The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hi everyone,
You might remember me from a few sporadic threads asking for specific advice on my 1977 Dolomite 1300.
I've now decided to keep a tab on the restoration here, so I can ask all you helpful lot for your advice

Firstly some background on the car,
She was driven into a garage back in 97 and forgotten about until I bought her as seized,
She's had two previous owners, old women, who incidentally lived opposite each other.
She is a nice blue, but with hand painted spots, a few rust blemishes and a very 70's brown vinyl interior.

A bit about me.
Im a 17yr old lad who is officially in love with classics, more specifically dolomites.
Ive got little resto experience but am mechanically minded and have helping hands for the hard or laborious bits

I'm not very well qualified to restore this car but I'm going to try my very best
So far I've managed to get the old girl started, restore the clutch master cylinder and remove the tunnel cover in preparation for a clutch change.

The checklist of work on the car is as follows:
Treat rust,
Replace clutch,
Replace exhaust,
Access and repair/replace brakes as necessary,
Find source of electrical trouble......
Maybe save up for a respray in the mean time

I'll include a few snaps in this post and try to get the resto really going before college work starts to picks up.






I'm really welcome to any advice and tips and i'll probably be asking you guys for lots of advice before I get to far, I hope you don't mind

From what I've seen that looks pretty good!
Plenty pics please.

Glad you started a thread. We're here if you need any advice so ask away. Keep us posted with your progress.

It's great to see youngsters so interested in classic cars. Loads of help and advice on here so if you do get stuck...you shouldn't be for long.

That looks great, a really nice base for a straight-forward (I hope!) restoration...

As others have said, this place is the best place to be if you've got a Dolomite or similar. You cannot be in a better place for help, advice and motoring-related moral support...!!!

Please do keep us posted on progress of your restoration...

Thanks everyone, i shall be collecting some rust treatment stuff from town very soon....
Ive been lurking on here for a while and some of the projects are just beautiful, along with the levels of knowledge that you guys have, its just amazing.

Master cylinder is now sorted... )))

How are you going to approach this project? You can either strip it right down and do a "proper" restoration or get it fit to pass an MoT and improve it as you go along. If you're going to take the latter course of action, put it in for the MoT (once you've sorted the obvious failure items) to see what it needs.

The plan is to take the latter route i think, I'm still learning to drive at the moment, so I'm not in rush thank fully! and thank you for the advice ) hopefully its not too long away from mot standard, well...we shall see

Hello everyone,
Started some rust repair this morning, Which has uncovered some small holes (10p size is the largest),

Whats the best way to deal with repairs like this, wish i knew how to weld!! . I've heard of using a fibre glass type kit and even mesh, does anyone have any experience with this technique? Also to finish the repairs does anyone know which paint is closest to the car?

On another note I'm in the process of joining the club , and have found a brilliant little DIY motor spares store in town.
Progress is coming, i can feel it

Using fibreglass is only a temporary repair. It will buy you some time to save up and get the job done properly.

Okay, thanks for the advice, I'm planning to fully give the body work a 'proper' go over once the car is mechanically sound, but not anytime soon so ill probably go for a temporary fibreglass patch, we will see how it goes throughout the week

Hi Dalton
Looking good upto now, well done. I too have had a day or so removing old filler and sanding down rust areas very similar to your picture.
I will be hoping to get mine through an MOT and then a gentle pay as you go resto. Toledo man is right filler is not really a permanent fix but i will be filling small holes like that to save money. The problem with filler or fibreglass is moisture can get behind it and it will bubble up in time. I find the best way is to really take your time, apply a little, rub down, apply a little more, rub down and so on. You can achieve a decent finish but if you plan to spend lots of dollars on a respray it would be best to replace the panel as if the filler bubbles up it will ruin your paint job
Good luck and keep us up to date
Chris

I've noticed that the thermostat housing is on the wrong way round. The outlet is for the radiator top hose. As a temporary measure, you could use fibreglass filler (P40) which doesn't have the disadvantages of normal filler. Make a list of the things you know will be needed to get an MoT. The chances are that if it fails, you will had to add to your MoT list. A full service and tune-up will help with emissions. I recommend a decent quality 20w/50 oil an a non-return oil filter. Electronic ignition will make life much easier by doing away with the points and condenser. I recommend the Britpart kit which is available HERE There are some poor quality ignition parts out there so it is best to pay a bit more for decent quality parts.

Hi,
Thanks for pointing the thermostat housing out, I bought it with radiator disconnected so i presume the previous owner didnt pay attention to his haynes manual

Ive already started on the rust repairs with p40 ( good to know ive gone and bought the right thing, however, saying that, the paint i bought was massively to dark .....whoops, so i need to go and buy something different

On the oil front i've changed the oil to 20w/50 already and fitted a new wix filter the oil that came out was rank......
Thanks for the advice on the electric ignition- i have changed the coil, plugs and leads and ready and am planning on electric but wasn't really sure what to go for - thanks!

The Pre- Mot list is currently as follows:
New air filter,
Finish body repairs,
Fit new slave cylinder and refit master cylinder,
Fit electronic fuel pump and renew fuel lines + add inline filter,
New tyres,
Renew brakes,
Replace rotten exhaust sections,
Refit radiator (renew hoses?)(is this worth doing?),
Have carb tuned (or do myself not sure how hard this is ?),
Fit new battery,
Diagnose electrical issues ( fuses suspected, not really had a good look at this yet)
Refit interior,

Can anyone think of anything routine or common that i might have missed off the list?
Thanks,

Dalton

You've covered most of the obvious MoT issues. Don't forget to check the steering. The bush where the column goes through the bulkhead has a tendency to deteriorate causing excess play. A Super Flex bush is the one to get. Don't forget to check the rubber dust covers on the balljoints and track rod ends as these are a failure item.

You don't need an electric fuel pump. They can produce too much fuel pressure resulting in your carb overflowing. New fuel lines and a filter are a must though. It is best to renew all the cooling system hoses. On my Dolomite 1300, I ordered a full set from T.D. Fitchett and the day before they arrived one of my heater hoses split so it was lucky that I'd ordered them. Don't forget to use enough antifreeze (about 30%-40%). When tuning make sure your valve clearances have been set and the ignition is 100% before moving on to the fuel system. The single carb isn't too difficult to tune. The colour of your spark plugs will give you an indication of the mixture. If it is a biscuit colour than the mixture is about right. As for the electrics, a new battery is worth getting (I think I might need a new one myself) and just clean up the connections and earths which should solve most problems. A simple way to test your alternator is to measure the voltage across the battery when the car is idling at operating temperature. You should be getting about 14v.