomite, a wheel whose offset was up to 12½ mm smaller than the factory-standard wheels, would be permitted.
There is the further requirement in Australia that the external rolling circumference of any tyres fitted, must be within a tolerance of ± 2% of that of the original factory-fitted tyres. The standard-profile 175 SR13 tyres (i.e. 175/80 R13) originally fitted to my Cosmic 5½ x 13 inch alloy wheels, would have
FAILED to satisfy this requirement by a large margin!
I am aware from my Triumph Toledo 1300 Owners’ Handbook and official Triumph Toledo 13/1500 Repair Operation Manual, that the standard factory-fitted steel wheels were of size 4J x 13 inches, but I have no details of their offset and have none in my possession to measure.
Many years ago, I measured the front & rear track of my 1974 Triumph Toledo 1300 when it was equipped with dealership-fitted, Cosmic 5½ x 13 inch alloy wheels, whose offset I later determined was 21 mm.
My measurements indicated that the front & rear track with these wheels fitted, were approximately 30 mm wider than the standard measurements quoted in the official Triumph Toledo literature; implying that the offset of the original standard 4J x 13 inch, factory-fitted steel wheels was circa 35 mm, which is virtually identical to that of the Triumph Dolomite Sprint, 5½J x 13 inch alloy wheels.
On that basis, one might require the equivalent of LVV certification in Australia, if fitting 5½ inch wide Dolomite Sprint wheels to a Toledo, whose original wheels were 4 inches wide. My 5½ inch wide Cosmic wheels, would have required certification on the basis of their circa 14 mm smaller offset, as well as their “excessive” width.
Many years ago, I read somewhere that increasing a car’s track by more than 20 mm beyond the standard factory specification, would invalidate a British motor-insurance policy, but I am not sure whether the statement was true. It was certainly worrying, given that my Cosmic wheels gave rise to a circa 30 mm increase in track!
The important questions that you need answered, are what wheel specifications will be permitted for your Triumph Toledo 13/1500 in New Zealand, with or without LVV certification; and preferably without.
When I bought a set of five MG 2000 Maestro, 5½J x 15 inch alloy wheels (31 mm offset) to replace the present set of five Triumph Dolomite Sprint, 5½J x 13 inch alloy wheels (35 mm offset) on my 1974 Triumph Toledo, it cost just under £30 (i.e. circa NZ$60) to have them shipped as two packages by UPS courier, within the British mainland, from Yorkshire to Essex.
About 1~2 years ago, I sent a pair of genuine air-cooled VW Type 1 Beetle, black-rubber mud-flaps with white Wolfsburg emblem, to an enthusiast in Australia, which cost about £22 (i.e. circa NZ$44) for Royal Mail parcel post. I shudder to think what it would cost to ship a set of five Triumph Dolomite Sprint, 5½J x 13 inch alloy wheels (much bigger and heavier than mud-flaps) to New Zealand; even without tyres fitted.
The best shipping option would probably be to find an importer or exporter, shipping goods in a container by ship from Great Britain to New Zealand, in which a set of wheels could be a small part of the load; to be redirected to the intended recipient once they reach New Zealand.
Once I am sure that the MG 2000 Maestro, 5½J x 15 inch alloy wheels will satisfy my needs, the set of five Triumph Dolomite Sprint, 5½J x 13 inch alloy wheels with wheel nuts, will be surplus to my needs.
Board index » The Triumph Dolomite Club » Dolomite-related [Start here!] » MG-Rover-Austin Maestro or Montego alloy wheels for Triumph Toledo & Dolomite
https://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/vie ... =4&t=34572
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Yes the upgrades to the car are going to be:
- upgraded electrical s (relays etc), better light bulbs different cam.
various other minor superficial mods - spotlights, air dam, oil pressure and temp gauges, rev counter black rather than grey plastic grills If you have spare black plastic grill - im looking for some - I will probably end up painting the grey ones. All things that wont affect it being registered
A Dolomite front spoiler would look quite attractive, but I am sceptical as to whether it serves any useful purpose regarding the car’s aerodynamic efficiency or providing aerodynamic down-force to keep improve the front tyres’ grip on the road. It might provide some stone-chip protection to the sub-frame and front suspension!?!
Fitting a
different cam might qualify as being a significant modification requiring LVV certification.
I would agree that a rev counter, oil-pressure gauge and oil-temperature gauge would be useful upgrades, but why stop at those.
There is also scope for an inlet-manifold vacuum gauge, voltmeter and ammeter; all of which could be fitted into to substitute curved instrument panel for a Dolomite HL or Sprint style dashboard; which is something I have in the pipeline for my Triumph Toledo.
