The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

On another thread the old overheating subject came up and I honestly do not rate Triumphs set up and this is what I have done to my track prepared Sprint.
First picture shows the Tim capillary temp gauge that I bought off Ebay for £20 it does not rely on electricity to show the temp and even with the engine off shows how hot it is. It fits in place of original.





Second pic shows the Gauge does plug in where original sensor was and also shows the Fiesta thermo cap which bolts straight on, the plugs have to be bent down due to bonnet line.



The overflow is plugged into a VW expansion bottle that has a drain plug that goes down to a tee piece let in to the lower rad hose which is the return to engine (like all modern cars).



The electric fan was new off Ebay for £25 and is well able to cool the rad it has a manual overide in the car and is also operated via a relay by the Fiesta thermo cap sensor.



Shown also is the top small rad pipe that I have blanked off.

Do I get any overheating? no.
Does the fan come on in traffic jams? yes. After about ten minutes! the car runs at about 82 degrees most of the time and the gauge can show early if something is going wrong, which on track work can happen
Strangely my Ford Pinto engined Robin Hood runs hotter than the Sprint.

I'd wondered about the ford thermoswitches and discounted them because of the bonnet line, I shall now reconsider although to be fair to it my Sprint never seems to run hot. Really must have a closer look at your car sometime Jon

merlind100 wrote:I'd wondered about the ford thermoswitches and discounted them because of the bonnet line, I shall now reconsider although to be fair to it my Sprint never seems to run hot. Really must have a closer look at your car sometime Jon

The reason I did the mods is the fact that the last head gasket failure was spotted going wrong a lap earlier and I had already slowed but an accurate gauge gives you more time.

Ah yes come and visit anytime we can both talk for England about cars because we like so many so we must both put some good time aside for that very reason, its always a pleasure to talk to someone with such a wide knowledge.

Cheers Jon

trackerjack wrote: The overflow is plugged into a VW expansion bottle that has a drain plug that goes down to a tee piece let in to the lower rad hose which is the return to engine (like all modern cars).

Bottom radiator hose Jon, is it a VW Golf one?

Hi Ian
No in fact its the usual with me.............a bit of Ford its the heater hose that goes from the waterpump to the heater on a Sierra 4x4 (when I break a car I dont waste parts) the tee piece I made myself but Rally Design sell them for £20.
I actually use second hand hosing because I dont trust the Triumph parts suppliers to order correct spec parts to use on our cars! the last lot from a well known Lincoln supplier did not even have fabric support in the damn things and they bulged like balloons, bloody tossers. My bottom hose is from a Beemer .

Following in the footsteps of the Master......

Bottom hose removed and split to take new bespoke T piece (it helps to have a friendly plumber to make this bit up )



Replace on car with small bore T piece pointing uppermost to enable connection to....



Lovely shiny new bespoke alloy header tank, with return hose to radiator completing the circuit....



Where Jon leads, others follow.

mbellinger wrote:Following in the footsteps of the Master......

Bottom hose removed and split to take new bespoke T piece (it helps to have a friendly plumber to make this bit up )

Excellent work, Martin! I too prefer the idea of locating the header tank on the offside.

Following on from an earlier thread I was thinking along these lines for my 1850.
A T2000 thermostat housing should be OK (it only has the LH outlet) to use.
I have looked at several header tanks but haven't settled on one yet.
Space is a bit awkward as the battery is on the offside on an 1850 but I am sure I can come at that.

mbellinger wrote:Following in the footsteps of the Master......

Bottom hose removed and split to take new bespoke T piece (it helps to have a friendly plumber to make this bit up )



Replace on car with small bore T piece pointing uppermost to enable connection to....



Lovely shiny new bespoke alloy header tank, with return hose to radiator completing the circuit....



Where Jon leads, others follow.

Coo that looks nice...............fetch my sunglasses, Martin does it right after Jon shows how to bodge it

After much deliberation, taking into consideration both Jon's and Martin's demonstrations, I went for an expansion tank mounted on the nearside. I choose this option because to position on the offside on my 1850 would have made access to things like the dipstick, battery or clutch master cylinder more awkward and plus there is ample room on the nearside.
The tank I have used came off a Rover 25. It has a 16mm (5/8") outlet and the 6mm hose from the thermostat housing fits the top connection. I have managed to mount the tank close to the strut turret. This means I have it sited so that its top is just slightly higher than the thermostat housing (I checked using a spirit level).
I routed the 16mm hose under the radiator to a t-piece in the bottom hose.

My car is no different now. The temperature needle sits in the same spot on the gauge. The heater works exactly the same.
No, actually there is a difference, it is easier to check the coolant level!
I haven't been in a traffic jam either with or without the new arrangement so don't know about any difference there.
However I do feel more confident about having to contend with a jam .
Before, on the long climb from Inverness going south on the A9 the temperature crept up to halfway, so when I next drive up that stretch of road I may see a difference?


Thanks for your help guys,

Glad that you feel more confident now!
It is mostly on arduous and track work that the Sprint gets too hot, at high revs I reckon the pump cavitates and causes air pockets in the head hence the mods.

I have just read about Nigel Mansells racing career...............his Dolomite powered F3 blew 27 gaskets and the team hated them with a passion.

Underpowered....?

That is certainly a neat bit of work there guys. Can I ask a few syupidly basic questions?

I would like to fit the TIM type guage to LD, how easy would that be? I would probably fit an off dash bracket though, Is there a need for the guage to be illuminated? Would I need to replace the standard thermoswitch for a Fiesta one? Would it also be a straight swap?

I might go and polish my copper T piece now Martin, thanks for the inspiration.

Ta

Ken

Nice set up Jon. I reckon I'll run the car as is and if any problems arrise or persist I'll PM you for a parts list and go at it hammer and tongs.

purplebargeken wrote:That is certainly a neat bit of work there guys. Can I ask a few syupidly basic questions?

I would like to fit the TIM type guage to LD, how easy would that be? I would probably fit an off dash bracket though, Is there a need for the guage to be illuminated? Would I need to replace the standard thermoswitch for a Fiesta one? Would it also be a straight swap?

I might go and polish my copper T piece now Martin, thanks for the inspiration.

Ta

Ken

Hi Ken if you look at my second pic you will see the TIM gauge plugged in to the thermo housing and I think you will find the gauge comes (off Ebay) with a thread that just screws in where the old temp sender goes.

All my car has is a uprated rad and i give it the beans everywhere its driven ?

Doesn't seem to get hot? what gives? .... Maybe i shouldn't question it