1975 Triumph Dolomite Sprint
Discussion
I prefer to keep cars standard apart from sensible upgrades such as electronic ignition and improved cooling. I might see if the breathing can be improved a bit, but would not want to strain the engine or test the brakes ny a major power boost.
Ditto with my Lotus Excel (thread forthcoming). Some people get crazy bhp from Lotus 912 engines, but they may go pop.
Ditto with my Lotus Excel (thread forthcoming). Some people get crazy bhp from Lotus 912 engines, but they may go pop.
There are loads of brake options, the original setup is pretty dire. That said, with your rebuild in 2012 I'd expect the standard setup to be in tip top condition.
For better brakes all these fit under the standard wheels :
For originality you can use Special Tuning vented disks, GT6 stub axles and spaced original callipers. This is expensive, speak to Ken Clark motorsport or Brian Kitley Triumphs for the kit.
For more modern brakes the Tracker Jack conversion has loads of installs, kits from Jon Jackson appear on ebay, this uses Golf vented disks and Sierra (or other Ford, Escort/Ka etc.) sliding callipers.
SprintParts in Oz do a complete kit.
AP Racing callipers and disks from SprintSpeed.
Then there is a shed load of options that don't fit under the standard wheels, I won't list those; speak for SprintSpeed or Ken Clarke but they are only really needed for track work.
I'd also expect the engine to be in fine fettle and may benefit from having the standard cold air kit put back on rather than open air filter in the engine bay, the two inlets should be open at the very front of the car next to the rad. You can fabricate your own or get a kit from SprintParts. Good to have on a hot day.
The standard exhaust is a lovely thing, but a sports system with enlarged downpipe will make her breath a bit better.
For better brakes all these fit under the standard wheels :
For originality you can use Special Tuning vented disks, GT6 stub axles and spaced original callipers. This is expensive, speak to Ken Clark motorsport or Brian Kitley Triumphs for the kit.
For more modern brakes the Tracker Jack conversion has loads of installs, kits from Jon Jackson appear on ebay, this uses Golf vented disks and Sierra (or other Ford, Escort/Ka etc.) sliding callipers.
SprintParts in Oz do a complete kit.
AP Racing callipers and disks from SprintSpeed.
Then there is a shed load of options that don't fit under the standard wheels, I won't list those; speak for SprintSpeed or Ken Clarke but they are only really needed for track work.
I'd also expect the engine to be in fine fettle and may benefit from having the standard cold air kit put back on rather than open air filter in the engine bay, the two inlets should be open at the very front of the car next to the rad. You can fabricate your own or get a kit from SprintParts. Good to have on a hot day.
The standard exhaust is a lovely thing, but a sports system with enlarged downpipe will make her breath a bit better.
crossy67 said:
Well that didn't sound standard. Wonder what was in it, sounded like it had ore cylinders to me.
You're quite correct, Ken's car is running a KV6 lump.This one however, is running a Sprint lump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMla5olFGBY
Thread update inna Downton Abbey stylee yo:-
My gardener is good at gardening. At driving, maybe not so much. He managed to do this to the Dolly yesterday. The car is of course bright yellow, and so plainly invisible. The damage is worse than it looks in the photo.
The gardener thoughtfully left some bits of his van's tail light behind, which was nice.
Hey, it's just a car, so I shan't fall out with the chap over this. I shall, naturally, be obliged to evict his children from their tied cottager, but I shan't do that until the really cold weather sets in.
My gardener is good at gardening. At driving, maybe not so much. He managed to do this to the Dolly yesterday. The car is of course bright yellow, and so plainly invisible. The damage is worse than it looks in the photo.
The gardener thoughtfully left some bits of his van's tail light behind, which was nice.
Hey, it's just a car, so I shan't fall out with the chap over this. I shall, naturally, be obliged to evict his children from their tied cottager, but I shan't do that until the really cold weather sets in.
0a said:
Annoying isn't it. I came back to the SL to find someone had damaged the bumper yesterday. I would always leave a note. There was no note of course.
