Off with the Head

Well the head came off easily enough, and the studs were easily removed. (although one of the long studs isn't a Sprint one and was fitted without the steel washer under the nut).

However, on inspection the gasket and head look ok

The oil is just where I have wiped round the bores, after cleaning the water out

Although I am a little surprised that there are no honing marks in the bores as it is supposed to have been stripped and had new rings fitted.

So why did it boil over .....

it had a new water pump fitted by the PO ...

If you look closely at the gear teeth they are absolutely buggered !!! so is the jackshaft gear.

So its engine out time, strip clean and rebuild.

The pump must have been one of the NOS ones with faulty case hardening that were floating about a few years ago.

Luckily I have bought a spare Sprint engine for £160 that has had headgasket failure after a rebuild so this should yeild a good jackshaft, oil pump and water pump (and the head stud) - its also got a new Kent DMS1 cam, and oversize pistons - although it is seized (water in the bores I suspect) - but still a bargain as it will save £100s of pounds in new parts.

However it will delay returning the Sprint to the road as I now have to embark on a proper engine rebuild

Just as I thought it was all sorted.

I spent Saturday morning "fettling" the little jobs left on the Sprint.

The refusal to rev above 4500 was probably the 3 thou points gap (ye,s I should have checked earlier, but the carbs were that bad I couldn't notice the rev limit problem) - that sorted it will easily red line.

Next replace the rear brake auto adjusters (also purchased at Stoneleigh)  - I finally have a nice firm brake pedal with little travel, so Hooray all ready for the CT Dinner at Milton Keynes.

So Anne and I set off, bags packed looking forward to the party and the fun and games, when just short of J15 on tthe M1 the headgasket fails in a big way, I did manage to get it off the Motorway and it was recovered by the AA, but this car seems determined to stop me enjoying it. Its only firing on 2 or 3 cylinders now, and I wonder what I will find when the head is removed.

I am off on business trtavels to Russia for 10 days, so the car is going to have to wait until my return which may now make it an unlikely contender for the HCR, but watch this space.

Fitting Stoneleigh Parts

I had a good time at Stoneleigh, and got some excellent parts for the Sprint.

First off is this NOS exhaust

It sounds like a Sprint now its fitted, and all those nasty booming noises from the body caused by the "sports exhaust" resonating have gone.

Then fitted the NOS Tandem Master brake cylinder (as rare as a rare thing!) that with the reinforcing bracket between the servo and inner wing have nearly fixed the brakes, at least they feel like they will stop the car now, although there is a little too much pedal travel still.

I need to replace the auto adjusters in the rear drums because they work some of the time but not all.

However replacing the cylinder, let me recentralise the PWDA valve, so I do not now have a handbrake warning lamp on all the time.

Then I had to helicoil the front seat mount - won't be the last stripped thread on this car I think!

Now onto the carbs, and an attempt to fix why its not running right

Spot the deliberate mistake

Yes thats right K&N filters for a smaller size carb, partially blocking the carb mouth AND the venturi tubes that cause the piston to rise.

Fantastic, about the quality of engineering that I have come to expect :(

I need the secondhand Sprint airbox that I have been promised.

Remove the carbs next - not simple, instead of ordinary nuts with locking washer, nylocs were fitted, removal of these was a pain as access to the retaining nuts is limited, so on with a spanner, move it 20 degrees then remove spanner and reverse the spanner so the jaws are at a different angle and reapply to nut for another 20 degree turn, repeat processs until nyloc is unscrewed down 12mm of thread, do this 8 times for all 8 bolts. I don't believe it, most places there are no lock washers or nylocks where required on this car, but the one place you don't want nylocs, you get them Grrrrrr

Anyway removed the pots and pistons and what do I find, the rear carb had the jet screwed right up, the front was permamently in a semi choke position - due in the end, to a bent choke arm to the jet on that carb, so it wouldn't seat fully home when the choke cable was released. No wonder it didn't run right.

All reassembled, revs to 5k plus now, and no missing at tickover, its not quite right yet, doesn't quite pull as it should, need to look at plugs and points and dwell angle.

Its begining to be a nice car, drives without rattle or untoward noises, just need to get the brakes to 100%, and sort out the slight reluctance for the engine to rev freely - I'll enjoy driving it soon !

More Sprint work

Started today with another easy job, replaced the aftermarket driver's door seal with another NOS one

Then it was time to replace the seat belts for new ones that work correctly - even though they don't have the seat belt warning wiring, I'd prefer to have good seat belts.

The final job was more work on the brakes, I stripped the rear brakes, and found out the auto brake adjuster wasn't working because the hand brake cables were too tight - not allowing the adjuster arm to go back to the start.

Then it was time to strip the siezed up brake balance valve at the rear - luckily the bores were all good, it was just rust where the actuator piston exits the valve

Here are all the bits

All put back together with a seal kit thanks to the Dolomite Owners club. When I was bleeding the brakes I noticed the servo was moving about - surprise surprise it wasn't bolted in correctly, 2 fixing nuts missing, one inside the car one in the plenum

I still need to adjust the brake balance valve, but on test there's far more "bite" at the front and the rear brakes aren't so keen to lock up, so I guess its nearly correct. Its a bit of a dog to adjust correctly, as you really need the car on a ramp, emulating its stance on the road, then you apply pressure to the brake pedal 60 lbs, and according to a loading chart set a varying clearance on the valve of a few thou, I will adjust this bit by bit for now a few thou at a time and note the difference - essentially you want it set so the rear brakes will not lock, but still have effective braking.

A few more jobs to do yet before Stoneleigh, but its getting there.

Baffling Work

Real work got in the way of Triumph work today but still spent an afternoon on the Sprint.

Job number one, replace the aftermarket door seal on a rear passenger door with a NOS one that I had. As usual its pushed the door out a little when closed, but that normally settles down as the rubber gets used to its new shape.

Next job, drill out and retap the 3 holes in each inner wing to which the baffle plates are atttached, not enjoyable, and very fiddly, but at last all 6 holes remade,  a few broken small drill bits in the process though!

and the offside baffle plate fixed in place. I am still waitng for the other one to arrive, but when it does the car is ready!

Seems like Triumph had started to care about rust prevention when they made the Dolomite

Dangerous Bodge

First job of today was to fit a clevis pin to th brake pedal / servo pushrod.

This is what I removed - I wouldn't have minded if the nyloc threads were engaged, but the bolt was too short so it was only finger tight. Its bodges like this that kill people, I am glad I found this.

Got the rear shocks off, and the reason for the "kick" at the rear is obvious

Always fit dampers in pairs! and dont fit one thats shorter than the other, alters the spring rate as well in this case.

got the Gaz Dampers fitted at the rear

and the front.

I think the ride height is about right but I want to let the springs settle a little and I may then tweak it a little.

Other jobs that got done today were to fix the boot light, retorque the head down, and fit some bulkhead grommets.

The car drives a lot better now. There's an annoying squeak from one of the exhaust mounts to be sorted, I need to fit the inner wing baffles, then  the engine needs setting up. I have changed the needle valves for the ball type too. I want to try the engine without the viscous fan, and see if that is making all the noise, So still jobs to do.

New Goodies Arrived Today

Had a nice surprise at work today - these turned up for the Sprint

That should sort the ride height and the funny "kick" from the rear

I also got a set of bulbs for the warning lamp cluster, and have replaced them all.

and the new ball type valves for the SU's turned up which should resolve the flooding problem, at least until it gets EFI.

Looks like its going to be a busy weekend.