Triumph Dolomite 1850

[moggy]

I am new to the Triumph Dolomite Club and am not quite sure where to start looking for help! I have inherited an 1850 Triumph Dolomite and the paintwork is not in the best of conditions. Can anyone recommended a company in the South East of England who could do a respray and possibly a complete overhaul, maybe replacing the electrics too? The car passed its MOT just over a year ago but has not been used on a regular basis in recent years and, although it had a new battery for the MOT last year, due to lack of use it probably requires another new battery now as it won't start. 2 garages have quoted in the region of £60-£75 for a battery although the latter quote was for one that they said was very powerful - if anyone can recommend a specific battery for this particular model and where I can buy it that too would be most helpful. Ideally, what would be useful is to find someone in the SE who loves working on Triumphs!

Moggy

[DoloWIGHTY]

The battery you can still get at your local Halfords, if you check their book (normally on the end of the shelf) it still lists "Triumph Dolomite" among it's pages (which I think is pretty remarkable for a car which has been out of production for 30 odd years).

I got one from Halfords for my 1850 earlier this year - it cost £32.00 which I was happy to pay.

Easy job to put in the car, plus it comes with a proper warrantee. So I would say Halfords is your best bet. Good luck with the car and never be afraid to ask a question on here.

[NickMorgan]

Hi Moggy,
Welcome to the Forum. I am afraid that I am at the opposite end of the country, so can't really recommend a garage. However, surely the battery should be covered under warranty. Can't you take it back to the garage that supplied it? On the other hand maybe it would be fine given a good charge.
I am sure there will be plenty of suggestions from club members closer to you.

[1300dolly]

If the car hasnt been used it could just be that the battery has drained through non use, check the levels in the baterry if the caps on top come off, jump start off another car or put you battery on trickle charge over night, it may revive itself.
Buying a heavy duty battery is pointless for your needs.

Where abouts in the SE are you?

[moggy]

Thanks for all your replies so far - I'm near Battle in East Sussex although would be prepared to travel for the right person/company to get the car back into good condition. I did have the battery on charge for over a day and although I turned it on for several minutes and pumped the accelerator the car wouldn't start. The battery was showing volts under 13.

[1300dolly]

If the car is turning over then I would look elsewhere for a fault, do you have a spark at the sparkplugs and how old is the fuel, old fuel will not burn.if you have fresh fuel and asprk at teh plugs check teh condition of teh psark plugs as they may be sooted or damp.
Nice place Battle but im afriad I cant help with any suggestions as to garages, if you have a local all makes classic car club give them a shout to see if they can recommend anyone.

[Jon Tilson]

I do occasionally work on other peoples dolomites for a nominal fee.

You arent too far from me as I live in Hampton. Its about an hours drive.

you can send me a PM so we can have chat about whether I can be of any help. I also know some people who paint cars and if
I come to work on yours I can have a look and see who would be best to sort it for you,

Jonners

[Yellow Banana]

For my money, I'd whip the battery out and get it to a local battery shop - not Halfords (you would be ok buying one from them) but a proper battery outlet. They can do a leak test and tell you if the battery is holding it's charge or not, and if it would revive after a good long trickle charge. Trickle charge is better than a boost charge in your case. They might even sell you a battery for about the same price as Halfords (although my new battery last month cost me a bit more than £32. When you say the car wouldn't start I assume you mean that the engine was actually cranking but not enough to fire up rather than no audible noise from the starter or just a click from the starter motor - which may indicate that the small 12 lead to the motor is not connected.

[moggy]

Thanks again to all of you who have replied to my dilema with the 1850 TD that won't start. The engine was turning over with the choke out but not firing. The battery had been on trickle charge for about 2 days but had not fully charged as it had done on previous occasions. What we think we will do is to replace the battery and check the spark plugs (it had been damp when I last tried to start it and the car has been standing out side for a number of years although previously in its life garaged). Once I can get the car going and MOTd I will come back to the forum to see about getting the paintwork and other works done. Thanks Jonners for your offer does PM mean PN (phone number?)

[Yellow Banana]

PM means you have been sent a Private Message. Look at the very top of the TDC forum page (of whatever thread you are on) and you will see the User Control Panel under the Board Index. If you have been sent a message you'll see (1 new message)

[jeffers]

Hi Moggy,

I'm a member of a car club in Bexhill (although I actually live in NW London) and had some work done on my GT6 by a chap in Ninfield which I was very happy with. I can let you have a number of contacts that our members have used in and around Bexhill you could have a chat with re paintwork etc. Or if you would like to pop down to one of our social get-togethers in Bexhill and have a chat to a few people, let me know and I'll suggest who to speak to.

Cheers
Jeff

[Jon Tilson]

Okay a few tips on getting a long standing dolly to go...

Get a small can of petrol and carefully remove the float chamber tops, 3 screws on each. Fill the float chambers with petrol. This means that the engine doesnt have t o crank for ages getting fule to the carbs from the tank. It also means the petrol will be fresh.

Dive under the car and look at 2 small wires going to the starter solenoid. Take them off and give the terminals a good clean. One fires the solenoid and the other provides the source for full battery voltage to the coil...the ballast bypass system.

Choke full out and see if it starts. If it doesnt then you have some ignition problems....clean the points in the distributor and the spark plugs and try and see if you can get a spark. You really need a multimeter to see if the ballast bypass is working and you get full volts at the coil when starting. But you can just hotwire the car with a lead from the battery direct to the coil plus to get you going.

Tell us how you get on.

Jonners

[1300dolly]

For my money, I'd whip the battery out and get it to a local battery shop . They can do a leak test and tell you if the battery is holding it's charge or not, and if it would revive after a good long trickle charge. .

The only downfall with doing that is the cost which with some companys will be the same or close to the cost of a new battery!

I have a slightly differeent method to Jonners for starting cars, I first check at the plugs for a spark, if no spark then find teh reraosn why starting at the coil and working toeards the dizzy not forgetting to check the HT leads are not arcing if there is a good strong spark then i Spray a lot of carb cleaner direct into the carbs with the airfilter removed, crank the car over and if it briefly runs then you know its a fueling fault.if it doesn't fire then take the plugs out to check they are okay.
the reason i dont open the float chambers unless as a last resort is so the gasket seal isnt disturbed.

[Jon Tilson]

Fair point but latley I've found that these flat chamber top gaskets are pretty robust and havent broken on a couple of long standing non starters.

You could do the same job by feeding the carbs from a bottle down the inlet hose....whatever works for you.

You could also loosen the fuel pump and rock it by hand to see if it pumps fuel. I usually find that a dolomite that has been standing will be a bit reluctant to
pull fuel up from the tank. All it needs is one perished rubber bit and it just sucks air.


Jonners

[Yellow Banana]

clean the points in the distributor and the spark plugs and try and see if you can get a spark

If you are doing this you might as well check the gaps while you're at it. Think it's 14 - 16 thou for the points and 25 thou for the plugs.