The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Even the more cynical amongst us rather frown at the expression “a barn find” but I have to admit that when I stumble across something like this I have to scratch my head in wonderment and think what else is out there. This Dolomite Sprint has not been registered for use on the road for coming up 20 years and in all that time it has been carefully cosseted away. The present owner, the second owner he tells me, bought the car when he was in his mid-20 twenties, used it as his daily runner for a number of years spending lots of money at the time to keep it in good condition. Then he started collecting other cars and this Sprint was pushed into the background.

Unfortunately the registration on this car has lapsed and in this country, as I have mentioned elsewhere, it is not a simple task of simply taking along to some designated testing station, putting it through a Warrant of Fitness test, and then applying for and being given a new registration sticker. Even the registration number has been deleted from the system although fortunately for those who desire it, the owner can make an application to have the existing registration plates reissued to the original vehicle.

However in order to get the car a Warrant of Fitness the car must first undergo a rigorous safety inspection and must comply with the current codes which mean that items like seat belts will have to be replaced with those that meet the standards for new cars. It will have to have a high level brake light fitted and so on. The big problem though is that those carrying out the safety inspection will be looking for any signs of rust in those critical components which are considered structural. Any structural rust must be removed and the repairs must be undertaken according to the instructions given by the safety inspection inspectors and all welding can only be undertaken by those who have been certified to do so.

This might be seen to kill a hobby like ours but in my case and some of those around me there is a very pleasant way of working around such a problem. We sign up for a Saturday Panel Beating and Car Restoration course at the local Polytechnic where we can undertake all work not deemed to be structural and the welding of those structural elements can and is undertaken by the qualified course tutors. The fees for the course cover not only all consumables required but also the use of the very extensive range of equipment in the Polytechnic workshops.

The welding of any structural repairs is often just a small part of the exercise for we get to prepare the replacement panels or patches and then treat and finish them after welding so that they are ready for painting.

I derive a great deal of pleasure of preparing the panels or patches required and then watching and assisting the welding of the structural repairs where necessary. There are others on the course as well who are working on an extremely wide range of projects, from the restoration of early veterans right through to the adaption and construction vehicles which, for instance, are to be used for living and touring in. There is a great sense of camaraderie as some of us share some of the equipment which we each own in our own right and which we use during the week in our own workshops. Some vehicles are driven into the Polytechnic, some are trailered and some are a-framed behind a suitable towing vehicle.

I have not yet established what metal work will need to be done to this car in order to pass its safety inspection. There are no visible signs of rust in the sills or door pillars and photographs taken under the car show it to be remarkably clean and unmarked. Some of the mechanical components will have to be changed for rubber boots have perished on some of the suspension components. The engine runs and I have driven the car. It sounds and feels very pleasant to drive.

The dark brown seat coverings though will have to be replaced and although that will not form part of any safety inspection, I will need to replace them and the carpets in order to make the car presentable. I have no idea at this stage what we will do to recover the seats and I would be grateful if anybody has any worthwhile suggestions.

I expect that in due time we will run a restoration thread on this car HU 5089, a car which was registered just a few days after my green Sprint HU 5000. I hope though that the restoration process will not take the length of time I took doing the green car.

Robert

I have not been able to place the photographs inline as I intended to do so, perhaps one of the Forum moderators can see if there is a problem somewhere and if there is a method by which I can use to overcome this problem then I will edit this posting later.

Looks like a nicely preserved example. That underside is remarkably clean and tidy. Hopefully doesn't require much work.

Very well preserved, it might be the light of the photo but what colour is it ? it looks remarkably like Jonquil
Factory code - 14 - a lesser spotted Triumph colour that i thought was just a myth !

It is indeed a nice shade...but looks to have once been Pimento underneath.

I thought all antipodean exports were Mimosa...or was that just to the 'West Island'

I would top up the gearbox, I can't see any oil leaks. It seems to be in fantastic condition.

xvivalve wrote:It is indeed a nice shade...but looks to have once been Pimento underneath.

I think it is red oxide, you can see where the rear tie bars mount, red oxide, BL never sprayed their car that well. My Auto sprint showed red oxide on the underside of the floor pans by the inner sills, the colour coat didn't get far.

I agree that it has had some re-spray in the past due to the over spary on the rear axle etc.

