Triumph Dolomite sprint
Discussion
My brother wants to buy one and restore a sprint. He's not looking at alot. Say &800 and as hes a mechanic their will be no problems welding or spraying up the car etc...
I have been looking for him (as he does not have a PC) on ebay and here http://www.triumphdolomite.co.uk/dolomite.html
Does anyone have any good tips on places to look for these cars or links to websites that may help us find a car for him
regards
I have been looking for him (as he does not have a PC) on ebay and here http://www.triumphdolomite.co.uk/dolomite.html
Does anyone have any good tips on places to look for these cars or links to websites that may help us find a car for him
regards
Take a look on the forum at:
http://p206.ezboard.com/bthetriumphdolomiteclub
There's quite a few on eBay at the moment. All depends how much work he's prepared to do.
This one needs a fair bit doing to it.
I reckon this one will go well into the £1000's and looks in great shape.
You missed one in the last couple of days which was going free, I believe, with a second shell also free. These kind of bargains come up from time to time.
I paid £300 for mine: www.minispecial.com/sprint - you can see why. However, it is solid, needs no welding, interior is spot on and it runs ok. It should be painted in the next month or so. Go for a solid shell every time.
When I was looking for mine, eBay and the owners' club were the only places they were appearing. I did go to look at one that was advertised in the local rag but it was a right shitter.
Post on the TDC forum - lots of helpful people there and all well happy to see a Sprint saved from the evil "terryman"... whoever he is.
Edited to add: if you / he want to come see mine to get an idea of what £300 will buy, you'd be more than welcome.
>> Edited by miniman on Wednesday 17th August 20:49
http://p206.ezboard.com/bthetriumphdolomiteclub
There's quite a few on eBay at the moment. All depends how much work he's prepared to do.
This one needs a fair bit doing to it.
I reckon this one will go well into the £1000's and looks in great shape.
You missed one in the last couple of days which was going free, I believe, with a second shell also free. These kind of bargains come up from time to time.
I paid £300 for mine: www.minispecial.com/sprint - you can see why. However, it is solid, needs no welding, interior is spot on and it runs ok. It should be painted in the next month or so. Go for a solid shell every time.
When I was looking for mine, eBay and the owners' club were the only places they were appearing. I did go to look at one that was advertised in the local rag but it was a right shitter.
Post on the TDC forum - lots of helpful people there and all well happy to see a Sprint saved from the evil "terryman"... whoever he is.
Edited to add: if you / he want to come see mine to get an idea of what £300 will buy, you'd be more than welcome.
>> Edited by miniman on Wednesday 17th August 20:49
I've owned a fair number of sprints, including FRW802L and a competition car fitted with most of the Special Tuning catalogue and a tubular manifold that Terry Hurrell of Triumphtune used to make the pattern for the one they sell in their catalogue. I hate to seem patronising, there are a great number of things to catch out even the experienced mechanic and make for an extremely expensive repair.
The shells tend to rust on the front of the front wings where a mud shield becomes a corrosion trap. The front panel rusts. The sills rust and are often repaired using cover sills - fixing the problem for a few years but making it difficult to repair poor workmanship afterwards. The rear wheel arches go and cover panels are often fitted. If the rear bumper is mildly hit the rear panel will be pushed in, also pushing in the reinforcements in the boot. The fuel tanks go, but they are easy to replace. The most important thing on the car is the shell, and generally the early ones are best. The final ones use lightweight gauge italian steel, and they are pretty nasty once corrosion gets a hold.
The gearbox and axle are fairly strong, but the clutch crossshaft tends to crack at the weld, which then causes severe release problems.
Brakes are pretty good. They do tend to fade, and I ran my car with DS11 pads and no backplates to solve that.
The suspension is brought up to modern standards with better bushings and Koni dampers. Uprating the springs and lowering the car is a good idea.
The engine is what the car is all about, and what can catch you out. The most important thing to do is check the oil pressure hot, it should be 15 psi at 1000 rpm. If the engine cannot achieve this be mindful that oil is probably leaking from the jackshaft front bearing, which is bored into the block. If there is an issue here you need a new block. Also the engine will pump swarf up towards the head which then starves the head bearings and often warrants a new head. You can fix them by tig welding the bearings, skimming the head and line boring, but it is expensive.
If you are still confident, then go for it, just be extremely careful when you look at the car.
The shells tend to rust on the front of the front wings where a mud shield becomes a corrosion trap. The front panel rusts. The sills rust and are often repaired using cover sills - fixing the problem for a few years but making it difficult to repair poor workmanship afterwards. The rear wheel arches go and cover panels are often fitted. If the rear bumper is mildly hit the rear panel will be pushed in, also pushing in the reinforcements in the boot. The fuel tanks go, but they are easy to replace. The most important thing on the car is the shell, and generally the early ones are best. The final ones use lightweight gauge italian steel, and they are pretty nasty once corrosion gets a hold.
The gearbox and axle are fairly strong, but the clutch crossshaft tends to crack at the weld, which then causes severe release problems.
Brakes are pretty good. They do tend to fade, and I ran my car with DS11 pads and no backplates to solve that.
The suspension is brought up to modern standards with better bushings and Koni dampers. Uprating the springs and lowering the car is a good idea.
The engine is what the car is all about, and what can catch you out. The most important thing to do is check the oil pressure hot, it should be 15 psi at 1000 rpm. If the engine cannot achieve this be mindful that oil is probably leaking from the jackshaft front bearing, which is bored into the block. If there is an issue here you need a new block. Also the engine will pump swarf up towards the head which then starves the head bearings and often warrants a new head. You can fix them by tig welding the bearings, skimming the head and line boring, but it is expensive.
If you are still confident, then go for it, just be extremely careful when you look at the car.
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