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: Tue Mar 09, 2021 5:13 pm 
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Thanks chaps. They’re from a late 90s Fiat coupe turbo.

I’m only looking to get a bit nearer the original seat colour. Shouldn’t be too difficult as it’s just a few shades darker than what they are now. We will see how it goes.... 🤞


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 09, 2021 8:25 pm 
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Quote:
They do look nice seats Bish, what model and year were they out out of? I have just fitted Alfa156 seats to my 2500S and they are fantastic compared to standard.
Re.. dyeing your seats it only works well if you are going darker. They don't look to bad a match as they are, but if you just want to "tidy" it does work very well.

Tony.
Good work on the 156 seats Tony. I have read that they fit the big saloons well. They are lovely seats for a lovely car. Got any photos? I’d have a big saloon myself if I had the space and funds.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:44 pm 
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Hi Bish, hopefully photos will appear. :D

Tony.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:40 pm 
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Good work Sir! Lovely stuff.


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 7:49 pm 
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Well, get in there! I’m pleased to report some progress with the seats.

Firstly, I made some simple brackets which enable the front of the seat to sit 25mm up off the tub and give the seat a bit of rake. This makes your bum sit a bit lower making them far more comfortable for me. Nothing too technical, fabrication isn’t really my forte, so it’s just a bit of 3mm thick inch box section drilled out to suit. I lobbed the top off of one of the drilled holes and welded a nut in, then welded it back on to create a captive nut. The brackets allow me to use the original seat mounting points at the front, and I’ve made a plate for the rear mountings, which effectively just extends the tub and allows the rear mountings to be bolted to it.

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So, on to the seats, which came to me in a bit of a sorry state, and too lighter shade of brown for my liking.

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But, I liked the retro looks of them so decided to take a punt and have a go at dyeing them darker.

First job is to give them a deep clean and strip the top coats off the leather.

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A proper going over with leather prep, then a clean down, followed by a first fill of the worst cracking. I didn’t want to make the seats look too new , or in some way false, so didn’t go to town with the filler, just the worst of the cracks on the drivers bolster and seats.

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Then both seats fully sanded with 600, then 1200 paper, and cleaned down again.

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Then its dye time

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First coat looks a bit streaky, and at this stage you know it’s gonna take a few coats!

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So, steadily building up the coats, applying the dye with a sponge, then after 5 coats

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I'm really happy how they’ve turned out. The colour will work well in my world of brown.

I was a bit bit sceptical on how well the dye was going to work to be honest, but I have to say I’m impressed. Time will tell on its longevity though. I have a bad feeling it will all peel off in no time, but that’s just my usual pessimistic self I guess. We will see!

Currently the seats are slathered in balm / conditioner in an effort to soften them up a bit and protect them, then they will go in. Whilst they are out though I’ve ripped the rest of the interior out to instal some music. Hopefully in at the weekend though.......


Last edited by Bish on Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 10:30 pm 
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Looking good as always Bish 8) 8) Very smart seats indeed.

Tony.

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 2:21 pm 
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Impressive work on those seats!


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2021 9:48 pm 
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There’s been a bit more tinkering with stuff round these parts, including the retro stereo bits and pieces. As usual things have to go backwards a bit before they can move forward. So, with the seats already out, it was the ideal opportunity to get the bits I had collected installed.

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It all came together without too much fuss. The only agro being the removal and refit of the under dash parcel shelf, which is not one of triumphs finest designs as we all know, and being as it’s now old and extremely crusty, a badly directed sneeze could turn it into a pile of dust! It’s back in though, patience was needed, which isn’t my strong point, but we got there.

I have had the radio cassette serviced and checked over locally and am pleased to report that it works beautifully. It’s interesting how it sounds, I had forgotten about the distinct cassette tape sound. It hasn’t chewed a tape yet, but let’s face it it will at some point in the not too distant! I have also bought a not so retro Bluetooth receiver / FM transmitter, which plugged into the fag lighter enables you to connect your smart device of choice, and have every choon you can imagine via the internet. I’ve only just discovered the little gadgets and at less than 15 quid you can’t go wrong!?

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Suitably retro amp / graphic hung under the dash and period speakers to boot. It sounds surprisingly decent in an oldschool kind of way. There’s clarity but not enough bass of course. Not good if your into a bit of DnB, but fine for band / indie stuff.

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Music sorted, it’s on to the seats.

