The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hi,
Still working on the sprint and started to fit the roof lining.
First one sent by a well known spares dealer arrived and was dove grey.
The next one is more cream/white not the bright white I had.
But I guess we should be grateful to even get one.
Anyway it seems the roof lining material where the bars push through is to long
and stops the bars to poke out.
There also seems very little excess trim to work with.
Has anybody had this problem and sorry if this have been covered before.
cheers Gary.

I'm in the process of having one made and fitted for £200, not worth the hassle of doing myself for that price.

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Some people are like Slinky's, they serve no real purpose in life but bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

Hi, I don't blame you.
Could you please give me a name/address who's making and fitting it.
Are they fiiting it at your address or are you taking car in.
I will try fitting this one as I did it 37 years ago, but then it was a new triumph part
and fitted quite well.
Cheers Gary.

Its the trimmer who is next door to my workshop, he is cutting the new one at his place and will fit it on the car at mine, I can ask him how much he would usually charge. he would usually want the cat to come to him, we are in Southampton.

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Some people are like Slinky's, they serve no real purpose in life but bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

Hi. I had exactly the same problem with a, supposedly, ready ro fit lining for my Sprint.
The tubes were too tight for the bars to pass through without risking ripping it.
The spacing between the tubes was wrong too.
There was not enough excess material to pull on and wrap around to glue in place.
We took it back to the 'well known spares supplier' in Lincoln who were happy to refund although a bit mystified.
So I bought 3 metres of material from Martrim who were brilliant. Ordered before 12 noon and it was delivered by courier 8.30 next day. Cost: £48 inc vat and pp. That was on 10 June 2019.
So using the old lining as a pattern I made a new lining overnight.
Fitted and looks fine. Maybe not as good as the factory guys/gals would have originally done but good enough.
I also took a sample of the material to B&Q and got a taster pot made up, £3, so I could paint the rear of the sunblinds and the central door pillar linings......which we didnt want to take off. Perfect match.
So if you know someone who is good with a sewing machine ......its sorted.

I was planning to do the same as you,how hard was it to sow

Dave

Hi Dave.
The material is easy to sew with a standard machine......no heavy duty one needed.
The extra material to make the tubes was cut ' on the bias' so that it would stretch. I used some good quality curtain lining for this. The original looks to be made of cotton. It is easier to stretch when cut on the bias (diagonally cut). This means the material stretches in both directions.
I used a medium stitch length.
I also made a paper pattern for the rear side panels above the back shelf....because they were a awkward shape.
Make sure you mark, on the back of each piece, the sewing/joining edge.
The individual top panels are not all the same width....front to back that is. Measure each old panel carefully when you take them apart and mark each accordingly in its order.....number them.
I used the full width of the material so there is enough material extra to grab and stretch when fitting into the car. Trim off excess after fitting.
Make sure the front and back panel have extra for the same reason.

All this was because the 'bought' one was rubbish. Not fit for purpose. Panels were all the same width so they were not in the right positions for the roof bars. There was not enough extra to pull on when fitting. The back side panels were in the wrong place.
The tubes were mad of the same material as the lining and had no give or stretch.

Hope this helps. If you want to know more give me a shout. Happy to help. If you are anywhere near the north end of Lincolnshire I can show you.

Sue 1976,
Thank for you message.
You have made it sound so relative easy but sadly not for me.
Like you I'm so feed up with that well known supplier and its not the first
time I've had problems and been sent rubbish.
I think your idea of buying the material is good in fact I bought the outside vinyl
from Martrim.
Do you live near Essex and want a private job LOL.
Its also beyond my wife sewing machine skills, her words not mine.
Ive just had another look and came back and said to her its to small.
Other problem I have is i've no seats in and no glass so can't really drive it anywhere.
cheers Gary.

Just a update,
Ive pretty much given up trying to fit the well known Triumph supplier roof lining.
After reading much feed back 1) They are so tight on material so difficult to get to the body edges.
2) Wrong colour and Pattern.
So after getting some lovely feed back from Sue.
I could buy my own material and get it made.
Well I thought I would still keep looking and found a firm called Newton Commercial
in Suffolk. I spoke to a guy called Josh and he sent me a piece of material and guess what it
matched in pattern and colour. The pattern is called Long horn and as I was going to Suffolk yesterday I arranged a visit.
I was taken into the factory and the their new lining was placed across a large table and I laid my old lining on top.
It certainly looked a lot better for size, so I bought it.
Josh said that he is looking forward to my feedback.
They also make trim for lots of classic cars so worth a look at their website.
Oh bye the way it was £20 cheaper than the other one I got.
cheers.

Sue, have you thought about becoming a supplier to the Club?