A Tale of Three Projects

[Purplebargeken]

Never to do something by halves....

I still have the LWT which is very nearly 'finished', in respect to the fiddly little jobs, well as finished as these cars can ever be. Just a lick of paint and Bruce has agreed to pop down to my place at some point to sort out the overdrive electrics, fit a reversing light, check the timing and carb balance and a couple of little bits and bobs. Lucky man!

New additions: 1300FWD in the usual valencia Blue, I had this a while ago for a short period of time but sold it to a friend. I have since re-obtained it. Some bodywork required, namely a turret repair, new wings and a clean up of the bonnet. Thankfully all the necessary panels are there with the car.

Newest addition: a 2 door Tolly in either Pimento or Vermillion, I can never tell the difference. It's a former one owner car and hasn't run since the mid 1980's, she is amazingly rust minimal. Sadly, I couldn't get the engine to turn over by hand (although access/space was hugely limited, I put about 20ml of diesel down the plug holes of three of the cylinders as I couldn't get to the alternator fixings to move it out of the way to gain access to the last plug hole. This little car will need a complete recommissioning obviously.

Photos when I get the chance.

Although having recently retired, at least I have the time now lol.

[xvivalve]

It will be pimento, the Toledo was phased out before vermillion was an option for them.

[Purplebargeken]

Cheers Alun, I always get confused between the two colours.

[Toledo Man]

Good to see you posting on here again Ken. Mind you, I've been fairly quiet on the Dolomite front myself!

[NickMorgan]

Excellent. I am looking forward to reading about what you get up to with these cars.

[Purplebargeken]

Hiya guys, nice to hear from you. I will indeed keep things updated as and when, although the FWD is going to be swapped for a complete engine, gearbox and subframe from a donor car, this will be chucked into the 2 door Tolly.

[Purplebargeken]

Did some work on the 2 door. The engine is toast, I've tried a mixture of magic brews and so on, zilch. As I mentioned, a plan is afoot to swap the very much rustier than I realised FWD for a complete engine, gear box and subframe.

I have started to strip things out of the engine bay and the only things that remain bolted onto the block are the distributor and fuel pump. In relation to the dizzy, I wanted to take it out as one big lump and undid the two nuts that appear to hold it in. It moves but isn't coming out. Have I missed something obvious?

In relation to taking the engine out, this is something I have never done before. The subframe and everything else will need to be replaced.

What is the best way - via the top or drop everything from the bottom? Am clueless as have never done it before.

[NickMorgan]

Ken,
I am not expert either, but I would think that all you need to do to remove the distributor (once you have taken off all the wires) is to undo the pinch bolt and pull the distributor up.
I would also imagine that if you need to replace the subframe, engine and gearbox you are best to undo everything, complete with suspension and lift the body off the assembly.
Now let's see what an expert says!