The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

The Number One Club for owners of Triumph's range of small saloons from the 1960s and 1970s.
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:00 pm 
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Cheers guys. Have been doing a few bits most evenings now to try and get it up to speed. I have brought out the welder and now properly practicing (or will be when the new roller arrives).

Since the last post, have removed more ziebart from the bay. white spirits seems to be working really well especially if left overnight, it just cracks off in the morning! will try some petrol on some stubborn bits if it comes to it.

Have also put the blower back on after painting, not the best paint job in the world but at least free of rust now. Here is the little foam bit i replaced that goes behind it to stop water from getting sucked in.

Image

Here is the unit itself after being reinstalled and tested:
Image


In preparation of the welding work, i have used a magnet to try and figure out where the fibreglass starts and ends on the wings as really i want them to be as metal as possible with filler actually filling cracks. As you can see it has bubbled and the paintwork looks terrible so want to sort it out ASAP. the sharpied area is metal and inside it is all filler/fibreglass.
Image
Image

Overall the bay is coming along quite nicely, there are bits of ziebart ive missed but i will tidy those up later. The main bit to do now is round the brake master cylinder and servo, that whole corner behind the turret. I am thinking of pulling the engine + box out soon (maybe this weekend if the weather's nice) so will do that afterwards.

Image

Also installed a new coil as the old one was 13 years old, and in doing so the idle is now a lot smoother. I deleted one of the wires to the coil as i found out i didn't need a joiner between the coil and dizzy. One less place for a weak connection!
Image


I am feeling quite motivated to get on with this car now. I have hubcaps on the way, cheers carledo, found some front seats (thanks to Matt!) that are pending collection to finish off the interior as well so just need a radio surround now and that box can be ticked.

I also bought myself a rear roof section cut, so will use that to fix the rust by the vents. Have the panels for the rear arches too so after that it should just be sorting the doors and front eyebrows out.

Jack

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 11:09 am 
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It's coming along nicely Jack, well done :D When you are welding panel work use fibreglass for general filling as it is waterproof. Only use body filler for the finer bits as it is porous and even a tiny hole in the weld will result in a bubble eventually.

Tony.

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 1:48 pm 
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Looking good Jack.

If you have a look back at some of James' restorations, he has done a brilliant job of grafting on a new section of front wing to some of his cars. You may find someone who has some sections that could be used to repair yours?

9 times out of 10, 'repaired' sections like yours currently are worse once uncovered, however you may find it repairable once all the paint is taken off and you can see how much filler/fibreglass is there... can you see from inside the wheel arch looking up?

If you don't want to commit to serious reconstruction now, a rub down and good prep followed by a coat of paint would bide you some time until you have got confident with the welder, or sourced some repair panels to use.

Worth checking behind the headlights too! You have seen what was (or wasn't!) lurking behind mine recently... all very common though and the parts from the club are available.


Speak soon.

MC

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 7:35 pm 
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Location: Oxfordshire
Cheers chaps thats helpful as I am completely inexperienced in bodywork jobs! hence why all of my cars have had terrible bodywork :lol:

Got to be honest I don't know whether i should just sand them back and paint or wait it out til i can repair with metal. they are a bit cracked in various places where fibreglass has been put in, so might be better to leave it for now rather than trying to repair and just crack on with it if/when i find a panel to graft from, likely i will have done some welding by then and hopefully got some practice. I can't really see much looking in from the wing, looks like it was undersealed after some work had been done as it all looks the same. Behind the headlights looks OK i think, the ziebart has saved it by the looks of things. A couple of the headlamp grille threads are rusted on though so need to sort those out soon and then i'll have a proper look behind them.
It's good that the panels are still available! Will have a look at James' threads now.

Cheers
Jack

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 11:13 am 
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Hi guys, not much has changed since the last post to be honest, but I have done some digging around and found that the engine may well have some go fast bits in it, which would explain the feeling of it hesitating with a single carb.

Albeit quite old, the adverts here https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/13 ... 300-swales and here https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ ... -314167927 seem to suggest it might have a racey (ish) cam and a ported head. I need to check the engine number but I am led to believe it has a spitfire lump in as well which are sportier from the factory and came with twin hs2s. If this does match up I might put some carbs on it and balance them then see if it feels a bit better - felt like it was running out of puff up top which would be explained with a cam as it'll be more suited to higher RPM peak power, and I don't think the single HS4 is fueling well enough. I believe compression is OK because the car fires pretty much straight up even after being left for months, doesn't give blue smoke out of the exhaust either to suggest it's burning oil. It's also (touch-wood) never died on me so even though I haven't done a compression check I think there's probably no need to.

