The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Although it's a great, drivable car as it is, there is work to do and I thought it'll be good to document this here as I get on.

My plans so far:

Important repairs:
Speedo cable replacement
Rust (warrants it’s own section!)
Steering check and repair (50% done but still not happy - maybe new rack and TRE?)
Fix anti roll bar bracket (bent after towing home on day 1 following failed electric fuel pump )
Screen wash pump not working
Replace fuel pump and filter (Done!)
Investigate rubbing(?) noise from rear at +20mph

Rust locations:
Rear boot lid near chrome
Rear nearside quarter due to accident damage
bottom edge of both sills
bottom of drivers door
under front window, offside
top face of front panel where it meets both wings
scratch in front offside wing (not rust as fibreglass)
(I plan to have all these sorted in small sections initially to stop the spread, then when the mechanicals are 100% get a full outer body respray.)
Underneath... is OK it seems and covered in wax oil, but I'll be keeping an eye on it.

Minor repairs:
Replace the Sprint badges with Dolomite badges (almost complete...)
Plug all the open Zeibart holes (after injecting with fresh wax oil)
Nearside long sill trim missing
Nearside front wing trim missing
Handbrake light on dashboard not working (bulb OK)
Heated rear screen loom missing behind dashboard
Heater control knob 1 out of 3 missing
Centre console missing
Replace modern door seals with original in-door type and furflex (doors don't shut properly because of this)
Replace painted rear posts with vinyl covered as original
Remove and refit carpets (they are not right as they are, although they are new and in good condition)

Major upgrades (long term, approximate order depending upon how easy parts are to come by):
Braking system (Trackerjack?)
Full Sprint engine conversion (I already have the gearbox fitted it turns out, now need Engine, subframe, prop, axle, ancillaries, fuelling etc)
Electronic ignition
Replace rubber SU mounts with metal
Replace all steering / suspension / mounting rubbers
Replace any iffy body panels (with GRP where possible)
Outer body respray in current colour

As the car is drivable and the engine in reasonable order I'll keep it that way for as long as possible before the more difficult work demands otherwise. Updates will be dull and slow - sorry about that in advance...

Some pictures as bought - for the insurance

Honey looks good from a distance, but up close is a little different:

Front panel to wing:


Scabs hiding in plain site...:




Scabs not even trying to hide:

Dashboard freshen up:

The original veneer has seen better days:


...add one replacement dash surround (that was in the boot of the car), a very cheap new veneer for the gauges from Rimmer, and elbow grease on the rest:



I realised that I'd put the rear screen heater switch in the wrong hole before installing - I do now have a strange extra hole (any clues..?) and no wiring at all for the screen heater switch, apart from the wires in the boot... Not that I'm bothered- I remember my Dad's Dolly losing a rear screen due to a loose connection, went with a right old bang!



I even managed to free up the vents so that they tilt and swivel. I did this by removing the old black sealing felt and replacing it with the kid's fuzzy felt, which was much thinner.

(I've the original and very tatty dashboard surround and gauge veneer if someone needs it - free of charge if you come and get it from Stoke!)

I heartily recommend the trackerjack brakes!
Nice to see another 1850 getting some care and attention.

yorkshire_spam wrote: ↑Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:35 pm I heartily recommend the trackerjack brakes!
Nice to see another 1850 getting some care and attention.

Cheers! I'm a fan of all Dolly / Tolly cars, such a great design from Michellotti... I never forgave my Dad for not giving me his 1850, but then I was only 11 at the time

Is there a place that sells a complete trackerjack setup for a Dolly, or is it a build-up-your-own-kit type of thing? So far I've seen it utilises modern Golf parts...

Send a PM to Trackerjack on here for the brakes....he uses golf vented discs and recommends you utilising ford Ka or whatever calipers....any minute now so one will post all the necessary links.......

I would prefer to use Dinitrol or Dynax S50 over waxoyl btw, far superior in my opinion. Things have moved on since waxoyl was invented I think.

shaunroche wrote: ↑Sat Jul 07, 2018 7:10 pm Send a PM to Trackerjack on here for the brakes....he uses golf vented discs and recommends you utilising ford Ka or whatever calipers....any minute now so one will post all the necessary links.......