I have an old story about leaving a note. Do good, and good shall come unto to you or (sometimes even with you). The story involves me, the late 80s, my E30 Beemer, my inability to reverse worth a damn, a Fiat hatchback, a dent, a note, the Fiat's cute owner, and some other stuff. Back in the now, my gardener rang me this morning and 'fessed up (I was not included when the clonk happened). He's a good dude; we shall not fight.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 18th October 20:59
I think that it's just damage to the skin. I will take the door card off today and have a gentle push at the bent metal.
My mobile mechanic came by the other day, changed the HT leads and dizzy cap and sorted out a flooding problem on the front carb, and now the car is running very well.
Very nippy in London traffic, and the clouds of commuting cyclists can see it as it's. er, yellow (gardeners take note). Yaaaaaaaay. Smiley faces on blokes of a certain age, and much younger, as they see and hear the car rorting past.
Having been driving 80s and 90s tat of late, I had forgotten how very 70s (with a tad of 60s) this car is to drive. I love that, but the driving experience compared to, say, my Rover SD1 reinforces what must have seemed the startling modernity of feel of the SD1 when new.
This Sprint is quite noisy, but not horrendously or yobbishly so. It has very crisp acceleration, and is great in town or on twisty roads. On a motorway the engine and wind noise make it a bit thrashy, so I tend to stay at or below an indicated 80 mph. The handling is solidly predictable RWD stylee, and distinctly sporty by 70s saloon standards (it is indeed a far better handling car than many Brit sportscars of the era, Lotuses excepted). The brakes (discs front, self adjusting drums rear, upgraded from the standard Dolly brakes) feel perfectly up to the job. The transmission is fine - fairly positive, longish throw action, and the electrically switched overdrive (for third and top) comes in and goes out with just a slight bump. The steering (unpowered) is mega heavy at parking speeds, but once you are rolling along the steering feels light and responsive.
The cabin ergonomics are reasonable for the era and the car is quite roomy, given its small overall size. Visibility all around is excellent. The Sprint must have seemed, as it was, a rather splendid package when new, and is easily comparable with its BMW 2002 rival of the time, albeit a bit less refined than the Beemer. As that American car journo bloke quoted some pages ago noted, in a parallel universe, Triumph would have survived and become what BMW is today. Oh well.
The full length Webasto sunroof makes the car feel very open and semi convertible ish when the weather is fine. The lights are adequate on dip and quite good on full, and the instrument lighting has a pleasantly soft glow, ruined by the modern stereo with the Blackpool illuminations that all modern car radios have as standard. Why the Hell is that? Most of my cars have modern stereos which floodlight the cabin, screw up night vision, reflect in the windscreen etc. My Lotus has a rubbish but not brightly lit 1980s cassette player, and my Rover has a currently broken upmarket 1980s set with absurd graphic equaliser slides but dim lights. Driving at night on a dark country road in an old car is one of my favouritest things to do, so I often forgo music in order to enjoy the ambience of a dimly lit cabin.
My mobile mechanic came by the other day, changed the HT leads and dizzy cap and sorted out a flooding problem on the front carb, and now the car is running very well.
Very nippy in London traffic, and the clouds of commuting cyclists can see it as it's. er, yellow (gardeners take note). Yaaaaaaaay. Smiley faces on blokes of a certain age, and much younger, as they see and hear the car rorting past.
Having been driving 80s and 90s tat of late, I had forgotten how very 70s (with a tad of 60s) this car is to drive. I love that, but the driving experience compared to, say, my Rover SD1 reinforces what must have seemed the startling modernity of feel of the SD1 when new.
This Sprint is quite noisy, but not horrendously or yobbishly so. It has very crisp acceleration, and is great in town or on twisty roads. On a motorway the engine and wind noise make it a bit thrashy, so I tend to stay at or below an indicated 80 mph. The handling is solidly predictable RWD stylee, and distinctly sporty by 70s saloon standards (it is indeed a far better handling car than many Brit sportscars of the era, Lotuses excepted). The brakes (discs front, self adjusting drums rear, upgraded from the standard Dolly brakes) feel perfectly up to the job. The transmission is fine - fairly positive, longish throw action, and the electrically switched overdrive (for third and top) comes in and goes out with just a slight bump. The steering (unpowered) is mega heavy at parking speeds, but once you are rolling along the steering feels light and responsive.
