Bradman's restoration thread - 1974 Dolomite THU232M

[Carledo]

Nope, just an error message!

Steve

[Bish]

Not my forte obviously! I will try another.......

[Bradman]

https://vimeo.com/user99238187/review/3 ... be06b950da

Works?

I’m afraid not, Bish . I used YouTube for my clips above. It was easy to set up (especially if you have a gmail account) and you can upload video directly from your mobile.

[Bish]

Appears to be working now. Sorry to hijack your thread Bradman, I have a thread of my own. Was tying to show a bit of moral support to let you know you’re not alone!

https://vimeo.com/339842462

[Bradman]

Appears to be working now. Sorry to hijack your thread Bradman, I have a thread of my own. Was tying to show a bit of moral support to let you know you’re not alone!

https://vimeo.com/339842462

No worries, and your latest link works I have to say, to my ears at least, yours doesn’t sound too bad to me... Maybe a slight ticking..? In contrast, mine has a rather heavy ticking:

https://youtu.be/HQ-dztbOJiQ

It also rocks around a lot, but then the front stabiliser assembly is missing, and I haven’t set the timing properly yet .

I’m really worried about the heavy ticking though...

Maybe some kind person on here who has a good engine can post a similar video for us both to listen to...?

Cheers, Mike.

[Bish]

Hmmm sounds a bit sticky. But hopefully, just top end and easy to sort!?
Have you had the valve cover off to check that oil is finding it’s way up to the cam/rocker gear? I read somewhere about blocked oilways on engines that have stood for a long time.

Post the videos in the Dolomite related section and I’m sure help will be along.......

[shaunroche]

Timing chain tensioner lost its plastic pad?

[Mad Mart]

Sounds like valve clearances to me.

[Bradman]

Hmmm sounds a bit sticky. But hopefully, just top end and easy to sort!?
Have you had the valve cover off to check that oil is finding it’s way up to the cam/rocker gear? I read somewhere about blocked oilways on engines that have stood for a long time.

Post the videos in the Dolomite related section and I’m sure help will be along.......

Thanks Bish, I do hope so... I did take the rocker cover off: I was pushed for time so didn’t look too closely, but it looked like there was plenty of oil, and not a dry lobe on the cam - but I didn’t look at the oilways I have to say, nor did I measure the valve clearances... I’ll do as you suggest with a new post I really wish mine sounded more like yours lol! Cheers, Mike.

[Bradman]

Timing chain tensioner lost its plastic pad?

Hmm... not sure. The bit of the chain I could touch with the rocker cover off was tight on the drive side, and not much slacker on the other - but not sure if that answers the question? Next time I’m free for a day I’ll take the chain cover off and have a look! Cheers, Mike.

[Bradman]

Sounds like valve clearances to me.

Hi Mart - trackerjack said something very similar, and also that it’s not unknown for the shims to escape! I’ve had the rocker cover off, but was pushed for time and only really checked for oil, which there was plenty of. I will take a much closer look next time I’m allowed out... Something’s nagging me though: When glancing over the exposed rockers, it did look like the right hand inlet valve of no1 was sitting a bit lower than the left hand - perhaps by 1 or 2mm? I rotated the engine with a spanner on the crank, and none of the other valve pairs looked like this - but neither did no1 after a full turn. I put this down to imagination, but now I’m wondering... Missing shim or sticky valve?? Will this have damaged the head if so...? Cheers, Mike.

[Bradman]

The steering still isn't right to me however. When the car is warmed up through driving, the steering feels a little like I'm rolling a 50p piece. I've never had this before in any car, but I'm assuming the rack needs attention (or the TREs move when warm). More investigation needed!

If it's only when everything is hot, I've a similar issue that I've not got to the bottom of yet. Very noticeable in traffic and when in my case the fan turns on!

Sorry, it's a long time since the original post but I finally cured this problem a month or two back: For me it was the OS ball joints. They seemed fine when cold, but after a short drive they would grumble and the steering would become like a 50p piece. I bought some NOS off eBay and the problem hasn't come back - and I've done a plenty of miles since

PS Thanks again dollyman (Tony) for showing me left from right, and how useless ball joint splitters are!

[Bradman]

Updates have been slow, but only because I've been driving the old girl more than tinkering

Here's some of what I've been up to:

Swapped the electric temperature gauge for a dual mechanical oil pressure / temperature version. I did this to both Dollys - it's easy to do, and the hardest part is making sure that the temperature tube clears the windscreen wiper mechanism. These gauges are expensive new, but I managed to get a couple of used ones really cheap. Take care with second hand: many have the copper tube and end bulb for temperature missing! I don't think that can be repaired if so... The light will be the wrong colour (white not green), but I used a green LED in mine and it looks like stock in the dark:



My car had modern car door seals when I bought it, the "seal on frame" type. These make the doors stick out a little, so I've now replaced them with the correct "seal on door" type.

Before:



After:



Before the flames come at me for the 135 badges... I had these with the car, along with many Sprint badges, and I only fitted them as my 2020 RBRR team number would have been 135 Here's the car with the badges back as they should be, along with my other project :



We did manage to find a car event that COVID didn't kill - this is us on the Weaver Wander:



Other than that, I've rebuilt 2 Sprint axles, pending painting, and made further progress with the Sprint's engine with help from dollyman

[Bish]

Good work Bradman. Like the dual gauge too. I take it you fixed the nasty noises.?

[Bradman]

Good work Bradman. Like the dual gauge too. I take it you fixed the nasty noises.?

Not yet, Bish

Just after that earlier post, the Sprint engine refused to run, and the oil started to fill up with fuel

After many months of head scratching, compression testing, rechecking fuel delivery, fitting new points and checking for sparks (it seemed to have one, but weak) it turned out I’d fitted a duff condenser (red packaged Lucas too) that had quietly failed, as did a further replacement one that had tested OK on the 1850 previously can you believe?!

Tony (dollyman) kindly spent a day with me on this a few weeks back, and luckily he’d brought another condenser with him (now fitted externally to the distributor for easy access). That cured the starting right away, and after an oil change and quick run up and down the road (after first rebuilding the brakes and clutch which had now seized ), the fuel no longer joins the oil and it pulls noticeable better than my 1850 - it possibly had sticking rings due to lack of use and never running under load?

But... the original noises still exist unfortunately, and I’ve still got to look into that by following the advice given already... I’m told she could be running too rich as well, and that won’t help. I also discovered after searching the net that my HS6s belong on an SD1 - not surprising it’s running rich I may invest in a colour tune (I,ve seen one with a long adaptor and mirror to suit cars with deep plugs like the Sprint, to see if it can be tuned or the jets need replacing to better suit a 2L ...

On the brakes, I spent a nice sunny day coaxing the seized cylinder out using red grease and a bike pump - it shot out like a bullet in the end !: