First, a BIG THANK YOU to all the folks that responded to my plea for help
yesterday. The advice was great.
I saw the car last night and it was not as respresented, though probably what
most of you anticipated for $400. I would describe it as mostly complete, but
pretty rough.
I told the owner, Warren Bigos, a decent guy (despite his lack of candor about
the car) that while I was not interested, I would post it here, if he wanted,
and he was quite happy with that. He does not have net access, so if you are
interested please contact him by phone (609) 683-4470.
The CAR
It appears to be a TR3A, probably a 1961, the number on the maker's plate is
TS74788L. As indicated the car is pretty rough, but mostly complete, sitting
in a single car garage, with not much air in the tires and a lot of stuff
around it, there is not much room and not much light, though I did have a drop
light.
The worst problem appeared to be a fair amount of rust in the sills that
continues into the front and rear fenders. It looked like the front fenders
were rusted behined the wheel, between the wheel opening and the door post,
and the rear fenders appeared to have rust in front of the rear wheel, bubbles
in the paint. It was a little hard to tell, but the car appeared to have a
little of a sway back with the seam behind the driver's door being smaller at
the top than the bottom. (Could the frame be rusted that badly?) The bottom
of the car appeared very rusty from the side, but when I looked under the
front, the front cross member looked reasonably clean.
The other most apparent problem is that the nose has been tapped and the grill
is pushed in a bit and bent and the front bumper is twisted and just hanging
on the car. Finally, there appears to be some rust around some of the seams
in the trunk, I was unable to get a good look inside the spare tire
compartment.
The interior and top are almost nonexistant, though the dash appears complete,
the steering wheel and (I believe) hand brake are there as are the pedals and
shift, and he has the frame for the top. The floor did not look like it was
rusted, though I assume there was some, but there was a round hole, about
three inches in diameter directly in front of the driver's seat. It did not
look like rust, I looked like a punch out or something.
The windshield is broken, safety glass still in the frame, the frame itself
looks OK, but not completely attached to the car, it's kind of loose.
The engine compartment looked OK. I did not see any rust at the top of the
front fenders and they appeared solid. He said the engine doesn't turn, so I
didn't even try. There appears to be some type of a battery box liner glued
into the battery box, so I assume that it is rusted underneath. The liner was
full of eaten acorns, so I it is/has been home to a squirrel. One of the
chrome headlight rings, twisted, was also in the battery box. He also said
the car did not have the original radiator and, therefore, no hole for the
crank. (Is this right? Does a Triumph radiator have a hole for the crank to
pass through?)
If you're still with me, we've hit the bottom, the rest is good, or at least
better, news. The car is painted something like MR2 yellow and while the
paint is cracked and chipped everywhere, there does not appear to be any rust
outside of the areas I mentioned previously. Are the bodies aluminum? Most
of the body panels appear to have small dents, etc, but no major damage with
the possible exception of pan below the front grill.
While most of the car is there, small things, like door handles, some of the
letters in Triumph, etc. are missing. The car has wire wheels, painted silver
(I think) with chrome knock-offs. I don't know if there is a fifth wheel for
the spare. There is also a second engine and a couple of buckets, boxes, etc.
of small spare(?) parts.
Mr. Bigos has had the car for 17 years, purchased in 1977, from a friend who
collected/worked on Triumphs. He has lugged it with him from move to move and
really doesn't know much about the car or its condition. However, I believe
it has been stored inside for most, if not all, of that time.
The car is in Ridgewood NJ, close to Route 17, about 8 miles south of the
NY/NJ border. Mr. Bigos works in Princeton and it is his work number that is
listed above.
Over the phone he told me he wanted $350-400 for the car. When I was there he
asked me if the car was restorable or whether it was only good for parts?
I told him I thought, that while it was pretty far gone, there might be enough
there to restore, but it might cost anybody more than it was worth. He said
that if he couldn't sell it, he would just junk it and the junk yard could
part it out. I told him that that would likely land it in the crusher, which
he would rather not have happen (especially after 17 years of dragging it
around).
If your interested, the car is clearly good for parts, (2) engines, drive
train, wheels, body panels, dash, etc., but I agree with Andy Mace and would
hate to see the car parted. If somebody really felt up to the task and had
the money and/or skill, I think this one could be brought back, and it is a
very late TR3A. Furthermore, I think Mr. Bigos needs garage space more than
he needs $350 and I think it could be had for free, if you were willing to
cart it out of there.
If you go to get it, my recomendation would be a pickup truck or van (for the
spares) with a trailer for the TR. I don't think I'd try towing this one.
Hope this is helpful to some one. Please feel free to contact me if I can be
of help. Again, thanks for all your help!
George Oliver
gaoliver@joplin.att.com
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