The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

hi all, couldnt get the space in the garage until this monday, so hopefully it will begin then.

Ive found someone who is selling a fast road cam secondhand but i dont know anything about these, apparently i would need to re shim(?) the tappets which is fiddly to do. im wondering is it worth the trouble, i just want to do a few things to give the engine a bit more poke, and when i decide to take engine out it would be the best time to do work on it. Was also thinking about doing some diy work on the cylinder head eg: matching the exhaust/inlet ports to manifold or whatever else i can do that wont compromise performance...decisions decisions...

Hey everyone. well, started the work today, stripped as much as i could. Had a bit of difficulty with various rusted bolts/screws as expected, I'm quite tired now so i'll just post some pics now and give a full write up of the details soon.
Cheers...jv

Some interesting vehicles in that workshop.....

I think if you just drill out the rivets or whatever it is holding that roof panel in you will find the rails for a webatso or britax sunroof.

These do come up on ebay occasionally. I have a manky weathershield and its liner I could donate to use as a pattern. The interior lining bit and its mechansm could be reused at a pinch.

Jonners

could you rob the webasto from something else?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rangerover-Classi ... 500wt_1182

Im loving the dolly in gloss black, do it man, and welcome to these crazy forums

Jon Tilson wrote:I think if you just drill out the rivets or whatever it is holding that roof panel in you will find the rails for a webatso or britax sunroof.

These do come up on ebay occasionally. I have a manky weathershield and its liner I could donate to use as a pattern. The interior lining bit and its mechansm could be reused at a pinch.

Jonners

Thanks for the help,but i'm thinking to weld and flush it as i would prefer a smooth roof instead of the sunroof. i know it started life as a dolly with a webasto, but i'm happy without one....

So, today went reasonably ok, I stripped the dash out and gearbox cover, heater matrix, and found various large rust holes under scuttle/behind the dash that needs quite a bit of work.

I also disconnected/removed the radiator,various wires,ignition coil and some hoses to ready the engine for removal.

One thing I've noticed the day I brought the car to the garage I had problems getting it into gear, especially reverse. (I hope its nothing too serious)???

Also found some scary rust behind the front headlight panel including a hole on the chassis. I think iI will have to purchase a new front panel as I going to have to cut the front panel away in order to do a proper job on the welding/repair. Anyone that has a cheap new one I'd be happy to take it off your hands...

dash rail rust isn't unusual and its hidden. Weld with confidence.

Alun (xvivalve) does a grp front panel

Is it worth taking a complete roof panel to get the curvature?

I agree it might be better and easier to replace the whole roof section. Shame about not keeping the webasto, I think they look cool, just my opinion though

I will vouch for the quality of Alun's front end The panel is beautifully made and just needs minimal fettling with a dremel. Metal front panels are NOT cheap unfortunately.

Don't worry about the bulkhead rust, it's pretty common.

Keep at it

Ken

hi all, i will update this thread soon, just asking a quick question. Does anyone know where and if its costly to get a vinyl roof as im quite a fan of the dolomites with the vinyl roof and id like to do this maybe when i repair it. cheers.jv

Let me guess, the hole you have found is in the inner front panel at the end of the inner wing box section? You DO NOT have to take the front panel off to repair this. The rust will undoubtedly have spread from that box section, usually the side with the battery/without the exhaust. Using the kit of parts we have developed, four plates and the subframe mount tube, allow you to repair from within the engine bay and wheel arch doing the inner front panel first with a plate from within. It would be a shame to ruin an otherwise good front panel as Ken says, they aren't cheap. There is a GRP option, they fit well, but are GRP at the end of the day and they are readily available at £120 plus postage.

It was a mate of mine who saw your car at Ikea and sent me a picture of it.

Hi, finally managed to check your resto thread out, seems like you're cracking on with it.

I also see your giving it the kind of stable mates it's used to


Regarding getting more poke, make sure you're flooring the throttle as I found the last few percent of travel travel seemed to give a disproportionate increase in grunt. Certainly enough to scare an Exige:




This is what you'll find under the plate after the trackday pulled the webasto off. Vinyl roof would be a good period touch.


Did you get the window winder through?

Hey everyone, sorry about the absence. I've been quite busy with the dolly haven't had much time to post...

Thanks for the pics monty, I got the winder thanks. Wanted some info from you about the extra exhaust manifold you gave me, Is there any reason why you had an extra one,did you mean to change it or was it an old one? Just that i was thinking to do something with it maybe.

Well. As for the sprint, Its been going ok. I took the engine out, found more surface rust in the engine bay, bought a new drivers side wing as old one was beyond repair, found yet more rust underneath wing. I am now going to buy another new wing for the passenger side as I want to take old one off to repair underneath that as I guess it will be quite corroded aswell. At some point i need to do a list with all the work i've been doing, never seem to have the time .


Quick question for anyone: when i removed seats i found connecting wires coming out of the bottom of them,which is covered with a stretched piece of rubber...am I stupid in thinking maybe heated seats?

Anyway,a few pics for now...

You should have found wires under the passenger seat only, they are for the seat belt warning lamp.