Dolomite SE all finished... For now!

[trigger]

As I spoke about yesterday on the New 24 thread I came to find out about a little Dolomite 1500 SE for sale in Essex via a Facebook group and decided to have a look as I've always wanted one.

Fast forwards to this morning me and Mrs Trig popped down to South Woodham Ferris to take a look at it, the story is a old boy bought it new and treated it as his pride and joy cleaning it all the time and never leaving it out in the rain but in his later years he developed Parkinson's disease and passed away 5 years ago. The car got given to his granddaughter but she didn't need it or have anywhere to keep it plus she went travelling a lot so it just sat around at her mums, now Mum is moving grandads cars got to go.



This was the sight when I arrived, it's only done 59000 miles and is very genuine, the paintwork is flatter then a witches tit, the lower half is very scabby with surface rust, the wing is dented and it needs new tyres but it started and drive very nicely.

A deal was made and I made a start driving it home. I decided to go across country and avoid the busy A12, a few miles in I took these photos.





And all was good, as I got to Maldon things started to go down hill, the front wheel started to grind loudly until the brakes totally failed on me! Thankfully as I took the country route I putted into a farmer's field they were harvesting.



Ball bags, on opening the bonnet the tank was bubbling over (the gauge was still showing "normal") with rusty coloured water everywhere and there was smoke coming from the n/s/f wheel with grease running out of the wheel.



Fucksticks. As my normal insurance company was closed for a system update we had to take a temporary policy out with Footman James who were mega expensive and it turns out unable to recover me as I was more than 15 miles from home. (Some clause in their policy within 24 hours of a new contact) so I painfully had to call my dad to pick me up.

A hour later he turns up, moans like fuck about how mentally deranged I am and then tows me back to his which was terrifying on a 5 foot pole! Still the cars now back at his much to his annoyance!

It will have to wait for now but I need to find why it's over heating and hope it's not the head gasket and take the wheel off and look at the brakes, it was grinding and making a metal to metal sound when going along so I'm guessing the caliper has blinded and the pad has broke up. Heres some photos.





The interior is mint.









Next service at 26000 miles in 1984!









Sadly the whole lower half is like this.

[Aston Martin]

Dolly's must be the most owned car on here?

[danthecapriman]

Lovely! It looks good in black with the stripes. Interior looks great too.

Shame it had some issues but if it's been sat around a lot, it's probably to be expected and need some re commissioning work.

[Skizzer]

Numbers 25 and 43 please.

[HH-R]

[Skizzer]

That interior is brilliant - really like the pale seats, Triumphs often seem very claustrophobic inside.

 

Shame about the issues - sounds like a very stressful morning. We were due an 'interesting' collection thread and I'm rather selfishly relieved it was you not me. It does very much sound like recommissioning stuff rather than a fundamentally buggered car though, and hopefully the rust isn't too deep or widespread.

 

Well bought, I say.

[trigger]

Ha! I'm not planning on selling it just yet! Dare I say it but before it broke down it was nicer to drive than my Cortina, I felt really planted and precise like a little sports car, I can really see the appeal and I can also understand why people said they were better than the Mk2 Escort at the time too.

 

Here's a photo of the worse bit on the body work.

 

 

This bits mint too.

 

 

[skattrd]

You seem to have more trouble on your journeys home than most around here.

It looks nice, I hope it's nowt serious brakes/engine.

 

That said do I need to start looking for my spare engine?

Last time I fell over it (5 years ago) the cover was painted red and there was a rumour about go faster bits inside (a sporty cam iirc although this might be untrue)

[Rusty_Rocket]

Only 2500 of the SE's made?  I'd say that's one rare car you have there Trig.  I'm sure it'll be a WINNER once the niggles are sorted!

[captain_70s]

Congrats! The 1500SE is my favourite model of Dolly, glad to see the unique interior trim is all in good nick!

