The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hello all - It's been a long time since I've been in here, mainly because I'm a bit despondent about my poor car.

Way back in the distant past (2004, I think!) I made an ill-advised choice of garage for a substantial piece of bodywork repair, and it's now obvious I'm going to need to get it sorted out if I'm ever going to finish the job of putting it back on the road.

In essence I attempted to take a shortcut to repair the roof skin (which was holey) and the d-pillars (which were more than holey) by replacing the roof. Literally the whole thing, chopped off a 1300 and grafted on.

Unfortunately it's not quite right. The guy that did it looks to have started from the back, and the D-pillars look to be in the right place. However, it all goes wrong from there, with not quite square B-pillars, and what looks to be something like a 1/2" chop of the A-pillars to get the bits of A-pillars that were left on the donated bit of roof to fit.

In short, it's a big mess.

I have a decent pair of B-posts and a windscreen frame that could be let in, but I'm aware this is a huge job, and one that is going to take quite a lot of effort to get right if it's even possible at all.

So I guess the questions are:

a) Is it even possible to fix it?
b) Does anyone have any ideas for anyone who would have the skills and kit to do it properly?

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!

How good or bad is the rest of the shell? Makes no sense to get involved with sorting a job like that out if the rest of it is rotten... I'd be looking for a better shell personally.

Knowing what you've spent on the rest of the body, I'd see how close the welder Matt Cotton recommended is to you...

I'd also be getting a bit heavy with the bloke who cocked it up for you too!

Hello Dave.
This is the welder I used for some areas on my Sprint. He has subsequently done work for other club members and did some roof work recently for Tony Burd. [https://classiccarwelding.co.uk/]

Scott is a very good chap so I am sure would give you an honest appraisal. He is Birmingham based but does travel.

Best wishes. Good to hear from you.
Matt.

Matt Cotton wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 9:53 pm Hello Dave.
This is the welder I used for some areas on my Sprint. He has subsequently done work for other club members and did some roof work recently for Tony Burd. [https://classiccarwelding.co.uk/]

Scott is a very good chap so I am sure would give you an honest appraisal. He is Birmingham based but does travel.

Best wishes. Good to hear from you.
Matt.

Thanks Matt, I'll drop him a line.

xvivalve wrote: I'd also be getting a bit heavy with the bloke who cocked it up for you too!

I would but he's probably well into his dotage by now!

xvivalve wrote: I'd also be getting a bit heavy with the bloke who cocked it up for you too!

I would but he's probably well into his dotage by now!
[/quote]

Less likely to punch back then…

I am sure Scott could do it, I was happy with how mine went with the limited time & space he had to do it, but even with lots of careful measuring mine needed further adjustment later on at the bodyshop.

The only reason I contemplated it was the car is an early Sprint & the chances of finding another good early shell were slim, if I could of I would have just reshelled it.

As your roof has already been replaced all the original measurements will have been lost, I would think you will need a complete shell with a good roof & rotten everywhere else to provide a datum for the 2nd roof swap.

Ideally find a donor car of a similar age, the roof from a 78 car has some minor differences to my 73 car which needed tweaking.

Also when you do the swap have the doors installed, makes the lining up easier as taking accurate measurements is difficult.

If you can find a good shell, I would still go that route.

Good Luck.

Davbats shell would have been ideal.