Triumph TR3-Rear Valance Work-Part 8

A few days ago I tackled more final patch piece fitting plus removing the rear bumper bolt that had been ground off to remove the rear bumper. (done a few years ago). I needed to do this prior to attaching the replacement patch panel on the right hand side. Of course everything was well rusted and after a fair amount of effort movement was experienced. Unfortunately the bolt nut (under the frame) was too rusted for total removal so I applied liberal amounts of WD-40 and hopefully today I will be able to remove the bolt completely and put new ones on the purchase list...another step towards completing the rear valance.

The garage has "once again" become very cluttered with tools and piles of scrap sheet metal pieces everywhere so the first order of business will be to clean up and create some order...It is -37 degrees C. this morning so I will probably wait until later in the day to venture out to the garage and to fire up the heater....

Triumph TR3-Rear Valance Work-Part 7

A stellar evening in the garage (the classical music that played in the background added an interesting dimension). It was one of those work sessions where everything went well with very little rework. I spent about 3 hours riveting and bonding the rear valance brackets and repair patches for the right rear fender area. Earlier in the day I fabricated a bracket with a "captured" nut ( I spent about an hour on the task) where the right hand fender attaches at the back. The original area was completely rusted out so the attachment point needed to be reestablished. I am very pleased with the overall results and look forward to more productive work today. My plan is to finish off attaching the panels on the left hand side and getting the fabricated pan (that fits under the spare tire cover) installed...

Triumph TR3-Rear Valance Work-Part 6

Success yesterday....the right hand side patch panel is now fabricated and trial fitted. Looks good. There is a small amount of trimming to undertake and reconstruction of the flange piece that holds on the rear fender (the lower portion is rusted)....I estimate another hour or two to wrap things up on the right side.

I took a long straight edge and made sure the right hand panel lined up to the center piece ( I have clamped everything together with vise grips and screws). Today I will trial fit the left hand patch panel again then open up the garage door and step back ten feet or so and make sure everything looks good from a distance then final assembly with panel adhesive (and sealer), a skim coat of filler where needed and a primer coat then I can move on to finishing off the small patch panels by the rear of the doors on both sides. Then my attention moves to the mechanical work....

Note: in a well funded full restoration the complete back valance would be replaced. I priced out the panel last year and if I recall I found one for $800. Far outside the "reconstruction" budget. Yesterday I estimated I have about 20 hours in the reconstruction of the panels. It would not have been worth paying someone to do the work-buying the panel would have been the appropriate path forward vrs paying a third party to fabricate.

Triumph TR3-Rear Valance Work-Part 5

Back into the garage yesterday after being "out of town" for nearly a week. I am now a couple of weeks behind where I wanted to be at the beginning of January but that is "OK" as family comes first and some unexpected "events" occurred that took me away from the garage.

I fabricated a successful patch piece for the left hand rear valance (utilizing some of the components of the original fabricated piece-which was satisfying) and trial fitted it and it worked well. I embarked on a similar modification to the right hand side panels which I am not as happy with. I ran out of energy and enthusiasm late in the afternoon and decided it was better to leave the task and take a break than try and "force" myself to work on something that was not coming together in a way I had envisioned. Working on the Triumph is supposed to be an enjoyable pass time- not an ordeal so I walked away.

While I was out in the garage I started to contemplate the rear valance panel attachment process and what the critical path will be. I think I have that worked out now and today I will start prepping the panels for panel adhesive and attachment. It will be great to see all the panels fabricated and attached to the car so I can add the final skim coat of filler and get the areas primed.

triumph TR3-Rear Valance Work-Part 4

Yesterday I did another trial fit of the fabricated lower piece of the valance (and attached it temporarily to the car) and it fits well and looks good. Unfortunately the match up to the other patch panel (left hand side)was not as clean as I would like (to be expected as I fabricated the pieces separately and hadn't done a trial fit of the two pieces before) so I decided to remove it and do some minor trimming to see if I could get a better fit. Unfortunately it doesn't meet my standard for appearance (structurally it is sound) so through the process I decided I will probably reject the flange component (3rd time) I fabricated a few days ago and start again with a bit different approach. Rework.

Triumph TR3-Rear Valance Work-Part 3

Yesterday I started assembling the rear valance component that I fabricated out of a discarded fender, trial fitting and attaching my fabricated flanges for attaching to the body. The day was productive and enjoyable. I worked for about 2-1/2 hours or so all together. I determined to fasten the flanges with rivets and the high strength epoxy panel adhesive that I purchased for this type of work. The adhesive gives all the advantages of welding by providing a very strong bond.

I spent some time in the evening going over the Ron Francis wiring catalog looking at the different after market wiring harnesses and accessories like ignition and dimmer switches etc. I also contemplated moving over to "bright" LED tail and turn indicator lights to further enhance the safety of the car. I also determined to hold off on purchase of the parts until I get the frame reconstructed. Pricing seems pretty consistent.(no sales being offered etc) so no down side to waiting that I can see.

