The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

update.

The mechanic received the replacement piston, but got a bit suspicious as it wasn't domed like the ones I had taken out. He gave Mark a call and it looks like I had TR7 pistons in the car. Probably best to do the right thing, so 4 new 40thou os pistons from sprintparts. Explained why the number on the piston was a bit unusual. No idea how these came to be in the engine.

On the body work side, I spent more time stripping out the interior and following mad mart's advice, have dabbled a bit with paint stripper. I also noticed how much nicer it is to work in a clean shed, so have resolved to sweep the floor more often. Got an old vacuum cleaner working, amazing what a clean interior does for morale.


brake servo area. I spoke too soon, slight rust below mounting point.


yeah, yeah, I'm doing the easy bits first ! waiting on 20Kg of blasting grit when I'll take her outside and see what damage I can do with my cheap sandblasting gun.










Still got to remove the tunnel. Might save this job for boxing day when the in-laws are inbound. Get me out of the house.

sent some vinyl and headlining samples up to a car restorer in Adelaide and searching around for someone to do the dash.

Also spent a few days cleaning out the shed and took aropund 30 old VCR's, TV's, foam and assorted old electrical gear to the dump in two trailer loads. Shed is a bit more usable.

To keep the peace, spent the first 3 days of the holidays putting up the pergola. I figure a few dollars spent on the house might keep me out of the pooh.



Tree farming (pine plantations) are big in this area so timber was cheap, timber was CCA treated seconds. $800 for the timber and another $100 for the hardware. About 1/6 of the price of the respray . Think she'll buy it ?

Got along to a local engineer's supplier as well, got most of the replacement nuts and bolts and found the rocker cover hex-head bolts, very happy about that !

not triumph related, but work goes on around the place and at the other end of the shed the shearing got done early in december.

a mate came over to knock the wool of the 18 sheep and 10 lambs. Got 7 wether's killed and filled the freezers. Well, a few left over actually !


my youngest, henry. The grape vines in the background sorely need some attention. Overdue for a fungicide spray and bud bashing.

Hoping to find some spare time over Christmas to continue stripping the body back. Seasons greetings to all and thanks for the help and support through the forums.

stu

when are we all emmigrating then...

With Sprints in Oz I see no point in staying here at all...


We'd all kill for your quality of life mate..


Jonners

exactly what my father did in 1970 when I was a nipper

it's not all beer and skittles though. We dumped our life savings into those blasted vines and haven't made a cent from 'em yet, bottom fell out of grapes 4 years ago, just as they came up for first harvest, due to a massive and largely unforseen oversupply. Around 100 tonne of Coonawarra grapes in one vineyard were dropped on the ground two years ago rather than be made into wine. Back in '97 those grapes would have been worth $2k a tonne. The drought has now wiped out around 50% of the riverland grapegrowers as water restrictions bite, which will lift prices next year as the glut in red wine gets drunk away. Touch and go, but rural australia is generally in dire straits, the grapes are the least of the worries overall

funny really, I'd like to be driving a dolly through Yorkshire, visiting castles in Wales or nipping across the channel to get some Kultur in ! Perspective !

quick question though....I found that the paint stripper and a scaper works well, but then discovered this afternoon that an electric drill and wire brush attachment works wonders.....particularly after using paint stripper to get through the first layers. Seems to be burnishing up the metal though, is this such an einstein idea ?

stu

<edit> should add that there is a critical shortage of tradespeople/professionals in South Oz (all over Oz really) and emmigration is an option. Seriously, we are begging for certain occupations, particularly away from the cities. As an idea, they are sponsoring students as pharmicists through uni if they agree to practice in the rural areas.

Paint stripping.

It's hard to give you advice on this one to be honest.

I'm no expert, but have fiddled at painting quite a lot of different little things and what I find is that the more abrasions (scratches etc) that you have on a piece of metal, the more sanding and polishing you then have to do to get them back out. The problem with bodywork is that you DO have to get them back out as they will always show through the paint.

Paintwork in itself is really very easy, and with a bit of practice, time, the right temp and the right equipment, any ass is capable of a good job.

