Triumph TR3 - The Primer Flows

Yesterday I took a box of suspension parts to a local shop and rented their bead blaster for 25 minutes and removed nearly all of the remaining surface rust from the front suspension parts. Very satisfying work and for $25 and change it was money well spent. Shiny metal showed through. It was difficult to totally clean up the front springs...there were trace amounts of light rust left which I treated chemically before painting. I had to continue to remind myself this is not a 100 point restoration and perfection does not need to be the end result. A "fit for purpose" approach will get my car back on the road in a reasonable amount of time. The pursuit of perfection takes much longer and costs $$$ more. The springs look fine and with a couple of coats of Eastwood Chassis Black they will look as good as new!!!

I cleaned off the remaining abrasive material with compressed air and primed all the bare metal. It is still cold and raining here and I didn't want to leave the metal exposed so I fired the furnace in the garage and kept the temperature above 60 degrees.

I am not going to paint the rest of the parts until the weather clears up and I can apply the paint outside.

triumph TR3 -Services By Others

Yesterday I left my wishbone brackets with a British sports car service shop in a nearby city for installation and reaming of the bushings. I made a determination to take this step rather than utilize a local machine shop. I figured the mechanics would have the right tools and expertise to do the job right. Unfortunately they couldn't complete it in the same day so I will have to go back and get them at a later date...

I also took 3 wheels to a wheel repair shop for estimates and potentially straightening. One is already powder coated black-the other two requiring refinishing. I am leaning towards painting the unpainted wheels the same color as the car (white).

So no hands on wrench turning yesterday but a couple of critical tasks out of the way...

Triumph TR3 -Transmission Mount/Suspension

Out in the garage for about an hour and a half last night. Cleaned up and prepped the transmission mount for painting-it was both very oily/greasy and rusted which was an interesting combination. Also worked on cleaning up the used front suspension trunnion, spindle, shock absorber brackets and disc brake bracket etc etc. I almost have all the suspension parts cleaned now. On Friday I am going to rent some blast cabinet time and clean up the front springs and hubs and finish off a few other pieces. I am eager to get a coat of shiny black paint on the parts...

Triumph TR3 -Scrub-a-dub-dub...

Another go yesterday at the final cleaning of the front end suspension parts. I sat on the front step and listened to the birds singing and my neighbors entertaining their young nephew while they worked on their flower beds. Once again excellent tunes burst forward from my I-Pod docking station as I cleaned and used a Scotchbrite pad to lightly scuff the surfaces in preparation for paint. There was a wonderful relaxed flow to the work and a sense of connection to the environment and to the 54 year old metal components. I am about 70% done with a desire to be 100% done today. There is interesting variations in surface textures with some components missing large areas of paint while other still have a very satisfactory painted surface that will act as a good foundation for the chassis black paint I will be using. Details. Details. Details.

Triumph TR3 -More Parts Sorting/New Parts Order/Vinyl Top

Yesterday I determined to continue the parts sort and get into the large plastic bins and get the parts sorted by task. I think it was time well spent!!!

Most of the chassis components are now in order but during the process I realized there are a few "gaps" that I need to address parts wise. Particularly with respect to utilizing polyurethane vrs rubber bushings for the upper A arms. For some reason I missed specifying the poly bushings in my original order (placed last year)-an oversight I my part ..I figure since I have everything apart I might as well do it right...

I surprisingly found a vinyl top that I didn't realize existed. It has no rear windows in it but for around $100 bucks it might be made useful vrs ordering a new top. I will probably get a quote next week from my local upholstery shop to replace the clear plastic windows..

My wheels are now ready (tires have been removed) to go down to the wheel repair shop for straightening (which I will do on Thursday).

I made arrangements with my son and his buddy to come over next week to move the '57 body and the '59 frame from the front driveway to the back parking pad.

So little by little I am working away taking care of the details...

Triumph TR3 -More Front Suspension Attention/Parts Sort

Yesterday I took out the large plastic container of previously sorted parts and went through the front suspension kit that I bought last year and categorized all the parts by suspension component. I sat at the dining room table and using the MOSS catalog for reference (coupled with my recent disassembly experience) I was able to account for all the components. They are all now neatly bagged and labeled ready to be utilized in the reassembly.

I also spent about an hour or so sitting on the front step (while enjoying a beautiful spring evening) sorting through and cleaning the front suspension nuts,bolts and washers. They are now sitting in a de-rusting solution which should have worked it's magic overnight.

I also made an interesting discovery (while sorting through the container) having come across a few Ziplock bags filled with front suspension hardware from the '57 which will provide me a wonderful opportunity to pick the "best of" the '59. I had originally thought the suspension parts where buried in my shed with the other bits and pieces so the container sort was "bonus time" for sure.

The discard pile is certainly growing. Lots of marginal and worn out parts that will either be recycled or re-bagged. It feels good to be making the determination of what is good and being able to put aside certain parts that will not need to be re-evaluated in the future..

