Gosh oh golly, I bought a Dolly.
Discussion
It is a lovely drive on a country road, with very classic RWD handling. It would have been a fair match across country for a contemporary BMW or Alfa saloon, but would have been left behind by a Lancia Beta. The Dolly would have trounced many Brit sports cars of its day. I do not know enough of 70s hotbox Fords to say how they would have compared with a Sprint. My Dolly is a bit lowered at the back (adjustable Gaz shocks), and handles pleasantly. The exhaust is throaty, but not yobbish loud. The rev counter needle is sticking a bit, but otherwise everything is working well.
I mean easy to get someone who knows what he or she is doing to fix. Lots of bits available, quite a few scrappy ones to loot from, and so on.
Rimmers are well named, and will loot your wallet a bit, but it could be worse: you could be a real mug punter and have an MG!
BTWm, that is not me on my "all MGs are s
t" tack (although they are, or rather all MGBs are - some other MGs aren't), but instead a reference to the MG tax that you pay for getting one fixed, because MGBs are bought by lots of bingobrains who would not know a classic car if one ran them down, and so the prices of everything go up.
[/Runs away]
Rimmers are well named, and will loot your wallet a bit, but it could be worse: you could be a real mug punter and have an MG!
BTWm, that is not me on my "all MGs are s
t" tack (although they are, or rather all MGBs are - some other MGs aren't), but instead a reference to the MG tax that you pay for getting one fixed, because MGBs are bought by lots of bingobrains who would not know a classic car if one ran them down, and so the prices of everything go up. [/Runs away]
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 23 July 12:28
Almost two years on and the Dolomite is going well. Last year it got stuck in dry dock for a long time. My helpful gardener reversed his van into the car (which - being bright yellow - is invisible), and so it needed a new rear offside door skin. A local bodyshop took months to do the repair and paint job (and did not do it all that well). Then the car sat for quite a while at a local garage waiting for various work to be done on it. It eventually got back on the road late last year.
The mobile mechanic whom I had relied on for many years has retired, and it took me a while to find a new bloke to come and fix cars at my place, but I have now found an excellent dude who has done various work on the Dolomite, and it is hooting and roaring better than ever. It has had a new clutch, a new water pump, an upgraded alternator, various work on the carbs, a K and N filter and a pair of stub stacks (to make the air roundy and not pointy, obvs). The car also has some new and grippy Continentals to replace its old Michelins, which had become rather dry and perished.
Mrs BV is not a fan of driving old cars, although she likes travelling in them, but she drove the Dolly yesterday and says that it's like a go cart. She also approves of the car being small, like she is.
The mobile mechanic whom I had relied on for many years has retired, and it took me a while to find a new bloke to come and fix cars at my place, but I have now found an excellent dude who has done various work on the Dolomite, and it is hooting and roaring better than ever. It has had a new clutch, a new water pump, an upgraded alternator, various work on the carbs, a K and N filter and a pair of stub stacks (to make the air roundy and not pointy, obvs). The car also has some new and grippy Continentals to replace its old Michelins, which had become rather dry and perished.
Mrs BV is not a fan of driving old cars, although she likes travelling in them, but she drove the Dolly yesterday and says that it's like a go cart. She also approves of the car being small, like she is.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 9th April 09:48
Crikey! See below shiny objects in the process of being fitted. Stub stacks, eh? No, I have no clue what they are either.
The airbox is the boggo BL one (K and N air filter, as mentioned above). The exhaust on this car is some customised effort fitted by the last owner but one, although whether it manages to improve the airflow very much I do not know. There isn't much room for a fancy exhaust manifold on one of these cars, because of how the engine is positioned.
The same bloke also put on some spiffy springs and shock absorbers, and fitted a Kenlowe fan and electronic ignition. Since I bought the car, it has had a new dizzy, new HT leads and some posh plugs. It has recently had an oil change - I'm using Valvoline 20 W 50.
Annoyingly, however, the allegedly swanky exhaust is clonking against a Panhard rod, and will need to be repositioned.
The airbox is the boggo BL one (K and N air filter, as mentioned above). The exhaust on this car is some customised effort fitted by the last owner but one, although whether it manages to improve the airflow very much I do not know. There isn't much room for a fancy exhaust manifold on one of these cars, because of how the engine is positioned.
The same bloke also put on some spiffy springs and shock absorbers, and fitted a Kenlowe fan and electronic ignition. Since I bought the car, it has had a new dizzy, new HT leads and some posh plugs. It has recently had an oil change - I'm using Valvoline 20 W 50.
Annoyingly, however, the allegedly swanky exhaust is clonking against a Panhard rod, and will need to be repositioned.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 10th April 09:24
BigMon said:
Lovely. I do like your fleet!
Some very happy memories of growing up in the 80s from reading your posts on your aged automotive harem.
Cheers! These days it is more a Squadron than a Fleet. Currently I have the Dolomite, a 1983 Rover SD1 2600 SE, and a (broken) 1992 Jaguar XJS. The Jag may or may not be revived later this year, depending on availability of funds and level of CBA-ness. I have a one third share in a 1985 Ford Granada Estate, but that mostly lives in Wales. I also have a boring modern car, but that is not worth mentioning. I am currently lacking a Lotus and a Lancia. That situation may be remedied, but not just yet. The one that I really regret selling is my Series Three Landy, which I foolishly let go for far too little money last year. Some very happy memories of growing up in the 80s from reading your posts on your aged automotive harem.
a8hex said:
Breadvan72 said:
a8hex said:
On my XK150 the heater control is under the bonnet, I'd need one from the following month to get new fangled features like in cabin control of the heater.
