NWL – Project Concours Carmine Sprint

[Toledo Man]

MikeyB's Sprint also had the SPL treatment.

[James467]

MikeyB's Sprint also had the SPL treatment.

Ahh thats right, I remember reading it on his thread.

[SprintMWU773V]

Be warned though, don't dip your bonnet or bootlid as it will remove the mastic and go floppy! I learnt this from Mike and so didn't have those parts treated.

[James467]

Be warned though, don't dip your bonnet or bootlid as it will remove the mastic and go floppy! I learnt this from Mike and so didn't have those parts treated.

Thanks Mark!

[Toledo Man]

Wasn't this because the outer skins were bonded to the inner panel? The acid will dissolve everything except for good steel.

[xvivalve]

Spiro in Cardiff has just had his shell soda blasted and then neutralised giving very satisfactory results

[Karlos]

If your servo non-return valve is still functional, would you consider selling it to me? PM if you want to sell it.

Regards,
Karl.

[James467]

If your servo non-return valve is still functional, would you consider selling it to me? PM if you want to sell it.

My old one isnt great, the replacement ones are Land Rover parts made by Britpart, the part number is 18G8953L. If you pay Rimmers £31 plus postage this is what you will get, shop around and you'll get a brand new one for under £20.

http://www.paddockspares.com/18g8953l-v ... r-kit.html

This is where I got mine from.

[James467]

I was hoping to be able to post a photo of a NOS GMC 225 master cylinder that I happen to have found. But somewhere between the seller and me it has been lost by the good old Royal Mail. So it looks like I'll be giving the club parts line a bell for a reconditioned one.

The replacement bonnet that I bought from Sprintypantsman, the bootlid, gearbox crossmember, air box and a load of parts too big for the blasting cabinet have gone over to Elgamec to be blasted. Not cheap, but they are one of the best. Especially when it comes to things like the bonnet and boot. Nigel over there really knows his stuff.

The radiator has gone over to Bagshot Radiator Services to be pressure tested and have a general health check.

I was having a good look at the shell today, I'll post some photos later on, and it looks like both rear wheelarches have been patched badly in the past. It looks like a wheelarch repair panel has simply been placed over the original arch and welded on, filler has then been liberally applied to smooth the area out which explains why the rear door wont line up correctly. I always wonder why people do this, the time gained by doing a bodged job like this is then lost by trying to sand a load of bodyfiller flat to get the doors to line up. So for me I am really really tempted to have the shell dipped now, not the doors, just the shell. Well, maybe the doors as well!

[James467]

Haven't got a lot done this week, I have to wait to see if this replacement master cylinder turns up this week before I go and order a replacement from the club.

The only thing I have managed to do is to strip down and clean the load sensing valve, It isnt in as bad condition as the master cylinder so should go back together ok with the club seal kit that I have.

Incidently you can buy a brand new one, a bit of research on Google and the forum led me to a Hyundai H100 bus, the part number is 59411-44000. A quick call to my local Hyundai dealer revealed one in stock at £220 plus VAT, so I'll be refurbishing mine then!!



I just need to fire up the blaster and clean all of the rust from the outside of the housing followed by a bead blast and that should come up really well. I'm going to keep it silver, maybe have it plated to match the wheel cylinders and calipers.

[Edin Dundee]

What a superb picture for posterity - should that post be stickied somewhere? Maybe printed and sent out with the club refurb kits?

[James467]

Thanks, I'll take another when everythings been through the blaster. Need to get some more 4mm acrylic and draught excluder from B&Q for it, the top panel is getting a bit cloudy and needs replacing. I think I'm also going to route the extractor outside as well, will probably do that saturday morning.

[Chrispowell0813]

Love looking over this post. The attention to detail is incredible!

[James467]

Thanks Chris, I hope that the best is yet to come!

Picked up the rad from Doug at Bagshot Radiator Services today, it needed a new core as the old one was blocked and leaking a bit, I cant complain as it was the original one! After seeing the quality of 'reconditioning' (or lack of) that was done to my steering rack I decided to use someone that I trust, he's cheaper than Rimmers as well.

Radiators are really difficult to photograph!

Basically the only parts that are original are the top and bottom, everything else is new.







It needs some more paintwork done on it, there are some runs here and there, I feel really guilty about saying that as I'm blown away about the quality of work, no bent fins, it's just perfect, just needs some more paintwork done on it!

[Galileo]

I've read this thread from start to finish with ever increasing awe at the level of attention to detail. Just superb in every way. It has been really enthusing to see what you are doing, but admittedly also in some ways a bit demoralising as I think that I could never have the time, budget or space to achieve even half of what you have done already!

It struck me that threads like this, and many of the others on the restoration forum space are crying out to be collated into a definitive Dolomite restoration manual. There is so much useful information scattered about on both the archive and current forum, the only issue is finding all those little gems tucked away in discussions that a search misses. A collation of the, I don't know, 10 best things to increase Sprint reliability, top 10 best mods to an 1850. Sure there is quite often a bit of disagreement on the best way forward, put 3 mechanic sin a room and they will all probably come up with different variations, but the most popular method with the most popular alternative would be great.

Anyway, enough of that, I'm going to pick my jaw up after reading this thread, and with renewed vigor go and fit my newly arrived ignition parts, and consider drilling my ridiculously hard 70% solid gearbox mount to make it flex a bit.