DOLOMITES SPRINTS IN OZ

[DOLY76]

G'day guys, I came across this site , and since I have acquired my Dolomite Sprint ,
I thought it would be a good idea to see just how many Dolomites fanatics there are in the UK & in Oz.
I haven't crossed another Doly on the road since I bought her last year , will be looking forward to hearing from other Aussie Doly owners
Regards Mario

[Toledo Man]

Welcome to the forum Mario. We have a forum member (Straylight) who maintains a list of Aussie Dolly Sprints. I'm sure he would be interested in hearing from you. You could try sending him a PM (private message).

[Sundowner]

G'Day Mario,
Welcome to the forum. This is a GREAT place and the advice I've had from here, over the past 4 or 5 years, has been just as GREAT.
Being an Australian owner of a SPRINT I've asked the same question several times. Recently I've emailed Stu, (Straylight) asking for his latest figures, but have not received a reply.
My guess on the numbers of them still existing in Australia comes from several facts and many guesses by other people.
Leyland Australia imported 620 Sprints in '75 & '76. All of them were Mimosa yellow. Mine was one of these but is now green.
Ron Hodgson imported a handful for racing purposes and another handful were imported privately.
Now, 40 years later, the guesses are that there are less than 100 still on the road and some say less than 80. Its hard to tell with 9 different states (& territories) providing vehicle registration.
Being an Aussie SPRINT owner, you are indeed a member of the phantom elite in this country. These cars are probably the most under-rated pocket rockets down-under.
They have a better power to weight ratio than BMW2002Tii, Mini Cooper S, Lotus Cortina and many others, yet the general public don't see them as anything special.
Send me a private message should you like to see Daisy's (my Sprint) webpage. You never know, there might be info there that you can use.
Again, "WELCOME".
Cheers,
Rob

[Keith CANSDALE]

Hello Mario. You have one of the great driving cars. I bought mine new in 1977, and bought it back in 2006. Originally it was mimosa, but is now inca yellow. I found great improvements with koni shocks, braided steel brake lines, poly bushes, an extra overdrive switch giving 2nd gear overdrive (7 speed in all), GTX engine oil which was developed with the sprint engine, and a quality wood rim steering wheel. For Australia, a 3 core radiator and 84 degree thermostat will keep it cool. An updated 45 amp Lucas alternator and 100watt halogen centre headlights give the night vision. I run EBC brake pads and 175 Yokos. Spares came from sprint spares in Sydney and Rimmer bros in UK which give parts to my front door in a little over a week. The sprint remains one of the very few cars which were not allowed to run in full race trim at Bathurst in 1977 and I was there. A travesty! Let us know if I can help. Keith Cansdale Toowoomba Qld.

[DOLY76]

Thanks guys for making me feel welcomed, I cant seem to work out how to upload photos ? and get one of my Dolly below my name , do they have to be less than 100kb?
I love old skool cars , as a kid growing up , one of my friends had a dolomite and we use to laugh at him , but that thing had some grunt , it left my 1600 Candy Apple red GT capri ( my very first car) for dead. After scouring the internet for past 5 years I finally found one ( but after much heart-ache as I got "shafted"2 x times and both cars got sold underneath me . I kinda lost interest for a while and then one early morning , there she was on car sales in Victoria,I texted the guy at 5 am lol , and by the end of the week she was in Sydney.
And after trying to source spare parts via the internet , blow & behold I found another one ( basically for wrecking , partially dismantled but still complete ) so I bought that one as a possible "donor "car , but the more I look at her ..as tired as she is...I may just restore her to her original condition .
I think I have got slight heating issues guys , I don't think the dolomites were made for our Aussie Hot summers , is just over half way on the temp gauge too hot? or is it ok
Previous owner has removed radiator fan & fitted a thermo fan , I just feel the front end doesn't allowing enough "free flowing "air to run thru the radiator fins, I was thinking of making a grill or holes behind front bumper to allow a bit more air flow?
Would like to hear your thoughts , oh one other question on both my Dolomites the rear back "Dolomite SPRINT "badge has the word sprint in slant , where as I have seen them without the slant font is this an aussie thing? or different years used different badges?

[Jon Tilson]

Welcome to another Aussie friend....

There are a few of you, some not quite so frequently on here as they used to be.

Re the temp gauge....yes a Sprint should be just on half way at normal temperature, but then so much depends on the temp sender and the instrument voltage stabiliser.
What you are looking for is stability and no signs of overheating, like venting from the expansion tank. Keep the cooling system in good condition with suitable corrosion inhibitor
and you should be safe up to the low 30's C. Not sure I'd like to drive one at much over 35 though...cooling is a tad marginal for such extremes, (well they are to us but I know not
so down under).

An electric thermostatically controlled fan is a very good idea.

Jonners

[Sundowner]

oh one other question on both my Dolomites the rear back "Dolomite SPRINT "badge has the word sprint in slant , where as I have seen them without the slant font is this an aussie thing? or different years used different badges?

Its my belief that the badge should be the itallics SPRINT version for Australian cars. Yours are correct. The freely available badges with the upright, bolder font SPRINT are a later version....or so I'm led to believe.
When I bought my car it had one of the later badges and I was pleased when this forum corrected me on my ignorance. Consequently, I now have a later one here in my spares box, should you, or anyone else, need it.
Cheers,
Rob

[gmsclassics]

Philip and Mark Larmour are in Sydney somewhere, have a long association with Sprints going back to the 80s and have successfully racing careers, I think in Group C. Philip's car is for sale at the moment. They also run Sprintparts and re-manufacture a number of parts, particularly for performance. Their website even details the chassis number of all the cars they know of
http://www.sprintparts.com.au/sprints.c ... 480001.htm
Worth keeping in touch with.

