Jag V6 swapped Dolomite

[new to this]

Hi are you running the standard fuel tank ?

[SprintV8]

I believe he’s running a Dolomite tank from memory with external pump.

Dare say he be along soon to confirm or correct me.

[Boost All The Dollys]

Hi are you running the standard fuel tank ?

quote=SprintV8 post_id=350097 time=1723110959 user_id=86]
I believe he’s running a Dolomite tank from memory with external pump.

Dare say he be along soon to confirm or correct me.
[/quote]

Semi correct, I am running the original tank but with an internally mounted fuel pump, a Walbro 255, with an external fuel regulator/filter mounted to the boot floor. The fuel pump is mounted to a modified Subaru Legacy fuel pump hanger mounted approximately in the centre of the tank with the fuel pump sock hanging over the original fuel pick up line, which is probably why it won’t pick up the last remaining fuel but it’s nowhere near a quarter of a tanks worth of fuel

[new to this]

Hi are you running the standard fuel tank ?

quote=SprintV8 post_id=350097 time=1723110959 user_id=86]
I believe he’s running a Dolomite tank from memory with external pump.

Dare say he be along soon to confirm or correct me.

Semi correct, I am running the original tank but with an internally mounted fuel pump, a Walbro 255, with an external fuel regulator/filter mounted to the boot floor. The fuel pump is mounted to a modified Subaru Legacy fuel pump hanger mounted approximately in the centre of the tank with the fuel pump sock hanging over the original fuel pick up line, which is probably why it won’t pick up the last remaining fuel but it’s nowhere near a quarter of a tanks worth of fuel
[/quote]

How ive done mine, using original tank cut hole in it welded a big pipe in to the tank to act as a swirl pot, and fitted a range rover classic fuel pump, fits inside the pipe welded in the tank, then on under side of car is the fuel filter

[Boost All The Dollys]

How ive done mine, using original tank cut hole in it welded a big pipe in to the tank to act as a swirl pot, and fitted a range rover classic fuel pump, fits inside the pipe welded in the tank, then on under side of car is the fuel filter

Maybe that’ll be something I look into. The pump hanger I have is more of an oval/slot shape rather than round so might have to fab something up. I am sort of planning to make or get made a proper alloy fuel tank or cell as my old tank is starting to show its age by springing a few rust holes in the bottom

[SprintV8]

I done away with my original tank
Had an alloy tank made to fit in between the rear turrets.
Larger capacity (Rotary’s are Thirsty)
Internal swirl pot. AN Fittings.
External Fuel Pump and filter.
Will run a return line back to tank.

Still to finish off.

[Boost All The Dollys]

I done away with my original tank
Had an alloy tank made to fit in between the rear turrets.
Larger capacity (Rotary’s are Thirsty)
Internal swirl pot. AN Fittings.
External Fuel Pump and filter.
Will run a return line back to tank.

Still to finish off.

Sounds like a good idea, might make mine to replace the whole boot floor minus a cut out for the battery, the V6 in a car shaped like a brick is VERY thirsty for fuel. I haven’t really worked out an MPG for it yet, best guess is somewhere in the low teens but I was also a bit heavy footed on that drive haha

[SprintV8]

If I was to do the Fuel again.
I possibly would use the Range Rover P38 unit.
The pump can be replaced or updated easily.
Mounting plate can also be scorched making it a bolt in out unit.
Plus drop the hieght and overall size a bit and foam filled.

[SprintV8]

The other option is to use the Mk1/2 Escort Race/Rally Tank.
Sits between the turrets
Shaped for a spare wheel.

CompBrake and CT Fabrications can make tanks from pattern sizes.
As can Pro Alloy.

https://www.westwalesrallyspares.co.uk/ ... fuel-tanks

[Boost All The Dollys]

August/September update

Well, it’s been an odd few weeks. Discovered that the original Jag oil pick up doesn’t suit my sump very well. Basically, the pick up point sits too high in the sump, so that at higher RPMs, it sucks up the aerated oil coming from the engine and fries the con rod bearings. I think this is what happened to the first engine and it did it to the second one but I caught it before it did any serious damage. Still meant I had to replace all of the bearings and all of the con rod bolts (a pain with the engine still in the car but easier than pulling the engine).

Since then I’ve been driving it semi-regularly, mainly as my daily driver failed its MOT and I’d rather have a mostly working but legal car over a working but illegal one. It’s an absolute blast to drive apart from leaving sizeable oil stains everywhere I park.

