The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I have a 1973 dolomite 1850 and the door cappings on the front are terrible. I need to take them off rub them down stain and varnish them. Does any know how to actually take the off please ??? and any tips on the refurbishment

jonners did a thread on it a while back, it may be on our old forum....try a search, its too late for me!

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

Yep I've restored my Sprint ones some years ago and it cost peanuts. I took them off, power sanded them to remove the old lacquer then used a Colron Wood Dye (Medium Oak?) to restore the colour. I applied a small amount of this with an old rag. Then I used lots of thin layers of polyurethane varnish which was a matt finish. You'll need a very good quality natural bristle brush for this. Gently rub down each coat with fine wet and dry. It's not quite original but looks very good.

Top tip though, don't do the sanding in the kitchen you will not be popular and it makes a right mess.

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Mark

1961 Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier Sportswagon
1980 Dolomite Sprint project using brand new shell
2009 Mazda MX5 2.0 Sport
2018 Infiniti Q30

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation. You guys are really helpful , what a great forum, It really is great knowing someone out there knows the answer and is happy to help. I have sent off my application to become a member , I am very impressed with the forum.

thank you for your advice, it is very helpful and I will try to follow it , I take note of the advice re the kitchen , pity its a nice warm place to work in .......

can you advise are the arm rests attached to the door panel , if not how do you remove them ??

Two large Phillips screws on the underside of the armrest hold it to the door. They are well hidden but at the extreme bottom of the handle on the lower edge.

brilliant thanks

One thing - putting the window winders back on is an utter nightmare, since you have to drop the pin in. It's much easier to use a piece of wire and then just bend it over and twist it up.

To put the pins in I use a combination of a strong flat screwdriver and a set of lon nosed pliers, works a treat! Still a pig of a job but thankfully one that doesn't get done too often.

By the way if you have the door trim off it's worth checking inside the shell for corrosion, rubbish and allsorts. Clean out as appropriate and get some rust proofer in there making sure the drain holes are clear.

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Mark

1961 Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier Sportswagon
1980 Dolomite Sprint project using brand new shell
2009 Mazda MX5 2.0 Sport
2018 Infiniti Q30

Also reagdring the window winders....remember to put the springs between the door and the door card.

Ive seen a few cars where this was forgotten and the springs (reduced to 1 usually) are under the plastic retainer. this makes fitting the pin FAR more difficult.

With the springs correctly behind the door card iys much easier pushing the black bit back enough to get the pin in place.

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.

[quote="Jon Tilson"]Also reagdring the window winders....remember to put the springs between the door and the door card.

Ive seen a few cars where this was forgotten and the springs (reduced to 1 usually) are under the plastic retainer. this makes fitting the pin FAR more difficult.

With the springs correctly behind the door card iys much easier pushing the black bit back enough to get the pin in place.

Jonners[/quote


thank you all for the very valuable advice, will attempt to take the panels off this weekend. I noticed that quiller triumph sell brand new door cappings for £31 each is that a good price ??

£31 each It'll be cheaper to sand down and varnish the existing ones