The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I have a car here first registered in Cyprus 01 Oct 73

On the front and Back of the car the badges say Sprint but is it that’s the question

Commission Number WF27150
Build Number 88294WB
Engine Number WF70459HE 1854cc

The car was originally white and is now yellow.

Can anybody help throw some light on it.

Any help would be very much appreciated
Thank you

By the commission number and date of first registration, that car is one of the first (but not so early) ‘Dolomites’ fitted with the 1854cc 8 valve engine, pre 1850HL

The engine number however is from a much later car and is probably wearing SU HS4 carburettors, whereas it originally would have worn Strombergs.

So, not a Sprint, just borrowing some badges.



Of course, it may have also borrowed Sprint running gear too? Did you take the engine number off paperwork or off the block itself?

Off the paperwork

Is there a way to get more exact information
on the details given

How do you mean by more exact?

WF prefix is 1850. If it were a Sprint the prefixes would be VA

You could apply for a heritage certificate which would tell you the original engine number and colour and date of manufacture, but may tel you title more than you already know.

Can you post a picture of the engine bay and we can tell you if it is an 1850 engine or not, but I'd have thought sourcing Sprint running gear in Cyprus historically would not have been straight forward, though I do know the British Consulates used to hold stock of spare parts for government cars as I imported a load of new old stock doors from Cyprus many years ago...

Scottie wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:21 am Is there a way to get more exact information
on the details given

More exact in what way? What Alun says is pretty precise - the car isn't a Sprint, it was built as an 1850 but the engine number provided is a later 1850 engine.
Without photos of the engine, engine number (from the block) or diff number it's pretty much impossible to tell if the car remains an 1850 or has been converted to Sprint spec.

Photo attached

That’s an 1850 engine running early Strombergs; sorry if the news disappoints.

Unfortunately that's just a casting number, not the engine number. The engine number is stamped into the casting and some are so light as to be imperceptible.

The photograph you have shown in undoubtedly an 1850 8 valve unit.

This is what an engine number looks like, though yours will start with WF

yorkshire_spam wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:36 am

Scottie wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:21 am Is there a way to get more exact information
on the details given

More exact in what way? What Alun says is pretty precise - the car isn't a Sprint, it was built as an 1850 but the engine number provided is a later 1850 engine.
Without photos of the engine, engine number (from the block) or diff number it's pretty much impossible to tell if the car remains an 1850 or has been converted to Sprint spec.

Don't need a diff number to tell if its a sprint diff, just a pic would tell.

This what a Sprint engine should look like.