The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Well my order arrived the next day, excellent service.
The cost hurt a little bit though, hopefully not too much more to buy.

Over the next couple of weekends I should get it sorted.

Firstly it got dumped in the workshop waiting for the bits it scraped through the test to be sorted.

I attacked the boot floor and the rear inner arch with the grinder and collected this from the drivers side.
IMG_20160518_122321 by JohnReilly72, on Flickr
I had made a hole to find good metal:
IMG_20160518_122123 by JohnReilly72, on Flickr
Then I made a patch for the hole:
IMG_20160518_122148 by JohnReilly72, on Flickr
I did the same on the other side but had to cut more to get solid metal:
IMG_20160518_122200 by JohnReilly72, on Flickr
I also did the rear of the inner sill where the jacking point is as it was soft and the inner arch had been plated previously but had grown in issues. The bits removed are in the pile above.
Metal got stuck back in, managed to get covered in weld splatter at one point which was unpleasent, this then got covered in some paint but I have no pictures of that (got bored of taking rubbish pictures and just got on with the job)

The MOT had passed the brakes with an imbalance just within the limit at the rear, as Charlie is learning to drive in this I decided to just replace at the rear.
Old picture for reference when doing the job. Shoes cylinders and pipes were replaced at the back. Doing the other side and one of the springs was fitted incorrectly so quite glad it has all been changed.
IMG_20160519_105104 by JohnReilly72, on Flickr
IMG_20160524_085034 by JohnReilly72, on Flickr

While I was doing the brakes at the back Charlie was doing the engine service, oil and filter, air filter and plugs and leads were changed. New electronic distributor and new coil also fitted to hopefully sort out the slightly rough running.

Today was test drive day, out and about while adjusting the timing (still probably wrong but the spanner is in the car) the brakes are brilliant and it is now insured for Charlie to drive as of Tuesday when she turns 17.

I will get some pictures hopefully tomorrow when he comes out to play.

Hi Tickman

It is always good to see work being done to repair and restore. Keep up the good work. One comment though that is NOT meant to demoralise or condemn:
I would clip your rear brake pipes on at more closer positions along the rear axle. It looks like cable ties but I can't quiet tell. There is a discussion about break pipe material in a thread I started under "Fueling Issues". They need to be secure to prevent any movements/flexing/vibrations that may cause the pipes to fracture due to metal fatigue.
It is a safety issue not me dissing your good work.

I second what Karl has said and I also echo his sentiments. I also suggest that you use super unleaded with your ignition timing on book settings (10 deg BTDC IIRC). As soon as I started using super unleaded, I noticed the difference straight away and it is worth the extra it costs.

Karlos wrote:...I would clip your rear brake pipes on at more closer positions along the rear axle. It looks like cable ties but I can't quiet tell......

The pipes are clipped into the what I presume are the original clips, the cable ties are only there at one point as the original clip at that point was weak so the ties hold the pipes firmly in place.
Are there supposed to be other points where it is held? It is held there, the clip at the top of the axle where the flexi pipe is and another clip on the left holding the single pipe at that point.

Also keep pointing out stuff as I am a little unfamiliar with these cars so all information will be taken on board.

Toledo Man wrote:I second what Karl has said and I also echo his sentiments. I also suggest that you use super unleaded with your ignition timing on book settings (10 deg BTDC IIRC). As soon as I started using super unleaded, I noticed the difference straight away and it is worth the extra it costs.

Thanks for the timing setting, I am having a little trouble getting it happy, there is a massive range of movement in the distributor where the car will still run. I have brought my timing light back to the car so I will have a look next time I am out. It is currently a little gutless, I just swapped the new distributor in at the same place as the old one.

This happened today:
IMG_20160531_094001 by JohnReilly72, on Flickr

IMG_20160531_093945 by JohnReilly72, on Flickr

A good hour and a half of driving about