1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

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wobbs
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1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#1 Post by wobbs »

I have been asked to start a thread on here to follow the rebuild and restoration of our Dolomite Sprint, which raced in the 1974 and 1975 Spa 24 hours (driven in 1974 by John Handley and Julien Vernaeve, and in 1975 by Jennifer Birrel, Marianne Hoephner and Christine Beckers).

We are just at the start of the project, trying to research the cars history further, figure out how original it is and what it needs to get a HTP to allow it to be raced again.

Today I started with the careful strip down of the car, beginning with the doors. Each part is being bagged and labelled, and stored in corresponding boxes for each area of the car. Spending extra time now will no doubt make things easier come reassembly time.

The plan is to get the car fully stripped down (making note of any new parts needed in the process) and sent away for a new weld in cage to be made. The shell will then get fully blasted and painted back in its original yellow colour scheme that it raced in period. You can see the original yellow in some of the pictures where the later paint job was not done very thoroughly.

Here are some photos of the car from the sales advert:

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And here in our workshop:

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Interior clean up began

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I will keep updated with photos. The plan is to get the car down to a bare shell (bar a few things like door cards and dash that are needed for the cage build) and sent off within the next couple of weeks.
matt of the vivas
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#2 Post by matt of the vivas »

Fabulous. Ive seen pictures of these cars racing in period. Ecuse my ignorance, what is "Butch?"
Awaiting Repair
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#3 Post by Awaiting Repair »

Well done on starting the thread here! Look forward to seeing the updates, please keep them coming!

Keith
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#4 Post by tamtrucks »

matt of the vivas wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2020 7:51 pmwhat is "Butch?"

look on front wing.......butch tailors

have noticed indicator/sidelight wrong way round or upside down
Dolomite 1300,1980`V`reg in british racing brown(russet),3.63 diff with 21t speedo pinion,95%poly`d,HL clocks,standard wheels with SE covers wrapt in 175 70 13,mot`d 19-09-2014,been off the since 1990,(july2017) stainless steel exhaust 3-piece,(xmas2018) wooden mountney steering wheel,(june2020) new monroe shock(radial front,gas-matic rears) with -1" lower`d springs all round.
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#5 Post by new to this »

What needs doing,it dosent look bad from the photos

Dave
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#6 Post by Bish »

Good work posting here Wobbs! :thumbsup: Looking forward to following your progress.
Like Dave says, it doesn’t look to be a rotter from the photos!?
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#7 Post by wobbs »

Thanks for the warm welcome guys. So far the car seems very solid rust wise, but for the HTP (Historic Technical Passport) that it requires to go racing again, it needs to be 100% as it was in period, including paint scheme!

Also the current paint job was supposedly done in the 1980's, and to be as kind as I can be, is not quite up to the standard we want for this car:

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The car is also an unknown to us, so giving it a full rebuild lets us get to know the car and put some trust into it at the track, knowing that its all correct and safe
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#8 Post by new to this »

Got any pictures of engine and brakes,the car looks nice

Dave
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#9 Post by wobbs »

No pictures of the brakes yet, the underside should be getting stripped next week.

Today I finished off the doors (minus the rear quarterlight glass), removed the rollcage, glass and headlining and started on the wiring loom amongst a few other interior jobs. The rollcage unbolted easily from the back, and once the rear section was removed the front 'welded' section basically fell out. Zero weld penetration, again highlighting why we want to totally strip the car and make sure everything is absolutely 100%

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Engine bay as requested

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Interior getting there ...

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I also found some treasure inside 2 of the doors

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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#10 Post by Carledo »

Up close and personal, the black/white paint job is truly awful, very amateurish indeed!

Lookng forward to this one!

Steve
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#11 Post by Bish »

That is shockingly bad welding, all the penetration of a pigeon shite, and that’s on a competition rollcage :boggle:

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Wonder what else you will find in the way of bodges!?
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#12 Post by wobbs »

I have been carrying on with the strip down the past couple of days. Thankfully no real unexpected horrors found, only that the nut holding the gear knob on had been butchered so may require cutting off. I will wait until a replacement is sourced first though. I managed to remove both of the rear quarterlights without damage to the glass or rubbers which is a relief as well.

Now the interior is as stripped down as I need to go, the boot and fuel tank stripped and the external trim from the car. Next on the list is the vinyl roof I think, and then I will get it up on the ramp and start removing the running gear. The list of parts required or needing replacement is growing though.

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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#13 Post by yorkshire_spam »

Awesome stuff. Great photos!
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#14 Post by tinweevil »

Cor look at those cars sharing that garage. Bet you're glad to have the Dolly in there to raise the tone of the place :D
The visible gear lever chrome nut looks ok, at the risk of teaching grandma to suck eggs... To remove the knob turn the chrome nut clockwise (down the stick) then the knob should be loose. You can then twiddle the nut inside the knob with a small screwdriver.
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Re: 1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

#15 Post by wobbs »

Another little update, the car is now stripped ready for the roll cage and blasting. All I have left to do tomorrow is build a wheeled dolly for it and remove the stickers. Thankfully there was no rust to be found in the body, however a few bad repairs that will need sorting and no doubt more hiding under the paintwork.

We have also acquired some more wheels (5 sets in total now!) so these will be sent off next week for refurbishing.

Once the bodyshell is away I will start restoring all of the running gear and start getting the big shopping list ordered up in preparation for its return :)

As far as shell modifications go, I have noticed that it has been seem welded and brazed in places, and interestingly the rear tie bar mountings on the shell have been moved up about an inch.

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