Project Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - Engine internal inspection - 17/03/23

[captain_70s]

What you really need is a back-up car. I think a 1500HL will fit the bill more than adequately.

There is actually a 1500TC for sale over near Aberdeen for £1400. Good thing I'm completely broke otherwise I'd end up with another money pit!

 

Also been informed of a "1500 twin cam", in a banger racers yard. I'm assuming it's another 1500TC, guy says it's rotten but the engine and gearbox is alright... Wonder how easily a 1500 drive-train slots in to a 1300, might be worth considering.

[cort16]

This looks like hard work fair play for sticking to it.

[purplebargeken]

Straight swap.

 

If you can get the front sidelight/indicator lenses I'd be grateful

 

The one's on the green Dolly are fucked.

[captain_70s]

Woo, 10k miles in my ownership milestone on the 1300! I celebrated by busting out the AutoGlym and the touch up paint, she looks a fair bit nicer now (from certain angles).

 

 

Also, a previous owner saw my feature in PC and got in touch through Facebook. He bought the car in 2008 as the first owner had been put in a home and the family were going to scrap it despite it still having MOT and 20k on the clock. He did a bit of welding and had it for a year before selling it to buy a Morris Minor. If this is correct then the car only did 4,000 miles between 2009 and 2012 but went through 4 owners based on the V5C!

 

Oh, I also got bored and started mocking up paint schemes for the 1850HL, because it's 2am. Given I'm painting quite a lot of it in gaudy red primer I've decided to go for the early 1980s impoverished student look and spray the bonnet matte black. Might have gotten a bit carried away in Photoshop...

 

 

 

 

 

[captain_70s]

Oops I did it again, etc, etc.

 

 

Got to get the 1850 back on the road before this fucker gets to clog up my driveway...

[ShiteRider]

You are my new shite hero (till MrBollox does another k-series head gasket), i'm glad i'm not the only one who buys another shitbox when their regular shitbox needs fixorating....

I've three cortinas and the only one that's legal is the mechanically fucked one. The other two run great, it's just they give you a commanding view of the road......through the footwells.

[captain_70s]

It is an engine/drivetrain/parts donor for the cars I already have. It is missing all it's glass and interior, the boot floor and front floors are rotted through, the A-pillars are crunchy, front and rear valances are mostly missing and the front panels is mostly made of filler and 70 layers of paint in various colours. Apparently it was stripped out to be a historic rally car and then they found the driver's floor was mostly missing and gave up on it. It does however have a good engine with 48,000 miles on the clock which will hopefully go in my 1300 (my only road legal car) because that motor is close to death.

 

I WON'T keep it just because having a 1500 means I'd only need a Sprint to have a full Doloshite engine selection and because it's a '78 meaning it's sequentially registered along with my other cars... If I was going to save a completely rotten car it'd be the '72 Triumph 1500 that's in the same yard, but I can't weld so that's irrelevant.

[captain_70s]

SO. I had to move my Dolomite 1850 away from the front of my house as the roof is being re-slated and the bloke needs room for scaffolding. Fair enough.

 

I hooked up the last couple of brake pipes today and set about freeing the stuck wheels, all the brake adjusters were missing, which was a good start. Got the rear end done simply be getting a big adjustable spanner on the nut in the middle of the hub and spinning it back and forth until it'd do a full 360. Fronts were harder as the discs were jammed on hard, I smashed the shit of them with a hammer and screwdriver until the pads weren't touching the disc. They were pretty destroyed by the time I'd finished but they'll be getting replaced anyway.

 

Then I realised I had no way to bleed the system, I phoned Dad for help and as luck would have it he was on his way to Dublin and would be unavailable for the next few days. Did I mention the car needed to be moved by Monday? Well, it had to be moved by Monday and this was now 2pm on the Sunday. Thankfully the last 10 years have taught me to deal with everything always going wrong so I was undeterred and figured I'd just stop the thing with the clutch and handbrake as it only had to be at the other side of the drive.