 

 

 the tank was bubbling over

The coolant expansion tank? Mechanical repairs on the OHV motor are all very simple, the first job I ended up doing on my 1300 was head gasket replacement and it only took a few hours.

[trigger]

Yes sorry the coolant tank, there's rusty water coming out of it and there's rusty water stains on the back of the engine and down the gearbox, strange that the gauge didn't go up though? It also sounds a little tappy with a metallic ting which sounds like a exhaust manifold, I hope its nothing more serious.

[captain_70s]

Ah, OMGHGF is likely then. Unlucky but a (relatively) easy fix, overheating doesn't tend to warp heads due to everything being iron, I've cooked mine twice and not ruined it.

 

Not sure on the gauge front, my 1850 overheated with the gauge reading normal because the thermostat jammed close resulting in the coolant in the cooling system being cold and the coolant in the engine boiling! Having said that it could just as easily be a duff sender and they cost £4 or something!

 

A metallic ting does sounds more exhausty than anything, most stuff in the engine would be too muffled to sound distinctly metallic.

[the judge]

Seized wheel bearing/dragging brake causing overheating bl chod phail????

[michael1703]

Could it have overheated as it was trying to overcome the drag caused by a seized calliper piston which also overheated the bearing grease thus causing bum gravy on your rim?

[cort16]

Welcome to bl vehicle ownership!

Cool car though looking forward to seeing it come together. Hopefully it's all stuff related to it sitting like a stuck thermostat and stuck caliper pistons.

[Bren]

Lack of use/maintainence and binding brakes have conspired to give you your overheating problem.

 

Aside from that it looks full of win.

[Six-cylinder]

Great car, I am glad you have moved up from a Ford to an executive car!

 

I am sure that with a bit of fettling the teething troubles will be sorted.

[Jim Bell]

Class.

 

One for the "And I almost made it home" story file.

 

You should never attempt a collection that's less than 100 miles away anyway. Unless its off ebay.

 

Its just asking for trouble.

[Anglevan]

Looks a cracking buy / similar story condition to my Marina. All an easy fix and even if the headgasket has gone it's a piece of piss on these.

It's bound to have some issues from storage - once you've worked your magic it will be one cracking motor - well done that man....

[RobT]

Plenty to keep your old man busy there Trig, well bought! Sorry I lose track, is the Sierra all sorted now?

[EssDeeWon]

Nice find, I think Bren might be right in pointing out the binding brakes on the hottest day of the year could be the culprit of the overheating. 

 

I love it, I must say.

[trigger]

Plenty to keep your old man busy there Trig, well bought! Sorry I lose track, is the Sierra all sorted now?

Not quite! It's going in to be welded and moted Wednesday so hopefully it will be home next weekend. I still don't know how that's going to be yet as I haven't driven it probably yet and it's been of the road 9 years!

[purplebargeken]

Hi Mike, just saw the thread, you have a bargain Sir.

 

Okay, lets get the scary stuff out of the way. 

 

99.999999999999% certain that the brakes were binding going by the melty grease and the overheat shite.

 

Brake calipers are available but seal kits are too and quite cheap. Big Red used to do a refurb service that was reasonable if needed.

 

Enginey shite: these engines are a piece of piss to work on. Head shouldn't have warped. I did the head gasket on my 1300 a few years ago and I am mechanically shit. Just make sure you get the right gasket, as there are two heads out there, a recessed one and a non-recessed one. I had the wrong gasket, duh. Everything is easy to unbolt and you might want to get a new water pump just for the sheer hell of it, not expensive at all. Don't forget to smear a bit of sealant on the thin paper gasket. These things leak from the rocker box, new cork gasket is about 4 quid. 

