DTR - Project Recommission 1972 'Dolomite' Manual

[James467]

Oh it does rain, I just have a marquee tent thingy!

[DazasDolly]

Lovely work there James

Darren

[yorkshire_spam]

Some more excellent work James! If only we could get new front portions of the wings pressed.... for when you run out of salvage ones to use!

[new to this]

James

Looking good,where did you get those metal clamps ? Must get them

Dave

[James467]

Thanks Dave, Frost are the best place to get them from.

Thanks Sam, we'll have to see what Alun says.

[dollyman]

Hi James,
You still seem to get more sun than i do And i must say superb welding not a pidgeon in sight, weld done
Cheers,
Tony.

[James467]

Long gone are the hole filling wads of wire mesh and filler that once blighted DTRs wings!

Now replaced by fresh metal and salvaged wing sections!

Started by finishing the fitting of the passenger wing section...







Sorted!





Then I repaired the rusty upper valence section...





Same on the drivers side





and the lower valence



All welds ground back and flatted off...









Checked the bonnet for alignment...



Done!



That is it, all the welding is done! I even remembered to do the additional bit on the bulkhead that was missed. Everything will need a skim of filler to shape the profiles, but that is to be expected.

The head lamp panels will be screwed on hence why they are not on yet! They need painting though.

I have now removed most of the trim ready for paint, I'll have a chat with the painter to see what needs to be done. The roof is very good under the wax and we think that all the car will need is a front end respray, I'm pushing for a waist down respray.

We shall see.

[DazasDolly]

Fantastic work

Darren

[James467]

Thanks Darren.

The wings and all of the repairs where there is any welding have now been seam sealed from inside the wheelarch.

It's inevitable that there are a couple of pinholes there so this will prevent any water from getting in behind the paint and causing rust spots in the future.

[James467]

Before I start paint prep it's time to have a good organise and tidy up. Have carefully stripped all the trim that needed to come off ready to polish up.





The D posts are both good, the OS one has some very minor surface rust



I repaired the boot latch and realigned the boot. Where I thought that there was filler is actually a bad repair, it looks like the rear end had had a minor impact and just needs a bit more dressing and some welding to make it good.



Tyres have now been inflated and I have swept the drive where I was welding!

Hoovered the inside out, that will receive a wet vac and a deep clean when the weather is warmer. Hoovered the boot out as well. Boot floor looks fine, need to find a grommet to the fuel tank drain hole.







When cleaning out the boot I found this in one of the reinforcers below the rear window shelf.



Inside.... a spare set of car keys!



I now have a full set! I'm wondering whats under the back seat, will have to pull it up!

The rear lights are out, the night dimming resisters were disconnected/bypassed, I'll reinstate those.

Then I started with the engine bay cleanup, stage one ziebart removal!







A huge amount of scrubbing with thinners and scraping got me this far, it was really thick! The engine bay will need a respray as it has pulled some of the paint off but I'm now worried about that, it does look so much better and cleaner without it on.

I just need to remove the rest, thanks to Lee who suggested tar remover, I tried some and it's worked a treat on the last bits. I'll get the rest off with a scuff pad, degrease and it will be ready for masking and painting.

[James467]

From the stickers under the bonnet the car was fitted with a mobelec magnum ignition system.

I have found a period one but does anyone have a delco dizzy kit for one laying around that they'd like to sell me?

[sprint95m]

The rear lights are out, the night dimming resisters were disconnected/bypassed, I'll reinstate those.

Why?



thanks,

Ian.


PS, you having so many project running simultaneously James is rather straining my brain

[James467]

The rear lights are out, the night dimming resisters were disconnected/bypassed, I'll reinstate those.

Why?

thanks,

Ian.

I never really had a problem with the night dimming system, it worked fine on RUK. It's part of the way the car should be so I would rather they were wired in correctly especially as I haven't tested the electrics properly yet. It's good to have everything wired correctly as a baseline then work from there.

PS, you having so many project running simultaneously James is rather straining my brain

I just wish I had more time!

[new to this]

Did all dolomites have the rear light dimming relay,would it be on my 73 sprint ?where would it be mounted ?

Dave

[James467]

There may be if it hasn't been removed, only the early Sprints had them.

There is a yellow box mounted next to the left hand boot hinge, it's behind the boot board and sometimes difficult to find.

Behind each light there should be a resister fitted, it's a silver plate like device screwed to the rear lamp body mounting.