Triumph TR3-Hanging the Fenders/Project Direction

Yesterday I determined after an hour of sanding and body prep that I was going to reposition the fenders and cowl on the car so that I don't have to move them around so much in my very confined work space (a single garage). This strategy was inspirational from the perspective of seeing the wonderful shapes of the TR3 come together-I love the sweep of the doors and subtle curves of the rear fenders where they follow the trunk lid contour. I am now going to remove the fenders one at a time to work on them. I also scanned the body work to see how the fenders and cowl are looking. I am pleased but also aware some more finish prep is needed before the primer goes on. Hopefully I will get some pictures posted once this happens.

I also had to regroup and go through my sandpaper collection to sort out the grades. I was surprised at how many sheets I had available. It was time well spent. Fortunately I had everything I needed to continue on with the finish sanding on the filled areas without having to venture out for more supplies. I also had to clean up my Shopvac filter so the unit would function properly. I have a special filter installed to reduce dust creation. The filter was incredibly contaminated and as I cleaned it I realized just how much of the skim coat of filler landed up in the Shopvac.

I spent about an hour on positioning the left back fender and bolting it down so I can put the lower splice piece in and have it align properly. I was going to go back into the garage last night and clean up the splice and lower body patch but other priorities took precedence.

I laid out my "revised" project plan on paper yesterday while eating my lunch. After about another 12 hours of body prep and priming (estimated) I am going to remove the body from the frame. I need to do this as the undercarriage of the body needs to be prepped and painted. At this point the project can take 2 different directions: one is to move the frame outside and continue working on the body or move the primer coated body outside (well covered of course) and reassemble the powder coated frame with the best parts from both cars. At this point I am leaning towards the "mechanical" reconstruction just because I want a change of pace but the practical side is also screaming out that I should finish the bodywork and get a coat of paint on the car before I store it outside...I am using POR15 primer which I think is not as porous as other primers so outside storage would not be an issue. I will need to follow up on this.. Of course once the body is removed I will "temporarily" have 2 "basket case" Triumphs which is a bit disturbing.

All in all a good day yesterday and I look forward to more of the same today....