D pillar vinyl

[RichardHyde]

Morning all,

I’ve got a pair of D pillar vinyl coverings from Aldridge…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-DOLO ... 635-2958-0

Has anybody ever fitted a set ? Please can you post any pics ? Am interested to see what the seem looks like.

Thanks, Richard

[Mad Mart]

Hi Richard. I got my last set from Martrim and they looked really good. It looks like the Aldridge ones are made differently though?

[Malsprint]

I am just about to try to replace mine so very interested in how this post goes. It looks like the panels that Richard has are stitched on the edge that wraps around the door. Whereas my originals and mad marts look like they have been formed around the edge from a flat piece. I was wondering how you can do this without causing some significant creases.

Richard did you get the roof as well.

Please continue to post your progress

Mal

[RichardHyde]

Yep mine has a seam, which I’m really not keen on. Got the vinyl roof from them too…

[BobM]

If you double click to expand Mad Mart’s photograph you will see the seam in the Martrim vinyl.

I was equally mystified when I first offered the Aldridge D post trim to the car. You will find the seam fits just inside the door opening away from the edge and hidden from view when the door is closed. With patience and care, the vinyl can then be glued into the form of the panel without creases.

To establish the correct position and punch the holes for the trim and badge before fitting, I made a paper template, as shown in the photograph. This template was also used to trim away some of the excess material prior to fitting.

It is essential to establish the position of the seam before gluing down. A trim adhesive with a limited repositioning period helps.









Regards BobM

[Carledo]

The original is not made from vinyl roof material, but a thin ABS type plastic, preformed and glued on. So at least it doesn't shrink!

I've had one piece D pillar trims before and not been happy with them, in fact VA 10245 has them, one peeled off recently in the wind, only the badge stopped it vanishing altogether! The problem lies in the amount of stretching and shrinking needed to make a flat piece fit the complex shape, something that can only really be accomplished with heat. Add a glue that sets more quickly when heated and you have a problem.

Cliff Griffiths did mine on the Dolomega and they have seams, he used to work for Aldridge, so he may have made the pattern there, I don't know. But once he'd done the biz and fitted them, the seams are pretty unobtrusive.



Steve

[Robert 352]

I am puzzled by what seems to me to be a fetish to find the “right” plastic trims with which to cover the D pillars on both the 1850 as well as the Sprints.

However if you folk are still wearing flared pants, wide ties, stiff collared shirts and whatever else they wore in the mid 70’s, then go for it.

Why were those trims put on the cars? My thought was they were to cover some very untidy and generally badly finished welds where the pillar attaches to the roof and the top of the wheel arches.

The trims create another problem and that is the propensity to trap moisture and allow the development of rust on the pillar underneath. They twist and warp in the heat and eventually wrinkle and loose their shape and often crack where the stainless trim runs across the bottom of the trim. They invariably look tatty.

I remove the trims when another Dolomite turns up here. It is the first task I do. I have a box full here which perhaps I should ship back to where they came from. Then as part of the body preparation before painting I fettle those welds which can be seen across the door opening.

I think the car “looks” better without those trims when painted to match the rest of the car, although looks do not really bother me for the only view which really interests me is the one looking out from the driver’s seat through the front windscreen.

If you think that a black pillar adds to the “beauty” of the car then just paint it semi matt black to match the rear of the car.

The car, this model of car, was never in my mind an object of great beauty which you would stand and gaze at for hours. I am not sure that there are any such cars made. It was built to transport the driver – and passengers, from one place to another, no more, no less.

[Carledo]

The same could be said for the vinyl roof itself, just a big rust trap that doesn't add anything, a bit of 70s kitsch!

In it's defence, like the unique alloys, it's a part of the Sprint's visual presence, without it, the car could be mistaken for a lesser model and that would never do!

I don't personally subscribe to the "keep it original at all costs" philosophy (to put it mildly) but there are plenty of people out there who do. I'm more than willing to allow them their foibles, it's their car!

Actually I quite like a vinyl roof, stylistically dated as it is, it's still quicker and no more expensive than the painstaking job of preparing and painting the roof to a good standard!

I'm gonna put a Grey vinyl on the Slate grey 1500, the vinyl will hide a lot of imperfections in the roof panel, though i'll leave the D posts in paint.

Steve

[cleverusername]

To be fair I don't think the D pillar vinyls are as bad as the roof vinyl for rust. Mine were knackered and had mud and other crap behind them. There wasn't any rust, I think the paint underneath protected the area. I have now replace them with black vinyl material.

Looking at my roof, my guess is root starts in the gutter area and from underneath the rear trim chrome. This is easy to spot on the non-Sprint models and gets rectified before it can get in deep. With the roof vinyl in place the rot remains hidden and you can't spot the rot till it has done real damage.