The cabin ergonomics are reasonable for the era and the car is quite roomy, given its small overall size. Visibility all around is excellent. The Sprint must have seemed, as it was, a rather splendid package when new, and is easily comparable with its BMW 2002 rival of the time, albeit a bit less refined than the Beemer. As that American car journo bloke quoted some pages ago noted, in a parallel universe, Triumph would have survived and become what BMW is today. Oh well.
The full length Webasto sunroof makes the car feel very open and semi convertible ish when the weather is fine. The lights are adequate on dip and quite good on full, and the instrument lighting has a pleasantly soft glow, ruined by the modern stereo with the Blackpool illuminations that all modern car radios have as standard. Why the Hell is that? Most of my cars have modern stereos which floodlight the cabin, screw up night vision, reflect in the windscreen etc. My Lotus has a rubbish but not brightly lit 1980s cassette player, and my Rover has a currently broken upmarket 1980s set with absurd graphic equaliser slides but dim lights. Driving at night on a dark country road in an old car is one of my favouritest things to do, so I often forgo music in order to enjoy the ambience of a dimly lit cabin.
A classic car is a time machine. On Sunday morning I was up early, and spent half an hour or so in the autumn of 1976. I went out into the cold dawn, started the Sprint using full choke, left it running to warm up, wiped over the outside of the fogged up windows, and set the not very effective demisters to work on the fogged up interior. I set off, wearing coat, scarf and gloves, the heater being very mid 70s. It being 1976, I may, allegedly, not have worn a seat belt for the first mile or two. I was definitely wearing a seat belt when the almost forty year old car (registered late December 1975), with its engine and gearbox fully warmed up, may possibly, allegedly, have indicated a speed quite a lot more than somewhat above 70 mph on a camera-free bit of the M40 (pretending to be the M1 or M6), but I couldn't possibly comment on that. Then some twisty country roads, in and out of third and fourth gears and in and out of the newfangled overdrive (electrically switched in, not yet called fifth gear), a pause for some photos, and home for tea and toast.
Anyway, this morning, for a bit, I wasn't me (a 53 year old bloke alive in October 2015), but a 38 year old bloke alive in October 1976, but sadly not alive in October 2015. That'll be my dad then. RIP, bloke.
Anyway, this morning, for a bit, I wasn't me (a 53 year old bloke alive in October 2015), but a 38 year old bloke alive in October 1976, but sadly not alive in October 2015. That'll be my dad then. RIP, bloke.
Thankyou4calling said:
...
The Dolomite sprint in its day was a flying machine, at least it was marketed as such, yet now I think it'd struggle to keep up with a normal Fiesta.
...
This morning I overtook a Focus on a twisty A road. The laydee in the Focus did not approve of being overtaken, and gave chase. I binned her on the straights and in the corners. Forty year old heap!The Dolomite sprint in its day was a flying machine, at least it was marketed as such, yet now I think it'd struggle to keep up with a normal Fiesta.
...
Thanks, chap. He was very unwell, and his quality of life had eroded significantly. I knew what was coming, but you can never really prepare yourself for when it happens.
My dad was a spirited and competent driver in his younger days, and, as a BL engineer, had many different BL cars on test.
One of his own cars was a light blue Ford Anglia on which he did an engine rebuild on the drive of our three bed semi. I wish that I had bought one of those before they became Harry Pottered! Too expensive now.
My dad was a spirited and competent driver in his younger days, and, as a BL engineer, had many different BL cars on test.
One of his own cars was a light blue Ford Anglia on which he did an engine rebuild on the drive of our three bed semi. I wish that I had bought one of those before they became Harry Pottered! Too expensive now.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 26th October 14:29
v8250 said:
Nice pics, BV72. Every time I see the Town Hall I feel as though I should pop into Newitt's for their sausages and award winning pies; did you...?
Not at just after 7AM on a Sunday I didn't!Pevsner describes Thame Town hall thus:
"TOWN HALL. 1888 by HJ Tollitt. A feeble design in Jacobethan style. The position in the centre of the High Street calls for something grander."
Harsh, but fair!
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