Bodywork wise nothing has been done yet, but not in any particular rush, I don't think it'll get much worse as it's been sat outside the whole time anyway and hasn't really gone downhill. My toledo is now in storage but I can't really afford to put them both in there!

Mechanically I have loads of stuff to get on with, but need to get the car MOT'd first as it's run out. It needed the headlights adjusting as an advisory last time and some bushes.. but right now isn't the type of weather you want to be getting underneath a car so I might just wait til April until it's MOT exempt, go and drive it to a place I can stick it on a lift and then get it MOT'd.

As far as the toledo goes I have found a new starter ring and Lucas M35J pre-engaged motor to replace the inertia-type which has been eating the starter ring gear teeth for breakfast :lol:

Hope you're all doing well, can't wait for this virus bollocks to be over so we can all get going to some shows again, most importantly the TDCIR which I look forward to more than christmas :mrgreen:

Cheers
Jack

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 7:44 pm 
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can't wait for this virus bollocks to be over so we can all get going to some shows again

Hear hear! :thumbsup:


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 7:51 pm 
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Twin carbs may not give you result you want. A very common mod to the 1275 MG Midget is to ditch the twins and fit a single SU from an MG Metro. Gives a definite power boost. I did it to mine and the difference was noticeable. It was also much easier to set up!

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:03 pm 
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if your starter was chewing the ring gear that is likely down to having the incorrect sized spacer fitted.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:52 pm 
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Quote:
Twin carbs may not give you result you want. A very common mod to the 1275 MG Midget is to ditch the twins and fit a single SU from an MG Metro. Gives a definite power boost. I did it to mine and the difference was noticeable. It was also much easier to set up!
Doesn't the MG metro have an HIF44 SU carb? This would be bigger than the standard 1300 HS4 anyway but you would need to enlarge the manifold bore to fit one.

I fitted the twin HS4s, and the exhaust manifold and system, from a 1500 to my 1300 Dolomite and it seemed to be much livelier afterwards.


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 12:19 pm 
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Quote:
if your starter was chewing the ring gear that is likely down to having the incorrect sized spacer fitted.
Are there two? presumably one for the inertia and one for the pre engaged? I still want to fit a pre-engaged as it's a much simpler solution in my eyes rather than relying on a relay. At a guess i'd say the starter for the toledo has never been changed, the car has only done 40,000 miles or so.
Quote:
Quote:
Twin carbs may not give you result you want. A very common mod to the 1275 MG Midget is to ditch the twins and fit a single SU from an MG Metro. Gives a definite power boost. I did it to mine and the difference was noticeable. It was also much easier to set up!
Doesn't the MG metro have an HIF44 SU carb? This would be bigger than the standard 1300 HS4 anyway but you would need to enlarge the manifold bore to fit one.

I fitted the twin HS4s, and the exhaust manifold and system, from a 1500 to my 1300 Dolomite and it seemed to be much livelier afterwards.
I will also be fitting twin HS4s from a 1500, will have a play and see if i can get the engine running right with them, if not I can always go back to the single carb! I think the one on there currently is a FZX1339 iirc. Would originally have come with a waxstat SU

I wonder if i should start a new thread for the toledo, as that needs a few bits doing

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:26 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 17, 2017 6:28 pm
Posts: 1405
Location: NANTWICH.
Quote:
Quote:
if your starter was chewing the ring gear that is likely down to having the incorrect sized spacer fitted.
Are there two? presumably one for the inertia and one for the pre engaged? I still want to fit a pre-engaged as it's a much simpler solution in my eyes rather than relying on a relay. At a guess i'd say the starter for the toledo has never been changed, the car has only done 40,000 miles or so.
Quote:
Quote:
Twin carbs may not give you result you want. A very common mod to the 1275 MG Midget is to ditch the twins and fit a single SU from an MG Metro. Gives a definite power boost. I did it to mine and the difference was noticeable. It was also much easier to set up!
Doesn't the MG metro have an HIF44 SU carb? This would be bigger than the standard 1300 HS4 anyway but you would need to enlarge the manifold bore to fit one.

I fitted the twin HS4s, and the exhaust manifold and system, from a 1500 to my 1300 Dolomite and it seemed to be much livelier afterwards.


I wonder if i should start a new thread for the toledo, as that needs a few bits doing
No harm in doing that Jack, :thumbsup:

Tony.

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 11:26 pm 
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Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 12:46 am
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Location: Midhurst, West Sussex.
Quote:
Quote:
if your starter was chewing the ring gear that is likely down to having the incorrect sized spacer fitted.
Are there two? presumably one for the inertia and one for the pre engaged? I still want to fit a pre-engaged as it's a much simpler solution in my eyes rather than relying on a relay. At a guess i'd say the starter for the toledo has never been changed, the car has only done 40,000 miles or so.
Quote:
Quote:
Twin carbs may not give you result you want. A very common mod to the 1275 MG Midget is to ditch the twins and fit a single SU from an MG Metro. Gives a definite power boost. I did it to mine and the difference was noticeable. It was also much easier to set up!
Doesn't the MG metro have an HIF44 SU carb? This would be bigger than the standard 1300 HS4 anyway but you would need to enlarge the manifold bore to fit one.

I fitted the twin HS4s, and the exhaust manifold and system, from a 1500 to my 1300 Dolomite and it seemed to be much livelier afterwards.
I will also be fitting twin HS4s from a 1500, will have a play and see if i can get the engine running right with them, if not I can always go back to the single carb! I think the one on there currently is a FZX1339 iirc. Would originally have come with a waxstat SU

I wonder if i should start a new thread for the toledo, as that needs a few bits doing
You will need the 1500 exhaust manifold too, as the 1500 inlet manifold won't fit with the 1300 exhaust manifold. If you fit the standard airbox try AAU needles, or with pancake filters try AAQ needles.


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 11:54 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 10:31 pm
Posts: 152
Location: Oxfordshire
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
if your starter was chewing the ring gear that is likely down to having the incorrect sized spacer fitted.
Are there two? presumably one for the inertia and one for the pre engaged? I still want to fit a pre-engaged as it's a much simpler solution in my eyes rather than relying on a relay. At a guess i'd say the starter for the toledo has never been changed, the car has only done 40,000 miles or so.
Quote:


Doesn't the MG metro have an HIF44 SU carb? This would be bigger than the standard 1300 HS4 anyway but you would need to enlarge the manifold bore to fit one.

I fitted the twin HS4s, and the exhaust manifold and system, from a 1500 to my 1300 Dolomite and it seemed to be much livelier afterwards.
I will also be fitting twin HS4s from a 1500, will have a play and see if i can get the engine running right with them, if not I can always go back to the single carb! I think the one on there currently is a FZX1339 iirc. Would originally have come with a waxstat SU

I wonder if i should start a new thread for the toledo, as that needs a few bits doing
You will need the 1500 exhaust manifold too, as the 1500 inlet manifold won't fit with the 1300 exhaust manifold. If you fit the standard airbox try AAU needles, or with pancake filters try AAQ needles.
cheers Glen, will look out for one of those. I guess the downpipe will be slightly different too?

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1973 2-door honeysuckle Triumph Toledo 1300 Thread here


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:08 pm 
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Quote:
[

Are there two? presumably one for the inertia and one for the pre engaged?
On the pre engaged there is a thick spacer and thinner shims.
can't remember if the other has the thicker spacer or just the shims, if i remember i'll check over the weekend

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 14, 2020 12:38 am 
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Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 12:46 am
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Location: Midhurst, West Sussex.
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:


Are there two? presumably one for the inertia and one for the pre engaged? I still want to fit a pre-engaged as it's a much simpler solution in my eyes rather than relying on a relay. At a guess i'd say the starter for the toledo has never been changed, the car has only done 40,000 miles or so.



I will also be fitting twin HS4s from a 1500, will have a play and see if i can get the engine running right with them, if not I can always go back to the single carb! I think the one on there currently is a FZX1339 iirc. Would originally have come with a waxstat SU

I wonder if i should start a new thread for the toledo, as that needs a few bits doing
You will need the 1500 exhaust manifold too, as the 1500 inlet manifold won't fit with the 1300 exhaust manifold. If you fit the standard airbox try AAU needles, or with pancake filters try AAQ needles.
cheers Glen, will look out for one of those. I guess the downpipe will be slightly different too?
The downpipe is a twin type and the exhaust system is a slightly bigger bore, so probably best to change the whole thing over.


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