The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Has anybody successfully stripped the varnish off a 73 Doly dashboard, and if so, with what?

I have no idea what BL used, but the stripper I have, Bartoline TX10 from B&M's, has absolutely no effect, even left overnight; though it did the door caps fine. The orbital power sander also seems to be beaten by it. It really does seem to be absolutely hard as nails.

Graham

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The 16v Slant 4 engine is more fun than the 3.5 V8, because you mostly drive it on the upslope of the torque curve.

Factory 1977 TR7 Sprint FHC VVC 697S (Now all of, but still needs putting together)
B&Y 73 Dolomite Sprint UVB 274M (kids!)
1970 Maroon 13/60 Herald Convertable (wife's fun car).

Oddly enough I've just come in from the garage after stripping the varnish off the door cappings.
After trying a number of different approaches (sanding, scraping, chemicals, swearing, sanding a bit more, swearing and stomping off) I've found the panacea! A heat gun!
I used.the wide diffuser a low heat and gently heating and then it literally fell off with a scraper. It left the wood untouched underneath.
The door cappings were is pretty poor shape with multiple chips and flakes so this made it easier.
I guess the dash would respond as well?
For info I bought my heat gun from Screwfix for £25. It's the Earlex one with a kit.

Perfect solution. Used the gun from the heat-shrink kit and it worked a treat. Thanks Aleco

Graham

_________________
The 16v Slant 4 engine is more fun than the 3.5 V8, because you mostly drive it on the upslope of the torque curve.

Factory 1977 TR7 Sprint FHC VVC 697S (Now all of, but still needs putting together)
B&Y 73 Dolomite Sprint UVB 274M (kids!)
1970 Maroon 13/60 Herald Convertable (wife's fun car).

No worries. Pleased to help!

Alex

At last, I found a reference for the dash and door cap colours for a 74 y.m.

Graham

_________________
The 16v Slant 4 engine is more fun than the 3.5 V8, because you mostly drive it on the upslope of the torque curve.

Factory 1977 TR7 Sprint FHC VVC 697S (Now all of, but still needs putting together)
B&Y 73 Dolomite Sprint UVB 274M (kids!)
1970 Maroon 13/60 Herald Convertable (wife's fun car).

Any idea what the actual type of wood is that was used for the veneer? I need to redo mine at some point as the veneer is too far gone in places to just re-varnish/polish.

Roger

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1975 Sprint Man O/D in Honeysuckle Yellow
1971 Stag Auto White

Too many cars, too little time!

Someone will no doubt correct me if i'm wrong, but I seem to recall "American Walnut" being mentioned as the alleged wood for the veneer from the factory.

A photo, especially an old PR photo, is hardly a good guide to colour, so many things affect what you actually SEE and it could have been enhanced, tinted or downright airbrushed before it was even published!

Steve

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'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.

Yes, but it is at least a reference against which those with more perfect memories can offer positive opinion as to if it's a bit dark or a bit pale, etc.

Graham

_________________
The 16v Slant 4 engine is more fun than the 3.5 V8, because you mostly drive it on the upslope of the torque curve.

Factory 1977 TR7 Sprint FHC VVC 697S (Now all of, but still needs putting together)
B&Y 73 Dolomite Sprint UVB 274M (kids!)
1970 Maroon 13/60 Herald Convertable (wife's fun car).

I expected the most obvious negative comment to be it's of an 1850, not a Sprint.

_________________
The 16v Slant 4 engine is more fun than the 3.5 V8, because you mostly drive it on the upslope of the torque curve.

Factory 1977 TR7 Sprint FHC VVC 697S (Now all of, but still needs putting together)
B&Y 73 Dolomite Sprint UVB 274M (kids!)
1970 Maroon 13/60 Herald Convertable (wife's fun car).