I think I am going to have to get myself a better air compressor to run my bead blaster cabinet and some of the air tools that require more capacity than I current have. I did some checking around on Kijjiji, Sears, Canadian Tire etc etc and found a 33 gal unit on sale for 399.00. A bit cost prohibitive so I may rent instead?

I also pulled out my TR3 reference book and looked at the great cars illustrated. It is good to dream of the finished state from time to time...

Triumph TR3-Rear Valance Work-Continued

Back into the garage yesterday for about 3 hours. Still wrestling with making and fitting the attachment flanges for the replacement "patch" panels on the rear valance. Some rework was required including the necessity to temporarily attach the panels (left hand side) to the car to revisit fit generally. I am happy with the progress but it as nearly every other activity undertaken on the car, taking much longer than I anticipated.

Triumph TR3-Rear Valance Work

I spent over 3 hours in the garage yesterday removing the paint from the rear valance and spare tire area and reworking the patch panels. The left hand panel has been done 3 times now. The first time my fabrication was too flimsy (not a heavy enough gauge sheet metal) and the second time just plain second rate (not a very good alignment with the cut out area) so I scrapped the 2nd panel and started again. This time I am happy with the results. I also reworked a couple attaching flanges for a better fit.

I crawled under the car and looked at the body attachment points (not too many) and exhaust system (looks like it is in good shape) and started to scheme on how to remove the body from the chassis. I also determined the amount of work needed to "refinish" the underside of the car. There will be a fair amount of clean up required (lots of dirt and built up grease and oil) but everything looks solid. It was interesting to note that the chassis is actually damaged around the transmission area and generally very rusty. It looks like the left hand strut was hit hard at one point and bent and dented. This increased my resolve to utilize the powder coated frame although I am sure the chassis is repairable.

I also revisited the Ron Francis Wiring site and looked at their offerings for wiring harnesses. I am for sure upgrading the electrical to an after-market fuse box and wiring configuration that will include a conversion to an alternator. I will have to go back and dig up the articles on doing so. Of course, the conversion to a negative ground electrical system is under consideration. I am also considering a gear reduction starter-I have one "watched" on E-Bay.

All in all a very productive day in the garage. The weather was in the -20 degree range C. but I was very comfortable in my work space.

Triumph TR3-Project Progress

I ventured out into the garage on Saturday (for a few hours) and brought order back to the space, temporarily attached the finished front fenders to the body (the front right fender required some alignment work on the back flange to allow the fender bolts to line up properly) to get them out of the way and started to work on the rear panel that surrounds the spare tire carrier. I have all the "patch" panels for the area fabricated-right now I am stripping off the last of the red paint and getting ready to clean up the areas where the panels are going to be attached.

I decided yesterday I am going to complete the rear panel attachment and primary finishing this week that will complete the bodywork segment for now. I will then turn my attention to the chassis reconstruction for which I have not yet figured out the critical path for. I am still leaning towards removing the 1959 body from the chassis (sooner than later) so I have access to all the parts in order to complete the powder coated chassis with the best parts from both cars. My confined workspace doesn't allow me too many options to contemplate...

Triumph TR3-More Fender Work

Front Fenders: I went back into the garage on Sunday and put another coat of primer on the front fenders (spent about 45 minutes doing so) . When I went out on Monday morning to check things out I also noticed a couple of runs in the primer that I subsequently sanded out. It also came to my attention that I had accidently spilled some drops of paint (I had put a piece of cardboard on the hood to act as a surface for painting (my garage is too small to spread the fenders out))-a good lesson around covering previously painted surfaces-a missed detail-I should have know better) on the front valance requiring some additional sanding (rework-about 20 minutes worth) which will eventually require more primer coat touch up. I have now taken the position the two front fenders are "fit for purpose" primed. I will need to do some additional touch up when I attach them to the body.

Rear left fender: I decided to run a rag over the surface (once more) and while doing so noticed some more imperfections. So out came the filler and yet another skim coat was applied. I then sanded down the surface to a smooth contour finishing off with a 220 grit paper. (about an hour and a half total). The surface of the fender is now much smoother and ready for a primer coat. I decided this will be my last go round until the fender is installed and block sanded.

The rear right fender was sanded with 220 grit ready for the sealer primer to be applied.

Triumph TR3-Priming Front Fenders

Great to be back in the garage for about an hour yesterday after way "too long" a break.

Applied a cleaner to the front fenders and primed them both. It was a good feeling to see the body filler disappear under a coat of primer. Both fenders look good (very presentable for now). Today I will make a determination as to whether or not I will add another coat of primer-(I probably will)...

I want to stay focused and make some real progress on the remaining bodywork in the next few weeks...