Although I'm in Auckland, I've seen a few on the road when I've been over. A couple once in a central Sydney carpark, and a couple in Melbourne, one in the St Kilda/ Albert Park areas and another time out on the Mornington peninsula (could have been the same car of course).

Over 50 of the 231 entries for Dolomites on http://www.triumphowners.com/ are in Australia and some detail location.

Even in Auckland on hot days cooling can be an issue. However as long as the car is moving at a reasonable speed it can usually cope. Get stuck in stop-start traffic, work it hard up a long incline and that is when I see problems. You also need to make sure it isn't hot when turning the ignition off or it will likely boil with localised heating and chuck some coolant out. With no frosts where you live, just running with water plus 'water wetter' or a corrosion inhibitor will be much better than anything with antifreeze in it (much better heat transfer). Wiring the radiator fan to continue after you switch off the ignition, either on a timer or better still a thermoswitch is another good idea. The ultimate, and what I now run my racecar with is a Davies Craig 115 electric waterpump with its electronic controller. That way the coolant circulates according to temperature rather than engine speed. However, try the other things first.

I've also stopped trying to second guess the water temperature on a gauge that even when it is working has no point of reference, so I've replaced mine on all three cars. The black faced one is a capillary type and the other, on the race car, is a replacement electrical one. Might not look exactly original, but I DO know what the temperature is. Don't forget too that in a system pressurized at 13psi (0.9 bar?) the boiling point will be closer to 120C, but that will be in the engine, not at the sensor, but I reckon you are safe to an indicated 110-113.

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Regard

Geoff

[Sundowner]

I think I have got slight heating issues guys , I don't think the dolomites were made for our Aussie Hot summers , is just over half way on the temp gauge too hot? or is it ok
Previous owner has removed radiator fan & fitted a thermo fan , I just feel the front end doesn't allowing enough "free flowing "air to run thru the radiator fins, I was thinking of making a grill or holes behind front bumper to allow a bit more air flow?
Would like to hear your thoughts

I wasn't going to say anything about this but I'll chime in anyway.
Today I'm replacing the fan in my sprint with a Davies Craig 12" thermatic fan. The ONLY reason for this is that the bearing in the fan support bracket has seized and the one in the alloy hub is also worn. After looking at the availability and prices of both, including postage, and knowing the benefits of an electric fan, I decided to make the switch.
Now, I've only had my SPRINT for 5 years. Its a club registered road car, no motor sport activities (I'm tempted), although I like to drive it "spiritedly" on some of the winding coastal and mountain roads nearby.
In those 5 years the temp gauge has NEVER risen above the normal mark, even on days that are well in excess of 30C. On one summer weekend a couple of years ago, I took it up the Clyde Mountain to a car show in Canberra. It was a stinking hot Summers day, up near 40C, and the temp needle still didn't get above the usual mark. Of course I was taking it steady too.
So, what I'm getting at is, that if the entire cooling system (inc; block, head, radiator, water pump, hoses, thermostat) is in good order, and you aren't giving the thing a thrashing, then you shouldn't have any problems.
Its my belief the Sprints cooling system gets a bad rap mainly because of slack owners who neglect basic maintenance. The water jackets become restricted with gunk, the water pump pushes this gunk into the radiator, then, over the years the car runs hotter and eventually a head gasket blows. After an increasing number of slack owners go through this process the Sprint developes a bad reputation for over heating. The slack/lazy owner is never at fault....just ask him.
The factory fitted, standard radiator is adequate for the job if kept in good condition. Although, a bigger, more efficient one, would be necessary should you decide to get into some kind of motor-sport.
Cheers,
Rob
PS: Don't forget to check for incorrect ignition timing and fuel mixture, as both can cause an engine to run hot too.

[Sundowner]

For Australia, a 3 core radiator and 84 degree thermostat will keep it cool.

Hello Chris,
How many rows of tubes are in a factory, standard, radiator? I've always thought the Sprints had a 3 row core....but as usual, I'm probably wrong. Mine has a 3 row core, but its quite possible that its been changed.
Cheers,
Rob

[baz]

Of all the Dolomite/Sprint radiators I have seen/owned in cars in Aus. they all had 3 core radiators.
Some ran very cool and others not so much.

As stated above Mario, the best place to start would be to make sure the entire cooling system is clean and clear of "gunk".
Also the gauges can be very "misleading" to say the least. I once was convinced my car was running too hot and tried all sorts of things to get it running cooler to no avail. Then someone suggested I change the gauge & sender unit, did that and guess what? Car ran a consistently full 1/4 "cooler" at all times!.
Also as above Sprintparts are a great help I have bought a few bits and pieces off the guys and they are always more than helpful.
Best thing you have done(apart from buying a Sprint !) is get onto this forum though as the guys on here are always more than happy to assist anyone with any Dolomite issues! If I had known about this forum when I first got my Dolomite it would have saved me thousands$$$.
Have you contacted a local Triumph Club also? They can always be a great source of assistance-and local too. http://tsoansw.com/ http://www.tsoa.asn.au/

Welcome !!