Harry the Seal

An area for Alfa Racers to share their experiences and plans, along with technical specs and details (if willing!) of their beloved cars.
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Marlow Sud
Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:59 pm

Harry the Seal

Post by Marlow Sud »

Dolomite Sprint bought new in 1976 (UK tax disc from Aug 76), shipped to Sweden and converted to a Group 1 racing car. The car was sponsored by Silja Lines so has Harry the Seal on both the rear wings. Harry has been updated a little from his image on the car. He looks a bit more smug these days:
SILJA_3.png
I have just bought the car from the second owner in Sweden and will be picking it up in the coming weeks. Its a 2.5 day return trip.
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The first job will be a new FIA weld in roll cage as the existing one is a bolt in stainless steel one.
Weld in new seat rails.
New Fire Extinguisher.
New Seat.
New sear belts.
New cut off switch.
New tank bag.

I need to be very careful/sensitive with all work as this car is a time warp. It was raced in 1978/79 and mothballed in 1981. All paint is original from when the car was new.

Brgds,
Simon

Veesix75
Posts: 1698
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:37 pm

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by Veesix75 »

That’s awesome, and yes, keep it original.

Being a period racer would it qualify for the goodwood and tony dron trophy type events ?

Marlow Sud
Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:59 pm

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by Marlow Sud »

Hi Tim,
If I meet the Goodwood rules I am sure it would be considered for the Gerry Marshall Trophy Race. It does need to be quick enough though. Both car and drivers! The standards for both are very high there. It seems that if you get the engine properly sorted then ordinarily you might want to rev it to 6000rpm but for Goodwood you would have to sacrifice any longevity and rev to the full 8000rpm to be competitive.
Brgds
Simon

Kegsti66
Posts: 2849
Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2014 7:20 pm
Location: Northamptonshire

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by Kegsti66 »

What a great find Simon, love the door cappings. :D
Amazing condition and looks great.

junior
Posts: 1189
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2014 7:43 pm

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by junior »

Fantastic car. :D Yep keep it as original as you can. Surprising it has been kept so well for so many years. That is a rare thing to happen.

Marlow Sud
Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:59 pm

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by Marlow Sud »

Thanks guys. I have the letters that the original owner sent to the Leyland Performance Department and to Broadspeed with attached lists of all the performance parts that were purchased. I also have a lot of the new parts that were removed. Seats, intake manifold, original carbs etc etc.
Brgds
Simon

NEG
Posts: 306
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2014 12:30 am

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by NEG »

Nice one Simon, I also love that the door cards and capping are still in place!

NEG
Posts: 306
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2014 12:30 am

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by NEG »

Some great classic touring car racing: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2XIPoVK71A0 Dolomite starring from around 13:10

Marlow Sud
Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:59 pm

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by Marlow Sud »

Well that is an interesting video. You can see that the Dolomite has more power than the RS2000 as he plants the throttle on the straights. Its a bit worrying how much he is having to wrestle with the steering though! We have seen in the past reliability issues with the Dolomite whereas the Mk1 Escort is consistently quick. I will need to have the engine built to perform but also built to a reliable standard!

All the best,
Simon

Marlow Sud
Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:59 pm

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by Marlow Sud »

Harry on the Hook of Holland to Harwich Ferry. Check in closed at 9:15pm and we arrived at 9:13pm! Last vehicle on.
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Veesix75
Posts: 1698
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:37 pm

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by Veesix75 »

Have you firmed up plans for the ‘seal’ yet Simon?

A couple of extra dolomites were racing this year I noticed, are you racing the golf next year or will we see Harry ?

Marlow Sud
Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:59 pm

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by Marlow Sud »

Hi Tim,
The car is being brought up to standard by Tom as we speak.
Roll Bar, seat, belts, fuel tank, fire extinguisher and brakes.
Then we might see what it produces on the rolling road and take it from there.
I am keeping my focus on the Golf for now.
All the best,
Simon

Veesix75
Posts: 1698
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:37 pm

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by Veesix75 »

Any news on Harry ?

Marlow Sud
Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:59 pm

Re: Harry the Seal

Post by Marlow Sud »

No change from my last message Tim.

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