The chassis plate states that the paint colour is 39, Honeysuckle, and the trim colour is 63 Chestnut. This colour is quite common here for I have seen it on several different models recently, on a 1500 and a couple of 1850’s. Those three cars were probably assembled (and painted) in this country whereas all the Sprints were imported fully built from the UK.

I have not seen a Honeysuckle Sprint before, it is a fairly bland sort of colour unlike the bold green on my other Sprint which attracts a lot of comment today. The Honeysuckle colour suits this climate and is unlikely to show the dirt in the same way that the darker colours do.

The red colouring underneath is as Magenta Auto Sprint declares, the red oxide of the undercoating which BL applied to all panels before painting. I was keen to show the photo of the gearbox and forward chassis rail area in order to demonstrate just how well this car has survived, without any rust treatment underneath. That is not to say that there is rust in the car but it is in the sort of condition I like to find cars that have been well looked after. There are no marks on those chassis rails where someone might have attempted to jack the car up.

I too was intrigued to note that there was very little oil evident around the gearbox and that the gearbox mount is quite dry. Yes perhaps there is no oil in the gearbox and although I have driven the car it is missing the overdrive switch on the gear lever so I cannot confirm whether the overdrive engages and disengages promptly, usually a sign that there is sufficient, clean oil circulating in the system. All will no doubt be revealed shortly.

Perhaps someone would like to comment on the routing of the speedo cable which you can see in the photo above in my previous posting which passes under the gearbox mount whereas on my car I have routed it over the mount and tucked it up out of the way.

The west island – an interesting comment, or way of putting it. Some of us here refuse to even admit there is another English speaking island way out west somewhere just as I suspect there are a few in your part of the world who are glad they are not linked to that English (American??) speaking island way out to your west. Indeed I have already had some comment passed about the unfortunate choice of name “Triumph” which could be interpreted as the mis-spelling of that chap across the pond from you lot.

Up until the mid 70’s the bigger 2500 Triumphs and Toledo’s and 1850’s were all assembled in this country and were available in the full BL range of colours so although there are a few Mimosa Sprints here, there are Sprints of every shade and hue about.

My problem though is that my workshop is now full! For I shall shortly be preparing a posting on a couple of Toledo’s which have joined the collection here over the past few months. One which has sat outside for many years and has been badly scorched by the sun is likely to become a spares car but the other is in similar condition to the car you see displayed here.

So I have my hands full at the moment. And I am busy too creating more undercover storage space just in case I need to accommodate more vehicles!

Robert

That's a stunner Robert, I could do with finding a barn like that on this soggy island!

That's definitely red oxide, beneath a thin coat of underseal/chassis black. The much rarer, non undersealed UK cars look the same (those that haven't dissolved with rust from not being undersealed from new)

So will this course you are taking eventually qualify YOU to do welded structural repairs?

Cheers, Steve

Steve has asked whether the course we do at the Polytechnic could lead to certification allowing me to undertake the welding of structural elements in the restoration of a vehicle. The answer is probably a “yes”.

The question of whether I want to be certified is probably more important and the answer is “no”. The welding element in the process of repairing an area deemed to be structural is a relatively small part of the projects I undertake. The real work is in preparing the area and preparing the patch or panel that attaches to the sound metal and then a good deal of work follows the process after welding of hammering up the repaired area so that the patch becomes hidden and little, if any, bog or suchlike is required to cover the patch before it is given an anti-rust treatment, is painted and then given further rust proofing.

I find it a joy to watch the Polytech tutors doing structural welds for they do it with consummate ease minimising the inevitable distortion. They know when and where to start and they leave the welded areas for folk like me to hammer up and they explain where and how to hit it to bring it back into shape. So I stick with the preparation and the hammering that follows confident that the repairs will not have compromised the strength of the car.

It should be noted too that the tutors do not charge their time. That cost is included in the overall course fee. We form our own patches and panels from the coated steels which are supplied to us at no cost. Those patches and panels are shaped using a variety of techniques. That work is often done here in my workshop or on the Polytech owned equipment which is made available to us also at no cost.

I own a number of panel beating hand tools, enough tools to enable me to carry a number of tasks here and prepare for the next Polytech session.

Robert

The speedo cable route is correct there is a clip on the underside of the gearbox crossmember that it clips into you can see it in your photo, but the cable is not clipped onto it.

I thought it was me that worked for the restoration company not you Robert? Either that or you are just plain greedy I saw this at the side of the road on Monday heading home and assumed by the colour it was an 1850. So have you bought this or are you fixing it for the owner? Terry