My current issues (oil leaks aside) is some sort of weird electrical short circuits that’ve been happening. I’m not sure why but I have the occasional problem with the fuel pump relay not activating correctly and at the same time some sort of issue that causes the car to lose electrical power as I go to crank the engine. Everything seems to work ok but as I turn the key, the starter solenoid clicks and everything in the car dies, including the starter solenoid.

I think it’s something to do with the battery terminal connection as it’s getting hot and melting the heat shrink off. Maybe I’ll replace the battery cable with some higher rated stuff in the hopes that fixes it.

I’ve also started to tear the old engine down to see if it’s salvageable and to start to rebuild it as a back up. Apart from a ruined pair of pistons and rods, the block isn’t too badly damaged. There’s a bit of the bottom of the bore that’s got a bulge in from the rod hitting the block but nothing that an overbore couldn’t fix.

Anyway, that’s all from me, hope you all had a good summer of driving

[Boost All The Dollys]

October-November update time, and it’s gonna be a long one

Starting off, my daily driver failed its MOT so while I waited for parts, I elected to drive this until it then. I ended up driving it around for about a month or so which gave me some insight into what needs done to make it better. Some of the issues I posted on here under different threads;
lumpy steering https://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/vi ... hp?t=38763
Oil pressure/flow https://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/vi ... hp?t=38806
Rear suspension https://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/vi ... hp?t=38794
One big take away from all this driving is just how awful the rule mileage is.

I expected it to be low, it is after all a massive engine in a car shaped like a brick, but the absolute best I got was around 15mpg!!! This is mostly down to how badly geared it is. Although it has a 5 speed box, 5th isn’t an overdrive, just a 1:1. The S Type has a very low diff ratio of 3.09 whereas I had fitted a 3.9 ratio into mine. This coupled with the shorter tyres means that at 70mph, the engine is turning at 4000rpm! The lowest off the shelf option is a 3.3 ratio which would drop that to around 3500rpm, not great but better. I’m looking at some other alternatives to do as well as change the diff ratio, like an RX8 gearbox or swapping some of the gears around in the gearbox to make it overdrive in 5th.

Secondly, the fuel tank, I need to make or have made a bigger and better tank. The set up at the moment is the original tank with a whole cut into it to mount a modified Subaru pump hanger with a walbro 255 pump. This puts the pump pickup near the old pick up point at the bottom of the tank. Unfortunately, the tank isn’t baffled at all so I just get fuel surge when it’s between 1/2 and 1/4 full. Couple this with the egregious fuel mileage and I have an approximate range of 150 miles per tank. Not good as all the nearest cities to me are around 100-150 miles away.

Thirdly, suspension NEEDS sorting out. Although I have the Uprated lowered springs on the rear, they’re on stock shocks and they are just too soft and too low. This causes the axle pinion flange to wreck havoc on the underside of the tunnel as any bump will cause it to smack into the tunnel. I did have the original bump stop on there to prevent this. Operative word there was had, it ripped it off on a drive as the bump stop was near to the pinion flange and I hit a bump on a dual carriageway which tore it off. I have a set of Spax adjustable height and compression shocks to fit but they are missing the nuts for the spring perch and they’re so old that Spax don’t have spares or even have the drawings for them to have them made myself. The thread on them looks like an odd size as well, like M55x2 square thread. Not exactly something found off the shelf easily.

The front suspension is pretty good for now, uprated lowering springs in Spax height and ride adjustable shocks. But my main issue is the camber of the front wheels. When I first built the car 10 years ago, I didn’t bother changing the camber plates. It was pretty aggressive but fairly even on both sides. For some reason or another, they’re now wonky. One side maintained the aggressive camber but the other side has noticeably less. I haven’t had it checked but certainly something to look at fixing. The overall handling isn’t something I’ve looked into much yet as although I want the car to be a bit of a B Road Blaster, it’s more like a cruiser at the moment.

