The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

As many of you will know we have bought Howard81's 1980 Brooklands Green 1500HL Auto. Although not strictly a restoration, I thought this would be a good place to record our ups and (hopefully not too many) downs!

Nugget has so far been picked up from Poole and delivered to Totally Triumph in Cheshire, for welding and MOT.

The car has been up on the ramps and the diagnosis so far is:

Passenger side sill collapsed at the rear jacking point. Front jacking point seems fine. Sill will be removed, jacking point(s) repaired and a new sill fitted.
Drivers side sill a bit frilly at the bottom, but jacking points seem fine. Although it may pass this MOT, I'm going to have the sill removed, any repairs needed done, and a new sill fitted. That way we should be OK on both sills for a few years.
Passenger floor pan rotted, new section to be fitted.
Brakes not too good! We will wait to see what the MOT result is and take it from there.
One upper ball joint and one track rod end worn, will be replaced.

Other than the above (the vast majority of which I was expecting anyway) no horrors have been found!

Apparently the chassis legs are superb, as soon as the car comes home I will be rustproofing to keep them that way!

Fingers crossed Nugget will be coming home within the next couple of weeks.

That's not too bad at all! There's a brand new track rod end in the drivers side rear footwell (white box).

If you're going to do the drivers sill too, contact Alun (xvivalve) about get a club one as they're a much better fit and are Zintec coated. The panels in the car are club ones!

I'm really looking forward to following the progress

The underside of the car is completely rustproofed - I spent hours under there with a selection of wire bushes, stone chip and underseal! My eyes and hair will never rust. You'll just need to touch this up in places after the repairs. I would recommend wax injection into as many enclosed places as possible though

Howard81 wrote:I would recommend wax injection into as many enclosed places as possible though

I will definitely do that! I need to do our saloon too, so I can foresee a weekend of waxy smelly mess.

Mark, Wax injection is a bit hit and miss in the hidden places unless you drill your own injection holes in certain places.
I think may have mentioned to you that I waxed Ada by drilling holes and filling with discrete rubber bungs or by hiding them under under tread plates etc. This applies particularly to the sills. I've seen inside a few Dolly sills where someone had waxed only to find a very poor coating from trying to reach in with an extension pipe. It must be the same for 2000s.

Were you quick enough to get a handfull of the UK rubber bung mountain I "accidentally" ended up with last year?
Here's the Dinitrol waxing guide for reference.

Hint...don't do this job on the brand new block paving on a hot day!

Here's the scuttle wax holes......

Cheers for that. This will be a fantastic car when done.

Glad it has finally gone to an obviously caring home and enthusiatic owners.

All the best.

Ken

For rust proofing enclosed sections I suggest you look at using the Bilt Hamber rust proofer.
It comes in an aerosol tin with a hose attachment that works well.

I suggest you remove the sill tread plates and drill access holes to ensure good treatment of the outer sill/ inner sill join.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement everyone (and for the excellent rustproofing guide Steve)!

I think I will be using Dinitrol or Bilt Hamber products. I've used Waxoyl in the past and had nightmares trying to get it where I want it.

Latest update: unless there are any unexpected complications, the welding will be finished this weekend and MOT is booked for Wednesday next week.

Shell Ensis V is also well worth considering as a rust-preventative substance. Unlike Waxoyl, it creeps even when it's cold, in other words it works in winter when it's most needed!
I know that Dinitrol stuff is good, but is it, and Bilt-Hamber, used to protect steel structures that stand partly on the sea bed and partly above the waterline?
Ensis is, and my sis-in-law, whose special trick involves welding just such things together under water, will have nothing else applied to her own cars.

Removing the tread plates and drilling is what I did shortly after I bought the brown car, then I poured the stuff in through the holes until I couldn't get any more in there.
I filled an old stirrup pump with Ensis V for the chassis legs and those bits under the front seats and pumped away until the stuff came dribbling out.
For the inner front panel, the inside of the floors and the inner rear arches, I put some into a rechargeable aerosol and gave these areas a liberal dose.

But anything, possibly even Waxoyl , is better than using a car all year round and not doing something.

I once saw a Sprint with holes drilled in the scuttle to create airflow through the A posts which would prevent condensation and the resulting rot that it creates.

When I bought my first Acclaim it had been kept at Totally Triumph by the PO so I got Max to weld it and put it through the MoT. He's sh*t hot at welding so your Dolly's in good hands. A guy I used to work with at my local Sainsbury's turned out to be Max's son.

Mark, how about coming to the Club Triumph Pendle & Pennine area meeting? It is held on the first Friday of every month at the Old Stone Trough in Kelbrook (near Barnoldswick).

Still on target for the MoT tomorrow? Fingers crossed!

Well, we missed the Wednesday MOT target.

The driver's side sill has been removed and only a small repair to the inner diaphragm and one jacking point was required, and the new sill has been fitted.

We knew the passenger side sill needed attention because of the hole at the rear. However, the photos attached show what was (or wasn't) lurking beneath!
Welding is due to commence tomorrow and we're hoping that it will be completed over the weekend, including the floorpan repair.

The brakes have needed some work in the form of a pair of reconditioned front calipers and a reconditioned servo. A new top ball joint and a track rod end will also be fitted and hopefully ready for the MOT next Wednesday, and we will be able to collect Nugget next weekend.

Ah well, standard stuff on these cars to be honest. None of which is overly complicated.

Just think how nice it will be when it's all done. Won't take your welder long to sort but make sure the sill is all lined up with the doors closed to get a good fit though.

Ken

Hi Ken,

You are so right, I've been around classic cars long enough to know the "iceberg theory" - what you see on the surface is only the start of your problems!

Max (Totally Triumph) has had a good look over the car on the ramps and says the rest of the underside, including the chassis legs, is in good solid condition. I am happy that the sills are having a proper repair, not just because it will last, but because Nugget will be mainly driven by my wife and I want the car to be as safe as possible.

Totally Triumph's welder has an excellent reputation, so I'm sure I will be pleased with the results.

Mark