TR3A Restoration

Dash out and panel work starts

2006-05-30T18:50:00.000+01:00

The last of the components have now been removed from the car, the main items being the dash board and heater. No problems encountered with this just a slight twist in the neck from laying upside down working at an strange angle! The pedal box is out and the hydraulics for the brakes and clutch are completely removed from the car.

I have now tried my hand a bit of panel beating and have successfully removed the large dent on the inner wing and straightened out a few other minor lumps and bumps. The finished article may not be up to the standard of the top body shops but I am pretty pleased with the results. I will spend a little more time finishing off one or two of the areas when I have cleaned down all of the panels prior to painting.

Next job is to start to learn how to MIG weld so that I can repair some of the rust and replace the floors and sills (inner and outer), although the inners are pretty sound I think it is worth replacing them as the car is stripped down so far and there is no point spoiling the restoration for sake of saving a few pounds here and there.

Any volunteer welders want to give me a hand :-)

Outer panels finally removed

2006-04-30T18:33:00.000+01:00

After a bit of inactivity I have finally found the time to remove the remaining panels and trim. Both rear wings were a nightmare compared to the rest of the car as a large number of the fastening has rusted solid and after much blood and sweat I resorted to drilling them out or cutting them through.

On removal of the rear wings I discovered that the car was a little rustier than I had first thought but nothing too bad and easily fixed (I hope).

So I have built myself a workbench ready to start making up patch panels to repair the rusty areas that I have found and then onto removing the rusted fixings and repairing the threads. I will be on the lookout for a MIG welder soon and getting some practice in before I start to repair the rusted areas, it has been some 20 plus years since I lasted welded and that was ARC and gas welding.

The rest of the car is reasonably sound and so the rusty rear end is a fairly minor problem compared to what I could have discovered.

There is the need for some minor panel beating so another new skill to learn on top of the welding.

Spare parts

2006-04-13T18:51:00.000+01:00

I bid for an original starter motor on EBay but did not win the auction. The seller however had a second starter motor and during a follow on email exchange it transpired that he has renovated a TR2 and was in the process of doing a second. He has accumulated a range of spare parts and I arranged to visit him to with a view to purchasing some of the bits that were missing from my car.

What a find, I came away with:
- An original steering wheel
- A front grill
- Front grill lights and wiring loom
- Rear light
- Steering wheel centre
- Fan and pulley
- A pair of original air filters
- Rear badge
- An original workshop manual
- Oh and the starter motor I had originally gone up to buy.

Engine Hoist purchased and....

2006-03-04T18:21:00.000Z

I purchased an engine hoist from eBay and found one that had been used once to put a new engine into a Caterham seven kit car so it was as good as new. I then purchased and engine stand.

I was now ready to remove the engine and gearbox which was relatively easy. Having removed the items the clutch looks like it has done very little work and the engine turned over freely (by hand) although there appears to be very little compression.

Anyway engine and gearbox are parked until the body work and chassis have been completed, but so far so good.

The stripping process begins

2006-02-26T13:38:00.000Z

The car has now started to come to pieces and so far no nasty surprises although the drivers inner wing needs a bit of panel beating to remove a number of dents from what looks like a heavy load being dropped onto it at some point. A few items missing as well including starter motor and fan...biggest issue so far is how to get to the radiator bolts to take it out?

Quick Clean and lots of pictures

2006-02-20T17:36:00.000Z

So I gave the car a quick sponge down to remove years of dirt built up whilst it was in storage and then took loads of pictures so that I have an aid memoir for putting it all back together again....

The car arrives

2006-02-11T16:39:00.000Z

Today my TR3A arrived from Scotland courtesy of Lomond Classic Transport who I would recommend to anyone.

The car is probably slightly better than I had expected and once unloaded I treated it to a quick wash down so that I could see what was under the dirt and I was pleasantly surprised by the general condition of the car. The worst area I can see is the drivers side front wing which is badly rusted at the bottom, the remainder of the car is fairly solid, although I am sure as I start to strip the car down I will discover that there is more work to do than first meets the eye.

Negotiation

2006-02-11T09:03:00.000Z

After a number of telephone calls and haggling we agreed on a price for the car, money exchanged hands and I arranged for collection of the car from Scotland to my home. As I write this entry I am waiting for the car to be delivered......

Then came the photographs.

2006-02-09T20:36:00.000Z

I received a number of images of the car, below are some that I received.

In the begining

2006-02-09T20:28:00.000Z

I spoke to a number of people selling TR3A's in various states and nearly went for a US import but whilst gathering details I identified a potential TR3A located in Ayrshire, in Scotland.

The car was described as in good condition and had been stored in dry conditions but had not been moved for 10 years.

The sale was for the estate of the cousin of the contact, I imagine it is not easy to sell a deceased relatives possessions.

The chap I spoke to was extremely nice but like me did not really know the value of the vehicle, so I tracked down a very helpful local member of the TR Register who kindly offered to go and have a look at the car and send me some digital photos. I did not fancy 14 hours in a car (there and back) to be disappointed.