Triumph Dolly Sprint as a daily

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Discussion

daniel-5zjw7

Original Poster:

598 posts

100 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone has experience of running a Dolomite Sprint on a daily basis as an only car, on the face of it I don't see an issue, but wondered how reliable they are and how it would stand up to cold mornings etc.

It would do approx. 8k a year and live outside, but would be well looked after - I'd look to start with a very nice one (the ones that have caught my eye are around 6k) and aim to keep on top of it from there.

Workable or would it be a pile of bits on my drive within a year!

guards red

666 posts

199 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
quotequote all
Buy the the one with the most solid body. I haven't run one for a long, long time but it was fine as a daily.

Its helps if you're handy with a spanner as it will need work to get it spot on. The engine was reliable and started up no problem any time of the year. Make sure the carbs are well adjusted and the ignition is converted to something like a Luminition and you're good to go.

If you want to unleash it's potential though worth fitting 40 or 45 DHLA's to it and a Janspeed exhaust. The exhaust will make it sound fantastic and the carbs make it feel like a proper little sports car.

The Overdrive was reliable, the only issue I had was with the cable to the switch. Make sure the overdrive works in third and fourth. Water pump impellers were weak, but most will have better quality ones fitted now.

Anyway, fantastic car, just watch for rot.

//j17

4,471 posts

222 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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No problem what so ever, you just need to keep on top of the 1970's servicing schedule - which is a lot more frequent than a 2016 car's.

Many, perhaps most classic car reliability issues are down to a lack of use. The cars you see at the side of the road with the bonnet up on a summer Sunday are the garage queens, that have spent the last 50 weeks sat in a garage with their seals drying out, not the daily drivers.

Faust66

2,028 posts

164 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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bodgerben said:
adopt Mitsubishi Evo service intervals (3k miles) and you'll be fine.

If you run it as you would an evo, it'll be fine, if you run it like a Focus, it'll let you down.
I'm gonna nick that… nicely put!

I'd have thought a Sprint would be fine IF you make damn sure you do all you can to protect it against rust.

Either set aside a 4 day weekend to get the car in the air, remove the wheels and apply lavish amounts of cavity wax and underseal (I recommend the Bilt Hamber stuff) or be prepared to pay a few hundred quid to get the job done by someone else.

I'd also be using a jet wash under the wheelarches and body every other week in the winter to get rid of any nasty salt/mud deposits.

I'd also consider renewing the windscreen and door seals etc. as a precaution against water getting inside the car… if it leaks in un-noticed and starts dissolving your floor pans you'll have all kinds of fun sorting them out. Perhaps a good coating of POR15 on the interior floor (after you've stripped out the interior of course) would be a good idea? (doing this to my Amazon daily driver in the near future).

Always wanted a Dolly Sprint as they are fantastic cars IMO - there's a bloke in Nottingham who runs a dark green one as a daily (I see it in all weathers) and it does look very, very good to me.

daniel-5zjw7

Original Poster:

598 posts

100 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
quotequote all
Cheers for the advice guys, all very encouraging!

I ran a early Impreza WRX recently and now a 90s Ford, both rust for fun and need needed/need regular fettling so I'm fairly used to regular servicing etc.

The Dolomite is ticking a lot of boxes at the moment, in fact when I think what I'm after - a good looking, genuinely sporting classic that can be used daily, has enough space for the odd run out with the family and is at the lower end of the market in terms of price - I can't think of many alternatives!

The other bonus is Rimmer Brothers seem to have a seriously good parts catalogue for them so shouldn't be too hard to get hold of bits.

These are the two that have caught my eye;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1973-TRIUMPH-DOLOMITE-SP...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1979-TRIUMPH-DOLOMITE-SP...

also quite like this one but its only a 1500, however it looks to have had a good restoration so should be solid/immaculate.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Dolomite-1500-on...





OLDBENZ

397 posts

135 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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Although it is all relative I believe the quality of the steel used on Triumphs (and other BLs) went downhill in '74/'75 - possibly a move to cheap Russian steel - which means the later cars rust far worse. All things being equal I would go for an earlier car every time.

daniel-5zjw7

Original Poster:

598 posts

100 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
quotequote all
don't you just love MOT history check.. looks like the second one has been recomissioned this year after being off the road for 10 odd years, got a new ticket today but failed on a fair amount (albeit minor stuff) first time around and has an advisory for corrosion on osf inner front wing..

//j17

4,471 posts

222 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
quotequote all
OLDBENZ said:
Although it is all relative I believe the quality of the steel used on Triumphs (and other BLs) went downhill in '74/'75 - possibly a move to cheap Russian steel - which means the later cars rust far worse. All things being equal I would go for an earlier car every time.
If we were in 1978 I might agree with you but if the steel's lasted 41 years' I don't think it makes much difference.

With Triumphs you generally want a poo brown one as they tend to suffer the least over the years. They are poo brown though...

davepoth

29,395 posts

198 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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Faust66 said:
I'm gonna nick that… nicely put!

I'd have thought a Sprint would be fine IF you make damn sure you do all you can to protect it against rust.

