Sprint Restoration in South Australia (pic heavy)

[straylight]

update.

george has made some progress. He's welded up the driver's side rear roof and the bad rust around the air vent, he's done some repair work on the sills and on the C pillar, moving slowly forward. he's procrastinating on the wings and there is a chance of a wing/guard from simon in tassie, so we might replace the whole lot and be done with it. That driver's side guard really needs a decent fix rather than another bash and bog.

back home I've been fiddling with the fun jobs. Found some rust in the petrol tank floor that had eaten away and left two pin prick sized holes. Debating whether to use a two part epoxy filler or weld/braze 'em up.

taking the hint from newguy's excellent work, I rubbed back and sprayed the brake servo.

otherwise I'm having no end of saga with the stag steering. If any of you are familiar with the stag I'd appreciate any advice. The whole epic is on the triumpowners forum:

http://forums.triumphowners.com/viewtop ... c&start=45

stu

[sprint95m]

Found some rust in the petrol tank floor that had eaten away and left two pin prick sized holes. Debating whether to use a two part epoxy filler or weld/braze 'em up.



otherwise I'm having no end of saga with the stag steering. If any of you are familiar with the stag I'd appreciate any advice. stu

Welding is probably the best option, but is only sensible on a tank that has had no petrol at all in it for a long time (6 months?). A fibre glass repair will work if it has a decent surface to adhere to.

I have managed to avoid Stags.
The power steering set up on a Stag is interchangeable with a T2500 (cross member included) I have been led to believe. In 2003 I converted a 2500 from power to manual steering (a great improvement). The power assembly went to someone who stated he could use it on his Stag. They certainly look the same to me. You could get a S/H rack off the T2500 you found at the breakers to get your car mobile, but these racks have a reputation for seal failure if they are left unused for long periods of time. In the UK there are several Stag specialists (not just Rimmers) who do reconditioned racks on exchange so I suspect that most owners here won't contemplate rebuilding a rack.
You could convert to manual steering......................


Good to hear you are finally getting somewhere with your Sprint, be ready for next summer?

[straylight]

thanks Ian, I've just investigated the 2500 wrecker, and she doesn't have power steering.

next summer would be excellent ! (October-ish for us)....

[tinweevil]

Assuming that you can't find a good replacement tank then I'd suggest cutting out all the thinned metal and replacing it and then line the tank using a POR15 tank repair kit. This way you restore the tanks strength but don't have to worry about making 100% petrol proof welds. Brazing would quite probably seal better than welding but I know nothing of it's strength.

Note stating the bleeding obvious so that I don't get shot down in flames: Welding a fuel tank is a very dangerous thing to do. You can kill yourself. Dead. Even tanks left empty for years can contain enough vapor to be explosive. Take lots of advice from lots of sources before attempting this and draw your own conclusions.

Tinweevil

[straylight]

thanks tin, you are right, i should have mentioned we were looking at filling it with water first and welding around the small air pocket...i was wondering about a simple expoy repair primarily.

this is the second fuel tank in the car, same problem last time caused blockages in the fuel line. I've just had a look at tank sealant kits, looks like they have an australian retailer, thanks for the tip.

stu

[sprint95m]

For LPG conversions, to sit alongside the gas tank, a variety of shapes and capacities of petrol tank are available. Maybe something suitable for a Dolomite?

In the 90s I did contemplate fitting a tank from an Austin Mini in a Dolomite Sprint. The Sprint's tank was holed but (I was surprised) a repair using glass fibre matting (obtained from a local boat builder) worked. The reduced capacity of the Mini tank would not have bothered me because at that time I bought no more than £10 (3 gallons/14 litres) at a time, which gave a range of 100 miles ( I figured filling the tank would place more pressure on the glass fibre repair). A few years after this repair I bought an as new petrol tank from a man in Inverness. His car was repaired, following a back end shunt, with new panels, bumper and tank only for him to take it off the road soon after because it ran a big end bearing.

[straylight]

hmmm, the tank is in good fettle, just showing two pin prick sized holes on the underside, which only showed up when I wire brushed it to get rid of some minor surface rust. I'd be confident in using two part epoxy to fill in the holes. A new tank is not really on the horizon. I think a weld/epoxy and a sealant will do the trick.

the wash/prime/sealant is worth around $100 and I'll see if I can find a local supplier.

thanks ian.

stu

[straylight]

dropped off the boot and bonnet to george last week. Took some photos of the progress


sitting in george's shed. Unfortunately George is a bit of a sought after commodity in town so everything from spray painting and weldiing jobs he has a hand in. We have a local engineering workshop as well (Zacher's) but they do all the agricultural repairs and fabrication.

repaired C pillar on drivers side





prep work for the wheel arch, rear drivers side


underside of roof rear. George reckons this was a fiddly job to fabricate and weld up.


passenger side, still nothing done.

I had a chat with a simon in tasmania and there is a possibility of getting a new front guard from a sprint he is wrecking down there, otherwise I'm tempted to see Vanguard wholesalers in Melbourne. The time taken to repair the existing gaurd and the fiddling around might make it a cheaper and better option to buy an undamaged second hand one.

More good news, having sorted the stag steering with the simple expedient of using a seal that actually fits the power steering control unit, on the test run I called in at the post office and picked up a bag from Vanguard Triump wholesalers with a new oil pump O ring kit and an oil pump valve repair kit, which contained the spring I'd been searching for. I can spend this afternoon happily putting the oil pump back on the sprint engine.

stu

[Mad Mart]

Great Stu, it's good to see progress being made.

[sprint95m]

Every job completed is a step nearer to the finish.
A lot of skill and patience required for the roof repairs? George is doing a good job I'd say.

Progress on the Stag too! Simple, when you know how?

[newguy]

Showed My brother inlaw this...
Thinks that this carn't even be on georges list of things to do.
All those repairs should be done in a days work.
Just my 2cents.

Finally getting somewhere though

Thank the Aussies

[sprint95m]

All those repairs should be done in a days work.

That would be one very long working day.............. .

[newguy]

All those repairs should be done in a days work.

That would be one very long working day.............. .

Not really

Start at 5am Finish at 6ish
half an hour smoko for lunch and Arvo Tea

Make sure hes doing a Ace job

[2eyes]

Hows progress,no post for a while.

[straylight]

progress...is...stalled.

george is just finding too many other jobs to do. A customer comes in with a car needed for work and george just puts it at the front of the queue. Since mine is a "non-essential" it keeps getting bumped to the back of the line. Too many kangaroos on the road, too much panel beating needed. Saw him tonight (I call in once a week) and nothing more done since he did the boot and bonnet some 3 weeks ago.

I'm also looking at replacing the driver's front wing entirely. The donor one is rotten, but simon in Tasmania might have a wing and vanguard spares in melbourne can sell me one for $500 (NOS) or a second hand if they can find a decent one. Considering a dolly can be picked up whole for around $300 that seems like a lot, but it might be the only option.

I'm hanging in there, but considering taking the car to naracoorte for a quicker repair, simple job of loading it onto a trailer.

stu