Engine Bay

After we stripped the complete engine bay and removed everything that was removable, we first had to find the right color to paint it. The problem was that the Dolomite did not have its original color on the outside, it obviously was painted new at the old restauration. Although it also was yellow, it wasn't the original Dolomite Sprint-yellow. Gladly, we made contact to a good paintshop, so they were able to mix us a very similar color like that one on the outside for the engine bay. Next step was to remove all the old paint from the bay, at some spots I counted about 7 different layers of paint, so me and my dad spent ages grinding off the old paint.

Quite a few hours of work, and all the old paint was removed:

All the edges were primered with a brush before spraying,
to make shure the paint gets absolutely everywhere:

Ready to rumble... err, spray:

Primer...

...and color:

The Beginning Part 2

After taking a closer look at the car, we decided to restore the front end and the interior completely, but leave the outside of the car as it was, because there was virtually no rust or anything on the car.

Just a short list of a few things we decided to do:
- Pull out the engine, strip the engine bay completely and paint it yellow (it was sprayed black at the restauration).
- Rebuild the engine completely to original spec (at least on the outside ;-)).
- Rebuild the interior, mainly the wood on dashboard and doors (it really was a pain in the ass, but more on that later).
- Leave the rear end 'till next winter, 'cause the diff and brakes seemed to be ok.
- Rebuild the front brakes, steering and suspension.
- Port the cylinder head and inlet manifold for more power, eventually drop in a hotter cam, check erything for the right clearances.
- Probably a few thousand things more I forgot to mention here.

A bit of technical data about the car and the engine:

Dimensions & Weight:
Type: 4 Door sedan
No. of seats: 4 (No. of seatbelts: 2 ;-))
Wheelbase: 2451mm
Lenght: 4115mm
Width: 1568mm
Height: 1372mm
Kerb Weight: 969 kg
Gross Laden Weight: 1380 kg

Engine:
Manufacturer: Triumph / British Leyland
Type: Slant Four
Number of Valves: 16 Valves total, 4 per Cyl.
No. of main bearings: 5
Bore x Stroke: 90.30mm x 78.00mm
Bore/Stroke ratio: 1.16
Displacement: 1998 ccm
Compression Ratio:9.50:1
Fuel System: 2 SU Carbs
Max Output: 127 DIN bhp
Max Torque: 165 nm


Now for a few pictures:

In the shape we bought it, made the day after we brought it home (and replaced the sparkplug ;-)) at the docks:

All connections from the subframe/engine to the body were disconnected, as well as the radiator, the hood, the grilles etc took out to drop out the whole subframe with engine and 'box and suspension and stuff in one part:

Would have been easier to first remove the front seats... By the way, thats me down there:

My Dad:

And here's the dropped out subframe. Shocks are Bilsteins front, Konis at the rear.

Welcome / The Beginning

Welcome to my blog about a Triumph Dolomite Sprint restauration.

I found the car over the internet in December 2006, shortly after my 21st birthday. The car was at a swiss car dealer, who is specialised on old, mainly british cars. Actually I focused on a Mini Cooper or a MGF at that time, but the Sprint was one of my all-time favourites. A fast, small, very british sports saloon, and, as a bonus, a Triumph. My Dad restored a Stag completely a few years ago, and quite a few parts are interchangeable or very similar to the Stag's parts, as well as a lot of parts, e.g. the dashboard or inner door panels, are held in place in the same ways. So we decided to take a closer look at this car and ended in buying it for 5000 euros.
It was restored to almost original condition in the 80s and even still had the original car-jack and spare tire in the trunk. The only non-original parts were the steering wheel and the Bose killer sound system, which probably was a blast in the 80s, but sounded crap in 2006.
On the way home a spark plug broke off, (it really broke off on the motorway, I was way shocked as it sounded like an old traktor suddenly, but the worst part of it was that we neither had a new spark plug nor the necessary tools to change it with us) but otherwise there were no complications. I was quite a bit high then, not only because of having bought an own car, but also because of the unburned fumes that came into the drivers cabin trough the open plug hole and the ventilation. I then would let my Dad drive the Dolly (he's quite desensitized to this type of drug) and so we arrived safely in Mannheim on three running cylinders.

Now a few pictures, made at the Swiss - German border with my mobile phone, so don't expect no great quality:

Smile!!!