JGU - 'Nina' 1975 Honeysuckle Dolomite (Pre 1850)

[James467]

Oh dear, I really am a sucker for an early Dolomite 1850!

This is 'Nina', if you don't know Nina, she used to belong to Kyle and is a car the is very well known to the club so when I saw her advertised I really had to save her especially given the history and mechanical condition of the car.

The plan is to restore her then offer her up for sale when finished, Kyle is aware of this and has first refusal when she is complete!

I normally call my cars by they're registration numbers (this removes any emotional attachment! ) Nina is different though!

This thread follows from Kyles own thread:

https://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/vie ... 19&t=33467

These are actually the photos from Kyles eBay advert, I forgot to take some when I collected her!















I collected her on Tuesday and drove her home to Fleet from West Sussex to asses her. Only 35 Miles but the journey does use a good mix of dual carriageway and country roads. The journey was effortless with only a few niggles found. The A24 dual carriageway was tacked at motorway speeds with no cooling issues, and the country run from Horsham to Guildford was a joy. Like I said, there are a couple of things that I would like to finesse, the clutch is a bit stiff, the carbs just need a tune and the brakes need a service and the overdrive is intermittent (probably electrics in my experience), apart from that it really was an easy journey.

After getting her home I got the opportunity to strip the exterior and have a really good look at the body, the news is good, it is a lot better than it looks!









It is going to require a pair of sills and a new rear door skin



The rear arches have gone in the usual place



The front ends of both front wings are shot.





The whole rear panel, inner and outer needs replacing





The inner front valance, apart from needing new headlamp support panels, is in surprisingly good condition only needing some localised repairs and not the corner sections as I was expecting. This may change as the wings come off though!





The windscreen surround needs some repairs as well.





I have had a look under the dashboard and there are some holes in the inner bulkhead, nowhere near as bad as VA138 and fixable without having to put in a new bulkhead! They do explain the water ingress that Kyle was experiencing and I think the bulkhead has the usual crack when the accelerator pedal mounts, that will be fixed and with the club reinforcing plate added.

Everyone is probably now curious about my definition of 'not as bad as it looks' now!

The interior is in good condition, I will re-veneer the cappings and dash. As far as I can see looking at the chassis number and my parts book it should have the 'classic' clocks in it not the later ones, I have sourced a set and they will be fitted. Obviously new carpet and the front seats are actually non HL so I will replace them. Period radio with bluetooth, DAB and aux in for your phone. It has sundym glass as a bonus!

An extensive history file came with the car including it's original bill of sale, Kyle has done a superb job keeping it up.







Mechanically she is in excellent condition, Kyle really has taken superb care of her. The gearbox is probably one of the best single rail boxes that I have ever used! I think the rear wheel bearings need replacing, it has club solid carb mounts. I'll go through the carbs and rebush them if needed. Halogen headlights, relayed of course. I will have to remove the brake and fuel lines to do some welding so I will replace both as a matter of course.





So what's the plan?

• Repair the bodywork

• Respray from the waist down

• Detail the engine and engine bay

• Refinish interior

• MOT

I have an appointment at the paint shop so need to get cracking!

[dollyman]

Are you sure you don't need an appointment with a therapist James? Not the paintshop

Tony.

[HQentity]

Absolutely fantastic to see, thank you for the shining review!

There should be a clutch kit somewhere I believe in the spares, it was on the list. I noticed you pulled my rubbish (early) attempt at the bulkhead seal off! God did that need doing!

Over the years, Nina has often been described as "surprisingly good" - she always tends to beat expectations and I'm glad to see you're experiencing this too.

Good luck and thanks to you!

[DOLOMITE 135]

as far as I can see looking at the chassis number and my parts book it should have the 'classic' clocks in it not the later ones, I have sourced a set and they will be fitted.

The clocks / Dash looks correct to me from what I can see in the photos, its probably worth a double check if you want the dash to be to original Spec. Currently it looks the same as my pre HL Dolomite which is also 'N' reg.

The gearbox is probably one of the best single rail boxes that I have ever used!

I assume the single rail OD gearbox is not original (though overdrive is a very nice upgrade) as the car does not show the other changes associated with the change over to single rail gearboxes (mine has a three rail).

[oily66]

Great news James and Kyle
This car needed to go to someone who knows them and can do it justice.
Who knows I may get reunited later.

[matt of the vivas]

The clocks in it are correct, it was only the very earliest cars 72 to 73 that had the early type clocks. They changed over about the same time as they switched from Stromberg to SU.

[NickMorgan]

I am very pleased to see that Nina has been taken in by the Dolomite Rescue Centre!

[James467]

The clocks in it are correct, it was only the very earliest cars 72 to 73 that had the early type clocks. They changed over about the same time as they switched from Stromberg to SU.

My parts book says that the speedo should be part 219228, I think the confusion lies in the picture in the parts book which illustrates the earlier clock set.

I am very pleased to see that Nina has been taken in by the Dolomite Rescue Centre!

Haha thanks Nick! The Dolomite Rescue Centre!

[James467]

As much as I don't like the 'new' clocks I have to agree with you all. Plus the car has to be original so I wont replace them, the un-originality will annoy me too much!

Bumpers off and I got the opportunity to have a good look at the car.











The rust is confined to the rear panel, the boot floor itself is fine which is lucky!



So, into the garage and out with the cutting disc!



There's a lot to do here and on the front but the inner sill ill is sound.





I hate reconstructing this bit! It's the only part I really wish the club made!



I had to remove a lot of metal where the old skin sill lapped over the door aperture, it was only tacked on and came off very easily revealing a lot of rust. This will all be repaired properly, painted then wax protected before the outer sill goes on.



90% of the rust is cut out, and I can now tack the club inner sill repair section on and start repairing and building everything back up again.

[dollyman]

Wow, you don't mess about James, i am going to enjoy this thread Keep up the good work.

Tony.

[HQentity]

Holy crap James, look at you go!

[Flyfisherman]

Holy crap James, look at you go!

Holey would have been a better word to use but - how did this vehicle get an valid MOT Cert to states it's safe and road worthy to drive on public roads or was it that when it became 40 yrs old its never had a test knowing full well that it would fail.

James I admire you for taking on such a task to repair this vehicle. Have you thought about asking Tim & Fuzz to join the Car SOS team Im sure they would employ you.

Cheers Paul

[RSi]

Fantastic, another one to follow.

As long as there's Dolomites out there needing rescuing we'll hopefully always have your well documented rebuilds to follow, which are great BTW!

It's good you take the time to give so much detail on the forum, as that's very time consuming in itself.

[HQentity]

...how did this vehicle get an valid MOT Cert to states it's safe and road worthy to drive on public roads or was it that when it became 40 yrs old its never had a test knowing full well that it would fail.

Back in the day before the MOT exemption, I would take it every year, and every time I came back they would produce a faultless certificate (against problems I knew about) - and al the windows would be down, mirrors adjusted and garage looking sheepish. I'm pretty sure they just took her for a drive!
I have a mechanic that I trust but didn't do MOT's, and he used to complain about the boot floor, but otherwise didn't feel like I had much to worry about.

I just sort of lost faith in mechanics to actually check her, really.

[matt of the vivas]

The early clocks are pre-sprint launch. All sprints and 1850s made after Sprint Launch time have the later clocks. So thats mid 73 onwards. The early clocks have a specific wiring loom as well - it has pin connectors throughout not the white multiblocks. I do have a complete early wiring loom if need be, but its a big job to change over. What you have already is correct for a 74 75 car.