RUK - Project Recommission 1972 'Dolomite' Auto

[yorkshire_spam]

Well done Sam.... Not long now to the RBRR. Did you get to the Gaydon meeting? A mate of mine did'nt as he nearly lost a rear wheel on the motorway

Tony.

Was planning to, but Saturday went wrong, so we didn't make it. It's a shame, but not the end of the world!

[new to this]

Well done Sam.... Not long now to the RBRR. Did you get to the Gaydon meeting? A mate of mine did'nt as he nearly lost a rear wheel on the motorway

Tony.

Tony

was that Bruce in his Stag

Dave

[dollyman]

Well done Sam.... Not long now to the RBRR. Did you get to the Gaydon meeting? A mate of mine did'nt as he nearly lost a rear wheel on the motorway

Tony.

Tony

was that Bruce in his Stag

Dave

Hi Dave, Unfortunatly Yes I think his Stag has seen it's a**e do to rust removal......

Tony.

[yorkshire_spam]

Pretty happy with the ride height, "stance" and handling on the new suspension set up....

[GTS290N]

That does look good.
Is the handling noticeably better?
How is the ride?

[yorkshire_spam]

That does look good.
Is the handling noticeably better?
How is the ride?

Bit of a mixed bag, on the whole VERY happy.
Ride and handling are REALLY a lot better.
1 up I can throw it into the corners etc. really confidently.

The downside and where I am disappointed is we were 3up in the motor this morning and despite the springs being "heavy duty standard ride height" it sits lower than I'd have expected 3up.

[yorkshire_spam]

MG TF seats fitted using a variation on James' method.
I've used un-equal steal angle on the existing runners. I cut away the MG bracketry but left the adjustment stops in place. Then welded the un-equal steel angle to the existing runner.
These were bolted to aluminium angle like James' to fit to the floor, with a 110mm offset between the 2 angle sections to set the seat back. In this position I get reasonable seat adjustment fore/aft.

I've done an oil and oil filter change - good news is that there are no signs of water in the oil system.
Oil was very mucky though as was the filter element.
Anyway, the engine is now ticking away nicely with Valvoline VR1 20w50 in it ready for the RBRR

I've been in touch with Rimmer Bros about the new front springs. The ride height at the front has settled to the point where there's pretty much no difference between the HD Standard ride height springs (supplied by Rimmer bros) and the -1" 175lb springs I already had.
Don't get me wrong - the car handles and rides great, but from an aesthetic point of view if I order standard ride height springs I expect it to ride at the standard height.... not 1" lower!
So far they have been helpful and communicative, so I'm hoping it'll get sorted.

[dollyman]

Good luck on the RBRR Sam i hope everything goes well for you And the other entrants as well.

Tony.

[yorkshire_spam]

Good luck on the RBRR Sam i hope everything goes well for you And the other entrants as well.

Tony.

Thanks Tony, at present there are 21 small saloons set to make the start out of a field of 133... although it seems to change by the minute at the moment with last minute car failures/replacements etc.

[yorkshire_spam]

Matters arising from the RBRR:

1. Misfire
As we came off the motorway heading for home we had a misfire... especially pronounced at low rpm/low throttle.
I pulled the plugs out today and here's what I found.
Plugs on cylinders 1 and 2, clean on 1 side, dark on the other.


Plugs on 3 and 4, dark on 1 side, VERY heavy deposits on the other!


I replaced the plugs and the engine runs nicely, but clearly the underlying cause needs to be established. I'm thinking carb related as the pattern matches the pairing.

2. Noise
There's a loud droning noise at about 65mph and above. It seems worse on pull/load and is accompanied with a light vibration that you can see on the steering and feel on the car. I need to investigate this.
I'm not 100% sure it's road speed related as a similar noise/vibration is there just before the GB changes up when you use heavy throttle to hold the gear to higher revs. It's just possible it's rev+load related rather than speed.

3. Oil
We lost about 1 litre of engine oil in the first 1500 miles. No signs of it burning, maybe the filter or sump plug? (I changed the oil on Wednesday) It's also possible that crank case pressure is blowing it out of the dip-stick hole as there's signs of fresh oil around the stick.

4. Water
Very slight water loss over the course of the weekend, careful inspection of the engine bay shows a slight weep on the plug on the top of the thermostat housing and one of the heater hose joints at the back of the engine.

Apart from those things the car is clearly well capable of doing the event, keeps up with other vehicles without issue, space for a 3 person crew + kit. Very happy with the car's performance.

[dollyman]

Hi Sam, that heavily soiled plug looks like its burning oil?? Or possibly a very rich mixture on one carb?
The drone you get is similar to my auto, but i had put it down to everything on it being "polybushed" As my 2500S auto does not do it.
It may be worth doing a dry then wet compression test on all four pots to see what is going on

Tony.

[yorkshire_spam]

Cheers Tony, obviously some stuff I need to investigate!

[yorkshire_spam]

Well I've had a few months off "cars" to work on another restoration project (in the warm, in the house!)


Back to the Dolomite.
Last night I FINALLY fitted the refurbed balanced propshaft.
I was looking forward to using the car for work this morning, but it was not to be. She refused to start, I didn't have time to investigate this morning, but she's turning over fast enough and long enough, oil light goes out (so that side of things is driving). My gut feeling is something fuel related (didn't smell "petrolly" at the carbs despite extended cranking)
Anyway, hopefully get some garage time tonight to investigate.

I change jobs in a couple of weeks so between handing back my company car and sorting something else out I'm hoping to press Binny into service as my daily driver.

[dollyman]

Hi Sam, Is that a space invaders game? It looks nice

Tony.

[yorkshire_spam]

Hi Sam, Is that a space invaders game? It looks nice

Tony.

It's Missile Command - an Atari game that came a few years after Space Invaders. I'm repairing/restoring the last of my collection so I can sell them on to fund an engine build for the Spitfire.