The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Well done Mart, how bad was the rear of the roof?

Mad Mart wrote:Yes, thanks guys. I have been in to Sprints for a few years now (35+) so I do know the difference.

Don't doubt it Mart. Nor do I doubt that I'd be 3/4 of the way at least through refurbishing that one with a nagging feeling the whole way before the penny dropped

Purplebargeken wrote:Well done Mart, how bad was the rear of the roof?

It's pretty good Ken. A few scabs and a small hole but that's it.

If you look at the Haynes book of lies it refers to a late 3 UJ version of the prop. Mine was a 3 UJ one and I had it refurbed and balanced by Dave Mac props.

Not sure the weld repair to the drag strut bush area is what I would do....

Will it be as strong as the original? Think I'd find a new or undamaged one from somewhere....
The number of possible prop shafts on these is about one less than the number of surviving cars now...


Jonners

Any updates yet Martin?

Ken

No Ken. XJX has been ready to go to the spray shop for over a week now but unfortunately Jon won't have room for it in his shop until next week, so he will be picking it up next Saturday. In the meantime I can't do a lot as there just isn't the space to work in. I have painted a few suspension components but that's about it.

Sadly there are no smilies for 'getting restoration withdrawal symptoms'.

Funny you should mention that Ken...

XJX is still stuck in my garage. Hopefully one afternoon next week it will be picked up. It could be tomorrow, it just depends on the weather. It's not worth getting it wet.

I did actually start stripping the engine this morning. I too was getting withdrawal symptoms.







The usual struggle with the waterpump...












A PO had obviously had enough of trying to line up the pesky fuel pump and fitted studs instead...




The flywheel is a bit crusty. Soon sort that out...




Gave the engine a quick clean and found the engine number, upside down between the two core plugs on the top ledge...

XJX has finally made it's way to the spray shop...





see you in a few months!


So, on with the good bits. Sump removed so I could wedge a block of wood in to stop the flywheel turning whilst trying to undo the flywheel bolts (my compressed air impact gun isn't up to the job unfortunately).



After removing the flywheel and engine plate I removed the rear cover. If I had a pound for every one of these I've found with the two longer bolts in the wrong place...they should be in the bottom holes, the bit with the thicker metal.

I removed the rocker cover, which was held in place by allen key cap screws. The rocker gear looks pretty clean.





I whipped the head off. No.1 looked a bit crusty but it was nothing.




After a quick clean it was revealed to be a +0.020" piston.

I got rid of all the red paint. I will probably paint it black, as usual. I also ran a tap down all the threads and put the airline through the oil ways.






These are the factory bore grades, no.1 cylinder on the left.



Hmmm! no.1 cylinder has a slight gouge in it. I've honed it a bit but not achieved much. I'll get some courser pads for the honing tool and give it another go, otherwise it looks like a resleeve.

Good to see you haven't lost the pace on this type of thing Martin, looking forward to seeing more updates (not that I'm being pushy or anything).

Great work as ever.

I had a crack at the subframe today. I gave it a thorough clean but spotted a couple of things that need addressing...



I cleaned this bit up and cut a plate to weld in. Went to weld it and...no wire feed. Opened the side panel on my welder and I'd run out of wire.


The drag strut holes have elongated. I was going to weld a washer over the hole, as I have some with the exact I/D. Thinking about it, I'm not so sure if that is a good idea so I think I will use some weld to rebuild the hole.

Nice work on the engine block cleaning Did you wire wheel it to get that clean?

Tony