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)...

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..