The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Being a southerner I'm a bit biased, but I dont think you will find one in Scotland worth having unless its a 2nd or 3rd car and only used in summer months and the owner has a garage. The extra damp and road salt used for the extra 3 or so months are just too much for the crap BL tin and paint of the 70's.

So look down here for a decent chance.

Mine has survived for over 25 years ownership and regular all year round motorway commutes back in the day. It then had a long period of indolence and then I had it rebuilt with new floorpans and a cill and a respray. Its not a concours job and its still in some ways a work in progress. I've yet to sort the spoiler and it has no stripes and screen trim strip, but its not bad. It went back on the road about 3 years ago and Ive used it pretty much like a modern again ever since. Its only faults
during that time have been wear and tear...the intermediate steering column shaft needs doing as its a touch wandery and the exhaust blows where the downpipe ends.

Over the years I have polybushed the drag struts and rack mountings and it has a stainless exhaust. I also used goodridge hoses. Its a bit thirsty on its trick camshaft and new jets. I drive it like a loon though but get below 30 mpg.

I'm thinking of selling it soon, once Ive fitted a new large bore downpipe to cure the blow and given it a fresh Mot.

If you want some pics PM me. Its worth around 3750 cos of the fancy cam and vernier pulley and long term ownership that these cars really need to get sorted properly. There are some real sheds out there so be careful.

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.

Great I cant wait to see it !

Great I cant wait to see it !

This forum is only the part of it; join the Club, £26 per annum and get all the additional benefits such as access to parts at prices not available to non members and parts not available elsewhere full stop!

MikeyB and Martin's cars would only change hands for considerably more than £4k and in Mike's case probably wouldn't change hands at all!

One supplier I can heartily recommend is T.D.Fitchett. They are a bit "old school" in that they don't have a website (one of my young TSSC friends said he would offer do a website for them) and the bloke that answers the phone comes across as a "Mr. Grumpy" but once you get past his demeanour it is great. They know their stuff, they accept plastic and your order comes in the post the next working day by Royal Fail. I've never had any issues with quality and their prices are competitive. They advertise in the classic car mags so you should be able to track them down without too much difficulty.

This forum should be the first place in your search for a Sprint. My last 2 Dolomites (a Sprint and Brown) were sourced via here. Other places to try are eBay (you MUST view the car before bidding - I viewed my Dolomite 1300 which had been listed and ended up buying it privately.), Triumph World, Classic Car Weekly, Classic Car Buyer and the other classic car mags.

I second what has been said by Julian (tinweevil) about the cooling system. There's nothing wrong with having an electric cooling fan (modern cars have them) but the cooling system needs to be in tip top condition in the first place rather than it masking a problem. I run Brown with a 50/50 mixture of blue antifreeze. I know some on here would say that 50% is too high but I keep it below 50% and top up with water which shouldn't dilute it too much. The last time I drained Brown's cooling system the coolant was still clean despite a 2 year lay-up in my unheated garage so I reckon I'm doing something right. Aside from a collapsed heater hose I've had no issues with Brown's cooling system and my Sprint didn't have any problems either apart from the fan trying to bury itself in the radiator.

My "Project Brown" thread is another thread you should look at. Most of the 1850 stuff applies to the Sprint as well.

Good luck in your search.

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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