1979 Triumph Dolomite Sprint

[ChasR]

Ever fancy scratching an itch that has been there for some time, but with the same token you know that you should ignore it? Well in this case I did not. Impulses really should be controlled

The day started with me finding a Dolomite Sprint that seemed to tick the boxes. After a brief chat with the owner over the phone, he did seem quite genuine. Train tickets were booked and so I went down South to be greeted by one very basic train station, which soon was giving me the vibe of being in the 1960s (I don't seem to recall much being there bar a hut, but then I went down to buy a car, no admire railway architecture!).



After having a long chat with the owner in addition to taking a look around the car, it seemed to be a risky buy, but hey what the heck? Money was exchanged, the car came into my ownership. Now for the small issue of making it back from near Basingstoke to Warwick! What could possibly go wrong?

Well, considering it has an iffy ignition switch, an a few electrical glitches, probably quite a bit! Still, cruising down at 70odd MPH down the motorway certainly made for relaxing times :


So why am I writing this post? Generally when I buy some retro material, it involves enlisting the help of a low loader, a trailer and items of that ilk (I think I once used a tow rope for a local car....) even with a reliable lump of pig iron under the bonnet! It was quite nice to be greeted by a half decent seller in addition to a car that, well, made for a pleasant and long(ish) journey back home for a change .

[speedy88]

Great! And a good buy. Great colour too. One day I will have to scratch the same itch and I expect it'll be very expensive and full of pain. Maybe I should dip my toes with a 1850 first...

[AMG-Al]

That looks good - I love Dolomite Sprints, just never been brave enough!! Good luck.

[ChasR]

I shall admit, I am going more into my 'list' of cars I would like to own, but do my utmost not to due to some pretty serious issues and repair bills! (Jag XJS V12 may be in that list...).

Saying that, I have started dipping into that list as of late. Let's hope I don't get my fingers *tooo* burnt .

[popuptoaster]

I had a 1500TC that colour, loved it, went pretty well for its engine size until it threw a rod out the side of the block.

[BenzBoy]

Good work, Chas! I really fancy a Dolomite.

[bl1300]

Dolomite FTW!

You'll get plenty of support from the dolly club who have a monthly meet at the hotel that was built on the old Canley Factory on dolomite ave.

[hoopsontoast]

Lovely Chas, we went out for a ride in it yesterday and its in really good nick for the money! ;D
Even more jealous now!
Get some better pics up! ;D

I will just leave this 'shop here-

Dolomite Sprint Photoshop by hoopsontoast, on Flickr

[ChasR]

Pffft, stop giving me ideas Rob . Although dropping it a small amount would improve things....

Pics shall arrive soon when I get around to it (and constructing the obligatory Readers' Rides thread .

[Smiler]

I'm liking that very much! A triumph of some sort is on my 'itch list' aswell.

[vitesseefi]

That looks like a nice one!

I had a magenta Sprint years ago. It was born auto, but was so much better once converted to manual with overdrive - rapid, relaxed cruiser and economical too.

They do go well, but they don't stop well. Mine was good for one , maybe two good hard stops from speed - then you were in trouble. There is a conversion using Mondeo parts that improves matters greatly.

Nick

[maf260]

Tahiti blue, my favourite colour of that era. A friend had a Triumph 2500S in the same colour - looked bautiful when polished up.

[ChasR]

Thanks for the kind comments. It's not too bad .

Dean, does that mean you are interested?

It is a fair shout regarding the overdrive on the 'box Neil. Motorway driving is surprisingly relaxed, dare I say it, moreso than the Stag once the overdrive is engaged. You're not kidding about the brakes! I had driven a couple of Sprints before this one and the brakes on them were not far off atrocious! Despite this one comes with new calipers and cylinders the brakes are not fantastic when compared to the Stag or 205 (that is an unfair comparison I admit!), although they are now what I would deem to be acceptable (MG Midget brakes are far worse IME!).

Already cracking on with the 'to do' list. Considering the PO had a well known MG garage rebuild the front suspension I was surprised to see that the tracking on the front wheels was set to 5mm toe out on both sides! Quite a difference when comparing it to the book figures (0-1.6mm toe in). Suffice to say, it takes corners in a much more neutral manner with no squealing of the tyres upon turning the steering wheel.

[ChasR]

Some of you wanted more pics, it is about time I did. Now that the tracking sorted, I have new tyres, on, reset the carbs (balancing and mixture) and throttle cable opening (the carburettors were only opening up to around 65-70% of their total opening!) in addition to the water pump woes (Once I had sorted the iffy wiring (bullet connector galore it was!) the issue turned out to be a dodgy water pump controller. Whilst it was not cheap, at least the car now warms up, allowing me to not drive around everywhere with the choke on!

With that in mind it was time to take some photos of Boicy (I don't name cars normally, but the plate does remind me of the character :S :











Now that it is sorted, with a snappy throttle response with well balanced road manners (from the understeering manners when I bought it!) the Sprint does deliver a smile to your face.

[Sinky]

Lovely wee car mate.
Brings back a lot of memorys.
I'm jealous.

[HARDCORE]

Jun 24, 2012 20:36:56 GMT ChasR said:

and constructing the obligatory Readers' Rides thread

Did you wanna use this one mate? I'll move it over if so & you can amend the title - seems a nice way to start

[ChasR]

I guess it may as well be moved over! I was going to originally create one for the car (since this thread was meant to be about going down and getting a working retro for a change!), if you could move it that would be great ta .

[ellwood]

Very very nice. Not jealous. At all. Much. And in no way shape off to ebay/carandclassic/etc....

[ChasR]

That's a fair comment .

As for progress, not much, and I have not really driven it! Whilst I had the car running better than it did when I initially drove it, I still wanted more from it (but don't we all?) The idle when warm was near the point of cutting the car out and well, the acceleration of the car was not what people had piped it up to be, or maybe I was expecting too much (after all, I was expecting this to be on a par with my old Pug GTis (well, the 106 GTI) . But then again, 70MPH in this + overdrive is a relaxed affair so maybe I was after something I would never really achieve without serious thoughts and cash.

And so I checked over the carbs again. Balance and mixture were fine, so I reset the idle speed when hot (now that I can!). The dashpots seemed a little emptier than I remembered them. I remember that my Porsche specialist (he owned a Sprint and Stag a while back) and a certain member here known for having a few Dolomites in his time suggested using ATF fluid over normal engine oil in the dashpots. I was sceptical for quite some time as to using ATF (both sources I would say are pretty trustworthy) so with trepidation I topped the 'pots up to the right level with some of the well known red stuff .

Suffice to say on the first drive out I must admit that the mentioned parties have a point! It pulls fine low down (more than well enough to get out of a junction, and it is fruitier than I remember at the top end. The latter I am befuddled over in all honesty (I was under the impression that the dashpot oil affected initial acceleration (i.e snapping the throttle open)).

I am quite a happy chappy indeed with this car now . And well, I guess this is an example of nothing ventured nothing gained, or at least to a small degree (I only ever used 20W50 oil in dashpots for years which seemed fine).

[MrSpeedy]

Damn you and your Sprint. This isn't helping my 'want' for a small (or large) Trump saloon again!
I spend too much time on ebay as it is.

As for the dashpots, I'm currently running WD40 in the Strombergs on the Vitesse. Improved throttle response no end and cured the hesitation