 

Jumped in and turned the key in the ignition, battery dead. Right fine, whatever. Shoved the battery on charge and applied some more red oxide to the crusty bits and carried out a superb* repair on the bootlid involving black gaffer tape.

 

 

The battery charged for a few hours until I got bored, I shoved it back in the car, turned the key and the thing fired and then instantly died and wouldn't start again. Fucker was out of fuel. By this point it was getting late so I jumped in the 1300 and filled a jerry can at Tesco. Got home, grabbed keys, unlocked filler cap... No wait, I didn't, because it was completely seized and bent the key. I faffed about with it and drowned it with PlusGas but it was having none of it so I decided to push the damn thing. I got it into the middle of the drive when I encountered a slight incline which thwarted progress.

 

 

Then I realised, the car had a nice freshly charged battery, I could crank it forwards on the starter! In a shocking turn of events this actually worked! I then slowly rolled the car back down the hill by pushing the B pillar and then, when it started fucking off without me, jumping in, ramming it in 1st and dumping the clutch as a brake.

 

I actually managed to get it positioned perfectly next to the fence and even better the front wheel acts as a chock to stop it fucking off and ending up in the river if it manages to get itself out of gear somehow.

 

 

Such a pain in the arse. If I had the money I'd end it off to the garage to be repaired 'cause it's a massive "one step forward, two steps back" sort of deal and progress is slow.

[brickwall]

SOme weekend work there Rab.

[captain_70s]

Well, disaster struck.

 

Namely I ran out of money to fix the Triumphs and the 1300's starter and clutch died a few days before the MOT, I poked around and made a hole in a sill and noticed the rear shocks were utterly fucked. Arguments with parents were had, money was borrowed and I now have a 2005 Civic to blat about in.

 

This leaves me with two dead Triumphs and not enough money for both, one has to go and the 1850HL has drawn the short straw. I've decided to offer it up here first as it is a bit close to stock car/banger/parts territory and I'd rather see it repaired.

 

Here's the deal, it's a 1976 Dolomite 1850HL manual with no overdrive. It's done 92,000 miles and is finished in Inca Yellow. It currently has black/rust steel wheels with barely used winter tyres but will also come with 4 Dolly Sprint alloys in presentable condition, 3 are painted and one is bare alloy. It ALSO comes with a spare 1850cc engine complete with starter and carbs AND a brand new recon steering rack AND a brand new recon starter motor just fitted a few hundred miles ago. The car starts and runs and moves, or it would if it had petrol in it, the petrol cap is stuck!

 

Here is a list of it's better attributes:

 

It's a proper CLASSIC CAR that will NEVER DEPRECIATE*.

It has K&N filters for more POWER.

I've done 7,000 miles in this car in daily use all year around and it's only suffered ONE breakdown, that being a stuck thermostat.

It has all new brake pipes and hoses and there are discs to go on it.

It has a stainless exhaust system.

Chromework is largely pretty good and will polish up well with the exception of one rear quarter bumper.

All exterior trim is present and correct.

Interior is pretty good aside from worn carpets and some broken plastic on the coin tray and speaker holes in the parcel shelf.

The sills all seem to be rock solid, but with a bit of surface rust.

Nearly new tyres on the stock steelies and a spare set of Sprint alloys.

New steering rack and all U/Js and joints ready to go in.

Just fitted a new starter motor.

Just had the propshaft sorted so it doesn't vibrate.

Electric fan fitted.

Looks like 1980s student transport, so you can re-live your youth.

Chinese mini-amp and mono speaker fitted for QWOLITY TUNES.

 

Less good attributes:

 

No MOT and the car will need trailering.

Needs welding to the driver's side chassis leg. It's probably patchable but legs can be bought from the TDC for £90 a side IIRC.

Top of the bulkhead has a hole in it, covered with tape and therefore fixed.

A pillar drains leak badly, also a bit grotty on the A-pillars.

