1975 Triumph Dolomite Sprint
Discussion
I love seeing all the pictures of the old Dolly, my first car was a Dolomite 1850HL with sprint wheels. It was in a different class to all my mates driving their Escort 1100's, the sprint was only a dream for me at that age.
My girlfriend's (now good lady) uncle had one in green, along with my envy!
had two of these way back when...and have to admit to having a soft spot for them - from memory I had a vermillion red one and a mustard yellow one.
I actually broke the red one and put the engine in a TR7 with a 5 speed box which I built from a bare shell.....it flew but handled like a wayward oil tanker......... was better left in the sprint.
I actually broke the red one and put the engine in a TR7 with a 5 speed box which I built from a bare shell.....it flew but handled like a wayward oil tanker......... was better left in the sprint.
Sounds like the right sized engine for the relative compactness of the Dolly / Toledo shell.
I snapped this beauty of a Sprint at Ragley Hall a few years ago...
All these BL / Dolly / Jag threads have sent me into a nostalgic stupor which is certainly getting under the skin... I drive freight trains for a living and one of our regular turns takes us through Birmingham International, a short distance north of the adjacent runway there's a large compound full of all sorts of modern cars but back in the '70s it was used as an overflow parking area for the various factories within the Leyland empire, it was littered with every BL saloon or sportscar you could imagine, TR7s, SD1s, Range Rovers, Princess wedges, Dollies, Stags, Marinas, Midgets, Allegros, Spitfires... you get the picture. Factor in the typical BL colour options available at the time and it was quite a sight.
I snapped this beauty of a Sprint at Ragley Hall a few years ago...
All these BL / Dolly / Jag threads have sent me into a nostalgic stupor which is certainly getting under the skin... I drive freight trains for a living and one of our regular turns takes us through Birmingham International, a short distance north of the adjacent runway there's a large compound full of all sorts of modern cars but back in the '70s it was used as an overflow parking area for the various factories within the Leyland empire, it was littered with every BL saloon or sportscar you could imagine, TR7s, SD1s, Range Rovers, Princess wedges, Dollies, Stags, Marinas, Midgets, Allegros, Spitfires... you get the picture. Factor in the typical BL colour options available at the time and it was quite a sight.
The 1850 has the same slant four engine block as the Sprint, but the Sprint's engine displaces just under two litres and has an ingenious 16 valve head operated by a single overhead camshaft, and also, IIRC, larger SU carbs. The gearbox and drivetrain are borrowed from the big Triumph saloons and the TR6, and the rear brakes are a bit beefier than on the 1850 (although still a tad meh).
Breadvan72 said:
The 1850 has the same slant four engine block as the Sprint, but the Sprint's engine displaces just under two litres and has an ingenious 16 valve head operated by a single overhead camshaft, and also, IIRC, larger SU carbs. The gearbox and drivetrain are borrowed from the big Triumph saloons and the TR6, and the rear brakes are a bit beefier than on the 1850 (although still a tad meh).
I'm wondering if any Sprint owners managed to bore their engines out even more back in the day. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. Is the 1850 the same block that went into some of the Landcrabs?Being basically the same engine (Triumph staff called the slant four "the Saab engine" when developing it, as Saab used it before Triumph did), the Saab unit would fit into the space, I suppose, and this has probably been done. It would be a true turbo nutter experience with the thinnish tyres, live rear axle, and the slightly old school brakes.
Breadvan72 said:
Being basically the same engine ... the Saab unit would fit into the space, I suppose, and this has probably been done.
I'm not sure it's quite that easy.Saab bought in the 1700 then 1850 from Triumph, but quickly brought the build and development to Sweden after reliability problems. They fairly quickly turned into what Saab called the B-block, then H-block engines for very late 99s and all bar the earliest c900s - before being further developed into the 9000/GM900/9-3/9-5 B202-on engines and turning 90deg.
The c900 H-block isn't interchangeable with the transverse engines, because the c900 engine sits on top of the gearbox, flywheel-forward, with the sump being the top of the gearbox casing. You can't even put the 2.3 crank into the 900 engines - the 2.1's the longest-stroke before you start to impersonate a Mini and share engine and box oil...
I suspect the base of the block casting's quite different from 99/900 to Triumph, so you'd have to fabricate a sump and bellhousing, at the very least.
Details on Stag wheels here:
http://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f...
Personally I think they look fabulous.
http://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f...
Personally I think they look fabulous.
TooMany2cvs said:
I'm not sure it's quite that easy.
Saab bought in the 1700 then 1850 from Triumph, but quickly brought the build and development to Sweden after reliability problems. They fairly quickly turned into what Saab called the B-block, then H-block engines for very late 99s and all bar the earliest c900s - before being further developed into the 9000/GM900/9-3/9-5 B202-on engines and turning 90deg.
The c900 H-block isn't interchangeable with the transverse engines, because the c900 engine sits on top of the gearbox, flywheel-forward, with the sump being the top of the gearbox casing. You can't even put the 2.3 crank into the 900 engines - the 2.1's the longest-stroke before you start to impersonate a Mini and share engine and box oil...
I suspect the base of the block casting's quite different from 99/900 to Triumph, so you'd have to fabricate a sump and bellhousing, at the very least.
As you can imagine, this has been talked about a little bit. The B-engine is believed to fit because the bore centres remained the same, it being essentially the same block. the bellhousing pattern survived until Saab started using GM gearboxes. However, since the turbo manifold would have to exit through the front valence it's probably a non-starter...Saab bought in the 1700 then 1850 from Triumph, but quickly brought the build and development to Sweden after reliability problems. They fairly quickly turned into what Saab called the B-block, then H-block engines for very late 99s and all bar the earliest c900s - before being further developed into the 9000/GM900/9-3/9-5 B202-on engines and turning 90deg.
The c900 H-block isn't interchangeable with the transverse engines, because the c900 engine sits on top of the gearbox, flywheel-forward, with the sump being the top of the gearbox casing. You can't even put the 2.3 crank into the 900 engines - the 2.1's the longest-stroke before you start to impersonate a Mini and share engine and box oil...
I suspect the base of the block casting's quite different from 99/900 to Triumph, so you'd have to fabricate a sump and bellhousing, at the very least.
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