1979 Dolomite 1500HL

[Waynus]

Hi guys, it was my birthday recently and as a present to myself I decided to treat myself to a Dolly for daily driving (my MK2 Golf was seriously lacking in character!), One came up on eBay and after viewing and falling in love I decided to buy her with a lot of haggling for £300! For that I got a '79 Dolomite which seems completely standard with only small spots of cosmetic rust (less than one would expect for such a low price however), she's Sandglow with a dealer fitted brown vinyl roof, MOT until October, only 73,000 miles all accounted for in the full service history including original bill of sale and other interesting goodies and a replacement front bumper which only needs a polish up.
The problems which I used to haggle down from £550 to £300 were a slipping clutch, no tax and the temperature gauge not working. I'm currently working at a garage which specialises in air-cooled VW's so eventually I'm going to be going down the route of a full respray but for now I'm going to be simply making her mechanically sound for daily driving.
I have named her Doris and unfortunately she lives at my work so I haven't managed to get any pictures yet, but I shall be doing so on Monday...
I was just wondering whether any of you well informed ladies and gentlemen could offer any advice on what common faults to look for mechanically? I know it is an old car but in my experience any well maintained engine can be more reliable than a modern one.
Also I wanted to change the wheels, any suggestions on what wheels to go for? I'm liking Sprint wheels but they do seem a common option...

[Purplebargeken]

Hi and welcome. 1500 engined cars have a reputation for grumbly bottom ends. The general consensus is that a properly serviced standard engine is a very good bet. Be sure to use the correct oil filter which has a non-return valve.

Temp guage.... try a new thermostatic switch and/or a voltage regulator (which lives just above the fuse box, the Club do an uprated one which lives in the original casing, but you have to be a member to get it). Also make sure you actually have a thermostat fitted. Make sure the dashpots are topped up with ATF/engine oil/some other kind of oil. Some one will be along soon to tell you more.

Ken

Try not to do the Sprint wheel thing on a non-Sprint, you will have things throw at you from a far distance

Ken

[Waynus]

Cheers for the advice, I did check when I inspected the car and there is a Thermostat fitted so I tested the gauge which works as it should so it seems it can only be a knackered thermostat and luckily there were no tell-tale signs of overheating on the 35 mile drive back.
I've ordered the usual service parts and will be giving it a good going over this week, the good thing is that according to the service history the engine has been well maintained throughout it's life, it is also the original engine which is always nice.
I don't suppose you know of any other wheels which fit the stud pattern? I'm not too bothered though because I could get my standard wheels refurbished by my friend for a small fee...

[Aar0sc]

Guildford eh?

Not to far from me then

(And no, that's not an offer of help 'cos I'd be useless )

Aaron

[tinweevil]

Good choice! Kens said it all already really but I'll restate a couple of points.

The 1500 is berated often mainly by those that don't drive em. Drive it like a diesel, by which I mean keep the revs low and revel in the torque and they are bombproof. The 1300 version of the same engine can be revved 'till only dogs can hear them, a 1500 will put a leg out of bed if you try that. Thing is a 1300 and a 1500 are at the end of the day much the same. One has torque, the other has revs - swings & roundabouts - no matter which way you go you end up in the same place.

Keep it maintained and you'll enjoy driving past an awful lot of modern machinery pulled up at the side of the road. Mine used to do 2k per month and is about to start that again, it's not failed to get me home in 70k. You should average 40mpg unless all your mileage is short.

[Waynus]

Right, finally got some pictures, will be taking more eventually but sorting out the problems have taken priority...
For some reason using photobucket has cropped the edges of the photos but you can still see the majority of it.






Preparing for the clutch to changed:


And a couple from the eBay listing:




And a little cosmetic damage which will hopefully soon be sorted, don't suppose anyone knows the British Standard/RAL code for Sandglow? Because we got a matching colour for a Beetle recently and it was dirt cheap (like £70 for 5 litres!):

[JPB]

That looks pretty sound really. Tell me; how can you haggle over the car not having any duty in the screen? Presumably the seller declared that at the time?

[Waynus]

Well he did say over the phone that he was going to tax it, still managed to get it cheap though!
I have another question; where would be best to get a complete engine gasket set?

[Waynus]

Guildford eh?

Not to far from me then

(And no, that's not an offer of help 'cos I'd be useless )

Aaron

My Dolomite is actually at my work in Chiddingfold so even closer than Guildford, and don't worry I doubt I'll be needing much help, my boss and the other lads down at the units have had previous experience with them... Give me a shout if you need any yourself though, we do everything down there and it would be nice to see something other than a VW for a change (not that I don't like them!).

[JPB]

For the OHV engines, you have many, many possible sources of supply for gaskets. I'd buy from James Paddock -Linky Here- since their stuff is usually top quality and cheaper than many others, but members here will all doubtless recommend their preferred suppliers.

[Oli_88]

I spy an Imp in them pictures! Yes please!
I will have one of them one day, preferably a Californian/Stiletto/Chamois Coupe variant, he says, not being able to tell which one that is.

[tinweevil]

Who you get the set from matters less than what you get. Only accept a Payen head gasket so whoever you order from do it by phone not online. Payen don't make sets or any of the other gaskets but that's no problem as anything from a cornflakes packet up will work for the rest. I get mine from Wins.

[Aar0sc]

Guildford eh?

Not to far from me then

(And no, that's not an offer of help 'cos I'd be useless )

Aaron

My Dolomite is actually at my work in Chiddingfold so even closer than Guildford, and don't worry I doubt I'll be needing much help, my boss and the other lads down at the units have had previous experience with them... Give me a shout if you need any yourself though, we do everything down there and it would be nice to see something other than a VW for a change (not that I don't like them!).

You are really close then! Going to the Breakfast Club today?

[Waynus]

Well for the time being only the sump gasket needed replacing so I just ordered that from an Autofactors for about £4.50, I'll be ordering a full set very soon however as I'm thinking of doing a full strip down and recondition of the engine, might even look for a spare engine to smoke about in whilst I work my magic on the current one; all depending on price as I am a student...
On inspection of my transmission tunnel cover I've noticed that the seal really isn't doing much anymore and I would like to replace it, I could just bung in loads of sealant but that is only going to be done if the seal is prohibitively expensive.
Tried out the new clutch and she appears to work beautifully, I'm looking forward to a proper test when all the tunnel cover and interior is bolted back in place.

I spy an Imp in them pictures! Yes please!
I will have one of them one day, preferably a Californian/Stiletto/Chamois Coupe variant, he says, not being able to tell which one that is.

As far as I know it is just a Hillman Imp, I was toying with the idea of buying it off my boss before I bought the Dolly but it really is close to scrapworthy, I may buy one someday...

You are really close then! Going to the Breakfast Club today?

Completely forgot about it to be fair, so many things to do as I'm also preparing my Golf to sell for when I get the Dolly on the road, I've missed so many events lately.

[Jod Clark]

Who you get the set from matters less than what you get. Only accept a Payen head gasket so whoever you order from do it by phone not online. Payen don't make sets or any of the other gaskets but that's no problem as anything from a cornflakes packet up will work for the rest. I get mine from Wins.

Payen head gasket sets actually contain a COOPERS head gasket, and I would use nothing else. Avoid the dimpled silver ones at all costs, they am shoite. The Coopers one is black with bright fire rings and copper oil feed sealing washer built in. Payen head gasket sets are still available through your local independent motor spares shop although they will probably have to order it in.