TR7 Engine in a Dolomite

[Paddy]

Hi

 

I have a '78 Dolomite Sprint and have got the opportunity to buy an SS Prepared TR7 engine. How easy would it be to put it into the dolomite? I have heard that the sump would need to be changed and also the engine mountings? Is this correct? What else would have to be done?

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[Guest Wayne S]

I would emplore you (as a TR7 owner as well) not too basically.

 

Dolly Sprint's and their far superior engines are getting thin on the ground. Any switch from a Sprint head back to TR7 spec is going to be a downgrade and you will limit yourself in terms of power and reliability.

 

Best thing to do would be to have the sprint head rebuilt.

 

Wayne

[malcolm]

I'd refer you to the forums at Club Triumph - http://www.club.triumph.org.uk/ where you will get a good answer to that. Sorry, but just don't know my Dolomites!

 

Malcolm.

[PILKIE]

Hi Paul.

I had a dolly sprint as my everyday car for 11yrs,and it was great!

The engines are far better than the 4 pot 2lt put in the TR7's!

Thats where BL went wrong!

When my engine had gone wrong I had just picked up an ex racing sprint that had terminal rust,its engine had a fast cam and jag XJ6 su carbs.it went like stink and the bhp was up from std 127 to 180!

And you can do a lot more tuning etc with the sprint lump,the only other engine I would of used would be a rover V8.

dave

[Paddy]

Ok, thanks for all the advice

 

I'll give it a bit more thought

 

Cheers

[mak]

Have seen a dolly with a Stag V8 and PI, might just be making a rod for your own back though...

[Rob from Brum]

The Sprint should have the sprint engine end of story. That's what makes them special.

 

Blunt but to the point

 

Regards Rob.

[CraigAddison]

Hi

 

I have a '78 Dolomite Sprint and have got the opportunity to buy an SS Prepared TR7 engine. How easy would it be to put it into the dolomite? I have heard that the sump would need to be changed and also the engine mountings? Is this correct? What else would have to be done?

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

Hi Paul, I can see where you're coming from but as others have said the sprint is the better engine & worth spending the money on rather than buy the 8valver, however if you really want to do this then several components are different, namely, sump, engine mounts, exhaust manifold, engine backplate, spigot bearing, heater transfer pipes on cylinder head, thermostat cover, distributor, there are probably a few more bits but it's a longtime since I've done a sprint/tr7 coversion, there are a few articles on putting the sprint lump into a 7 so putting a 7 lump in a sprint should be just a reversal.

 

Regards,

 

Craig

[Alec Pringle]

I have to confess to being fond of Sprints.

 

I did a few events in Dolly Sprints when they were first released, they had all the potential to be a really good car, but as usual BL never quite made it work, unfortunately. Same old story. The 7 Sprint might have been, but . . .

 

Having been recently putting in a few 'running-in' miles on my son Tom's newly-rebuilt tuned 8-valver in his 7, I do begin to wonder why we wasted time and money considering a Sprint transplant. OK, PI 6s could be temperamental, tuned Sprints were always a darn sight more so - and usually more expensive to fix or rebuild.

 

It hasn't taken that much to make the 8-valve Slant 4 quick enough to keep up with most things in the fast lane, and that's with the 4000rpm running-in limit on SUs. And at 30-35mpg, which is 10-15mpg better than I could ever get out of a Sprint. It'll be interesting to see how it performs after another rolling road session and a 7000rpm red line, and then with a brace of twin Dellortos replacing the SUs.

 

I'd suggest that you don't write off the 8-valve option too quickly, Paddy

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

[Hasbeen]

I'm with Alex on this. The worst thing that ever happened to the 8V slant 4, was the Sprint 16V. It shone so brightly that no one could see past it to find the potential in its humble sibling.

 

When you think of the performance we achieved with the old TR3A engine, which was so unsuitable for high performance, just think what that same effort would have achieved with the 8V engine. Alas it didn't happen, due to the perceived greater potential of the 16V.

 

We have 150 BHP 8Vs that are compliant enough to use to do the shopping, but, if anyone has fully developed one here, I've not heard of it.

 

My stockish 7 is a joy to use as a daily driver. Quite different to the joy of my 280 BHP 8, but at least its a joy I can afford. I have to save for a while to afford a 400 Km club run, in the 8.