So that’s probably it for the year. I probably won’t drive it much through winter in the rubbish weather so I’m going o start on some of the bigger jobs I want to do like those mentioned above as well as some other ones I’ve had rattling around my head for the last year. Such as;
• Fibreglass wings and front valance
• some rust repair on the rear arches
• remake the exhaust for better ground clearance and noise reduction
• redo the wiring harness
• general tidy up of the car

I’ve also been in touch with Rocketeer, the guys who do the MX5 V6 conversions, regarding some of there engine packages. It’s probably a lot time off me wanting more power but their packages seem to be pretty good value for money, with good power figures for not a whole lot more than it would cost for me to put together. Certainly something to think about for what to do with the engine that went pop (if it’s salvageable)

Well, that’s all from me. Thank you very much to all those who have given me advice on the issues I’ve been having; Carledo, SprintV8, Cliftyhanger, and many others. Hopefully I’ll get some more driving in it next year and get to some of the meets to give you all a spin in this glorious deathtrap.

[new to this]

On my car ive used the original fuel tank as you have, but i fitted a 4 inch pipe in the tank and the pump goes inside the pipe to act like a swill pot, as you have had petrol in your tank dont try and weld the pipe in now you would have to bolt it in place now

your front suspension have you fitted the shims ?

Dave

[Boost All The Dollys]

On my car ive used the original fuel tank as you have, but i fitted a 4 inch pipe in the tank and the pump goes inside the pipe to act like a swill pot, as you have had petrol in your tank dont try and weld the pipe in now you would have to bolt it in place now

your front suspension have you fitted the shims ?

Dave

I haven’t fitted any new shims yet, I just used the same ones I had in previously but I will be at some point to sort the camber out

Think I’m just going to make a bigger, nicer tank as well, just to bump up the range

[Carledo]

TR8 diff is 3.08 but won't fit in Sprint axle case (no idea why, just what I was told) The TR axle case is possible to adapt into a Dolly mounting wise but is 2"+ wider so stretching the arches will be called for. I'm considering this for the Carledo's next incarnation with Golf GTi MKI steel rear arch flares to cover the increased rear track. I've seen another 2 door done like this and it looked just right. Plus the stock rear track is narrower than the front track making the car look odd (to my eyes anyway) fitting the wider axle will even it up and a wider track is more stable - no?

Then add an overdriven 5th gear and a proper map and double your gas mileage overnight! To my way of thinking, a car should pull 70mph at no more than 2750 RPM, if you have enough power and torque that should be easy enough to achieve. Enough is about 200BHP/tonne!

Steve

[Boost All The Dollys]

TR8 diff is 3.08 but won't fit in Sprint axle case (no idea why, just what I was told) The TR axle case is possible to adapt into a Dolly mounting wise but is 2"+ wider so stretching the arches will be called for. I'm considering this for the Carledo's next incarnation with Golf GTi MKI steel rear arch flares to cover the increased rear track. I've seen another 2 door done like this and it looked just right. Plus the stock rear track is narrower than the front track making the car look odd (to my eyes anyway) fitting the wider axle will even it up and a wider track is more stable - no?

Then add an overdriven 5th gear and a proper map and double your gas mileage overnight! To my way of thinking, a car should pull 70mph at no more than 2750 RPM, if you have enough power and torque that should be easy enough to achieve. Enough is about 200BHP/tonne!

Steve

Ive been thinking about doing some sort of arch flair for a while but haven’t found many options that would fit the picture in my head. The Gr.2 flares are really nice and are quite big but it suits a style of car that I’m not sure on yet. They’re quite bulbous and rounded and I don’t think suits the very angular style of the Dolomite. It works in some cases, maybe for the next iteration. Something like the golf GTi flares or ones like the Bergcup hill climb flares would be interesting, very angular and wide but definitely required very limited/stiff suspension. I had a mate follow me to a car show in it and he commented that he couldn’t tell if the car was crabbing down the road because of the odd stance with the rear being so noticeably narrower (which is odd cos it’s only like 2 inches difference).

When I first started this project (Christ, that was nearly 8 years ago!) I had this plan to convert a modern IRS back to a live axle arrangement by basically making an adapter frame that held the diff, halfshafts, and hubs in a straight line and mount to the original dolomite suspension. It would’ve been a ridiculous amount of work for very little benefit when I could’ve just gotten a Ford 8.8 axle from the states (or a rare uk spec Ford Explorer) and have it narrowed and put some super tall gears in. I think the lowest gear they can get is 2.47 or something like that which is plenty.

And between 2000 and 3000rpm is what I’m aiming for, the lower the better. I think my map at that point isn’t too bad, I’m barely opening the throttle at those speeds, it’s just that it’s turning over so fast. I imagine I’d be using roughly the same amount of throttle I am now with how much torque it makes