Parts Pickup

$$$ spent: $9.85

I picked up my small parts (mainly fasteners) order yesterday and returned some unneeded parts for credit....

Tools

Time in Garage Saturday: 15 mins (company this weekend so no Triumph time on the horizon)

Gave a visiting friend a garage tour yesterday-updated him on my progress and gave him a look at what I had accomplished since his last visit about a year ago. He was impressed. He has a vintage jeep and early 1950's Dodge truck to restore-they are sitting in his yard right now but on his mind project wise. I passed on my bead blast cabinet to him. He has an industrial compressor on his acreage and will make good use of the cabinet once he starts rolling on his restorations. He has done me some favors in the past and I feel good about passing the unit to him...

Yesterday I gave my neighbor back his coil spring compressors after over a year of borrowing..I feel a little "sheepish" that I kept them so long but he didn't seem to mind and of course he knew where to find them if he needed them back...

More things out of my garage-excellent...

More Garage Clean Up/Micro Managing Tasks

Time in Garage Wednesday 1-1/2 hrs...

I finally got the garage clean up completed. The task took longer than I had planned but I believe the time spent was well spent. The effort made has really improved the space and given me more access which is great. I still need to tackle my boxes of sand paper and abrasive tools to get that in order...

I went to my critical path task sheet that is tacked to the wall and marked off my accomplishments. As a subset of the exercise I made some notations on my white board to micro manage some of the outstanding tasks. I reckon (realistically) I am a month behind in my revised project plan (devised in early January) which is a bit discouraging to admit but appears to be the reality. Nearly every task has taken longer than my estimated execution time...it appears I need to put more contingency into the planning cycle. Anyway I feel good that I have reviewed the progress and reset the timeline...

1957 TR-3/Garage space

Time in Garage Monday-1hr

I disassembled my table saw (for moving-too heavy to manhandle fully assembled) and moved it along with my air compressor to my daughter's reno project which freed up further room in the garage. Today I am going to finish the garage clean up..

This morning I itemized what I believe are the marketable 1957 components and sent out an e-mail to a couple of local Triumph restoration shops to gauge interest?

Workflow

Time in Garage Saturday: 3-1/2 hrs

Time in Garage Sunday: 1 hr

I regrouped and moved things around in my garage Saturday. The initial issue was the chassis was facing the wrong way in the garage and there was no room to move the engine hoist (which is stored at the front of the garage) and the removed engine into place due to interference. I originally contemplated moving the body outside and turning around the chassis by moving it down the driveway and on to the street and then back up the driveway. The task would not be that straight forward due to the fact we still have a significant amount of snow on the ground. After surveying the situation I realized that I could move the chassis back towards the front of the garage and clear out a path by moving my compressor, the transmission. radio and parts boxes and manhandle the engine to the garage door side of the garage which I accomplished. When it is time to install the engine, I can open up the garage door, move the chassis back towards the door and position the engine hoist in front of the chassis and not have to move the body outdoors or reposition the chassis. This is very do-able if the weather cooperates. The upside is I don't have to move the body outside and it can stay on it's stand until I get the paint applied to the underneath of the car.

I also determined I have more "dormant" and redundant stuff stored in my garage which I have started to clear out. I freed up one shelf in my cupboard and moved in some of the engine parts and got them out of the way. I also repositioned my rolling tool box into a better location allowing better accessibility.

Yesterday I reassembled the 1957 windshield frame-making one good unit out of a bunch of parts. The 57 had been rolled and the frame was bend. The windshield has no glass in it..The previous owner had purchased some replacement parts but never assembled the windshield.

Yesterday morning I "estimated" (for curiosity sake) the cost of reassembling the 1957 to finished primer. About $5800 if the engine proves usable.

Some more garage cleaning work is required today before I continue with the reassembly..

