The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

The plinth came in the post today.

I got it fitted and it looks better already.

I've been thinking about the oil leak and I've decided to tackle it next. It seems to be coming from the oil pump so I'll just renew both O rings regardless. The oil filter will have to come off so I'll do an engine oil and filter change at the same time. I might as well start the oil pressure gauge installation at the same time so I'll just order all the parts at the same time.

Now that I'm running on super unleaded, I finally got round to checking the ignition timing. It was quite advanced so it just needed retarding to bring it to the book figure. I didn't notice any difference on the road test so I won't bother doing any more adjustments.

I took the 1850 out for a run and it fired up on the button from cold. Once it was up to temperature, I needed to adjust the throttle screws and it is now idling beautifully.

I had to do some gophering today so I took the Dolly. A further tweak to the idle was necessary but once again it fired up on the button from cold.

I forgot to mention that when I had the engine out, I finally got both horns working. Either would work on their own but they wouldn't work together. I knew that the connectors were fine (I'd crimped on some new connectors) so I checked each horn in turn (they had to come off because the radiator had to come out). One was fine but the other one was a bit feeble. There's a small bolt for adjusting the sound that comes out and after a bit of twiddling it was working perfectly. Once the horns were fitted to the car and connected they were working exactly as the should. This is a perfect example of one of those niggles that I've been living with which with a bit of time and effort was easily fixed.

The offside rear door wasn't latching properly and needed a good slam to make sure it was closed. It was also a bit difficult to open. A quick spray of Plus Gas (I bought a new aerosol recently) fixed it.

The bracket for my oil pressure gauge came in the post. The clamping bracket just needs some "fettling" and a couple of nuts for the threads. In the light of Ian's "HRW relay" thread, I'm toying with the idea of fitting a relay for the heated rear window circuit and I'm still thinking of where to position the switch. I'm still considering a Mini/TR7 HRW switch which is in keeping with the BL "parts bin" philosophy.

The fanbelt was slipping again so I had to adjust the tension. The new alternator means that it is a bit more difficult because the bolt is on the inside and the bottom hose is right in the way but I got it done and a quick road test later all is well.

I had a flat tire this week and had to put some air in. Hope it stays inflated next week.

Jeroen

Whoa, easy tiger! Put them claws away.

It doesn't seem to be getting quite up to temperature (goes to about 1/3 on the gauge)so I'm going to replace the pressure cap and change the thermostat for an 88 deg one. I don't think it is the voltage stabilizer (fuel gauge seems to be fine) but I'll take a reading before I do anything else.

soe8m wrote:I had a flat tire this week and had to put some air in. Hope it stays inflated next week.

Jeroen

I have some spare air here im not using - happy to send it your way. It came out of a 2003 Kumho Radial i got given, its probably the right type for your tyre.

I took a reading on the voltage stabilizer and that's producing the correct voltage. The next thing to try is the expansion cap. I found out that there's no pressure in the cooling system so I bought a replacement. I didn't just put it on because the metal on the top of the expansion bottle was rusty so I rubbed it down with some 1200 wet & dry and gave all the mating surfaces a thin coating of lithium grease. I'll fit a new thermostat at some point anyway. I've also noticed that the car is getting difficult to start. The battery is fine (there's a condition indicator which is showing green) and the alternator is charging the battery so it is looking like resistance in the earth side. The negative battery terminal is corroding so I'll give it a good clean and give it some protection to prevent a reoccurrence of the problem.

matt of the vivas wrote:

soe8m wrote:I had a flat tire this week and had to put some air in. Hope it stays inflated next week.

Jeroen

I have some spare air here im not using - happy to send it your way. It came out of a 2003 Kumho Radial i got given, its probably the right type for your tyre.

If the air from matt of the vivas tyre isn't up to spec for your needs, maybe start a wanted thread for some NOS air. Air quality these days isn't what it used to be. However I think 2003 was a good year for air.

Last night I cleaned up the battery negative terminal and gave it a smear of lithium grease (I didn't have anything else suitable to hand). The moment of truth came this morning when I came to start it. The temperatures have dropped and we've had snow. It fired up on the button so it was just a bad earth.

Jeroen's tyres need Dutch spec air, so a generally low lie-ing flat and quite seaside feel to it. None of that North York Moors bracing stuff with the
odd wiff of feret and coal mines. That Norwich stuff Matt has would be well suitable, except the sea is on the wrong side, so you may have to put
the tyre on the other side...

Jonners