I would prefer to use Dinitrol or Dynax S50 over waxoyl btw, far superior in my opinion. Things have moved on since waxoyl was invented I think.

Trackerjack's the guy on the forum? Aha! Of course... I'd heard the term before in my previous pursuit of beathing life into a dead Spitfire, I didn't realise Trackerjack was a person

Good tip on the rust proofing, I'll give those a try

I Waxoyled my old Escort- that was back in 1995, and there wasn't a lot else back then. Yikes, where did the time go, and why did I sell it?? I got £1500 for that Escort in 2003 and was very happy with the sale since I only paid £700 in total for the car and RS bits - have you seen what they go for today?? Crazy money... I do still have the daughter who's nursery I painted up with the proceeds, so that's OK

First real job (almost) done: Steering.

The flexible steering shaft knuckle was in a bad way. Very vague steering, with a tendency to wander. Swapped this out for the UJ type from Rimmers:

The old one (the Alan head screws were dangerously loose!):


Old vs new (note the length difference. This didn't seem to matter to my Dolly, luckily):


This was the moment that I forgot about the bulk head bush, which I'd stupidly lost when I pulled out the column in my attempt to allow enough space to refit the shaft:


After a short drive that felt worse (!). Then I spotted the missing bush on my drive, which must have been installed the wrong way around. Everything out again, this time put back properly...

The steering still isn't right to me however. When the car is warmed up through driving, the steering feels a little like I'm rolling a 50p piece. I've never had this before in any car, but I'm assuming the rack needs attention (or the TREs move when warm). More investigation needed!

If you can I'd try an MOT style test on your steering. With the vehicle on the ground - weight on the wheels - get somebody to rock the steering.
Look for excess movement in the rack mountings, look for anything trapping or catching, CAREFULLY put you hand on the tre and see if you can feel the ball popping or the threads jumping.

Bradman wrote: ↑Sat Jul 07, 2018 7:37 pm The steering still isn't right to me however. When the car is warmed up through driving, the steering feels a little like I'm rolling a 50p piece. I've never had this before in any car, but I'm assuming the rack needs attention (or the TREs move when warm). More investigation needed!

If it's only when everything is hot, I've a similar issue that I've not got to the bottom of yet. Very noticeable in traffic and when in my case the fan turns on!

new to this wrote: ↑Sat Jul 07, 2018 8:03 pm I was thinking of replacing the door rubber seals with modern type,when you say they don't shut properly,is that because there new

Dave

Hi Dave - I have one of the original fur flex door liners and an original doors seal that the previous owner gave to me in a bag-o-junk. Both are in rubbish condition (but I'm going to cut up the fur flex part to edge some carpet that has no edging).

Later today / tomorrow I'll put them on and take a look at how they are supposed to fit. My feeling is that the modern ones are pinched between the door and where the fur flex normally goes. The original ones seal around the door and not up against the furflex from what I can tell, and this is how the doors were designed, so it's the best way to get a flush fit. But I'm just guessing

I'll post images when I've done this...

Mike.

yorkshire_spam wrote: ↑Sat Jul 07, 2018 9:39 pm If you can I'd try an MOT style test on your steering. With the vehicle on the ground - weight on the wheels - get somebody to rock the steering.
Look for excess movement in the rack mountings, look for anything trapping or catching, CAREFULLY put you hand on the tre and see if you can feel the ball popping or the threads jumping.

Cheers for that - I'll give that a go and report back!

Mike.

Galileo wrote: ↑Sun Jul 08, 2018 2:06 am

Bradman wrote: ↑Sat Jul 07, 2018 7:37 pm The steering still isn't right to me however. When the car is warmed up through driving, the steering feels a little like I'm rolling a 50p piece. I've never had this before in any car, but I'm assuming the rack needs attention (or the TREs move when warm). More investigation needed!

If it's only when everything is hot, I've a similar issue that I've not got to the bottom of yet. Very noticeable in traffic and when in my case the fan turns on!

Yes it's very strange... Now if I had power steering I'd have some suggestions, but this is a regular rack. I'm going to try what yorkshire_spam said see what that shows up. I'll have to do it twice I guess, hot and cold, to see the difference. Like it's not hot enough here already, now I get to sit under hot car!

Mike.