Triumph TR3 -Chassis Task List

A friend came over yesterday for a garage tour. With coffee in hand we looked at my progress. I think he was impressed with how I had proceeded with the work in such confined quarters. His visit got me thinking about what was needed to get the chassis back together?

So late yesterday afternoon I set out to record the steps I need to take to get the chassis back together. More tasks than I had expected (no surprise there) with an estimated hours to complete number of 82. I was fairly generous on the hours allocation because I wanted to be "realistic" in my determination. Real execution time might differ (hopefully shorter)!!! That's 41 days of 2 hours a day work (if I look at what I have been averaging per work session) which means when I get back from vacation on July 2nd the chassis would take until the middle of August to complete. I think this is a "worst case" scenario but one never knows what life might provide to speed up the process or slow it down...??

I did some more garage clean up yesterday-hope to do some more today and get some primer sprayed on the exposed metal. I can't wait until July 2nd to do this...It looks like the rain is going to let up a bit today....

Triumph TR3 -Lower Wishbone Bushings Done/Wheels Back

$82 dollars later I have my bushings installed and reamed on the lower wishbones. A positive step towards reassembly of the front suspension.

I also got my straightened wheels back. They look good!!

I did some parts arranging yesterday utilizing a discarded shelf. All the parts that need painting are laid out and ready to go. This step was worthwhile as it gave me a sense of accomplishment.

Another focus yesterday was garage clean up. I am still not finished the task but I have made good headway. My confined space has definitely impacted my execution of my Triumph project because I don't have enough room to spread out and I have to continuously stop and "regroup" in order to maintain my work space. Sometimes it is aggravating to stop what I am doing in order to "clean up". I think I have about another hours worth of work to get this job finished.

Triumph TR3 -More Bead Blasting Done

Yesterday I spent 40 minutes renting a bead blasting cabinet and cleaning off the rear brake plates, rear drums and the upper front wishbones. I started to spray some primer on the newly prepared parts but the temperatures were just too low and lots of humidity in the air so I stopped. Hopefully today it will happen as I do not want to keep the metal exposed. I also took the differential to the car wash and did a final clean up using the high pressure soap and rinse options-looking much cleaner for sure...

Yesterday I contemplated the impacts of the cold rainy weather on my painting schedule. Very disappointing that I can't paint in an suitable environment based on lower than average temperatures and high humidity. I have boxes of parts ready to paint. Hopefully this situation will turn around soon!!! I am eager to get going...

Today I pick up my repaired wheels and my lower wishbone installed bushings...

Triumph TR3 -Rear Brake Assembly Disassemble...

I spent about an hour and a half out the garage last night ( I was away for a large part of the weekend). My main focus was finishing the disassembly of the rear brakes and doing some bead blasting. A fairly productive undertaking but still some more clean up time required before applying paint.

Triumph TR3 -Powder Coating and Rear Brakes

A few Triumph tasks undertaken yesterday:

Rear Springs: I got my rear springs back from the powder coater. They look great. Unfortunately the rubber bushings got "fried" in the powder coating process so new ones needed to be ordered yesterday. Not a big deal as they were probably marginal at best and only cost a few dollars to replace..

Spare Tire Wheel: I also had the spare tire wheel powder coated black. Not sure at this point if it was a good idea (the wheel is not perfect) but I got a really good price to have it done ( I had originally planned to have it just sand blasted) and it certainly looks a lot better than it did before.

Rear Brake disassembly: I loaded by differential into the back of my truck and used the bed as a work bench. I disassembled one side of brake assembly. The brake shoes look almost new which was an interesting find. In addition I would assume the drums have been turned as the one side looks very presentable.. More disassembly and investigation is required.

List: I plan to create a list of what needs to be done and whether or not there are any remaining parts issues? I am almost certain I have ordered a majority of the parts I need to take me to the next stage of the reassembly. Still not sure what I am going to do steering wise or my next steps with respect to converting to a narrow fan belt and pulleys and the required electric fan? More pondering required but for now have more than enough work to keep me focused.