Triumph TR3-Parts Sort-Engine Mounts Found

Time in Garage Friday: 1-1/2 hrs

Time in Shed Sorting Parts-2-1/2 hours

First Things First: Early Friday morning I decided I need to move out all the surplus suspension and brake parts out of my garage. They are stored in a large wooden box that takes up a fair amount of room (space is at a premium in my garage at the best of times) and I figured why continue to have the parts readily available when I no longer need them . So I opened up my storage shed (it was a beautiful warm winter day-perfect for the activity) and moved out all the Triumph part boxes and components that currently resided there and cleared out space to place the box in the shed. I unpacked the box, moved it into the shed and started to repack the components discarding/recycling anything that wasn't salvageable. I then went through 4 Storage totes (unpacking them completely) primarily searching for my new engine mounts (which I located). While I was sorting I discarded the 1957 wiring harness and a fairly large bag of rubber components that were far beyond being useful. Based on what I have discarded in the last few months I think every rubber component on the car was shot. This action freed up one entire tote. I also isolated all the "homemade" Rack and Pinion components so they are in one place. I now have a much better idea of what I have and where it is.

I gathered up all the spare windshield components. I want to make up one good frame out of all the parts. I am assuming some of the components are not salvageable as the '57 was rolled at one point and some of the components are bent...

I also made a mental list of potential items that could/should be sold. (Steering box etc) and what should be retained as "spares" pending final completion of the 1959.

I moved tires and the refurbished rear brake drum from the shed into the garage ready to be installed on the chassis.

I started doing some garage clean up but ran out of energy. Today is a new day..I plan to get back out there first thing and finish off the job...

All in all a

Triumph TR3-Front Brakes Installed

The body is tilted on it's side. The floor pan is coated with 2 coats of POR15 primer awaiting a top coat of white paint and clear coat

Time in garage Thursday: 3-1/2 hours

Finished assembling the front brakes etc. Trial mounted the front steering arms -temporarily attached pending receipt of the rack and pinion steering kit. Cleaned up my work area. Took some pictures and contemplated "recycling" of the 1957...

This is the assembled left hand side suspension with the Toyota 4 piston caliper installed and the modified dust shield attached. I am 110% happy with this side. I ran into a problem with the right hand side install. There is a minor interference problem between the caliper and rotor. I am not sure what the problem is but I determined not to disassemble again as I will have to pull the assembly apart again when I install the steering-for now the wheels turn and that is all that is important (to move the chassis around)

Front tires installed-a major milestone in my mind.

Triumph TR3-Front Bearings Cleaned and Repacked

Time in Garage Wednesday: 3 hrs

Travel Time Picking Up Parts: 30 min

Spent: $2.00

A good day (Wednesday) in the garage. A huge contrast to my less than stellar day on Tuesday...I finished modifying the dust shields (see earlier blog entry), cleaned and repacked the front wheel bearings and picked up some new Grade 8 bolts for the front suspension caliper plate attachment and mounted them. All brake and front hub components are now staged for installation. Of course the installation will be temporary pending receipt of the Rack and Pinion kit (which won't be permanently installed until final body mounting so the steering shaft can be aligned up properly) and related hardware but nevertheless it will feel good to get all the pieces out of boxes and onto the chassis.

The donor car spares/rejects/ discard pile is growing bigger. I had to reject a front wheel bearing in the reassembly process due to binding so it too was added to the pile.

Triumph TR3-Picture of Dust Shield Modification

Both Dust Shields have been modified today. Took about an hour total...

The shield on the left has been modified to fit the TR-6 caliper brackets and Toyota 4 piston caliper. On the right is the stock TR-3 shield prior to modifications. I decided to take a picture so I would have a photographic representation of the before and after. Note-disclainer: the image is for my reference purposes only and is not intended for instructional purposes....