Where the HARD WORK comes in is in prep. Preparation is 9/10 of a job, and if you scratch that metal too much you are giving YOURSELF more preparation to do. Not good!!

I would personally use old rags soaked in thinners and a stiff ordinary brush (potato scrubber) to agitate the old paint off with.

I would advise prepping the car yourself, and probably giving it a coat of etch primer (does'nt have to be perfect) and flatting that down before going to a bodyshop. Tip - after priming, go round the car with a matt black aerosol and VERY lightly spray over everything. This will give a speckled black effect. When all the black speckles have been sanded off with a wet 1200grit sanding block then you know the surface is level! if paint stays in some 'lows' then you know you need fine filler or putty to level the surface up

p.s. if blasting, do not blast too close OR blast wheels. Use beads for wheels and then polish a la Mart!

thanks mitch, you have confirmed my suspicions !

found lots of bog on the right front guard too, from an accident I had in '83. I'm taking it all out

scrubbing brush sounds like it is worth a shot......christmas day stripping a car ! (might as well, I've just trashed the oldest sons RC helicopter and managed to break a small but critical component )

stu

update:

with South Oz sweltering under a heatwave, the shed is unbearable during the day. I can squeeze in a few hours in the morning, then again after 9pm, but it is blisteringly hot here.


I got most of the bog out with a wire brush on an electric drill and some serious scraping. The drivers side wing is badly dented and has been beaten out once.


slow progress inside the engine bay. Mainly wire brush work. I tried the scrubbing brush but it isn't shifting the paint.





the left wing is in better nick, paint stripping off with a metal scraper

tonight though, after trying a scourer and "simple green", without any real success, I moved onto a steel ball scourer and have hit the solution. Paint stripper, scrape off surface with scraper, then second and third applications and scour it off. The scourer doesn't look like it is scratching the surface too much and made easy work of the engine bay sides. Only problem is it reminds me of cleaning frying pans. Must wear gloves too, the paint stripper stings the hands after a while

Very happy though, scourer is working a treat. The clagged up paint even washes out into a bucket of water.

Also got the tunnel out, surprisingly easy job and happy to see rust on drivers floor is only superficial. taking the kids to Mount Gambier tomorrow so I might get a look at the progress on the engine. The plan is to go "shopping", find a nice aircondintioned mall and escape the heat.

stu

the heat eventually gave way and with the scrubbing technique perfected thanks to some hints from everyone, the car has been transformed into a silver shell. (except the interior)


earlier last week. Roof hasn't been tackled. The white stuff is the amount of bog that I found under the paint


Engine bay looking shiny. Still some nooks and crannies to do, but three coats of stripper and the stainless scourer and the paint rubs off.


bog around the rear end slowed me down a bit. Just the one rear end shunt, but seems they flattened every panel using bog.


roof was hard to do. Started about wednesday and the paint stripper was hitting the hot metal and instantly boiling away. I think the spray painter will use some sort of rust converter on the large areas of surface rust. I tried hitting the rust with fine wet and dry, but it clogs up too quickly.


roof drivers side rear, after being hit with a wire brush on the drill.


engine bay passenger side.


engine bay/front wing passenger side.


passenger front wing. There are two wings going, NOS from a seller in Melbourne. Factoring in the cost of transport it'll roll out to around $1200 if I want 'em. Or I could wait until May when he comes across for the Naracoorte swap meet and save myself the freight. Not sure if I need them, the drivers wing is in worse condition I guess with all the panel beating (or bashing)....


...as you can see


Passenger A pillar.


This shouild really be on its side, but it is the passenger side rearscreen near the vent.


and similar rust on the drivers side.

well, that looks to be the extent of the rust



overall very pleased with the progress. i reckon another week of rubbing off the paint and a chat with the spray painter on how much more he needs me to do.


The boot upper has also been done and I think I'll tackle the doors the same way, paint stripper and stainless scourer.

I'm going to leave the interior, giving it a good wash back and discuss whether a respray over the interior yellow is needed. Obviously the boot interior needs rubbing back and fixing.

