The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hello all,

I’ve searched and read a few threads on here regarding some of the perils with the rear brake adjusters but had a question regarding my own 1980 Sprint. After discovering I had a leaking rear wheel cylinder, I stripped the rear brakes, starting on the left rear side, everything all replaced now and moved over to the right rear side and once I got the drum off, I realized that the little “H” piece and the adjusting ‘bar’ that ratchets the adjuster are gone so am wondering if I can still get by without these and can manually adjust the brakes to set them up? The shoes and drums are in good shape so I just need a pointer on how to get that side set up. Also, I presume since I still have the self-adjusting mechanism intact on one side, I can just use the e-brake to set that side up? Lastly, do I need to move the star wheel out a handful of clicks manually (I wound it all the way back in before I swapped the wheel cylinder) before I start ratcheting with the handbrake lever or can I just use the lever and it’ll find the position it likes on its own? As my TR6 has the traditional square adjuster at the bottom of the backplate and this is the first time I’ve opened up the brakes on the Dolly, it was a bit unexpected when I got in there!

Thanks all for any thoughts!! Sorry to have been so verbose but I just need to know whether or not I have to try to track down a new H piece and adjuster bar or if I can set it up adequately without.

Cheers,
Aaron

You fundamentally need the 'H' piece, else you are on a hiding to nothing.

The club sell these in stainless steel for £3/pair inc UK postage, but there'd be a slight uplift for the US.

I normally wind out the cog wheel by hand to the point where you can still get the drum on, then use the lever to bring the shoes into contact with it.

Cheers, thanks for the speedy reply. Good info on getting the needed bits from the club and also the setup instructions. Finally glad to have some time to work on the old girl. I imported it from the UK a handful of years ago and having not driven it maybe more than 500 miles since, will be excited to be able to actually use it more this year.

Next up will be rebuilding the front calipers and fitting some Goodridge hoses and then have a load of SuperPro suspension bushes to go all ‘round. Should tighten things up nicely. I’ve got them on my TR6 and the difference was night and day on the first drive.

Cheers,
Aaron

Carriage would likely be prohibitive, but the Club do fully reconditioned exchange callipers as well.

Take care not to mix the cog wheels up, they are (should be!) handed, though it's not uncommon to find a matching pair on a car!

Haven’t had any luck finding the RH side adjuster lever. Does the club have those or just the H pieces?

The club doesn't supply the adjuster arm as they are available from other sources, at least in the UK. Confusingly, they are often sold as being for late MKIII GT6, but it's the same part.

I don't currently have any spare used ones, but someone may have one. Also, even when intact, the self adjusters aren't that effective, so you can run without the bar and just wind them up manually periodically. I'm looking into drilling some holes in my brake backplates to facilitate this manual adjustment without even taking the wheels off!

Steve

Steve,

Brilliant idea on drilling the backing plate! Since I’ve got it apart still, I think I’ll go this route.

As I understand it’s the same part as on an MGC, I checked Brown and Gammons who do have the adjusters but only sold as a pair and for a fortune, MGOC showed they had some on their website but when I placed the order they then emailed to tell me no stock.

So, with no option really other than making it manually adjustable by way of ‘modification’ I’ll set to this tonight and let you know how I get on. Thanks again for the tip!

Cheers,
Aaron

I have some spare used adjusters on the shelf, just need to work out which side is which!

Okay, well, if you’re willing to come off a RH side one, let me know how much you need for it before I drill the backing plate. You are referring to the arm and not the toothed sprocket, correct?

xvivalve wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 4:27 pm I have some spare used adjusters on the shelf, just need to work out which side is which!

P.S. I believe callout #14 in the pic in the link below, courtesy of the MGOC Spares shop..

https://www.mgocspares.co.uk/acatalog/M ... __370.html

The other point to bear in mind regarding the ratchet is the teeth, I have found some to be worn and they need to have a sharp edge for the adjuster to work correctly.

Malcolm

Magenta Auto Sprint wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:50 pm The other point to bear in mind regarding the ratchet is the teeth, I have found some to be worn and they need to have a sharp edge for the adjuster to work correctly.

Malcolm

Thanks Malcom, cheers. I’ve inspected the teeth and they seem to be in fairly good nick so I’m hopeful that simply replacing the adjuster bar and H piece will be all it takes. Meanwhile, I’ve rebuilt the front calipers with new stainless pistons and have some Goodridge hoses ready to go on. Progress!!

bergxu wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:23 pm Okay, well, if you’re willing to come off a RH side one, let me know how much you need for it before I drill the backing plate. You are referring to the arm and not the toothed sprocket, correct?

PM sent.