(This is an ongoing story - latest revision:16/1/06 - bottom of page)
I bought the engine,gearbox and radiator for about £100.Converting a 1500HL to 1850 spec is not such a straightforward job as it might appear.Although the 1500 subframe will accomodate the 1850 engine,the engine mounts need to be modified.Also,the A-frame at the back of the subframe interferes with future gearbox removal - it's far better to use an 1850 subframe.
The battery sits on the opposite side of the engine bay on the 1850 so all the wiring needs to be modified.The rear axle has to be changed too (as we later found out).
After months of hard work sorting out the electrics,bodywork and mechanicals,the car was finally fit for the road.I used it as runabout,hoping to sort out the cosmetics at a later date.The car was originally carmine with a chestnut interior,but had been sprayed red at some stage.At that time it had a russet brown bonnet and bootlid (from the 1500 I still owned).I later found another 1500HL in a scrapyard and I bought the complete black interior from it.I then fitted it in my car - it really looked the business! I also had the rear doors from the car in the scrapyard,which I fitted to my car.It looked nice once inside but a bit of a state from the outside! Eventually I had the car resprayed in a radiant red colour.
Then I ran into more problems (predictably) - the engine became noisy and had to be replaced.I was annoyed as I'd only driven the car a few thousand miles,I now realise that buying engines from scrapyards is a big mistake! I bought another engine from a fellow club member and got the car on the road yet again.
I ended up forking out to have another pair of sills fitted and I used the car for a few weeks before disaster struck.I lost control of the car at night on a muddy roundabout.The chassis legs were twisted and so the car had to be written off.
A few weeks after crashing the 1850 I spotted a pageant blue Sprint for sale in a street not far from my home.A fellow club member and Sprint owner gave it the once over and declared it a good buy.
After a few weeks of use I decided that the back axle was becoming very noisy and I decided to replace it.While the axle was off the car I decided to change all the bushes...then the propshaft centre bearing...then the gearbox mounting....In the time that I owned the car,just about every mechanical component was replaced!
Something that I found whilst owning the Sprint was that even "reputable" companies can offer poor service.I had some work carried out by a highly recommended Sprint specialist in the West Country.I was disgusted by their service.I had the gearbox rebuilt by a company in Birmingham - the second gear synchro failed after a few thousand miles!
The original engine gave up after a while and I decided to buy another engine rather than rebuild it.One thing I found whilst stripping the ancillaries from the old engine was that the oilways around the oil pressure switch mounting were blocked.This was caused by the past use of incorrect oil filters.The problem is that many oil filters have a tendancy to break up,allowing the paper element to block oilways - with disasterous results! The Triumph Dolomite Club recommends the use of the AC Delco AC30B oil filter,which won't break up in service.I later replaced the original oil filter arrangement with a spin on cartridge kit,which I found more convenient to use.
A major headache was caused when I bought a rebuilt engine from a club member...The car was off the road for months while I scratched my head,trying to work out why it wouldn't run.To cut a *very* long story short,the Weber carbs that were with the engine were hopelessly out of tune (despite a "specialist" telling me otherwise) and the wrong length valves were used with the fast road camshaft.My advice would be never to buy an engine without a warranty - no matter how cheap!
Looking on the bright side though,the Sprint (when it was actually running!) was a joy to drive.It was most satisfying to leave XR3is standing at the traffic lights! If I'd bought a good car in the first place I suspect that I'd have had far less problems in the long run.If you are going to buy a car to restore,don't try and use it as an everyday vehicle at the same time.Sprints DO make very good everyday transport,but they need to be well maintained.In my experience,trying to run a Sprint from day to day AND trying to restore it at the same time is an uphill struggle.I'll have another Sprint one day - but I'll either buy a first class example or I'll buy one to restore at my leisure...
(January 2001) I've just bought another Russet 1300 which I'm going to use to restore "Patch" and to keep "Tabitha" on the road.After two months of using Tabitha for all my "local" journeys, I must say that I love this car the more I drive it.I've driven several hundred miles in Tabitha and I've encountered no significant problems (as yet!).
(7/2/02)
Well it's been a year since I last looked at this story and I thought it was about time for
another update.Shortly after my last report,Tabitha's petrol tank developed a leak and I had to
take her off the road until I had time to replace the tank.Unfortunately this took far longer
than I anticipated as I did a few repairs to the boot area whilst the tank was out of the car.
By the time I'd got the car back together,the MOT had expired.I then decided to take the car
over to a garage in
Staffordshire for a pre-MOT inspection.To my dismay it was obvious that poor Tabitha would need
quite a lot of work doing to her to get her through the MOT.After pondering the thought of
spending more money on the car I eventually came to the decision that Tabitha was well worth
saving - besides,I'd become quite fond of her!
