Hello!

[Oxford_Beige]

Evening everyone,

Thought I would do a general newbie introductory post here to save clogging up the more Dolomite orientated areas of the forum! I currently do not own a Dolly, I want to own one and thats why I'm here.
I hope to get hold of a tidy (ish) 1850 (the engine appeals to my engineers side more than the 1500), to replace my idiotic Audi A4 TDi hatebox. This move comes as I am no longer on a 60 mile a day commute (so no longer need 55mpg) and have moved to a property where there is space for something Brown/Beige out the front (plus a shed out back). I am an Automotive Engineering student and have been messing about with cars ever since I can remember so I am not afraid to get my hands dirty, which from the sounds of things will be a regular occurrence whilst owning a Dolomite. Anyway, my budget, depending on how successful the sale of the Audi is, will hopefully be £1500. It seems to me that that is a realistic budget provided I am prepared to wait, thoughts on this? I will need something with an MOT and minimal structural rust (cosmetic I can hack, but I had enough of welding in whole new panels with my Moggie). Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

OB

[DoloWIGHTY]

Hello OB

Welcome!

I have moved your topic over to the section for potential/new owners, you should be able to get some sound advice there.

Cheers!

[Toledo Man]

Welcome to the forum.

This is the best place to start looking for a Dolomite. Keep an eye on the Sales & wants section of the forum. What is your budget? £2K should bag you a good 1850 but you should allow a bit more for repairs upgrades depending upon the service history (or lack of it). I presume you're from Oxford so I'm sure there's somebody nearby who can help you.

As always, please feel free to pick our collective brains. There's a wealth of knowledge and please join the Club. It is worth every penny of the £26 membership fee.

Good luck in your search.

[MIG Wielder]

Hello O.B. Welcome to the forum. Yes, an 1850 is a good choice. Just to give you some idea, I bought mine for just £875 4 years ago as a daily driver while I restore the Sprint, and since then I have done 44,000 miles. Great fun ! For the first 2 1/2 years it was no trouble, then in quick succession I had a new diff centre, gearbox, and I had to have the head off. battery and tyres. Apart from that, right from square 1 I fitted a hi-torque starter, and I had some paintwork done.
So for £1500 you should get quite a good one.
Good Luck with the search,
Tony.

[Oxford_Beige]

Thanks for the tips people. I'm prepared to have to do some work on it when I get one, my main priority though is to get one that can sit there and be tinkered with/improved but will also get me to Tesco's or wherever if necessary. Like I said, I plan on cycling and using the bus the majority of the time but the last thing I need is something that wont move unless I fork out a large amount of money on it!

I hear that certain repair panels are non-existent, would someone like to elaborate on this so I know what to avoid rust wise? I will go through all the info on this section of the forum too, but has anyone got any big points that really should be known before buying one?

OB

[Toledo Man]

The best thing you can do to improve reliability is to fit electronic ignition. It is the best thing I ever did to my 1850. It has improved reliability no end. There's a wide choice of electronic ignition from the ones that are a straight swap for the points and condenser right up to a complete distributor replacement such as the 123. Alternatively, you could do what I did and fit a Sprint distributor and used the Britpart electronic ignition kit with an OHV engine (1300 & 1500 engines) distributor cap. It all works well and cost me about £40 all in. In general the best way of keeping a car reliable is regular use.

If you get an 1850 remember that the earliest ones are free for the road tax and don't rule out the autos.

[Carledo]

There are very few panels that are completely unobtainable in steel, however some, notably the front wings and outer front panel (the valance and nosecone) are hard to find and prices for NOS steel panels are commensurately high, expect to pay £250-300 per wing and upwards of 400 for a front panel. The club do produce excellent GRP wings and front panel (I have these on my own car and can vouch for the quality and fit), not for the purist but more than adequate for a daily, also a good range of other repair panels in steel.
The situation is not as good as that for Moggys and MGBs but its not as bad as that for old Rootes and Vauxhalls
A few months ago, I would have said that £1500 would get you a nice roadworthy 1850 but now I'm not so sure, you might have a longer search or have to accept an unpopular colour (Russet Brown springs to mind)

Steve

[Oxford_Beige]

Personally, I would prefer one in brown! 70's car in a 70's colour, shame they didn't do a bright orange vinyl interior as well really!

Im off to look at a yellow one on monday, has been off the road since 2001 and "requires work for the MOT".....who knows how much work this will be!

OB

[Toledo Man]

How did you get on (or not)?

[MIG Wielder]

This one ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1978-TRIUMPH- ... 2ec9f89bad

[grifterkid]

The Dolly in the ad' above looks ruddy lovely...!!!

Did you go and view it? If so do tell us all...