Triumph TR3-Dust Shield Challenge

Time in Garage Tuesday: 1-1/2 hrs

Tuesday was a bit of a frustrating day in the man cave. Things did not work out the way I had intended and I found I had to really practice being patient with myself (not being judgemental). I decided first thing that my task for the day was to modify the front brake dust shields to match the refurbished TR-6 caliper mounting plates I am using for the Toyota caliper mod. I trial fitted both the left and right hand shields (to determine which was the right and left), referenced (one more time) the Internet instructions for trimming down the shields to clear the new calipers and started to modify the right hand side and while doing further trial fits got "confused" as to the configuration of the TR-6 caliper bracket ( left vrs right)..I had previously disassembled the mock up I did last week (and subsequently mixed up the parts) and ended up having to re-reference the shop and restoration manuals to prompt me on the configuration and then mock one side up again. I realized as I went through the steps that this was all "rework" and I belittled myself for not making a sketch or taking a digital picture before pulling the previous mock up apart!! Near the end of the work session ( I started to run out of energy-mainly to do with getting frustrated) I realized the trimming photo in the Internet instructions wasn't really that clear visually and that perhaps I should go back onto the Triumph site and look at the picture again-the image would be clearer on my computer. So I left my garage and went back into the house and pulled up the site-zoomed in on the photo and re-read the instructions and realized they are trimming back a TR-6 dust shield in the instructions and not a TR-3. The instructions read that the dust shields are "fundamentally" the same-which is true. However I discovered a TR-3 dust shield requires a different approach for trimming that is not made clear in the instructions...I had made some progress but had no desire (or energy) to go back out into the garage and revisit the trimming. I shutdown the project for the day...

Triumph TR3-Regrouping-Fasteners

Time in Garage Monday: 1-1/2 hrs

I did a quick sort of my fastener container removing all obsolete duplicate hardware. The reason I did this is I have misplaced the attachment bolts for the front caliper brackets. I was looking for them to complete the mock up of the front brake system. I remember removing them and putting them in the Eastwood tumbler to clean them up but where they have gone is a mystery??? I will venture out into the garage today and check again. I have a feeling I have but them into a container of some kind and moved them out of the way? If no luck I will need to purchase some new ones (which I should probably do anyway)

I traced out the modification that is required on the dust shields for the front brakes. I plan to tackle the mods today.

I did some cash flow planning yesterday trying to determine what the most logical order is for ordering the parts I need to get the chassis back together. After much pondering I have decided to just order the rack and pinion conversion kit this month leaving the pulley replacement and electric fan, brgs etc for order later in the year. The Moss sale is very enticing but I really don't want to spend the money and have the parts just sit around for an extended period of time. The pulley conversion, alternator and the electric fan installation can all wait until the car is painted and almost ready to drive. The other piece of the puzzle is to determine what to do with the '57 to generate some cash flow for the remaining purchases vrs taking the cash out of my bank account.

Triumph TR3-Right Front Suspension Installed/Toyota Brake Mock Up Completed

Time in Garage Friday-none

Time in Garage Saturday- 4 hrs

Time in Garage Sunday 5 hrs

My parts order arrived when my wife returned home from her trip Saturday. In the evening I went out to the garage and did a mock up of the 4 piston Toyota brake conversion on the left hand suspension (using the TR-6 caliper brackets and mounting bolts) and all the parts fit. I installed the new rotors on the hubs and they look great too. It is very satisfying to know I have the right parts!!

On Sunday I bolted in the right hand side suspension components and installed the coil spring. My modified compression tool worked great and the exercise went much more smoothly than the left hand side. I also installed the rear brake plate with newly installed brake components. This is a temporary installation pending installation of the new rear bearings..I want to be able to put tires onto the chassis and move it around. I attempted to install one of the front shock absorbers but realized weight has to be applied to the front suspension so the bracket aligns up properly. I'll have to wait to do this job-until I get the engine in.

On Sunday morning I looked through the Moss and the Ron Francis wiring catalogs and made a list of the remaining "known" items to purchase. Cost to complete (to mechanical completion) is around $1800 which includes the purchase of the rack and pinion steering upgrade and the alternator conversion. The premise I am operating under is that I have one "good" engine and transmission, if not costs will escalate. ... I have roughly $3000 invested in mechanical parts and body shop materials so far so to mechanical completion and body in primer the cost will be around $5000.. give or take 10%. Total investment including trade of my MG and purchase price of both TR3's around $9500 all in... hopefully there will be some cash coming back when I dispose of the '57 to offset total $$$outlay...