Paint is shit, various shades of yellow and I sanded back and brush painted all the rust in red oxide.

Steering is shit, but all parts to fix are provided!

Fuel pipe tank to front is corroded and leaks.

Brakes don't work, this can probably be rectified though. New discs are provided and all pipes and hoses have been replaced but aren't fixed in place yet.

Car leaks coolant from the join twixt the thermostat housing and water pump housing. It's a duff O-ring.

Original temp gauge over reads dramatically. (digital one fitted).

Rear passenger side wing is badly dented in several places. A slightly rusty cut out section of wing is provided for ultimate in cut and shuttery.

Bootlid edge is made of gaffer tape.

 

Overall it's a fairly decent car fallen on hard times, it could be made roadworthy with a few weekends work and some tickling from the magic metal fixing stick. Sadly I don't have the time or money to do it and the 1300 was here first despite being far more broken, useless and worthless, I can;t bring myself to part with it!

 

Considering I paid a bargain price £850 for the car and £200 for the spare engine and the alloys are worth a bit too I think £500 is a fair asking price? Car is located on the Moray/Aberdeenshire border. Feel free to make me an offer, raffleage could be on the cards at £10 a ticket

 

PICTURES:

 

As it stands:

 

 

Before Christmas when it was in daily service:

 

[purplebargeken]

Inca yellow is a fabulous colour. These are very straightforward cars to work on, panel bits in GRP and metal can be obtained for not very huge amounts of money and the underneath is pretty much straight bits and 90 degree bits. 

 

Mechanical spares are pretty much plentiful although the slanty engines can be a bit more awkward to work on at times. 1850 with OD is an ace thing. Wish I'd kept my white 1850 Dolly.

 

500 quid is about right with the bits. Thank goodness you are many, many miles away.

[mercrocker]

'Tis a sad tale....Hope she finds a good home and hope you can get the green 'un back on the road where it belongs, no Seventies man about town should have to put up with a 2005 Honda for long, even though it will probably never give you any grief....

[derskine]

500 is a good price. I think I'd need my head checked if I bought another shonky British car though (and I can't afford it anyway).

[captain_70s]

500 is a good price. I think I'd need my head checked if I bought another shonky British car though (and I can't afford it anyway).

Excuses, it'd make a good stable mate for the 'Tina and you need a 70s motor with the engine at the right end.

 

I'm hoping to have the 1300 rebuilt and a Rover P6 3500 on the drive in three years, that's head checking material!

[captain_70s]

Everything is buggered.

 

The Honda - has thus far cost around £1200 in repairs/servicing. Will soon need clutch, nearly new exhaust is now blowing.

 

The 1300 - Has been hiding in my parent's garage since it broked down.

 

The 1850 - Has deteriorated quite a bit in sitting. The boot/font floorpan fills up with water. Hole at the corner of the rear screen is taped over. Ran out of fuel and then refused to pump fuel up to the carbs and now the nearly new starter is refusing to turn at all. Poked hole in front valance. Most lights no longer work quite right.

 

The front panel started going very rusty, the valance is fucked but the upper panel is fairly solid in most places. Stonechips etc had exploded though so I sanded back the rust and covered it in red primer that has prevented rust pretty alright in other smaller areas. The place I bought it from sold stuff for marine applications and loads of reviews mentioned using it on boats etc, it seems pretty tough!

 

Pictures:

 

What metal shouldn't look like:

 

This paint finish certainly isn't a:

 

Flattering artsy shot:

 

 

[Split_Pin]

I really hope this is saved, these aren't even common at car shows.

[320touring]

With the nice weather we should have a working party to get s triumphback on the road:)

[Captain Furious]

Wow, this is a tale of woe

 

But, you do tell it well

[captain_70s]

It's highly irritating but the risk of buying cheap cars, especially ones this old.

