The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I just bought a complete Sprint dash with wiring to use while I conserve the original, which has the varnish starting to flake. The one I just got is not too bad, just a bit dull really. And, considering it is fully wired as well, was a reasonable price.

But I've also used a bare dash wood I got years ago as a practice piece, and I'm in a quandary about which to use. The picture shows it with a couple of coats of yacht varnish brushed on. So the finish isn't as good as the dull one. But already it shows a really nice grain. And I expect to flat it down and spray the last coat to get something like a good finish.



The things I'm considering is that it's going to be in for a while, especially now the best of the weather seems to be passing, and the practice piece, having the much nicer grain, won't encourage me to get the original done and back in like using the dull one would.

I'm writing this cos watching varnish dry is no more interesting than watching paint.

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).

Top,fully assembled one looks the correct,finish for an early Sprint.Try T cutting it gently,and then polishing with car polish,you may find that brings a shine back to it.

That won't fix the cracks in the varnish, or where it's lifted, and the damp's got in. Neither will it fix where the wood underneath has bleached over the years.

This one's not as bad as the original dash parts and door tops in my car, which have suffered a lot. So I could use it with it's cracks and lifts, but even if I fixed them somehow, it won't ever match the grain or the colour of the conserved bits of the rest of the original dash or door caps (which I think may originally have been stained darker from their backs).

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).

The back of the glove box lid is supposed to be darker than the front-despite what some well known wood specialists think.
Fortunantly for me the dash was in very good condition for its age,so I have not restored it when I did the car.If you look at the sales brochures and other Triumph models on sale at the same time as the Dolomite,all the wood was a similar colour on the dash.The door cap colours vary quite a bit from car to car,and dont necassarily match the dash.

I knew the inside of the glovebox was darker. And the picture I posted recently of a contemporary interior shows one where the caps are also darker than the dash. I wonder if the veneered faces always matched the carcasses - they sort of did when the wood was bleached and the varnish was flaking off. But they don't when stripped, sanded, and revarnished. Maybe I could stain the top and front like the back so they do match. But I aren't going to try in case it goes wrong. And even if they ever did match, I accept that they don't as the difference between conservation and restoration.

I absolutely had to do the door caps, which were really bad - one was a total mismatch, and I've had, with Alan help, had to find the nearest and stain to look as near the same as I cam. And while the glove box lid and instrument facia weren't as awful, I decided I would do them now rather than later.

As to the wood of the complete instrument set being dull, I meant it's a deeply uninteresting grain.
That contemporary 74 y.m. interior shows a much more interesting grain:



And shows how the set all match. I know what was said about the picture could have been mucked with, but I like what's shown.

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).

If it wasn't for the early hazard switch, I would have thought that bland, semi-matt finished upper dash was from a later car.

As you've said, there seems to be a wide variety around, in grains, colours and glossiness of finish. Added to which, most of the really nice ones these days have been retouched (at least) by an expert cabinet maker. (Or a talented amateur with too much time on his hands)



I just fitted this professionally done set to a customer car, a bit TOO fussy for my taste, but HE likes it!

I don't honestly see a solution to getting back to "standard" when standard is a huge variable. For my money, it's a case of picking a stain and grain YOU think is best and doing the whole lot the same.

On my car, the cappings are a matched set and have all been redone by the same guy at the same time, and the dash is an original matched grain set from a different car but in a similar lightish shade. It's not perfect, either in condition or match, but it's close enough for me and I haven't had to spend a small fortune or hundreds of hours getting it that last 10% to perfect. TBH it would have been money, not time, as I just don't DO wood! Metal is my medium and I know my limits!

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.

In my case there's no choosing colours or grain, except for the temporary bits. Also, I'm not trying to make them look new - they're old bits of wood in an old car.

Anyway this is where I'm at:



Third one down is not original, and modded to look like the rear one on that side, which is last.

The vent and clock surround need a rub down and a coat of spray and the glove box door may get another rub down and spray.

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).

Colour looks about right to me.I had to do my own cappings,after a well known car wood specialist,completely scrapped a matched car set I managed to aquire (they did them the same as the back of the glove box lid-looked like rosewood!).
I went for an original satin finish,using spraycan laquer and lots of rubbing down between coats-looks almost factory.
While I was messing about (I experimented with about 20 door caps) I discovered that the tops of the cappings,and the ends were stained from new.I got hold of another matched set,and having stripped off the laquer,I discovered that while the grain on the faces matched,the tops did not,and the factory just stained them dark to match.

The sloppiness in building the cars and BLMC going £3 billion bankrupt in 1974 (what the Ryder Report said was needed to dig it out of the hole Stokes &co had driven into) must be linked. Not sure its a simple cause and effect though.

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).

The set for my car has been completely refurbished by us (looking back on it i think we definitely had too much time on our hands)

It was more of an exercise to investigate what could be done rather than anything else.

Some very nasty paint stripper along with some careful work with a sharp chisel had the old varnish removed, and with new varnish they almost look brand new.

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1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

These were done by Chapman & Cliff, it was costly though but worth it.

They asked for the door to be sent away so they could match the capping with the original. They told me what veneer was on them (it's on the invoice), and it was very common on the late Dolomites they said. The photo really doesn't do them justice, they're a perfect match - the light doesn't let you see it here though, as they're sitting at different angles.



You might see it better in this photo.

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Triumph Dolomite Sprint,RNK 957W

Built 26/6/1980 (one of the last built), Auto, Porcelain White - Genuine Mileage 52,820 (warranted).

Only 3 previous owners, (2 within the same family).

Supplied by Lavender Hill Garage Ltd, Enfield, London, by garage owner Jimmy Metcalfe on 30th September 1980 to Geoffery Robinson, Enfield.

Club Membership No: 2017092

So these are new replacements for the door caps, not the old ones re-veneered and varnished?

It would be interesting to know what veneer it says on the invoice though.

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).

Hi Graham

No, these are the car's original door cappings, with the exact veneer applied. They really know their stuff, they have some knowledge.

I'll check the invoice and get the exact veneer name for you.

Murdo

_________________
Triumph Dolomite Sprint,RNK 957W

Built 26/6/1980 (one of the last built), Auto, Porcelain White - Genuine Mileage 52,820 (warranted).

Only 3 previous owners, (2 within the same family).

Supplied by Lavender Hill Garage Ltd, Enfield, London, by garage owner Jimmy Metcalfe on 30th September 1980 to Geoffery Robinson, Enfield.

Club Membership No: 2017092

Oh my that looks gorgeous. It's good to know experts like this are still around.

_________________
1980 Dolomite Sprint Track Day Car....KLJ 895W. now redtopiffied

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23031

Volkswagen Golf MK3 Gti....R301UUJ. RIP 22-5-13
Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDGTI 150 MM53VNT Sold 7-8-17
BMW 320d Coupe M-Sport YL08 XBZ with factory fitted Performance Pack - Sold 22/05/21
BMW 330d Touring M-Sport WN63 XPY - best daily ever

Proud TDC Member!

They have obviously learnt how to do them properly now,it was them who scrapped mine,and it cost me £200 for the privilege.
You could see mine were the wrong colour(Looked like rose wood-pinky red) without taking the bubble wrap off them!
It was 2009 when they did mine.
I must say yours look bang on-money well spent.