Whether you will gain any significant benefit from spot lights, will depend upon the type of roads on which you drive and the prevailing traffic conditions. In Great Britain, probably more than 90% of time, when driving at night outside lit urban areas, it is the headlamp dipped beams which are required rather than main beam. Hence, I would recommend upgrading dipped beam performance as your first priority.
I also intend to incorporate relays (possibly fitted into one or more six-position relay mounting cum connector blocks salvaged from Austin Montegos or Austin Metros during the 1990s) to minimise voltage drops and maximise the lifespan of Toledo / Dolomite specific switches.
If you intend to retain existing non-H4 bulb-style headlamps with P45t bulb-mounting flanges, one can either use special H4 quartz-halogen bulbs (typically 60/55W or 100/80W) with P45t flanges or standard H4 quartz-halogen bulbs (typically 60/55W, 100/80W, 130/90W or 160/100W – some of which might be illegal in New Zealand) with P43t flanges, in conjunction with P43t to P45t flange adapters.
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Yes the upgrades to the car are going to be:
At some point I will have to address the fact that the springs are too long and it sits too high but I will worry about that later too.
Anything I have missed? Any other vital upgrades?
Extra-stiff, short-travel springs, might provide good handling and adequate ride comfort on almost perfectly smooth road surfaces, but with a spring & damper based suspension system, one requires the facility for plenty of spring compression and extension, with relatively soft springs and firm damping, to absorb the shock of major bumps, speed-humps and potholes, whilst providing good handling characteristics, on less than perfect road surfaces. This was the philosophy adopted by Colin Chapman, when he designed his iconic Lotus sports cars.
On the basis of having driven a four-door, 1974 Triumph Toledo 1300 (in both almost-factory-standard form and progressively upgraded form) over circa 97,000 miles under most possible British road and weather conditions (i.e. hot-summer with bright sun, cold winter with bright sun, torrential-rain, flooding, hail, sleet, snow, fog & freezing-fog) from mid-1975 until mid-1999, I would recommend the following upgrades using Dolomite-HL / Sprint parts, plus proprietory-brand accessories.
• Adjustable steering column with associated steering wheel (having black spokes rather than chrome), moulded black-plastic nacelle, two steering-column mounted stalk switches (headlamp dip/flash, direction-indicators & horn | windscreen washers & wipers with momentary flick-wipe) and main light switch.
• Dashboard with curved-profile instrument panel (speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, temperature gauge, voltmeter, 8-segment warning-light cluster & hazard warning light switch) and clock. If the driver’s cold-air outlet is relocated below the dashboard, a custom-made, curved-profile instrument panel can accommodate a tachometer, speedometer, inlet-manifold vacuum gauge, voltmeter, ammeter, fuel gauge, water-temperature gauge, oil-temperature gauge and oil-pressure gauge, plus the original 8-segment warning-light cluster. The hazard warning light switch could be relocated below the clock
• Heating & ventilation control-lever illumination – small rectangular green-lensed lamp (ex Austin Montego)
• Matching under-dashboard parcel shelf.
• Cloth-upholstered front seats with head restraints and magazine pockets, and driver’s seat base height adjustment.
• Cloth-upholstered rear seat with fold-down, central arm rest.
• Upper-sill, aluminium, anti-scuff plates for front & rear door-apertures.
• Matching off-side & near-side door mirrors with anti-dazzle tinted glass.
• Dipping, anti-dazzle, interior rear-view mirror.
• Substitute satin-black, adjustable windscreen-wiper arms to optimise wiper-blade sweep and minimise reflected glare from the sun.
• Reposition existing windscreen-washer jets and retro-fit two or more supplementary Toledo / Dolomite windscreen-washer jets, or accessory wiper-arm mounted jets, or ideally SVD/SWW wash-wiper blades (perforated, hollow rubber-blades with water-supply hose).
• Matched pair of good-quality quartz-halogen headlights or good-quality P45t flanged quartz-halogen bulbs in conventional glass-envelope 45/40W bulb-type headlamps (direct replacement 7 x 5¼ inch rectangular LED headlamp units are now available, but are extremely expensive).
• Matched pair of good-quality front fog lights mounted beneath the front bumper.
• Matched pair of good-quality rear fog lights
Board index » The Triumph Dolomite Club » Dolomite-related [Start here!] » 40+ Years with a 1974 Triumph Toledo 1300 “HL”
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=29933
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Board index » The Triumph Dolomite Club » The Public Bar - General Chat » “Factory-Standard, Alternative & Supplementary Instruments”
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29524
Board index » The Triumph Dolomite Club » Dolomite-related [Start here!] » Customising Lucas 60 mm, 8-Segment, Warning-Light Clusters
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