The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

They are indeed plastic. Wonder where they came from. In that case i may be wanting some metal ones as i would like to keep this true to original.
Anyway i've done too much waffling and not enough work on it this week. So roll on my next day off as i promise i shall make some progress. ( Rather than sowing my new lawn)

very cool thread this,would be interesting to see how this comes along!

best of luck

Rob

Most motor factors sold plastic headlamp bowls as a non-rusting alternative to the originals, chances are they've been replaced for that reason. Express Factors (the dealers' own on-site parts chain) themselves sold the plastic ones back in the '80s, so they were available with their Unipart brand name on their bags, until Unipart were sold to Reliant of course, but that's a whole other subject. If it ain't broke, etc. How about just removing the extra pair for that "original" vibe. I can't see why anyone would bother fitting to the inner lamps since they aren't in need of protection from road debris, but it would be a shame to encourage rust in the car, once restored, by introducing a potential source of rust where there's not one now.

Pop-rivets? Another source of corrosion unless you use the steel ones and you'll need some pretty impressive tool to pull those. Spire clips and screws allow for future removal, as well as being a lot less awkward to fit.

Its been a funny old week, and hard to get motivated but i have forced myself to get out in the garage today and do a little bit more.
Most of the paint on the front panel has been removed thanks to the additional help of a wire wheel.


By toledozombie at 2011-03-24

By toledozombie at 2011-03-24

A few nasties have been revealed, to small areas have holes and the centre of the panal has been hammered about a fair bit where the top and bottom panel have been joined . also a dent underneath, though that won't be hard to sort.

By toledozombie at 2011-03-24

By toledozombie at 2011-03-24

By toledozombie at 2011-03-24


plus some areas where i'm not happy with the overlapping fitting

By toledozombie at 2011-03-24

I think that my work is going to be cut out here.
As i don't have a welder at home, these holes could be a problem also i don't know any good mobile welders . I think i may have to wait till i've stripped the entire shell then have it trailered to a garage and have all welding done in one go.

As some of you keen eyed people may have seen, the wiring for the front section of the car had (for some reason) not been re routed through and around the front panel but instead cable tied to the subframe
Of course this will all be put right later down the line.

Why not get yourself a basic mig machine and teach yourself a new skill and save yourself a fortune at the same time ?

I agree this forum is a great source of information and great to see someone willing to have a go themselves at keeping these great cars on the road.

Just a little update!
The car is now up on stands so i can have a good look around. Mostly looks good underneath though there is some corrosion around the jacking points at the front.
The bad news is that the drivers floor and the chassis leg are completely buggered! Not by rust though. It looks as though the car has landed on a bloomin great boulder at some stage and its bent all of it quite badly.
New floorpan and leg is needed. The passenger leg also has slight distortion near the subframe mount. So maybe a pair is best idea .

ToledoZombie wrote:Just a little update!
The car is now up on stands so i can have a good look around. Mostly looks good underneath though there is some corrosion around the jacking points at the front.
The bad news is that the drivers floor and the chassis leg are completely buggered! Not by rust though. It looks as though the car has landed on a bloomin great boulder at some stage and its bent all of it quite badly.
New floorpan and leg is needed. The passenger leg also has slight distortion near the subframe mount. So maybe a pair is best idea .

The buggered chassis rail and floorpan are probably down to a numpty ( not you ) jacking up the car on said item's , if i had a pound for the amount of garages in the early days of sprint ownership ( when i was none the wiser ) who did that i would be quite well off,hope you get it sorted

Any news?

Its been a while since i updated this, Due to work commitments etc i have had to slow down on things. Plus my little Tolly had needed a bit of pampering lately and as its my daily car i can't afford for it to let me down.
Plus i have had the added task of sorting out a friends bent wing on his rover 75
Add to this that ny garage has suddenly become a storage area for nursery equipment !
As such there is not too much to tell.
I will however get back on track in the coming weeks.

I have managed to start removing a few bits and pieces, the gearbox and prop have been removed and the gearbox tunnel. the exhaust will be off shortly too. Once my neighbour has finished with his crane i will be dropping the subframe and engine out so i can progres with the engine bay and chassis sections that need replacing.
Its the Riviera classic car show in July so i need to put a bit more time into the Toledo before then , but after that it should be all systems go

Though not much work has been done of late, a fewarrangements have been finalised on the project.
I have been speaking with the head of our college bodyshop and he has asked for the car to be ready for September so his class can take it on as an assignment. This is good as it gives me a deadline to work to.
Basically i have to strip the shell and do any repairs and welding and present it to them in the etch primer and they will do the rest. They will then adjust any of the repairs that may not be quite up to standard and continue from there.
He did say that it would be in the workshops for a couple of months but thats ok for me as it means i will have good time, plus an empty garage to overhaul the engine, suspension and other bits that need sorting.
Another good result this week is that my boss has decided that we will be purchasing a mig welder and a basic spray painting kit for me to use around site for repairs etc, and he has no problems with me taking any of it home to help with the work on the car
So now i need to start sourceing some bits.
I need to purchase a drivers side floor panel and the two sections of chassis under the floors. do the club do these or can anyone recommend somewhere?
I will also be looking for some doors. they don't have to be perfect but without to much rust.

Ah yes, now I remember why I do the job that I do.

Saying that, most of my students are animals and frankly, I'd feel safer leaving my car in the care of the CSS department. They'd not do the job but they'd give it a bloody good talking about.

Oh dear, I didn't think the doors were too bad

miniman wrote:Oh dear, I didn't think the doors were too bad

To be honest James i'm not to sure on them as yet, i can only get to the passenger side at the moment and it looks like they have got alot of filler in them. But i could be wrong, i will have to see when i get them stripped down as to what they are really like. If they are at all saveable then i would prefer to keep them with the car.

Well i spent a few hours stripping yesterday. Its amazing what you find out about a car when you do.
It looks like the front passenger door is saveable. just a small amount of panel beating to do on it. I think the doors looked worse with all the different types of paint covering them. It loks as though all the doors and bonnet are not the originals, underneath the paint is a very bright red.
The passenger rear has alot of filler in it, plus quite rusty on the inside so i may need a replacement for this.
The rear arch/wing has had some sort of repair, either an over panel has been welded or a section cut from another car and placed over and welded. bad news is that in doing this there is no gap on the door! so i will have to remove this and start again


By toledozombie at 2011-06-09


By toledozombie at 2011-06-09

Also the doors have mirror mounts which i guess are aftermarket or from a different model?


By toledozombie at 2011-06-09

Thinking about one of these to look inside those hard to reach areas like the sills, doors, pillars etc

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WATERPROOF-USB-IN ... 4aab861fd4