Newbie here ! I hope it's the right place to post?

[AlanH]

Yes I believe the brake light illuminates when the brakes are out of balance.

Argh! not that dreaded balance switch. If you bleed the brakes and the light comes on, that's more than likely where the problem lies.

Really like those Spitfire wheels and the 1300 engine is, in my opinion, the best OHV.

By the way, being 14 in 1971 and having a 17 year old daughter does not make you and old booger, trust me.

You have given me an idea abut what to get for my granddaughter though (she's 18 on Monday).

Welcome to the forum.

[toryroger]

I too have a late 1300 Dolomite; with experience of what they call "recommissioning". This means drive cautiously at first you do not know what might go wrong, drive to anticipate the unexpected! I had some playing around to do with brakes and clutch, but nothing for well over a year now.
In particular the brakes; even well-set up they are still somewhat modest. The good thing about this is the car makes you a better driver, you have to read ahead. May help your daughter as she learns, not to just rely on the car obeying your instantaneous decisions.
As far as keeping up with traffic, you will get used to using gears and engine to make entirely respectable progress. After a year or so I am never a bother to others; except potentially on motorways when everyone is so amazed to see you, they just give you lots of space. Sometimes the drivers of the breakdown trucks give you a nasty leer as you inch past them!
There is no rev counter so get those ears tuned to the buzz; the little engine is quite flexible, eg on the flat of you are rolling at all 2nd plus a few revs will do it; big roundabouts (if clear) are ok in 3rd; and going 2nd to 4th if there is any gradient with you works too.
I took it to be tuned and The Man said the major danger with these engines is sustained high revs, recommended I stay around 60mph on motorways, no more.
If you hit problems there are people on here who know everything, have done it and will advise in detail, and me too although I am NOT an Expert
Welcome
toryroger

[Larry 1300]

Hi welcome to the club. I have a Dolomite 1300 which is not as good looking as yours. She is Carmine red and I bought her in July and I am trying to improve her. She is a good runner and a joy to drive.
Good luck with your Dolomite.

[RobSun]

Hi welcome to the club and Dolomite 1300 driving. I also have one that is thought by many to be the ''newest Dolomite'' as it was first registered in October 1982 and so far I've not been able to find a later one. I find mine great to drive but as has been said earlier you need to read the road ahead as the breaks although adequate are not to modern standards and unless you want to really push the revs will not pull away from junctions and into gaps on roundabouts as well as a modern, so can be good for learning road craft. Other drivers do however tend to treat you with more respect than if you were driving a small modern and you will surprise some when they see you can keep up well with traffic on fast main roads, they handle quite well.

If you want to see what mine looks like Toledoman posted pictures of the recent Bradford Classic on meetings area.

[triang]

Thanks again - I feel a bit younger now!

Rob - like you I tend to take it easy and ease an old car into it, however on my 120 mile journey I started at 50mph - soon got to 60 and for the last hour ... 75mph!

Having read your note does make me think though...

I drove a 72 Spitfire with the same engine back in the late 70's and , mindful of the strained noises coming from the engine, i rarely ventured north of 70mph... even on a l-o-n-g tour to the heel of Italy,,,

[Jon Tilson]

An ohv engine can suffer valve seat recession with sustained speeds of 4000 rpm.

With a 1300 you have 2 options. You can up change the diff ration. I used a 3.89 with some success.

Or you can fit an overdrive box. This will cost you at least 300 quid for a half decent one and you will have a lot of competition
from Spit and 1500 dolly owners.

I would just use it on local and non motorway trips myself. If you need to do a lot of motorway work in it then I would
seriously think about an alternative.

Jonners

[RobSun]

I would certainly concur with Jon on this. I try to keep mine to a 55/60 cruise speed with the odd burst up into the 70s which makes it great on A and B roads but I keep off the motorway if at all possible as 60 is around 4000 revs and although mine is a very low millage and sound engine too its working to hard for sustained higher speed. Also personally I feel vulnerable at that speed with Polish lorries right up my chuff, or maybe that has something to do with my normal motorway speed.

[triang]

Thanks Rob and Jon - wises words!

This car will definitely be a local and A road only chariot, my daughter will be using it but not for long trips and I may take it out for country jaunts occasionally but that's about it.

After all it was never meant to be a motorway starship - more of a 'potterer' of a car.

Am I right in thinking the origins of this engine began with the Standard 8/10 of the early '50s?

Motorways were just a dream then!

BTW I remember a retired AA patrolman reminiscing about the opening of the first motorways - he said he often got calls about cars whose engines had "blown up" and were now on the hard shoulder in a puddle of hot oil... he said that these older generation '50s and '40s cars were just not up to sustained speeds - but there was one make that was 95% sure to be waiting for him on the hard shoulder.... Rootes Group Hilmans, Singers and Sunbeams etc!

[RobSun]

Now you are dragging up old memories.

I started my driving in the late 60s and top speeds were then in the 70s for many smaller engines and 80 for most cars with 88 to 90 for GTs. Heady days. Engines were only good for 60000 or so some only 30000 but they got rebuilt or swapped for recons so yes blown engines were fairly common especially if not serviced which could be needed every 3000 miles. They just were not engineered like now oils were nothing like as good so the motorway was a strain on engines.
I remember at 14 being with my dad on the m1 in his nearly new 1963 Hillman Minx 1600. My mum was terrified cruising at 60 and he got fed up of her complaining so he put the peddle to the metal and flew along at 83. Flat out then just ticking over now.