Triumph TR3 -The Differential

Yesterday I spent about an hour and a half cleaning up the 1957 differential. I have decided to utilize it in the rebuild as I believe it is in better shape than the '59 . Lots of grime to address. I picked up some "Marine Clean" cleaner from my autobody supplier which worked really well. First I sprayed the area, then took a scrapper and took off the heavy crud, then used a tooth brush and a soft brush to remove the majority of the rest of the surface contaminants. Then I washed it all down with soapy water and rinsed it with clean water from the garden hose as the last step. It looks 95% clean at this point. Today I am going to hoist it into the back of my pick up and take it to the car wash for a final high pressure clean then move it to the front driveway where I am going to dismantle the brakes etc and look into the replacement of the axle seals.

I also cleaned up the rear shocks and upper wishbone assembly from the 59. I am still not sure if I am going to use the "boxed" wishbones from the '57. They seem to be in better shape but I am still sitting on the fence based on the feedback from one of my suppliers about potential rusting? I am just not sure if it would be an issue? I am going to have to do some more thinking about this...

Triumph TR3 -Powder Coating

It has been a quiet week Triumph wise with the garden remaining the major "spare time" focus. Hopefully I can redirect my attention to things Triumph today!!! I have the rear springs and one wheel in for powder coating this week. The work should be completed on Friday. Also the bushings on the lower wishbone arms have been pressed in and reamed and my wheels have been straightened so there has been some "work by others" completed. All good...

Triumph TR3 -It is All About the Frame

Yesterday I moved the powder coated '57 frame (it was leaning against the garage wall) and set it up on the garage floor with the front suspension area facing towards the garage door (to allow for easy access for reassembly). The chassis is sitting underneath the body which is suspended about 2-1/2 feet in the air on stands.

By having the chassis sitting there I can work on both the front suspension and the rest of the body prep for painting.

I did a visual inspection of the chassis surface and notice there is a small area that was not powder coated that will require some chassis black paint touch up. There is also an issue with the rear mounting brackets (where the body attaches to the frame at the very back of the car) being a bit bent. I am going to look at the '59 chassis to see how the brackets are supposed to look. I am anticipating I will need to do some straightening with a dolly and hammer.

I am taking the springs to the sand blaster on Monday and get them prepped for repainting. I moved the rear end out of my garden shed to the back driveway where I will do a thorough surface cleaning with a coat of paint being required.

Triumph TR3 -Mazda Miata Engine Swap-TR3 Revisited

This morning I was contemplating my options with respect to potentially moving ahead with a "winter build" and installing the Miata engine in the '57 and constructing the "rat rod" I dreamed up last September? It is wild-ass speculation on my part at best as there are a number of different scenarios playing out that have key decision point criteria associated with them?

Or should I just package up the remaining 1957 parts and sell them and focus on a different project next winter?

Triumph TR3 -Wheels and Parts

I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wheels that I received yesterday from my parts supplier. They look straight and well finished (surprisingly in gloss red). I think they will just require a light sanding and some new paint to bring them back to an almost "as new" state.

With the receipt of the rest of my ordered parts -my front suspension and engine parts requirements are met!!!

Triumph TR3 -Dad Asks the Question

My father and I spoke on the phone last evening and during the course of our conversation he asked me if I was going to finish the Triumph this summer? (I talk to him time to time about the project) Did I really want to get it done? I answered "of course I do" and "yes" I am still trying to do just that!!!

I told my father that I had already completed much of the time consuming work and that the "reassembly" could go fairly quickly because the car is simple in design and I have lots of shiny new/repainted parts to incorporate!!! Of course, in typical fashion I might be underestimating what is left to do and how long it is going to take me to finish.? Who knows? I attempted to visualize the remaining steps to see if the end of July date is still do-able. It all depends? I think (for sure) I have turned a corner and I am heading home -but how far down the road drivability is, is still an unknown?

I received confirmation my part order is being shipped today which include the two used wheels I determined to purchase last week. The wheel repair shop also got back to me on Monday and said they felt 2 out of the 3 wheels were fixable but the third was questionable due to how badly bent the rim was? At $45 per wheel for the repair I think the cost is reasonable to get a couple of wheels "trued up"... I think I will bead blast the wheels and paint them silver or white-not sure yet...

The reaming out of the bushings for the lower wishbone arms is not going to be completed until early next week- a bit later than anticipated at a cost of around $75 which is reasonable in my book...

The '57 has yet to be moved to the back driveway. Hopefully this will happen Thursday/Friday?

Gardening has "trumped" Triumph work for last week or so. Understandable for sure (given the priority)...