Triumph TR3 -Wheels and a New Power Tool

It is gardening season and for the last week or so I have been focused on building raised beds and cold frames and not much TR3 work has gone on. However yesterday I ventured out onto the driveway and checked out the "quality" of my wheels. I determined the trueness by mounting them on the rear axle and rotating them. I have 9 wheels in total-2 are junk-bent with the bead messed up, 2 are in good shape and 1 is good cosmetically fine but requires straightening, 3 are slotted wheels which are non-standard that I am following up on to see if they are after market or what? Leaving 1 wheel of questionable status. Rather than dish out money for rim straightening I have decided to order 2 used wheels from my supplier @ $35 each which should give me 5 good wheels total.

I purchased a 12vmax Li-ion Makita Cordless Driver Drill which I have had under consideration for a year or so. A friend has a similar model that he uses quite extensively for his home renovation projects. I watched a car restoration video where the mechanic used one of these small drivers and it seems to be useful in that context. I purchased some 1/4 drive nut drivers and socket adapters so I am ready to go. I am a big Makita fan as I like their designs and quality. I have 6280D drill which I have used extensively over the last five years or so and only recently have both batteries died. I am currently searching out replacements as I think the drill still has lots of life left in it!!

Today I plan to get back into the garage and do some more parts clean up painting.

triumph TR3 -De-greasing/De-rusting

I spent a couple of hours on Saturday further cleaning the front end components.

I purchased a liquid that destroys rust and incorporated it in my clean up. I filled up a container and immersed the parts for up to 5 hours. The process worked pretty well.

I still have the coil springs to tackle and a few other parts that I may take to my local sandblaster to get the rust off...

Triumph TR3 -More Front Suspension Attention

A great evening in the garage. Soul soothing music on the I-Pod and some excellent "in the zone" time at the work bench further dismantling suspension components for final clean up and painting... 2-1/2 hours overall. The discard box continues to grow as I sort out the best components. So far so good. More parts cleaning planned for today.

triumph TR3 -52 Years of Grime

Last evening I ventured out into the garage and started cleaning up suspension parts. Lots of grease, grime and caked on dirt challenged me on the "clean up" of most of the components. The task was fairly routine and in a strange way meditative as I made my through the layers of crud to get me to a point where I can actually see most of the surface in order to prep for a new coat of Chassis Black paint. I pulled apart the upper wishbones-doing so I made an interesting discovery that the wishbones are "boxed" in on the underside vrs being open (on the '59). The '57 had an ice racing history so I can assume somewhere along the road a determination was made to reinforce the wishbones. I also noticed the springs off the '57 are about 1/2 inch shorter in height and appear to be more heavy duty than the '59. I am following up with Drake Motors to try and determine which springs I should be using? The '57 springs would lower the car 1/2". They are also in better shape (far less rust) so I am leaning towards utilizing them.

I am still sorting out my parts order for the front end components I need to bolt the front suspension back together. Hopefully all of this will be finalized by tomorrow...

Triumph TR3 -Front End Assessment

Yesterday I focused on further disassembly of the subcomponents of the front suspension supplemented with a visual inspection of the components. I have decided to replace the ball joints since I have everything disassembled. It is not worth reinstalling questionable components based on the reasonable cost of new. I also started to sort through 2 suspensions worth of components to pick out the best pieces to refurbish. Today I plan to finish that task and start on the clean up and painting. Lots of work to do before reassembly can begin. I am very eager to layout the powder coated chassis and start installing new parts..

Triumph TR3 - Dismantle of Front End Complete!!!

Last night I finished off the dismantling of the front end-all the components are now removed and the front of the chassis is bare. A major milestone reached. Upon reflection I figure I am about 3 weeks behind schedule based on my July 31st reassembly date. Hopefully I am going to catch up soon...

I now have a couple of boxes of parts to sort through in order to choose the best components and then I need to spend some time cleaning them up- followed by a new coat of Eastwood Chassis Black. I made a small bench by putting a piece of particle board on my table saw stand that I am going to use to work on the parts. It is sitting on the back patio out in the sun which will be a nice change to working indoors or on my shaded driveway.

I need to keep my head down and focused on the chassis reconstruction and try to make up some time in the next few weeks. It is going to be a great feeling to start incorporating some of the new parts into the rebuild..

Triumph TR3 - Back to the Front Suspension

My shade tree mechanical quest/adventure returned to the driveway yesterday. I have almost finished the front suspension disassembly (just the lower wishbones remain) having spent about 3 hours working on the task. It went a lot smoother and faster than the day before thanks to my neighbor's spring compressor and my improved knowledge of how the components are configured. Interestingly upon disassembly the '59 front suspension components turned out to be much more "worn" generally than I had anticipated particularly the trunnions. It looks like more $$$ need to be spent.

My son came along at absolutely the best moment to help me tilt the frame and rest it on the table saw stand like I did the day before . I tried to do it a couple of times myself and just couldn't seem to muster the strength and coordination to get the job done. There certainly was a degree of physicality required to move the frame around and disassemble the components-a pretty good workout all round . I will say it was great to have a hot tub to soak in afterwards-I really needed to relax my weary muscles...

I have decided to leave the rear end alone for the time being and start cleaning up and painting the front end components. This will be my main focus for the balance of the week.