Never heard her complain again, I enjoyed it, first high speed buzz that set me off tweeking minies and imps and finishing up with an international competition licence.

They just don't know the fun and joy of motoring now unless you have a classic.

[triang]

Jon , you've got my memory buds popping now.

In the 60's I remember that motorways were more or less segregated between rich and poor!

The third lane was for the exclusive use of Jaguars, Alfas, Mercedes, Zodiacs, Big Sports Cars etc that could do high top speeds.

My Dad in his Standard 8 would NEVER venture there - the possible exception being if the motorway was quiet and he came upon a lorry overtaking another blocking lanes 1 or 2. Even then it was a denture rattling experience as he s-l-o-w-l-y accelerated and passed them at about 60, beads of sweat on his brow!

Now I take my wife's 1.5 family hatchback on the M4 and I can sit at 100 plus for the whole journey. In fact I wonder what the benefit is in having a 200bhp saloon when I'm frequently overtaking everybody....the only restraint being are you brave/daft enough or are there any Traffic Police around.

[Toledo Man]

You are right in that the OHV engine has it's origins in the Standard 8 which was just over 800cc. It was bored out to increase capacity. Once up to 1300cc the only way to further increase capacity was to stroke the engine. There were plans to further increase the capacity but for whatever reason it didn't come about.

[AlanH]

You can do a lot with the 1300 engine. It's worth remembering that the Spitfire 3 had higher bhp that the 1500 (although I think less torque). The small crankshaft model also revs a lot more freely that the large crankshaft 13 & 1500s. Perhaps the main problem to look out for is excessive endfloat which can cause the washers to end up in the sump

As I recall the late great John Kipping of Canley Classics recommended using an HS6 carb, triumph Spitfire3 road cam and uprated exhaust.

I have got twin HS4s on mine but I am thinking of an HS6 which is said to give the same bhp with more torque and you don't have to go through all of that balancing crap.

Upgrades such as 123 ignition and electric cooling fan etc. are easy to do.

Add in a 3.89 diff and an overdrive box and you could well have quite a nice car that would even handle motorways.

Hmm do I feel a future purchase coming on here? Who needs to sleep at night anyway.

[Maidstonerob]

Just to confirm what others have said I'm a relative newbie on here and have been genuinely surprised with how good the support on here is from everyone.

Loads of great advice and help. Highly recommend joining the club as well if you haven't already. Easily worth the membership fee.
Rob.

[captain_70s]

Welcome, always good to see a fellow 1300 owner! I remember seeing adverts for the car when it was for sale, it certainly looks to be an immaculate example.

Rob - like you I tend to take it easy and ease an old car into it, however on my 120 mile journey I started at 50mph - soon got to 60 and for the last hour ... 75mph!

I once got my Dolly 1300 up to a giddy 80mph, although the screaming of the engine meant I didn't stick there for longer than a minute or so! It's rather funny because at the time I found it utterly terrifying but I've sat at similar speeds in my 1850 and marvelled at how competent it is. 50-55mph is the most comfortable speed I find, even at 60mph it starts to feel a bit strained. Although my example isn't in the greatest of health and directs large amounts of it's oil straight through the exhaust, so your experience may differ! I adopt a far more relaxed driving style in a OHV Dolomite, there is no way to drive a stock example fast so you don't bother trying! It'll take a bit of getting used to if your daughter has only driven modern cars though, tons of body roll, lack of overall grip, no ABS or power steering etc.

There is no doubt driving a car of that age will make you a better driver as far as I'm concerned. You have to be more observant and aware of your surroundings and situation, otherwise you risk coming off a roundabout backwards and going through a fence a mere fortnight after buying your 1850HL... Not that I'd know about such things. Thankfully the 1300s lack any and all power, so you'd have to be doing something very silly to get one to go sideways, unless it's snowy and you're in a deserted car park... But again, I know nothing of such things.

Just make sure you watch out for idiots pulling out of junctions in front of you so they aren't "stuck behind that bloody old car"! Especially pottering around town there have been several occasions where I've had to brake hard because some oblivious git has been desperate to be in front of me.

[triang]

Thamks for that Captain!

But I found that the Dolly has one unexpected advantage over modern cars that can sometimes turn the tables to a satisfying extent...

As I live in the suburbs of London, once you are off the main routes the roads are littered with speed humps.

The Dolly's suspension is so supple, compliant and smooth you can fly over them at ridiculous speeds ( an upside of the suspension being too soft for enthusiastic cornering).

The other night I was driving along an A road when some twit in a modern Astra puts his clog down to overtake me unnecessarily and slightly dangerously (probably because a) doesn't want to be stuck behind an "old car" and b) It's so shiny it must be driven by an old giffer.

But wait! 100 yards on he turns right ( where I want to go ) along a long and quiet road that cuts over the Common, with tons of speed humps...

Ho-ho! I turn and race right up behind him as he slowly bumps and wobbles over each one, eventually he pulls over, I overtake him and shoot off. But he wasn't pulling over after all, he was letting me go... One Impatient Astra driver scalp to the Dolly!

Silly and juvenile I know (ps I wasn't that close to him and not dangerously so ) and I should really stop trying to get my own back on idiot aggressive drivers - but it was fun and shows that it's not necessarily brute force that wins the day!