I spent some time cleaning up my workspace Sunday evening.

Triumph TR3-Rear Brakes Assembled/Clean Up

Time in Garage Thursday: 3-1/2 hrs

Rear Brakes Installed: Yesterday morning I decided to install the rear brake shoes, cylinders etc on to the backing plate which I completed. I found an excellent descriptor of how to install the retaining clips for the wheel cylinder in the old TR3 shop manual. Much more descriptive than the Haynes manual. Once again it took me a bit longer than I had anticipated-the positioning/installation of the parking brake levers threw me off initially...I couldn't see how you could wait until 2 of the clips were installed to install the lever. I kind of talked myself out of following the instructions in the manual until I finally did a trial of the procedure and it worked just fine. My mind was playing tricks on me based on assumptions the procedure would not work (the cylinder would be too tight against the back plate to install the levers?)..I had to read the instructions a couple of times to have it sink in....then just do it... lesson learned...

I sealed up the spare rear end axle tubes and moved the rear end out of the garage.

Rear Hubs Cleaned: I spend about 20 minutes per side cleaning up the rear hubs. Still contemplating installing new hub bearings and going through the whole rear hub removal procedure...

I cleaned up tools and put them away and generally cleaned up the work area. Still some work to do in this arena today...

Triumph TR3-Warped and Discouraged (Sort of)

Time in Garage Wednesday:2 hours

Yesterday afternoon I ventured out into the man cave to analyze my rear hub situation. As recommended I retrieved one of the rear brake drums and inserted the hubs it check trueness. It turns out one of the hubs was distorted (I double checked the trueness but mounting the hub on one of the axles and spinning it) when it was pressed from the axle. The hub is now junk!! I also discovered a serious flaw on one of the axles..where the axle tube seal rides there is a noticeable "groove". This is probable cause why oil migrated past and fouled the rear brake shoes... I am not sure why I didn't see this flaw before I took the axle to have the hub pressed off? I also noted that the other axle which housed the difficult hub to remove is seriously "blued" from being heated. I am not sure I am comfortable utilizing it in the rebuild? I have an e-mail out to my sports car source to get their opinion?? It turns out my attempts to utilize a local shop and save some money has turned out to be misguided!!

Phase 2 of the analyzes had me wandering through the snow and wrestling the second differential out of it's resting place by my garden shed, through my backyard gate and down the front sidewalk and up my front driveway. I ended up having to stop the migration and move my truck so I could maneuver the differential (which had wheels mounted) through the garage door. Once inside the garage I let the rear end sit for a couple of hours to let some of the ice to melt. Late in the afternoon I tackled the removal of the axles...the bearings spin freely with no binding and the seal surfaces look reasonable on first pass. I am still contemplating not having the hubs pressed off and installing the axles "as is" ...I cleaned up the axles and did a first pass on cleaning up the flanges and hubs. I drained the very slow moving differential oil from the spare rear end. Today I am going to button up the spare rear end by placing plastic at the end of the tubes and temporarily placing the flanges back on-then move it back into storage.....this will protect the internals from contamination ...

During my moving around in the garage I accidently knocked one of the front hubs off my body stand ( in retrospect they shouldn't have been sitting there) which in turn crashed down on the top of the powder coated frame nicking it ( a very small nick but a nick nevertheless)...I berated myself for a few minutes because the whole incident could have been easily avoided...with some care and attention applied on my part.....another learning experience. I moved both hubs on the carpeted surface on the garage floor. They are now out of the way.

While all this was happening I really had to fight bouts of feeling discouraged-the first time I have felt this emotion in a long time (related to the rebuild)... I realize I have to be patient and tenacious and move forward. I also have to figure out how to approach the suspension shop to inform them of the problem??? I am not sure how this issue is going to be resolved. I guess some research on the cost of replacement hubs is required???

Fortunately there is a wealth of TR3 support available and I told myself last night any problem can be resolved-sometimes all it takes is money??