But if you had such fripperies that would make you a great big softie and not a manly Jag man of manly manliness.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfFRQ-StpwA
I think that Dolomite Sprints look best in Mimosa yellow or in Magenta purple.
When the Sprint was launched, it was only available in Mimosa. After a while, it became available in purple, red, a sort of wine colour, green, white, blue and so on, and also in another shade of yellow called Inca, IIRC. I am not sure if you could get one in black. All Sprints had black vinyl roofs and C pillars. My one has a Webasto fitted by a dealer in Brighton, which is where the car was first registered.
My car was built in January 1975, but it sat around unsold until December 1975. This may have been because it was Mimosa, at a time when the other colours had become available and so Mimosa was a less popular choice. It may also have been because the car was originally an automatic. The last owner but one converted the car to manual with overdrive. A Sprint with (sort of) six forward gears selected manually is more fun than one with three forward gears selected automatically by an old fashioned slushbox. Or the car may have remained unsold for a while just have been because of economic conditions, BL blah and so on.
When the Sprint was launched, it was only available in Mimosa. After a while, it became available in purple, red, a sort of wine colour, green, white, blue and so on, and also in another shade of yellow called Inca, IIRC. I am not sure if you could get one in black. All Sprints had black vinyl roofs and C pillars. My one has a Webasto fitted by a dealer in Brighton, which is where the car was first registered.
My car was built in January 1975, but it sat around unsold until December 1975. This may have been because it was Mimosa, at a time when the other colours had become available and so Mimosa was a less popular choice. It may also have been because the car was originally an automatic. The last owner but one converted the car to manual with overdrive. A Sprint with (sort of) six forward gears selected manually is more fun than one with three forward gears selected automatically by an old fashioned slushbox. Or the car may have remained unsold for a while just have been because of economic conditions, BL blah and so on.
Breadvan72 said:
I think that Dolomite Sprints look best in Mimosa yellow or in Magenta purple.
When the Sprint was launched, it was only available in Mimosa. After a while, it became available in purple, red, a sort of wine colour, green, white, blue and so on, and also in another shade of yellow called Inca, IIRC. I am not sure if you could get one in black. All Sprints had black vinyl roofs and C pillars. My one has a Webasto fitted by a dealer in Brighton, which is where the car was first registered.
My car was built in January 1975, but it sat around unsold until December 1975. This may have been because it was Mimosa, at a time when the other colours had become available and so Mimosa was a less popular choice. It may also have been because the car was originally an automatic. The last owner but one converted the car to manual with overdrive. A Sprint with (sort of) six forward gears selected manually is more fun than one with three forward gears selected automatically by an old fashioned slushbox. Or the car may have remained unsold for a while just have been because of economic conditions, BL blah and so on.
Lovely carWhen the Sprint was launched, it was only available in Mimosa. After a while, it became available in purple, red, a sort of wine colour, green, white, blue and so on, and also in another shade of yellow called Inca, IIRC. I am not sure if you could get one in black. All Sprints had black vinyl roofs and C pillars. My one has a Webasto fitted by a dealer in Brighton, which is where the car was first registered.
My car was built in January 1975, but it sat around unsold until December 1975. This may have been because it was Mimosa, at a time when the other colours had become available and so Mimosa was a less popular choice. It may also have been because the car was originally an automatic. The last owner but one converted the car to manual with overdrive. A Sprint with (sort of) six forward gears selected manually is more fun than one with three forward gears selected automatically by an old fashioned slushbox. Or the car may have remained unsold for a while just have been because of economic conditions, BL blah and so on.
Intersting you mention why there seemed to be more Mimosa DS's something I wasn't aware of. Back in the mid to late 70s on my road in Newmarket there was A Dolomite Sprint, it looked great and finished off nicely with the twin exhaust plus my mate told me about the whopping 127 bhp which trumped RS 2000,s 110 bhp and if it wasn't for my love of motorbikes I would have bought one. Like yours it was in Mimosa but couldn't remember if it was auto or manual.
The Sprint was to have been branded the Dolomite 130 or 135 (I forget which and am too lazy to look it up), on the basis that the engine was supposed to produce 130 or 135 BHP. Spen King found that some test bench engines produced 150 BHP, but the production line's standards were not sufficiently consistent to produce 130 or 135 BHP for each production engine (this was partly down to low morale, skiving, bad industrial relations, bad management and so on, but also attributable to lack of investment and worn tools).
As the 130 or 135 name wouldn't do, the hotbox Dolomite was branded as the Dolomite Sprint.
A new Sprint might have a feisty engine or a be a bit of a chuffer, depending on the luck of the draw as it went through the build process. As with many BL cars, some were good when new, but too many were bad (long term test reports in the car mags expressed frustration with many snags, and with poor dealer responses). Most of the survivors have now been made good, as is the way of things with cars this old.
The BL race and rally cars had engines tweaked up to 200 plus BHP.
My car has what might be termed a pretty standard fast road tune, but I do not know what its power output or torque rating might be.
As the 130 or 135 name wouldn't do, the hotbox Dolomite was branded as the Dolomite Sprint.
A new Sprint might have a feisty engine or a be a bit of a chuffer, depending on the luck of the draw as it went through the build process. As with many BL cars, some were good when new, but too many were bad (long term test reports in the car mags expressed frustration with many snags, and with poor dealer responses). Most of the survivors have now been made good, as is the way of things with cars this old.
The BL race and rally cars had engines tweaked up to 200 plus BHP.
My car has what might be termed a pretty standard fast road tune, but I do not know what its power output or torque rating might be.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 9th April 15:09
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