The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Jon Tilson wrote:More of a challenge and a waste of time and money...

Get an 1850 subframe and a TR7 engine like I suggested a while ago. You will end up with a much better car long term.

Jod Clark used to be the forum advocate of the 1500 engine and reckoned on around 100 bhp for his iirc. He's not on much
these days and seems to have left dolly ownership for the time being.


Jonners

See what I mean about mockery!

Steve

There is a difference between mockery and good advice.

How many hotted up 1500 dolomites are there running about in reliable daily use? Now that Jod is off the scene
I'm not sure of any others.

There are however quite a few TR7 engined dolomites in regular use.

Jonners

Jon Tilson wrote:There is a difference between mockery and good advice.

How many hotted up 1500 dolomites are there running about in reliable daily use? Now that Jod is off the scene
I'm not sure of any others.

There are however quite a few TR7 engined dolomites in regular use.

Jonners

I know that the TR7 engine is a strong engine, there's one on eBay with twin we need and 170hp but I was just going to try to get the stock engine to work, otherwise I may as well just buy a sprint. It's a rareish car and taking what makes it rare away, there's just no point. As much as more power would be fun, sticking to the original engine makes better sense

A good 4 branch is vital

Absolutely.

I would sort the exhaust out before you do much else.

AlanH wrote:

A good 4 branch is vital

Absolutely.

I would sort the exhaust out before you do much else.

A full tubular exhaust is on the cards to release the power and the noise

Jon Tilson wrote:There is a difference between mockery and good advice.

How many hotted up 1500 dolomites are there running about in reliable daily use? Now that Jod is off the scene
I'm not sure of any others.

There are however quite a few TR7 engined dolomites in regular use.

Jonners

Heaven knows Jonners, i'm no big fan of the OHV engine, there are just too many others that do the job better.
And the first thing I did when I bought my 1300 ohv Toledo was pull out the boat anchor and bin it!

But I do know a few people who race/hillclimb/trackday/sprint Spitfires and Midgets with the 1500 OHV lump, some of them with considerable success, so the technology to improve it is out there. Since the OP is intending some sort of rally career for the car, it's a fair bet that the regs won't permit much in the way of engine swaps anyway, otherwise I would suggest my solution!

Steve

Carledo wrote:

Jon Tilson wrote:There is a difference between mockery and good advice.

How many hotted up 1500 dolomites are there running about in reliable daily use? Now that Jod is off the scene
I'm not sure of any others.

There are however quite a few TR7 engined dolomites in regular use.

Jonners

Heaven knows Jonners, i'm no big fan of the OHV engine, there are just too many others that do the job better.
And the first thing I did when I bought my 1300 ohv Toledo was pull out the boat anchor and bin it!

But I do know a few people who race/hillclimb/trackday/sprint Spitfires and Midgets with the 1500 OHV lump, some of them with considerable success, so the technology to improve it is out there. Since the OP is intending some sort of rally career for the car, it's a fair bet that the regs won't permit much in the way of engine swaps anyway, otherwise I would suggest my solution!

Steve

One of the reasons for keeping the engine is a possible rally career and just a natural power progression as I'm still young and need experience in car control first

The best place to start would be to get it absolutely 100% before you do any mods. That way you have a good base to start from.

Toledo Man wrote:The best place to start would be to get it absolutely 100% before you do any mods. That way you have a good base to start from.

That's kind of what I was planning to do, do the shell so it's in good condition and has good suspension bushes and then I'll start adding power through exhaust and cams and the like

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=6185&start=120

I suggest you have a read through this thread.
It didn't end well. The car was sold and the new owner couldn't make anything of it either.



In the early 70s Janspeed did uprate Toledos. These could be persuaded to match a Dolomite 1850 for acceleration but
however the Toledo used about 50% more fuel in doing so.
Today, 40 years on, things have progressed somewhat...I would be looking at (as has already been suggested) today's tuned
Heralds and Spitfires.




Ian.

sprint95m wrote:viewtopic.php?f=19&t=6185&start=120

I suggest you have a read through this thread.
It didn't end well. The car was sold and the new owner couldn't make anything of it either.



In the early 70s Janspeed did uprate Toledos. These could be persuaded to match a Dolomite 1850 for acceleration but
however the Toledo used about 50% more fuel in doing so.
Today, 40 years on, things have progressed somewhat...I would be looking at (as has already been suggested) today's tuned
Heralds and Spitfires.




Ian.

That's what I've been looking at for performance parts, spitfires parts. I'm looking into maybe a hardened crank, either billet or tuftrided as that's the apparent weak spot

Modified 1500s are well balanced, fun and go surprisingly well. However, they break a lot. Like a lot, a lot. My Stage 3 with Webers made a dyno-proven 124bhp, but it barely lasted 3000 miles between rebuilds.

Listen to Jon, he's been there, done that and offers very sensible advice.

Dolomite1296 wrote:Modified 1500s are well balanced, fun and go surprisingly well. However, they break a lot. Like a lot, a lot. My Stage 3 with Webers made a dyno-proven 124bhp, but it barely lasted 3000 miles between rebuilds.

Listen to Jon, he's been there, done that and offers very sensible advice.

This won't be a daily driver car so I doubt I'll be doing more than 1500 a year and I'd probable rebuild it every year any way to add any new parts that add preformence. Might have that as a thing, add a new part each year in winter so it's constantly evolving

Right, how does this sound for a engine modding list:
Moss Europe stage 3 cylinder head; http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-mo ... heads.html

Moss Europe roller rockers; http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-mo ... ckers.html

Moss Europe lightened cam followers; http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-mo ... -rods.html

Moss Europe uprated valve springs; http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-mo ... hrods.html

Mos Europe tubular push rods; http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-mo ... -rods.html

Moss Europe uprated clutch; http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-mo ... wheel.html

Moss Europe fast road 83 cam; http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-mo ... 40815.html

Suspension wise, I'll be using Gaz gas 2 way adjustable shock absorbers and rimmerbros uprated springs with a one inch drop, and polybushed wherever it's possible.

Brakes are going to be dealt with via a rear disk conversation by sprintspeed and a front disk upgrade by sprint parts which had a vented disk and a bigger calliper

Wheels will be kept stock for now until I can find a set which will match the cars 70s style

What actually fails on these engines? Do they break components or just wear things out?

Tony

Dolomite1296 wrote:Modified 1500s are well balanced, fun and go surprisingly well. However, they break a lot. Like a lot, a lot. My Stage 3 with Webers made a dyno-proven 124bhp, but it barely lasted 3000 miles between rebuilds.

Listen to Jon, he's been there, done that and offers very sensible advice.