The plate which extends the rear of the seat tub is bolted in using the original mounting holes, and the Fiat seat bolts up to the plate. It 5mm thick plate, so won’t do anything for my power to weight ratio, but is man enough for the job.

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they're in !

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I’m pleased with how they have turned out. Driving position and comfort is massively improved over the originals. They are a bit slippy but I’ll keep feeding the leather to see if a can soften it a bit. A few miles with my lardy arsenal on them will help too. The actual colour is a lot closer to the door cards but the sun makes them look almost like the Russet in the photos.

Next up I’ve got to do some dirty stuff. I’ll be polybushing the steering rack and engine mounts. Plus I may have to raise the suspension a bit ( unfortunately ), tracking, full service and coolant flush, tune up etc etc

Hopefully, all just in time to be able to go to some shows this summer, and rack up some miles!? 🤞


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PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2021 5:36 pm 
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More tinkering -

Engine mounts and steering rack mounts, both in poly from Chris Witors Superflex range. I can report that the engine mounts are excellent quality, and fit easily with no issues. The engine on my car now doesn’t look like it’s trying to jump out of the engine bay whilst it’s ticking over, so I guess they do a good job.

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Got under the car, to do the job and found Superflex bushes already fitted to the steering rack! :roll:
So if you want a pair a little cheaper than you can buy anywhere else I have a pair on eBay.

Couldn’t get a decent picture of the mounts fitted so took a shot of my numberplate, because I like it!

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Then onto an annoying ticking / rattling that I had been experiencing. A bit of a search found a thread on the servo one way valve being a possible culprit. Thank to Richard olds advice I bought a new valve and seal from Moss. New valve and seal on the left shows the part numbers. £20 posted is a decent price I thought. Better than grimmers anyway.

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Pleased to report no more rattling!

One other thing I purchased from Moss was some Gates Barricade fuel hose. Again the price was good compared with other suppliers. I have always thought that Moss was a little on the expensive side of pricing but have been pleased to be proved wrong here. I bought a length of both diameters needed and have changed all fuel hose on the car. VYK is now ethanol proof. I’m not sure that the super unleaded I run the car on has that much ethanol in it yet, but I guess it will do soon enough.

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Nice new fuel filter too. These Mann filters are excellent quality and a decent size to be able to see inside the canister when cheacking for crud.

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Oh and a suitably retro airfreshener too.

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Gave the car a session with the timing light, and colour tune, it really is running sweet now.

Next up are rear bushes. The tie bar bushes are shot at both ends. Strangely though the trailing arm bushes look to be pretty new. Anyway I’ve got some nice Nos bushes for the tie bars.

It doesn’t look to be too difficult a task to fit the bushes, but any advice gladly received :thumbsup:


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PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2021 9:06 pm 
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Looking good,ive just ordered fuel hose myself

Dave


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PostPosted: Sun May 09, 2021 6:18 pm 
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Thanks Dave

I managed to collect some NOS bushes for the rear tie bars. Thank you Alun.

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The Old trick of drilling out the bushes with a wood bit worked beautifully. Drilled around the inner sleeve then a wack with a podger and hammer to remove.

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New bushes inserted with the use of a vice and a smear of washing up liquid

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Nice new old stock metalistik bush installed.

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I’m well pleased with the condition of the tie bar mounting points. No major corrosion to be seen so all bolted back up with a smear of ankor wax to protect.

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Went for a test spin down to see my old man near Rye. Lovely drive out but didn’t notice any handling improvements tbh :roll: The old bushes were shot to bits. Maybe look at the trailing arm bushes next. They looked alright when I gave them a poke with a screwdriver and may even be poly, but I guess I’ll take the arms off for a proper look.

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PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2021 10:34 am 
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Looking almost like summer there Bish, very envious 8)

Tony.

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PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2021 9:21 pm 
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The sun is always shining down South Tony, I’m sure you know that! :---) 8)

Can’t wait for summer now. Let’s hope things stay on the right track 🤞


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 12:06 am 
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Location: Sydney, Australia.
Great job on VYK, looking great mate..

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:48 pm 
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Thank you JP.

Looking at top end rattles leads me to investigate what I think is a loose timing chain. I’ve stripped out the radiator & fan etc but didn’t have the 1 1/2 inch socket required for the crank pulley nut. So I now have one on its way, and when I get the timing cover off I will report back with what I find.

Unfortunately the tin worm is at work in the usual place! Looks like I may need to have some bodywork repairs done at some point in the not too distant future. Bugger.

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