A fellow Triumph Dolomite Club member offered to help me out by doing the welding at a very reasonable price (Tabitha needed a new chassis leg and a few other minor repairs to her underside).I was hoping to do the rest of the jobs myself,but my increased involvement in the running of the Triumph Dolomite Club during 2001 scuppered that idea,I just didn't have any spare time.Poor Tabitha sat outside for several months whilst my attention was focussed on Club matters.In January 2002 I made the decision to take the car back a garage to have a new steering rack,steering column bush,wheel cylinder and a couple of brake pipes fitted.I sorted out one or two minor electrical problems myself.So Tabitha is now back on the road and in regular use once more.At some time in the future I may try and tidy her bodywork up a bit, but as she's certainly no show car,my priority is maintaining her mechanicals.
(January 2003) "Tabitha" (the Dolomite 1300) certainly earned her keep throughout 2002! I did a fair few miles in her during the year,despite one or two minor problems.On the way down to the The Triumph Show at Stoneleigh,Tabitha ground to a halt on the M6 north of Birmingham.It was simply a piece of throttle linkage which had broken and I was able to get underway again using a piece of string! Later in the year I had an annoying problem with the car intermittently stalling.I tried swapping the ignition coil,the points,the condensor,the dizzy cap and HT leads,but the problem wouldn't go away.Eventually I realised that the problem must be fuel related,so I looked at the fuel pump.It was full of debris! I cleaned it out,but the car still kept cutting out.In the end I swapped the pump for the one off the spares car - success!
I used the 1300 for everyday use throughout the year;carrying display material to shows,shopping, taking rubbish to the tip etc etc.At last I was able to attend the club's annual rally in a Dolomite - something I'd not been able to do for a while! Tabitha also made it to the Northern Dolly Day and numerous other events.I did have another problem with the car towards the end of the year; a worrying vibration as the car was slowing down.After swapping the complete propshaft assembly (for the one off the spares car - I'm getting my money's worth from that car!),the problem was cured.
(June 2004) Tabitha's engine was getting decidely worn out.There was a lot of bearing noise and oil consumption was eye-watering. Someone had a the great idea of swapping the engine on her as part of our display at the National Restoration Show at Stoneleigh. You can find out how we got on here. The engine we fitted was an ultra low mileage 1300 engine which had undergone an unleaded conversion (ie. had hardened valve seats inserted).Tabitha's bodywork is looking a bit tired now, but she's still in regular use.
April 2005 Sadly I've had to part company with Tabitha, but thankfully she's gone to a good home where she'll be well looked after. It came about as a result of the bracket on the end of the axle failing, allowing the trailing arm to come adrift. Poor Tabitha came to a grinding halt on the way home one night. As the MOT test was imminent, and I could see that she'd need some other work carrying out, I made the decision to try and find her a new home. It was a tough decision to make, but my present circumstances are somewhat "difficult" and I haven't really got the time or facilities to start restoring a car. I really didn't want to see her broken for spares, so I tried to give her away to a fellow enthusiast. Unfortunately, no one was able to give her a new home and so I tried auctioning her on Ebay. What a disaster that turned out to be! A hoaxer decided that it would be jolly good fun to create an account using false contact details, win the auction, mess me about for a week, then finally leave negative feedback for me without paying for the car. However, under Ebay rules you can apply to have feedback removed if it's been left by someone using false contact details and you can also claim back all fees involved (remember this if the same thing ever happens to you!). Anyway, I re-listed the car on Ebay and fortunately the auction went without a hitch, eventually finding a buyer who collected Tabitha the day that the auction ended. Maybe I'll see Tabitha at a show one day, who knows? So, as one chapter in this story ends, another is about to begin.............
January 2006
I thought it was about time that I introduced the latest addition to my fleet; a Dolomite 1500SE. Around the time that
I'd decided to say goodbye to Tabitha, the Club was contacted by the widow of one of our former members, who was trying to find a new home for her late husband's car. As I knew the car very well and had also known the member concerned, I was very interested myself. The car had been restored at enormous expense by the former owner, although tragically he died as the project was nearing completion. However, although there was still a small amount of work yet to be done, the car was still deemed worthy of being awarded a winner's trophy at the Club's concours in 2003. A few days after I got the car home I noticed that the temperature guage was behaving in a strange manner. After scratching my head for a while I decided to call the Club's OHV Technical Officer, Dolomite-guru Jod Clark for some advice. You can find out what happened next by following this link to Jod's story of how he solved the problem.
As mentioned above, there are still a few jobs to be completed, the major one being the replacement of the car's headlining. I also intend to replace the seat covers (I managed to source an original set still in their BL packaging!) and fit an original set of carpets. I've managed to obtain most of the parts to complete the carpet set, but I'm missing a passenger side front footwell piece, as well as the sections that go over the sills and also below the rear seat. If anyone has any of these pieces, preferably new, or otherwise good secondhand, I'd be very pleased to hear from them. I use the car on a regular basis and have experienced very few problems so far. Recent jobs completed have been the replacement of the oil pressure sender unit, the fuel level sender unit, the exhaust front pipe and also the rear tailpipe. The car recently passed its MOT test and I'm looking forward to taking her along to many of the Club's events in 2006.