Either set aside a 4 day weekend to get the car in the air, remove the wheels and apply lavish amounts of cavity wax and underseal (I recommend the Bilt Hamber stuff) or be prepared to pay a few hundred quid to get the job done by someone else.

I'd also be using a jet wash under the wheelarches and body every other week in the winter to get rid of any nasty salt/mud deposits.
I'd advise caution with that - the wheelarches are awful rust traps and pressure washing will just push the mud behind the poorly sealed mudguards (which do also rust!). A gentle sluicing with a hose is probably better.

Faust66 said:
I'd also consider renewing the windscreen and door seals etc. as a precaution against water getting inside the car…
Seal quality is variable - some of the door seals are NLA, and one of the manufacturers of the windscreen one made it the wrong size...

Faust66 said:
if it leaks in un-noticed and starts dissolving your floor pans you'll have all kinds of fun sorting them out. Perhaps a good coating of POR15 on the interior floor (after you've stripped out the interior of course) would be a good idea? (doing this to my Amazon daily driver in the near future).
This is a good idea - I'll be doing this to mine before I put the carpet back in again.

Faust66 said:
Always wanted a Dolly Sprint as they are fantastic cars IMO - there's a bloke in Nottingham who runs a dark green one as a daily (I see it in all weathers) and it does look very, very good to me.
They are great. I had one as my first car in 2004. I paid £485 for it and it wasn't quite worth every penny. biggrin

It was reliable enough in the major components, but it had a lot of electrical niggles. The overdrive kept blowing fuses (the wiring in the gearstick can chafe) so I would often find myself by the side of the road juggling wires around to try and find a set of connections that would get me home. The fusebox only has two fuses in it, so if one of them goes you have to make some difficult decisions about what electrics you want.

It was a bit like Apollo 13 but with more rust and drizzle.

ClaphamGT3

11,269 posts

242 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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All of the above is great advice but, above all, remember to drive it in such a way that it lasts long enough to be an all year round daily driver; they are incredibly tail happy and mine didn't make it to the end of its first year as my daily because I reversed it out of the apex of a corner at 70mph in the wet.

High quality rear tyres and a couple of paving slabs in the boot would be my advice...

hidetheelephants

23,772 posts

192 months

Saturday 23rd July 2016
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Breadvan of this parish has a Dolly Sprint; not a DD but in regular use for smoking about.

MoggieMinor

457 posts

144 months

Saturday 23rd July 2016
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Sprints are fantastic but don't forget the 1850 either. It isn't far behind the Sprint in performance and the engine is such a smooth running unit.

The 1850 auto is particularly nice. It had a higher ratio diff and is great for motorway cruising.

davepoth

29,395 posts

198 months

Saturday 23rd July 2016
quotequote all
ClaphamGT3 said:
All of the above is great advice but, above all, remember to drive it in such a way that it lasts long enough to be an all year round daily driver; they are incredibly tail happy and mine didn't make it to the end of its first year as my daily because I reversed it out of the apex of a corner at 70mph in the wet.

High quality rear tyres and a couple of paving slabs in the boot would be my advice...
Make sure to run the correct pressures - 24 psi all round if memory serves, which is super low by modern standards. Mine was only tail happy on command. biggrin

alolympic

700 posts

196 months

Saturday 23rd July 2016
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daniel-5zjw7 said:
Those 2 look night and day to be honest.
I would be speaking to the seller of the '73 car right away if I were you. That engine sounds a cracker (very similar spec to mine fitted to my Toledo). The right mods have been done for reliable use and it just looks like someone's labour of love. The photos look good, if the metalwork is solid, then I reckon it looks a bargain. Get up there before I am.

I'd forget about the '79 car, I'll leave it there.....


aeropilot

34,299 posts

226 months

Sunday 24th July 2016
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daniel-5zjw7 said:
Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone has experience of running a Dolomite Sprint on a daily basis as an only car, on the face of it I don't see an issue, but wondered how reliable they are and how it would stand up to cold mornings etc.

It would do approx. 8k a year and live outside, but would be well looked after - I'd look to start with a very nice one (the ones that have caught my eye are around 6k) and aim to keep on top of it from there.

Workable or would it be a pile of bits on my drive within a year!
It doesn't matter how 'well' you look after it - it will deteriorate as quickly as they did when new, more so now.

Back in the mid 1990's a mate at work paid strong money for a really nice one (had been cossetted by previous 2 owners as a weekend only car since early/mid 80's) as he had always wanted one, but it was going to be his only car. He was quite handy with the spanners and did look after it, but it was a DD, and as such it suffered......
It was a sad waste of what had been a really nice original car. After 3 years he decided to sell it once the rust had started attacking it, and it had been pretty much rust free when he bought it. It ended up being bought by another Sprint owner as a parts donor car!!

jamckeown

103 posts

236 months

Monday 25th July 2016
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The car will need to be garaged. I have had mine since I was 18 years old but it has been rebuilt a few times just like Triggers broom!!! Fantastic cars and much underated.