How bad is my Sprint?

[shaunroche]

Hello Chaps – a little progress has been made: the car is just about to come back from the workshop having had the (new) awful pattern front panel hacked off and a second hand factory one fitted, gratefully procured from PaulB and I’ve been having a go at removing even more paint from the shell and doors ready for painting, which I hope to have done when the weather has warmed up a little, towards the end of March.

As I bought the car as a shell, there’s a few things I haven’t got, that normally I would have been able to reuse; namely things like the bolts used to secure the gearbox to the engine, or bolts for the propshaft.

Gearbox Bolts – are these all the same size? I would appreciate it if you could tell me the length and thread form please so I could buy some new ones; additionally, I guess the (8) bolts used to fasten the propshaft at both ends are specials i.e. they have an unthreaded portion along the shank? What sizes are these please?

Rather than go to rimmers, I’ll get them from a local nut and bolt place….out of interest…what grade are the propshaft bolts…grade 8 or normal grade 5 (assuming I use imperial bolts….)

http://www.hi-tensilebolt.com.au/Head%20Markings.html

Pics to follow in a bit.....

[Jon Tilson]

Do you have a Sprint parts catalogue?
They come up on ebay now and then and are great for info on bolts, threads and type.

Jonners

[shaunroche]

I think so....mine tells me the part number but not anything about what it is....I suspect there is another fasteners one is there?

[sprint95m]

There is an article deciphering the bolt sizes on the Technical Articles DVD.
I simply reused gearbox bolts so didn't have to determine if these are bespoke or off the shelf.

However, I do know that the propshaft bolts are bespoke.
These are the same as T2000s. Chris Witor sells the proper ones.
Similarly Sprints use a longer bespoke nylon nut (as per T2000), again Chris Witor sells these.





The below is from the forum some time ago:


"PROPSHAFT BOLTS (for a Sprint)
Serial Dolomite Sprint restorer Mad Mart asked
“I need to get some propshaft bolts for PUS. My local store has 1" long ones but they are set bolts. I know they should have about a ¼" shank on them (ie. bolts) but was wondering if it would be ok to use set bolts?”

Sprint95m replied
“No.
The shank is needed to take the load.
A threaded section will deform.”

Which led Mad Mart to ask
“That's what I thought Ian but the shank is only about ¼" long so will only go through the prop flange & not the gearbox/diff flange?”

This question made Sprint95m investigate further and he posted
“ '76 Parts book shows 144961 for the diff and 107960 for the gearbox end.
I am unable to find a cross reference for these bolts to determine the size.

However the T2000 workshop manual states 3/8"UNF x 1-1/8" bolt for the diff
but doesn't mention what is used at the gearbox end.
Will this type be a better fit?
(I don't have a 2000 parts book so don't know the number. Sorry.)”

and later followed this up with
“ Looking at an old advert from Chris Witor,
107960 is indeed 1-1/8" long.
He has had these remade, please see HERE.
60p for each bolt,
24p for each nyloc nut or
£3 per set of four nuts & bolts.

As both the diff flange and propshaft flange are the same on a 2000 and a two UJ equipped Sprint, I can see no reason why 107960 cannot be used.
Is it possible that 144961 was only used on the early two CV joint propshafts?”

Mad Mart bought the bolts from Chris Witor and then reported
“Ok, I have fitted the bolts I got from CW. On the gearbox end there is plenty of room so no probs. On the diff. end, however, the bolts are a tad long and just touch the end of the diff. housing. So I fitted 1/16" washers under the bolt heads & that's done the job.”

PUS is Mad Mart's latest project. It is a Sapphire blue Sprint that has had an interesting history. West Scotland TDC rep Calum Anderson restored this car in the 90s and later sold it. Unfortunately since then it had fallen into disrepair.
Mart's last Sprint restoration, (the Magenta coloured) THJ 27N was on the front of Dolly Mixture no.137."



If you post the part numbers for any bolts you need I will try to get the sizes.




Ian.


PS, It is the BL workshop manual rather than the parts book that gives the sizes of fixings (but not the lengths of bolts ).

[Toledo Man]

I have the parts catalogues and workshop manuals in PDF format. I've also got a Standard Triumph hardware catalogue. I'm hoping to upload all this to my BT Cloud storage which they have provided. It is still a work in progress at the moment. When I get chance, I'll get everything uploaded.

[shaunroche]

If you post the part numbers for any bolts you need I will try to get the sizes.

Ian.

PS, It is the BL workshop manual rather than the parts book that gives the sizes of fixings (but not the lengths of bolts ).

Ian, as ever, that is outrageously helpful - thank you very much for the extensive answer!

I'll certainly ask when the time comes!

I have the parts catalogues and workshop manuals in PDF format. I've also got a Standard Triumph hardware catalogue.

Funnily enough I managed to turn up the relevant manuals but never thought to cross reference them....thanks to your help chaps I think I've got enough to progress!

What a World class forum this is....absolutely outstanding, thank you chaps!!

[shaunroche]

Anyhoo, here's a few piccies as promised...

Had a strip added to the edge of the bonnet as there was an outrageous gap at the off side due to the wing being in the wrong place...



Had the 'old' front panel chiselled off...



..and had the 'new' front panel added purely to give a better fit to the plastic grilles..




Both wings were split about half an inch from the bonnet line, all the way from the headlight panel up to the base of the windscreen to make the shut line parallel on both sides and then filled in with weld - I can categorically state now that this is at least as good as what came from the factory....ahem....

[SprintMWU773V]

Is that my old front panel I wonder?

[niceone6blue]

How's this project coming along?

[shaunroche]

Is that my old front panel I wonder?

It was from PaulB....you tell me!

It lives on anyway!

[shaunroche]

How's this project coming along?

It's taking a lot longer than anticipated but is progressing......hope to get it to paint end of March, then start bolting things on!

[shaunroche]

Well, I picked up a very shiney rebuilt engine from Trackerjack at the weekend and took the rocker cover off to be powder coated.

[shaunroche]

How's this project coming along?

It's taking a lot longer than anticipated but is progressing......hope to get it to paint end of March, then start bolting things on!

Got a date from the sprayer of 1st May......

[Jon Tilson]

They go inside the car by the seats and hold up the gearbox cross member. They should be silver not black.

Lol..

Jonners

[shaunroche]

They go inside the car by the seats and hold up the gearbox cross member. They should be silver not black.

Lol..

Jonners

Excellent Jonners! I'll settle for them being the wrong colour now that I know where they go!

That's the trouble with this project - they weren't affixed to the car and were in a box with lots of other bits....it's like one big jigsaw!