After 10 months of gruelling frame-off restoration, I finally got my 1960
TR3A ready for a short cruise around town this weekend. To help celebrate
the occasion, I invited the previous owner (Jim) to come by and witness the
resurrection of a car that he had parked for 14 years. When he arrived, I
handed him the keys and he fired her up. I jumped in my '58 TR3A and we
headed down the road as a pair of almost-identical restored roadsters. This
was the moment I had been looking forward to since I purchased this project
last year.
I have restored Jim's old car to bone stock, except for the big-bore kit.
Everything else was as it came from the factory (I hope). On the other
hand, when I restored my '58 3 years ago, I put some performance
accessories into the engine. It has a TR4A engine with overdrive, a
big-bore kit, DCOE Weber carbs, header, Mallory dual-point distributor, and
8mm plug wires, and platinum spark plugs. It seemed to be much quicker and
stronger after the rebuild.
As we are heading down a backroad behind the local airport, with Jim
following right behind me, I floored the gas pedal on the '58 and wound her
up to redline in second and third gears and shifted into fourth. As I
glanced at my rear view mirror, expecting to see a faint glimpse of Jim in
the dust I left behind, I couldn't believe it. Not only was he still right
on my rear bumper guards, but he pulled out and was attempting to pass! And
if we hadn't run out of road, he would have succeeded! Completely shocked,
we did this several more times, and that stock '60 TR3A was obviously
quicker and faster than my modified '58 every time! When we got back to the
house, and Jim had finally wiped the grin off his face, he then proceed to
tell me that he remembered his car as previously having a little more
power! And he was serious!
Go figure! Sounds like I either wasted a lot of money on my '58, or I need
to go to Tune-Up school! Anyway, although embarrassing, it was an
exhilarating experience.
A very humbled
Jeff Williamson
Belleville, MI
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