The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

My poor little brain is having a tough time. My toledo really needs another engine, already has a sprint box and axle.
But do sprint engines turn up for sale? I don't want to do a rebuild, so really a good running one. And if so, what should I be paying...

Not set in stone, a lot happening at the moment. But if something turns up it could sway my decision....

I guess if a good TR7 engine appeared that would be of interest too. The idea of the Jag AJ30 is a bit too much to think about!

Did you look at the one on eBay at https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Dolo ... Sw5nJeFP8S
Not sure if it's the rust or the moss that would worry me most!

Graham

Worked fine when I removed it, but I can't test it so sold as spares or repairs. Been standing under cover for a year.

I wonder, looking at the state of it, how long it stood outside 'twixt removal and it's year under cover.

He might have put the pump cover back and taped up the inlet holes, etc. Seems a wee bit expensive in the condition it is.

Graham.

Quiller have a variety of Sprint Engines listed:

http://www.quillertriumph.co.uk/Quiller ... 0heads.htm

Used from £700 - got to be better than the boat anchors on fleabay or reconned - short and full.

WINS also list a complete Sprint engine with distributor and carbs for £500 - need a rebuild though but again has to be a better bet than the fleabay ones.

http://www.winsintltd.co.uk/engine-parts1.html

To be honest I would feel happier getting a "used" one and rebuilding it, you will end up with a known quantity. Not cheap, and will take some time and effort, but probably less than relying on a "good used" one - unless you can be sure of its provenance.

Chaps, I am not interested in the slightest in buying a 150kg of scrap metal, which is what that ebay one is.
Not touching quiller with a bargepole.
Wins, prices are plus VAT, but if they say it needs a rebuild, it is likely knackered. Plus the £500 does not specify 1850 or sprint. I have no intention of spending 2k on an engine. For that I would be able to get an AJ30 in there, double the power and more interesting (though would need an axle upgrade, that is the straw that broke the back of that idea, along with bespoke flywheel)
No, if I go the sprint route it will need a good engine at a fair price to turn up. But what is a fair price?

Looking at the asking price for a boat anchor (all be it a really effective boat anchor) I really should thin my collection. From memory (and its a damn long time since I stock-checked) I have:
- 1 sprint engine in a car upon which having replaced the front end the oil pump drive failed. Tired bores, well sorted bottom end. Or was it the other way around
- 1 sprint engine that ran fine when removed from the-car-that-wasn't-VA41. Complete, waiting to drop into above.
- 1 sprint reconditioned block (bores, pistons & bearings) and and a selection of heads & carb sets on the shelf to go with.
- I think 2 other complete blocks I can't recall the detail of.

And one sprint in which to use them. 2 if you include the retirement project (15 years to go).

That's not an offer, I wouldn't upon such loose descriptions and vague recollections. It was a public kick up the arse to self to sort my s##t out! IIRC at one point I had something approaching 3 litres of engine per car. I had (have) a lot of cars. Too many cars.

To answer the question though, if I had an engine in a road legal car that you could test drive so you could hear it, feel it though the seat of your pants and take oil & water from to be tested would £1200-£1500 be a fair price?

Assuming you are after a complete engine - including manifolds, and ancillaries - then I would guess £1000 to £1500 for a "mid range" used engine - i.e. one that goes with no real problems. As I said in my previous post you need to be sure of its provenance, otherwise it might be no better than the boat anchors currently on eBay. If no club member has or knows of one it might be worth giving Robsport a call, I would trust them and they do get cars in for spares - ideally I would want to see/hear the engine running before parting with my readies.

The likes of the ones on eBay, Quiller and Wins set the price floor at £500 to £700 for something that needs a complete rebuild, not hard to do the maths from there.

I've just had a Sprint engine fully rebuilt by Robsport delivered for a customer of mine (he paid) The bill was a bit over £2k.

Steve

Were I in the market for a Sprint engine, I'd spend a couple of hundred or so on an unknown and then ask Mad Mart or Jon Jackson to strip and inspect it...then take a view on what to do once I'd had their report...I think it unlikely you'll find a vendor who can put any reliable provenance on a used one these days

The Vauxhall 8v 2 litre is as powerful as a Sprint, cheap as chips and indestructible (even by me!) Although belt driven, it's a NO-contact engine. It's an easy conversion and the injection wiring is only 5 wires to running! The Omega box that matches it has hydraulic clutch and the box is short and light with a readily shorten-able shift extension.

If you want to spend money later, a guy I know of in Stafford can get 240+ bhp from one of these, but I find circa 140 is "sufficent" for a road car.

Why wouldn't you?

Steve

I agree with xvivalve, get a used one and assess its condition fully expecting to have to do a full rebuild. I can't beleive I am saying this, as I am usually a nut for keeping things original but to be honest if you are not prepared to spend £2k on a Sprint engine then what Steve says makes a whole bundle of sense. You may get a cheaper Sprint engine but in the long run I suspect you will end up paying in the long run. With a more modern "bomb proof" engine such as the Vauxhall suggested by Steve you have a lot more choice at a much lower cost.

Roger

GrahamFountain wrote: ↑Thu Jun 18, 2020 4:33 pm Did you look at the one on eBay at https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Dolo ... Sw5nJeFP8S
Not sure if it's the rust or the moss that would worry me most!

Graham

What's the badge or sticker on the cam cover?

Looks like a random accretion of alien mind melting slime.

Not helping, am i?

Carledo wrote: The Vauxhall 8v 2 litre is as powerful as a Sprint, cheap as chips and indestructible (even by me!) Although belt driven, it's a NO-contact engine. It's an easy conversion and the injection wiring is only 5 wires to running! The Omega box that matches it has hydraulic clutch and the box is short and light with a readily shorten-able shift extension.

If you want to spend money later, a guy I know of in Stafford can get 240+ bhp from one of these, but I find circa 140 is "sufficent" for a road car.

Why wouldn't you?

Steve

The advantage of using an engine that was originally fitted to the Dolomite range, is you reduce your chances of officialdom sniffing around. Personally I think the rules are stupid. I can understand them wanting to stop people rebuilding a whole car from just a vin plate but I see no problem with putting different engines in.

Also I like the idea of using a retro engine and coming from a generation bought up with computers, I am fascinated by the way old tech like the a Dolly actually manages to work. The SU carb, for example, is ingenious.

As for the piles of scrap listed on ebay, my advice is stay clear. At the very least check it turns over by hand before even considering it.

The engine in mine was such a cheap purchase and it turned out to be not so cheap. OK I got it going in the end but I had to throw a ton of parts and time at it to make it work.

In hindsight I would have been better off spending more and getting a good one in the first place.