The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hi there,

I've just signed up to these forums so a big friendly hello to all of you on here

I've been browsing for a new car on a budget for some time and have just come across the idea of purchasing a classic car as a daily driver for both the cheaper (hopefully) insurance and the fact I would be able to work on and maintain it myself. A dolomite 1500/1850 seems to fit the bill perfectly and in my opinion looks great for a car of that age.

I'm no stranger to car maintenance and have worked a lot on a 1975 land rover 3 series and gained some fairly good skills (including some basic welding) as well as enjoying every minute of it. In terms of a dolomite being used daily (around 5000 miles a year), is maintenance going to be a challenge or would it be manageable with modest funds?

Another option I was viewing was the possibility of buying something a bit less loved (off-the-road / MOT failed) and having it as a project over the summer. Would repairing a dolomite to a roadworthy state be achievable in a couple of months as well as cost-effective or is this all too ambitious?

Am I completely mad? Your thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

I wouldn't say you were mad at all. A dolomite does make a pretty good daily drive. I used my sprint daily for a year, and many other people do commutes in all variants.

For ease of maintenance I'd say a 1500 probably edges out the 1850, just because the all-iron engine has a bit less to go wrong with it. They can be hard on bearings due to the long stroke though. The 1850 will feel a lot peppier and happy to rev. Depends how much fun you can have on your commute I suppose.

All of the service parts are regularly available as the 1500 engine is the same as the spitfire one, and the 1850 one is very similar to the TR7 lump.

Being able to weld is handy, as being a car of the 70s, they do rust quite a bit. That's not to say there aren't good examples around, especially the 1500HL model, which were often bought as retirement cars. I would recommend buying with decent bodywork at the top of the list, the oily bits are easy and cheap enough to sort out or replace.

welcome ,yes you are mad but so are most people here
a dolomite for a dialy driver is vary doable but having a spare/backup car is a good idea, 1500s are extremly easy to work on , most parts for are availble through the club (you can join for £26) or some local motor factors.
lots of usefull advice on this forum for the problems you may encounter.
buy a car with a years mot and has been looked after and another to do up. restoration can be very pricey depending on who is doing the work it has been known for people to spend 30 grand on a rebuild.

I have a 1500 (loved) MOT just expired, needs the front pass wing tarting up but otherwise its great, drove it 100 miles home with no probelm....1 week ago....for sale if you are interested.

Also an 1850 unloved, needs more attention than I can give it...for sale for what I paid for it / what its worth in bits.....are you local to the south coast?

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Previous owner of 42 Dolomite shaped vehicles, 14 Sprints, 12 1850s, 8 1500s, 3 V8s, 3 Toledos and 2 SEs

Thanks for some fantastic replies.

The choice between a 1500 or 1850 is still a little tricky for me. On one side I have my daily commute down some very enjoyable country roads where the 1500 might seem a little wet, and on the other the maintenance issues and higher insurance costs which could be better used to keep the car in a nice condition.

In terms of finding a car, the advice of looking for body condition over mechanical condition seems fairly sound although one of the few bits of kit I'm missing at the moment is an engine hoist so any significant work would be tricky. I'm guessing that this is probably a case of it all coming down to finding the right car on the market for me.

30 grand for a rebuild is an alarming figure! Best to stay away from something that's going to require that amount of work I think. In terms of club membership, I will certainly be joining if I get my hands on a dolomite.

I'm in the Cambridgeshire area if anyone has some good leads for me

Thanks again

On the subject of engine hoists, mine was a hundred quid, new on the bay, but if you can get hold of Marts make it yourself portable one, it would be cheaper than that and easy to store...

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Previous owner of 42 Dolomite shaped vehicles, 14 Sprints, 12 1850s, 8 1500s, 3 V8s, 3 Toledos and 2 SEs

you can hire an engine crane for £15-20 a weekend.

Hi Woodsup and welcome.

I live in Bishop's Stortford and I am a Sprintaholic

There are a few guys in Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas too.

All the advise above is sound, if you look about there are a good few 1500's and 1850's to be had for a few hundred quid and a weekends work to get them roadworthy if they are not already.

Having never owned either type and only had the engine running on my Sprint for a few minutes, I am not really best suited to helping you choose between the two.

Have a look on ebay and the TDC HOMEPAGE as well as the forum section.

If you join before you own (as I did) I found that other members would travel out of their way to look at cars for me to buy. Not saying that will happen for you too but that's what happened for me

Good luck

Had a look into this today. Your quite right, it wouldn't be a major issue after all.

edit: Hi Colin, it's good to know that there is some reasonably priced cars around. The club membership fee is sounding more and more reasonable now as well

Hi woodsup, i'm one of those cambridgeshire guys colins on about. I would be prepared to look at anything local with you. I also have an engine hoist, stock of dolomite spares and a fully functioning kettle
Regards Andy

Hi there Andy, that sounds like an offer I can't refuse

I'm pretty much decided on an 1850 now, (for all the wrong reasons of course!) so am on the lookout for anything in reasonably good condition. Noticed a brown one that looked pretty good on auto-trader but it was gone by the time I next looked

Am I right in thinking 1850s are that bit harder to find than 1500s though?

Just keep your eyes peeled and see what turns up. Depending on your budget something viable will appear soon. If your doing the work yourself running a Dolomite can be about as cheap as motoring can get but you also get some character and personality that modern cars miss. I echo the sentiments from the above posts about what to look for. I'll probably get shot for this but view it as a women....... check the body first, worry about the mechanics later........

Retreating at speed..
Andy

Well it made me laugh

saw this on the bay:

Item number: 280121599077

Bit of a trek from cambridge I know, but is that the kind of thing I should be looking at?

I can think of a couple of people down that way who could take a look for you, although to be honest at least one of them is probably bidding on it themselves.

Not to worry, I won't be bidding on this one. I really don't fancy trailering something back that far. Looks a gudun though