RMR - 1974 Dolomite Sprint

[SiC]

Longest Dolomite project ever?

Got on with the front inner membrane this weekend. Took way longer than I hoped.

Cut out the old front bit.


Used the cut piece as a template to go on the new piece.


After I cut this piece down, I realised that this was the wrong side. (I hadn't written nearside on it at that point!)


Cut and welded that all in. There is a squared off bottom to the inner membrane. From the online guides it appears it should go inside and the top on the bottom of the inner sill. However I decided to cut off the bottom of the inner sill as that was past its best. So instead I drilled holes and plug welded to the bottom of the inner sill. I'll have to make a new piece all the way along the bottom for welding the outer sill to


I then deliberated if I wanted to cut out that remaining middle piece. I'd already welded up the bottom but I wasn't completely happy.


So I decided to cut this out. I'm glad I did as the backside was rusty and pitted. You can also see the messy backside of my welding! I'll blame it on the thin pitted steel


Again the cut piece made a handy template. The rear most piece I have lost the bit I cut out when I last tidyed up. So I had to use a paper template to figure out where to cut.


Clamped in


Then an awful lot of welding and grinding.



Also to mention from last time is that I finished the top piece by the door.


Looks alright with the sills and arch panel temporarily in place.


Also removed the rear pillar plastic finishing piece. Took a lot of careful prying to not damage anything doing this. Another rot prone area that I'm thankful isn't too bad. I'll clean up with a wire brush and then maybe weld the hole with copper behind to close it up.


I had hoped to get those piece on this weekend too. Instead I spent a solid two days sorting the above. But I'm slow and it's time consuming to do this.

Currently my shoulders ache pretty bad from laying on my side all weekend. It's going to punish me this week.

[yorkshire_spam]

Yay! Progress, you gotta be happy with those results?

[SiC]

I wasn't at first, but I had a look through of the pictures from a couple of months ago and that helps to see what needed reconstruction.

Like this before/after:



In two weeks time, I've owned this for two years! I guess thats the frustration as I was hoping to have had this back on the road much sooner. But house move/covid/etc has not helped here, along with my slowness.

[oily66]

Don’t beat yourself up about it, you’re making great steady progress.
Far better to be thorough than missing or glossing over things.
The car is in a good hands

[SiC]

Reconstructed the inner arch earlier this year.




Unfortunately my plan of doing less thinking led me to get the positioning slightly out when I put the outer arch panel on. Ended up putting slits on the inner arch that I'll use to try repositioning it to fit.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202201 ... 139525.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202201 ... bc8dd2.jpg

Put a small section in the front of the inner arch. Needs the bottom bit next but the repro inner arch panel is an awful fit and will need a lot of fettling.
Outer sill only clamped in place for now.


Finished off and painted with red oxide to protect it until I can get proper paint on.

I welded the left hand square tonight in the inner arch at the bottom. A bit slapped on but it does the job. Priority is to get this car done, so didn't spend ages fettling into shape and position this time. It's strong and won't be visible under stone chip underseal.


Painted the rest of the inner arch.


Next job is to line up the outer arch panel and sill. Then grind back the edges to provide something to weld along.


I'm going to take my time on this as, unlike everything else so far, this will be directly visible bodywork. So plenty of air to cool down the tack welds as I go. It will still need filler as I'm not planning to remove all the old stuff, as trying not to go overboard. Plus more paint I remove, more expensive a professional paintjob would be.

[SiC]

After finally getting another project/distraction done, today I had some time to get more of this Dolomite done. My plan is to finish the offside and then put it away so I can get on with other projects that have been put off too long and desperately needing attention.

So today I spent a good 4 hours moving, clamping, trimming and re-clamping till I got things lined up as best as it would go. I'm fighting against factory inaccuracies and repro repair panel inaccuracies.






Also put a slit into the sill so I could bend it out in the middle. From what I've read, the factory sill has a curve in the middle but the Dolomite club sill doesn't. A screwdriver works well enough as a cam to push it out and line it up to the door.


Then tacked the outer repair arch panel on. Hadn't quite got the settings dialed in correctly at first, so some may need grinding off and redoing. I used a lot of compressed air to try to stop too much heat getting into the panel.

[yorkshire_spam]

Looking good!

[new to this]

That looks like a lot off work there , did you just make small repair sections for the inner arch,ive got both inner arches to do on mine,i bought an inner arch from Rimmers both it doesnt fit

Dave

[RSi]

Good progress

[Carledo]

2 years is nothing, mine took over 9 years (on and off) and one i'm currently finishing for someone has been 20 years in the works! The Carledo, which initialy needed almost no bodywork took over 3 years to build. This being your first Dolomite resto you're making good time, don't beat yourself up about it!

Steve

[SiC]

Thanks for all the encouragement!

That looks like a lot off work there , did you just make small repair sections for the inner arch,ive got both inner arches to do on mine,i bought an inner arch from Rimmers both it doesnt fit

Dave

Crap aren't they! I used bit of them but probably should have sent them back. Cut down the weld line and then used the closest side to the outer. A lot of money for something that doesn't even look for the car.

I did read that the Dolomite panels from Rimmers that are red, are crap. But pretty much all that is left.

[SiC]

I've (badly) plug welded up the outer arch to the inner. Will need more work to clean this up as I've managed to blow holes on the edge where the inner didn't quite meet with the outer. I may even try seam welding it, but it'll be a grim job with the drum in the way.


Lined up and clamped the sill in place.

I've done a smaller lip deliberately at the bottom, so I can seam weld all the way along here and not make it too noticeable. Hoping it'll be stronger than plug welding along and tbh I'm not that great at plug welds either.



Smashed the top of the lip into place. You can see the screwdriver and cuts I made so there can be a bend in the middle.


Removed the rear door.


Then tacked it all into place. The front I think is a bit set too far in, so may have to slice that weld and pull it out slightly.
I may quickly rehang the doors to check alignment and if all good, seam weld the lot up.



Also need to fix this front of the sill back up. I lined it up on the back of the sill in the rear arch, but the front is a tad short. Most of this should be hidden under the lower wing anyway and I have a repair panel for that.


The next problem is the b-pillar door mounting plates have stripped threads. They must have been like this for years and some of the bolts were barely grabbing when I first removed them last year.

This is a tricky one as I can't easily cut them loose, nor I'm not sure where I even can get replacements. Seems options are helicoil, retap then hope or drill out larger and tap for a bigger bolt.

[GlenM]

Simon,

Looks like you are getting on well.

With the door hinge plates, drill out the holes so the bolts will just pass right through, cut out a section of metal on the inside face of the pillar, insert a slightly longer bolt, wind a nut on to the end of it, then tack weld the nut to the inner face of the hinge plate. You then have captive nuts on the inner face of the plates and they will adjust as normal. Then weld the piece of steel back on the inner face.