The quote for the soda blast was around $1200, the cost of the stripper has been under $100. Still on a winner !

Called in to see the engine mechanic ('bout 140km south) but he was shut over the new year's break Hopefully I'll get some news from him shortly and face up to the cost of the engine rebuild.

I did find another sprint for sale, at Triumph-Rover Spares up in Adelaide http://www.triumphroverspares.com.au/ht ... d_cars.htm but the wife would absolutely kill me ! To be honest, the fun I'm having on this one, even the tedious job of rubbing back paint, I'd seriously consider doing another. I fear the carmine donor dolomite will be too far gone and a damaged sprint for under $4000 looks okay, particularly with some bargaining. We'll see if it is still there in 6 months and whether I have any money. Should have started this 10 years ago !

School holidays kicks into gear now, but I have to drag the kids in to swimming lessons each day for the next two weeks at Naracoorte (lake) or Kingston (beach). 'bout an hours drive return + lesson time....and I spy another distraction at Kingston called a friendly neighbour who runs the sail training. Good and bad !

stu

<edit> Took some time to register with triumph-owners. com too and changed the thread title, it is no longer a story of woe, but a very satisfying journey !

Excellent progress Stu, looking really good. Oh how I envy you the climate!

The bashed one looks a good prospect. Both the inner and outer rear panels are available over here pressed on the original tools. No shortage of bootlids and left side rear quarters turn up fairly often. Right side rear quarters are rocking horse poo. (guess which sideI need ) 3750 AUD = 1663 GBP which would be a touch steep over here for one in that condition I think, or maybe I'm just tight? Sprints do seem to be worth more outside the UK so maybe it's not too bad.

Tin

Stu

Keep up the good work. Fantastic posts, you could almost set up ur own website there, something for everyone!

From a cold and damp Scotland, must say very envious of your clinate there, and its safe to say you'll get maximum enjoyment of the Sprint when finished.

Very much looking forward to the next instalment.

All the best.

Calum

I thought I was looking at my Sprint for a second.

Keep it up Stu and keep posting the pics.

Good stuff, I like the way every car tells a story when you start pulling them to bits.

You are definitely making good progress Stu.
The rot around the front of the front wings is common on early Dolomites. This is chiefly because they were not supplied with mudshields. Post '76 Dolomites all came with mudsheilds. These are available new and in my opinion are definitely worth fitting (its an easy job).

The damaged Sprint in Adelaide is parked next to another British car, namely a P6 Rover. I always liked the P6, but in truth the Sprint is a far better car to drive.

thanks for the kind words and suggestions.

sprint95M, what exactly do these mudshields look like ? where do they fit ? up, under the wheel arch behind the lights ? Sounds like a smart alteration. Not sure if they are available in Oz, maybe I could fabricate something.

I have no experience with rovers sorry !

mart, your own restoration is providing a lot of the impetus to get this one moving along

Thanks for the advice tinweevil, I chased up that sprint in Adelaide. It has been sold, so the money was right ! They have another just in, but in better nick and they have $6500 on it. Outside my budget !

The weather has got nice again......mild 29 celcius today ! We don't have aircon and 6-9 days of temps into the high 30's and one day a ridiculous 46 makes me wish i was in Scotland. You can always put a jumper on, but you can't always take one off ! Mind you, half the east coast of Oz is now underwater courtesy of a tropical depression. Flood peaks at 6.9m is an eye opener, luckily we did the Qld trip last year, otherwise we'd be stuck on the NSW north coast.

"don't talk to me about global warmin'" - TrackerJack....classic

straylight wrote:sprint95M, what exactly do these mudshields look like ? where do they fit ? up, under the wheel arch behind the lights ? Sounds like a smart alteration. Not sure if they are available in Oz, maybe I could fabricate something.

The part numbers are
XKC1309 (LH upper)
XKC1308 (RH upper)
They are made from plastic and, as you correctly deduced, they fit behind the headlamps against the wing .

It is quite possible to fabricate your own (from plastic containers?).