In message <9402031652.AA24320@hoosier.cs.utah.edu> "Kevin A. Strait" writes:
> Hi
> I'm new to this group and have been reading the messages for the past few
> weeks
> and have decided to take the plunge and write a few my self.
>
> First, some background, I am in the middle of the restoration of a LBC (70,
> TR-6
> to be exact). I bought the car in 1982 in Tennesse from a guy who had done a
>
> very amateur restoration (ie. bondo and paint the rust).
My previous owner used fiber glass and paint over wire brushed rust (not enough
metal for bondo).
> I drove the car for2
> years before reverse and first gear gave out. At this point I thought I
> would
> fix the transmission and continue driving the car.
I drove my TR3 for 3 years before the #3 cylinder got bad enough it oil fowled
spark plugs in about 50 miles.
However, upon removal of
> the
> interior, I discovered rust in the floor boards and was immediately struck
> with
> a case of what I now realize was "ship fitters disease". Needless to say the
>
> car went into storage for the last 10 year.
It seemed each time I took off a part there was a rusty disaster sitting below.
> A year ago after successfully completing my rehabilitation from this disease.
> I
> began in ernest a complete ground up restoration of the car. After
> completely
> tearing down the car and removing the tub from the frame I realized the rust
> was
> much more prevalent than I had expected (so much for southern cars being
> relatively rust free).
So much for the California cars too
> Since then I have accomplished the following:
> Frame and chassi- New rear trailing arm cross members, sandblasted and
> painted,
> new urethane bushings,tie rod ends, ball joints etc.
>
> Engine and transmission were both rebuilt. The engine only had 62K miles on
> it
> which I believe was the case as it came back std, std on the pistons and
> crank.
> In the process of completely rebuilding the engine I decided to incorporate
> the
> performance upgrades listed in the "Kastner" book for street/comp.
> -compression 10.5/1 via milling the head (I also had the head ported and
> polished by a racing outfit), cam ground to a hotter profile, valves shaved
> down at the point where the stem meets the disc to reduce resistence.
> Replaced
> the original valve spings (40 lb) with competition springs (105 lb) to
> prevent
> valve lash at high RPM. Conservative estimates are for this engine to
> produce
> 165 bhp at 6500 rpm.
I couldn't leave my engine alone ether, I hope they both work as advertized
>
> Body
> The body required a major effort due to rust and the previous owner being an
> idiot (ie. the hood cable broke at some point so his solution was to take a
> cutting torch to the inner front fender wells and cut out a chunk large
> enough
> for him to reach inside and unbolt the hood hinges, real smart huh). I
> replaced
> the following with new metal
> Floors (both sides)
> outer rocker panels
> rear valance (outer)
> front inner fender wells (see above)
> front valance (the top of this had also been cut off with a tourch)
> rear dog legs
> rear quarter panels
>
> In addition there was also some minor metal patching work that was also
> required.
Looks like both our cars required about the same amount of body work
>
> What I would like some input on are the following:
>
> 1) The car was originally BRG although the previous owner had repainted it
> orange.
> I am considering painting the car red (guards red; porsche) as green is not
> one
> of my most favorite colors in a car. Given the fact that this car is never
> going to be a 100 pt show car anyway I dont really feel beholden to keep it
> original. What do you all think?
I was orignally going to go with a non-stock colour on my TR3. I spent a long
time deciding on what it should be and picked out a '93 Dodge colour. Then just
before I was to have the body tub painted I went to the Portland All British
field meet. I saw a lovely big Healey, that was gold. It had one of those
paints that looked different depending upon how the light hit it. It was
stunning.... until it parked next to a herd of big Healeys. Suddenly it looked
WRONG. It looked out of place and like it didn't really belong with the other
big Healeys. Thats when I made up my mind to paint my TR3 a factory colour.
My advice is that if you find yourself going to Triumph club events on a regular
basis and hitting up an occasional British car meet, you might be happier in the
long run if you chose your favorate colour from the colours the factory offered
in 1970.
>
> 2) I plan to put a main wiring harness in the car, anybody have experience
> with
> this? Do they come with all the fittings for the inst. bulbs, connectors
> etc.
I'm putting in a new harness in my TR3. You just get the main harness. You
ether make up or reuse your subharnesses. I believe a bag of barrel fittings
came with the harness. The bullet fitting are presoldered as needed. The only
light on my harness was for the headlamp indicator. If you need new lamps or
sockets you will need to purchase them seperatly.
> What about a detailed wiring diagram?
All the TR3 wiring harnes diagrams in the factory manual and third party manuals
are for the long door TR2. I had to interpolate from them for a later TR3A.
Could be your manual diagram is for the original TR6. You may have to do some
interpulation there.
> Are TRF, Moss, British Victoria etc all
> the same quality or is one better. Price is not as big a concern as that the
>
> harness is as close to original as possible (I don't want to spend 6 mo
> modifiing it to get it to fit).
>
For quality on any part I chose The Roadster Factory first.
> 3) how about some information of interiors and tops. Carpet sets, dash and
> door
> pads etc. Is the an inexspensive supplier that has good quality?
For quality on any part I chose The Roadster Factory first.
>
> well thats about it Thanks for your help.
>
>
> Kevin Strait strai001@maroon.tc.umn.edu
>
Best of luck, TeriAnn
TeriAnn Wakeman One of these days, I'll be old enough that
twakeman@apple.com people will stop calling me crazy and start
LINK: TWAKEMAN calling me eccentric.
408-974-2344 TR3A - TS75519L, MGBGT - GHD4U149572G, 109 - 164000561
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