triumph TR3-More Front Wheel Well Prep

Friday time in garage: 2 hours. I had two separate work sessions in the garage yesterday. Prep of the front wheel wells for painting took longer than anticipated based on the surface being more contaminated (dirt, grease/oil, rust) than I had anticipated. Out came the Marine Clean and Scotch pad (with a final prep with 220 grit sandpaper as per the Tie-Coat primer instructions) and along with a fair amount of elbow grease the surfaces are now just about ready for primer. I started to neutralize the surface rust with Metal Prep. There is some additional Metal Prep work to be done today. Ideally the wheel well tubs should be sandblasted to bare metal but the logistics of moving the tub to the sandblasters and back again is daunting and potentially expensive. I realize as I write this passage that I need to go back to the wheel well tubs and do some angle grinding on the remaining surface rust areas. I would estimate about 25% of the surface has a light dusting of rust...

Hopefully I will get the final skim coat of primer on the bottom of the rear valance today.

I am growing a bit weary of executing bodywork ( I enjoy the process but not the toxicity) and long to move on to the chassis reassembly planned for next month. My restoration guide indicates the body work is a major hurdle in a TR3 restoration and I can understand why on many levels!!!

The '59 had a replacement battery box fabricated by the previous owner... Yesterday I noticed (while peering under the dash of the car through the transmission opening in the floor board) that the existing battery box shelf bottom is still intact and very rusty. It will require a small patch panel and some rust neutralization and paint to "preserve" it. This is not an identified activity on my critical path planning...I will add it to the list and execute the work when I put the final white finish on the primed areas. I just don't have the enthusiasm to tackle the job right now. I also started to contemplate the installation of the after market wiring harness when looking at the underside of the dash gauge area.

Yesterday started out as a high energy work session but my energy level (and enthusiasm) diminished as the day progressed. The reality is wheel well clean up is time consuming and basically grunt work...that comes with the territory when preserving an old vehicle...