 

The 1850's PO mentioned that whoever had undersealed it last had been a bit over-zealous and he'd had to go and scrape it off all the drain holes because the doors would fill with water every time it rained. This probably should have rang alarm bells but the car was yellow, fast and cool so I bought it anyway. Naturally this fresh underseal that was liberally globed over the whole underside turned out to hide a variety of nasties and provided structural integrity to the fuel/brake lines.

 

I don't want to have to break the 1850 for parts but working on it is a nightmare. Every single bolt head on the underside simply shears or rounds, all the brake pipe supports snapped off, everything is coated in a half inch of underseal, you need a lot of perseverance to get through any job that's not related to the engine. I get the distinct feeling it was sitting in a garage somewhere for a fair length of time and whoever bought it just undersealed over any surface rust, gave it a quick and shitty spray over and scraped it through an MOT.

 

The 1300 has been much better cared for earlier in life, probably by the first owner who kept it for 38 years. The undersealing is far better and has done a good job, the chassis legs and subframe look to be in really nice shape with no evidence of prior welding. Rust is "where they all go, sir", arse end of the boot floor where it meets the wheel arch, rear jacking points/end of sills and the headlight support panel behind the wing/front panel. Problem being none of that is an easy fix, sill work will almost certainly become "new sills, both sides", the arches have been bodged and a bad job will be conspicuous and the headlight panel needs the wing removing, which is welded to the rest of the car, because Triumph. Also, engine rebuild, the engine in it's current state really makes the car a chore to drive.

I'll probably get the starter motor sorted, throw it at the MOT test and see what's urgently needed and then work from there.

[320touring]

1850 motor into 1300 shell.

 

BOOM! fast and unassuming

[Slartibartfast]

That idea was mooted and pooh pooh earlier in the thread

 

In theory yes, but the amount of work required makes it a crap idea. I'd need an 1850 subframe for it to sit in for a start, everything in the engine bay would be in the wrong place, the diff would be all wrong etc, etc.

 

It's only really worth it if I wanted to make it an 1850 permanently, and I'd rather keep it with the 58bhp OHV lump for some perverse reason...

 

 

1850 motor into 1300 shell.

BOOM! fast and unassuming

[320touring]

That idea was mooted and pooh pooh earlier in the thread

Plan B " Turbo 1300" FTW then

[captain_70s]

A gentleman supercharges!

 

If the 1300's engine comes out for a rebuild I'd like to do a couple of bits to it for more horses. 1300 lumps can actually achieve Sprint power levels with much tuning but I'd be happy with an extra 10-15bhp. I mean I've been dailying the thing with whatever power it has left and honestly I can't imagine it's putting out much over 40bhp any more with it's rubbish compression. Even light inclines would cause top speed to drop to 45-50mph and steeper hills required use of 2nd and 3rd gear.

I rarely took the thing over 3,500rpm though, the engine really shines at higher revs but mine is shagged and would rattle, grumble and belch oil and smoke everywhere. Once while I was following my supervisor from work who was driving a courtesy K13 Micra in a manner that definitely wasn't* a race between two awfully underpowered cars I was surprised at how well the old girl went, certainly gained some ground on the downhill stretches and the twisty bits.

I did however use more oil in that 18 miles than the Micra would use in 15,000...

 

In an ideal world I slot in a tuned Mk3 Spitfire engine and mate it to a 4-speed + overdrive gearbox, that'd be 1850 levels of 'go' in a form that's far easier to repair and would probably be happier to rev!

[captain_70s]

 

 

 

[320touring]

Excellent:)

[Cleon-Fonte]

I genuinely feared for the 1850's future after the last few posts, glad to see that it lives on.

[RichardK]

Dolo  might!

[vulgalour]

Just a tiny little drive like that makes all the difference to project mojo.  Really satisfying to see it running and moving under its own volition.

[oldcars]

Great to see, what's the plan for it?

[Skut]

I'd be crazy enough to weld it if i had any time to do so. I'll give you a go on my gasless MIG plus a lesson or two if you like. Be nice to see a Dolly