Stan Part wrote:.....Why they chose to make two different seat widths is a mystery to me.
I'm guessing that people who could afford a Dolomite rather than a Toledo or, after the OHV Dolomites appeared, an HL rather than a flat plank car were richer than buyers of the lower-priced versions. This would have meant that they could afford to eat more, therefore they'd be more likely to have bigger bottoms and so to need wider seats? Or maybe it's because the narrower seats were carried on from the Toledo whereas the Dolomite started out with seats borrowed from a bigger car and the width across the subframes was that bit more.
But I like the first explanation better.
already 4 votes for No to the vinyl roof i "was" 30/70 - 70 being NO vinyl roof as my thoughts were, it might smudge the character and originality some what.
so... going to keep it totally original,bar the "GPR Wings" which are soon to be sorted and fitted.
ok, would you say, "re-trim the original interior in the original color"? OR go for a full black interior ? - the front passenger seat in the car now has been replaced at some point as it is wider than the drivers seat
i really don't want to ruin the car,but would like to make subtle "enhancements" bring it a little up to date with a black interior.. rather than the original 70's brown n browner - please comment
Hiya, nice choice of car. She should be doing a bit more than 65mph.
Best to give her a bloody good service irrespective of what the previous owner may or may not have done. Make sure you use a decent quality 20/50 oil (Halfrauds Classic is fine) and a proper non-return oil filter.
Check the tyre pressures and make sure the brakes aren't binding as well.
These are sweet little cars and are quite gutsy. They can be quickened up but will require a fair bit of tinkering (in my eyes anyway). make sure all is sound underneath the battery as well.
Black interiors are quite sought after and may be hard to get hold of. Always good to see original interiors but it is your car after all.
yeah i will do,they did say the car had been serviced just over 500 miles ago but the oil is like black dish water.... - non return oil filter? if i bought a service kit for my 1300 from rimmer bro's or quillertriumph should this do the job ?
what should be expected from a 1300 dolomite 4 speed non O/D RWD ?
the guy did also say their was a whine from the gearbox -but when at 50-60mph the tunnel was getting warm and was warming up the carpet - but the whine seems to be coming from either the bearing on the propshaft (propshaft bearing you can see under the car) OR the diff... could this count as to why it isn't pulling? - it did sound as though we were flogging her guts when we had to overtake at times at 65mph.. daren't go any quicker as i didn't want to risk blowing her engine up.. - i have also been having to put in the LRP addative -wonder if the valve seats are knackered... but she starts up fine and drives fine.. - i will be getting an un-leaded head at some point too.
and the interior is on ebay,just checked and is too far away for me so.. going to take a little hint and keep her original
GRP wings have flanges just like the originals so you can self tap, bond, nut and bolt or pop rivet to your hearts content.
The wings I have commissioned are thicker, more robust and cast off an OE NOS metal wing are way and above better quality than 'others' which frankly can be a b'stard to fit and look poorly fitting once done.
I would say your car already has the wider HL seats, though the driver's looks a different cloth to the passenger?
Some 1300s left the dealers with an optional vinyl roof fitted, not always in black either!
i will admit,when we were driving the car back up home on the motorway it did seem a little loud (rev wise) at a rough guess was probably doing around 3,500 Rpm and 3,800Rpm at 55-60mph but it was noisey,the guy i bought the car from said it comfortably sat at 70mph on the motorway.. my dad did say that he wasn't giving it the beans,about quater throttle in 4th gear he said which he said was 60mph.. are they usually pretty noisey 1300's at 60+mph ?
Thanks guys, i know i must sound an idiot but,im a noob to dolomite's and its been a while since i have been in a classic car with 4 speed box
Diff fitted to 1300 Dolomites was 4.11:1, the lowest of the lot which is understandable as they'd want to get some performance out of the little engine and it would possibly struggle to pull 3.63 which is the next highest.
Dolomites are all fairly low geared by modern standards though, even my 1850 auto - highest geared of the range at 3.27:1 - is doing 20mph per 1000rpm in 3rd, so 70mph is 3500rpm. With the 4.11 diff, you'll be doing around 15.6 mph per 1000 in top, so at 70, you'd be doing 4487 rpm which would sound a little busy but shouldn't be too difficult to maintain if your ears can take it.
I have done a little bit of tidying up (wiring wise)
found a few little "quick fixes "
their was a wire going from the fuse box to the coil (which its had a 12volt coil upgrade) and someone at some point has tightened down the little nuts on the coil and cracked the plastic shroud around the threaded section (where the positive and negative feeds are) - the wire at the fuse box end had just been shoved into the plastic block connector for the ignition -so that wire has now been replace and "re-routed" and had a neat little "male spade connector fitted" and fitted on the opposite side (blank male connector on the fuse box)
and has had another female spade connector on at the other end (all soldered too)
Also fitted a neat little Tachometer
(nothing too flash or fancy just a nice little "retro-ish" looking rev counter
wasn't too hard to wire up - if you have noticed the little pieces of "black gafa tape" behind the rev counter - i put that their just cover the few little wires up. and looks pretty good
When we drove the car home, with the heater controls set on "screen&car" we got warm air through the screen vents,but not the dash vents (just cold air) - when on "screen" setting it was perfrectly warm.
I have noticed however that when the cars warm,and it blows warm through the screen setting, when i put the heater on to "screen and car" - i get no air through the dash vents,when stood still... but the back of the dash (that little vinyl section behind the 8 track - gets warm.... could it be a possible hose that feeds the two circular dash vents isn't connected or something?
The round vents aren't connected to the heater, they collect cold air from the plenum chamber (under the grille behind the engine bay), so no matter where you set the heater slides, those vents won't give you any air unless you're moving.
The heater itself is immediately behind the shelf, so that's why the trim gets hot.