 

Log on to Rimmers and get a new thermostat (88 degree one is good) and gasket. Service stuff is cheap too. Make sure you get a proper oil filter with a non-return valve in it - very important. A good 20/50 is your friend, a can of STP oil treatment is handy before topping up. This is important on the 1500 which can be bottom end grumbly. A new oil pressure switch is good too.  I would also get a new temp sensor while you are at it. Check all of the hoses in the engine bay for cracking, again Rimmers is good for stuff. If on your rad you find the thing has a black plastic 'nut' on it, get it binned and by the metal one from RB. A bloody good flush of the cooling system will be in order, back flush the rad a few times too. Make sure you have the system on 'hot' via the dash controls when you do it. Ordinary old fashioned anti-freeze is what is required at a 50/50 mix. 

 

You can get electronic ignition stuff very easily from Simon BBC on ebay if you don't fancy points and so on.

 

Check the tyre sidewalls for cracks. The SE wheels are lovely. 

 

The sills, rear arches, under boot floor, front end and trailing edge of the front wings can rust a lot. Surface rust is easy and can be dealt with just like anything else. Check underneath for the two rails at the front for rusty stuff. 

 

Lights, clean up both earth points in the engine bay, one by the coil and the other one at the very front of the car to the side of the battery.

 

Earth points for the rear lights are a bit fiddly but worthwhile checking. Bulbs are normal stuff. Good idea to make sure the fusebox is clean and all secure. There are few fuses, carry spares lol. Just a thought, there is a voltage stabiliser on the bulkhead right next to the fusebox, these can go a bit loopy over time. Good idea to replace as problems here can sometimes be reflected in the gauge readings going a bit odd or not working. 

 

Make sure all of the stalk switches work.

 

If you need a headlight I have spares if needed.

 

If I think of anything else I will let you know.

[MrBiscuits]

That looks really nice, can't be too many of those SEs left now either. Loving those spitfire wheels and that furry gaiter on the gear stick. Looking forward to seeing it get some well deserved tlc.

[purplebargeken]

Forgot to add that the front spoiler is held on my a few nuts and captive bolts, sometimes these let go but you should be able to use ordinary nuts and bolts with a small amount of modification if I remember correctly

 

Fab buy. I had one a few years ago. It was owned by one of the committee chaps from Club Triumph. He had it restored by a company down South who just seemed to have sculpted a car out of a good layer of filler without doing any kind of rust prevention. Such a shame.

[wuvvum]

Love it.  The 1500 is the only one I've never driven (had a 1300, an 1850 and a Sprint), but agree with you that they're a really sweet and nicely balanced little thing to drive - better I think with the smaller pushrod engines than with the bigger overhead cam lumps.

 

Must be the day for breaking down though - nursing the Innocenti home earlier after AA man got it going again, there was a nearly new Pug 208 broken down in the slow lane of the A47, and then an Aston DB7 on the A149.  Coming into Norwich there was a Singer Chamois Sport dumped on the side of an overpass - reckon it'd probably overheated too.

[purplebargeken]

Now we need regular updates and many photographs. 

[trigger]

I plan on keeping this thread up to date and asking for plenty of help! I made this video earlier whilst still at my dad's waiting for my wife to collect me!

[purplebargeken]

That looks bloody ace. I can't see anything that a good clean and mop wouldn't sort out. The engine bay looks ace but the washer motor is placed oddly. Hmm, makes it easier to access I suppose

 

The only thing (apart from that wing) that I could see from the clip is some trim has come adrift by the door glass on the rear passenger o/s door.

 

A good bodyshop might be able to save that wing

 

Always happy to pop over and give you a hand if you want one

[trigger]

Thank you Ken, you advice has been so helpful so far. Ideally it needs a lower half respray, although the wing is tatty and dented I'm sure it's saveable, my Civic had the same damage when I bought it plus I don't think I'd be able to replace the graphics.

 

It had a new washer pump for the mot recently so I guess that's why it's there. I need to work out how to refit that door trim, from what I can see the wood trim needs to come off so that I can clip it on again but I can't see how the trim comes off yet?.

 

The door moulding on the passenger door is held on with fuck tape but again that will restick again.