RUK - Project Recommission 1972 'Dolomite' Auto

[James467]

Oh and I'm looking for the best place to source some Cibie headlamps for my halogen conversion.

[SprintMWU773V]

You can find Cibie/Valeo ones easily online. Just remember that some have a pilot light and some don't. I bought 3 at a autojumble but had to source the 4th online, think it came through Rock Auto.

[James467]

Thanks Mark, they are quite pricey though, £150 or so for a set. But I seem to remember that they are far superior to the standard ones that can be bought online, I did see some Ring ones on eBay for £50 for the set.

Bosch Alternator ordered....

Spal fan ordered!

[SprintMWU773V]

Yes they are expensive but if you look around then you can find them for a reasonable price, certainly less than £150 a set. When I converted the Mazda I used some Autopal 7" ones from ECP and they do the job well but don't look that great, I wasn't convinced by the 5 3/4" ones in terms of the look and the Valeo ones I bought were not much more expensive. Not tried them so cannot comment on the performance but the quality is several miles ahead of the Autopal, if nothing else they have a far more original curved profile to the front.

For the Main beam you'll want 082369 and for the Outers you'll want 082373. There's some of the 369's on Amazon currently which are even Prime eligible if you have such a thing.

[James467]

There's some of the 369's on Amazon currently which are even Prime eligible if you have such a thing.

Perfect, thanks! Down to £130 looking around!

I'm going to run the outers with sidelights and use the sidelight as a DRL. The bulb is a BA9s so I should be able to run a 20W bulb wired into the ignition to come on when the ignition is on and go off when the lights are turned on. So for the outers I'll need a pair of 082371's

[Jon Tilson]

I used to find the cold driveaway characteristics improved a lot with a larger plug gap of about 40 thou and the fitting of electronic ignition.

Bosch W8DP plugs are my current faves....ERO pulls pretty well from cold with the SU's off enrichment after starting.

Jonners

[James467]

So I want to have a look at this fuelling/maybe ignition issue I have and see if you all have any suggestions.

Went over to Barkham today to the bike shop, Tony knows where this is and from Fleet it's a nice blend of fast twisty country roads which are generally traffic free.

I adjusted the downpipe to seal it better against the manifold, the clamp I am using is pulling it a bit, it's the wrong one so I need to have a look at that but it all needs realigning correctly anyway.

It is hesitating when pulling and the symptoms are: If I floor the throttle it pulls but hesitates, not a huge amount but you can feel it hesitating. When I let off the throttle a it I feel the response improve and it accelerates a bit more, I can't hear it pinking.

Timing is set to 11 degrees and the timing mark sits rock solid with no jumping around, I run VPower and only VPower! Plus Lumenition Optronic ignition. Both the cap and rotor arm are genuine Delco NOS items. Plugs are NGK BP5E and the gap is 0.025" leads are new although they arent Magnecor - yet! Oh and the dash pots are topped up and the fuel pump is new.

Plug 1 looks like.....



Plug 3 looks like.....



Now I don't think it's ignition I think it is fuel but I am open to suggestions. Would you agree that this is the best way to investigate this.

1 - Inspect and change the diaphragms.
2 - Pull the carbs and check the floats and jets - replace parts as necessary.
3 - if that doesn't work throw them in the bin and fit a set of SU's!

[SprintMWU773V]

The actual electrode bits look alright, a nice deposit there, nothing black and horrible.

[tony g]

Does 2 look like 1 and 3 look like 4? Maybe a bit lean on the rear carb if so.
Are the carbs balanced with linkage disconnected? Slight later opening of one throttle can give hesitation too

Tony

[James467]

I'll check the balance again, but yes I did balance them with the linkage disconnected.

Forgot to mention idle is set at 750 rpm and it idles beautifully.

[Carledo]

I agree with Tony, it looks a tad lean on the rear carb!

It might be worth rechecking the float heights on both carbs to ensure they are the same as a slightly lower float on the rear carb could produce this even if the carbs are theoretically perfectly balanced.

I am finding these days that I am running into problems with SUs and Strombergs that I never experienced even 20 years ago. These problems are often down to uneven wear between a pair of carbs which necessitate setting the car up with an unbalanced mixture. Mahesh has learned this with his Sprint, no matter what he does, it runs best with the rear carb 2 flats richer than the front one! Short of an expensive complete overhaul of your carbs, there is not a lot you can do in these circumstances except trust your ears and your hunches and wing it!

Steve

[James467]

Does 2 look like 1 and 3 look like 4? Maybe a bit lean on the rear carb if so.

Sorry Tony, yes they do match.

There's something wrong again with the adjuster, was going to give it 1/4 turn but it wont move... at all!

[James467]

It might be worth rechecking the float heights on both carbs to ensure they are the same as a slightly lower float on the rear carb could produce this even if the carbs are theoretically perfectly balanced.

I was thinking exactly that Steve. They have been overhauled, and the only things left to change are the floats and the needles, they're so simple!

[sprint95m]

Which version of Strombergs do you have?





Ian.

[James467]

CD150's Ian, fixed Jets.