Dolly 1300 MOT fail

[captain_70s]

So, I bunged my Dolomite 1300 back together and sent it down to the MOT station where it failed on a few things.

Handbrake not up to scratch - A bit of a clean up and adjusting and that'll be fine.
Emissions too high - It's running a bit rich and has been sitting for 11 months, I should be able to sort this...
N/S Headlamp aim to high - It was seized and wouldn't adjust, can probably sort this
O/S Headlamp insecure:

That last one is the issue, the metalwork that the headlights mount to has ceased to exist. As seen here:




The N/S has enough iron oxide left to hold the headlight in place, just about, but the O/S side is completely gone. Are there panels available from the club for replacing the rotten ones, and how big of a job is it? If the whole front end of the car needs to come off it's probably not going to be viable to repair unfortunately...

[matt of the vivas]

Ive got the same issue with a friends car. I think it will be possible to repair it with the wing on, although it wont be a pretty job. You will probably find the eyebrow has mostly disappeared to. What are the wings like? If they are bad too you might as well cut them off and get access to the front end that way - then replace with the clubs GRP wings as they are very good and wont need welding.

[xvivalve]

Ends of square headlamp inner valances are in the pipeline, not sure when they'll be in stock, but I'm chasing the fabricator on both these and restocking of the round headlamp versions. Patterns need to be made/remade for both types respectively.

As with the round headlamp version they will be made with generous widths of front valance, but trimmed down they could be fitted from inside the arch if you have enough projecting metal left to weld them to

[cliftyhanger]

Temp fix......clean up, and use PU advesive to stick some steel, or even fibreglass paste. Anything to make it rigid enough for the tester. Yes, bit of a bodge, but if only temporary, gives you breathing room.

[captain_70s]

Wings are repairable, Where they meet the valance is pretty knackered though, the valance itself is also pretty damn crusty especially around the indicators. Eyebrows look alright, but you never know had bad they really are until you get all the paint off... Off course whether it's cost effective to repair the old panels (which I suspect have already been replaced/repaired in the past) rather than buy a whole fibreglass front end is another matter. Especially given I'm more partial to longevity than originality.

I may well bodge it for the MOT and wait for the inner valance panels to be produced as the whole lot is going to need cut out anyway to get to good metal. Otherwise I'm going to end up with a ton of crappy patches all over the front end which will need to be rectified later anyway and will have cost a fair amount of money...

The car isn't going to see much use anyway, but I need to get it road legal so I can swap my two cars between the garage as required. Working on the 1850 outside on the street was all well and good during summer but with the torrential rain and gale force winds of late progressed has stalled somewhat! I'd also like to get it out ASAP as I've just paid £400 to insure it and having it sit in the garage seems like a waste of that money!

[Steve28]

Surely it too old for emission testing, ive never had any of mine done on the MOT.

[Jon Tilson]

Post 75 you need to get below 5% IIRC, so any 1300 needs to pass.

I'm with the temp bodgers. You can make it secure somehow. The light just has to not move when given a firm pat.

Jonners.

[captain_70s]

Surely it too old for emission testing, ive never had any of mine done on the MOT.

For cars built pre 1975 it's just a visual check, my cars are both new enough to need to pass a proper test. It's a bit irritating as a Mk4 Spitfire or 1300fwd with an engine that is very nearly identical would not need to pass the test, if I fitted a 1974 1300 to my car engine it would be exempt as well!

[Carledo]

Pre 75 is visual smoke check only, 75-92 emission check is under 3.5% CO and 1200ppm hydrocarbons. A Dolly should be able to manage this unless its a) very out of tune or b) the piston rings are totally shot or c) the choke is sticking on.
After 92, Cat testing applies but none of our cars need to worry about that!
On the headlamp problem, I agree with everyone else, lash something up to sort it for now, I would recommend ally sheet and pop rivets since that's the easiest thing to undo when the time comes to do it right.

Steve

[geeksteve]

Pre 75 is visual smoke check only, 75-92 emission check is under 3.5% CO and 1200ppm hydrocarbons. A Dolly should be able to manage this unless its a) very out of tune or b) the piston rings are totally shot or c) the choke is sticking on.

I got 1800ppm on my hydrocarbons

Steve

[Jon Tilson]

Too rich.

Sticking choke linkage or collapsed waxstat pellet, non functional float valve
or just wind the jet up if none of the above.

Advance a couple of degrees will also help.

Jonners

[geeksteve]

Too rich.

Sticking choke linkage or collapsed waxstat pellet, non functional float valve
or just wind the jet up if none of the above.

Advance a couple of degrees will also help.

Jonners

MoT guy insisted it was most likely worn piston rings (although I'm not sure he's right..). A little academic now as the engine is sitting on blocks of wood on my garage floor whilst I weld up the body.

S

[captain_70s]

Totally forgot to update this! Carb was way out of tune, borrowed a Gunsons colour tune from the 1850's PO (who now has a Scimitar) and got it running properly. It's much easier doing one carb than two! Got the passenger side headlight adjusted within limits in my garage and "fixed" the driver's side one in place with cardboard and bathroom sealant... The cardboard was to act as a bridge between the solid metal, as the more I poked about the less I found, as is the way with these things...

Got the garage to adjust the handbrake (which they didn't charge me for) and I got a MOT cert on the 17th.





The car's reward was to give up it's spot in the garage to the 1850 and to clock up 80 miles in the last 10 days (at 45-50mph). I've had to top the oil up twice and I'm told it utterly stinks if you are behind it when it's on the move!

[Jon Tilson]

I suspect you may have diluted oil if you were running really rich.
You will loose a bit of volume if so through evaporation but an oil change is worth doing.

Then check the consumption again. Now the mixture is good you shouldnt be getting oil dilution and you should
then get up to above 300 miles per pint in normal use on good oil.

Much less than that and its time to hunt for a better engine.

Still looks in pretty decent nick for a Brooklands car on an S plate in the frozen north.

Jonners

[captain_70s]

I've gone through a pint in about 80 miles. It wasn't much better when it came off the road a year ago, it all goes out through the exhaust, especially if you go over 50mph or you're on the overrun.

A new engine is on the cards, has been for a while, just not any time soon with Christmas looming. It's road legal status is just so I can swap it and the 1850 around in the garage as required and as emergency transport (like last week when I forgot to put petrol in the Corsa ), it'll not be going far over winter.