On to the Body/Paint Shop

Fred here.

Well today we finished stripping the body of the TR3. Every fastener, trim piece and anything that was not permanently attached has been removed from the body shell. I hope I can remember where everything goes! We have taken lots and lots of pictures from every angle to help with the re-assembly. I had to build a rack on the top of my utility trailer using 2 X 4 lumber to transport the body shell. Rather simple but effective. I used enough straps to tie up a fire truck to hold it to the trailer. It must have worked because it never moved during the 10 mile trip to the body shop. I will take the rest of the body pieces to the body shop in a couple of days; after I strip them down.

Lift off!

Fred here.

It has been almost 3 weeks since I had any time to work on the TR3. Well today being Father's day I got to go to my "Man Cave" and spend the day with TR. You may notice the framework I built to support the body structure and keep it square while the body is not supported by the frame. It is pretty flimsy without this support and I have read that it could flex and twist if not supported. This would not be cool and a result I would not like to deal with. It took most of the afternoon to find and extract the fasteners that held down the body to the frame. There were a couple of bolts that had to acutually be cut with the sawzall before they would release. The fuel line from the tank, some wiring and a few brake lines and everythng is loose. Oh, I also had to extract the rather crude rollbar that had been installed. The previous owner was a little puzzled that I removed it but the way it was installed would have prevented the body from coming off. I feel confident that today is the first time in 51 years the body and frame have been apart! Pretty neat picture.

Update from Fred

Hey, Fred Here. Today the previous owners of the Tr3 came by for a visit. It was quite a moment for John and Liz. They had a hard time looking at the TR in such a state of disassembly. They had previously owned it for over 40 years and it was like seeing a member of their family dissected! John thought we were quite courageous to take on such a project and said he hoped he lived long enough to see it completed! I am not sure but I think John is a bit over 70 years old...

From TR3 Restoration

I assured him that in about 18-24 months we would be driving it around again and I wanted he and Liz to take it for a spin again! With lots of picture of course.

FREEDOM! (Well, for the engine....)

Dustin here again.

As stated below, the TR3's engine was seized. Fred first filled the combustion chambers up (via the spark plug holes) with Marvel Mystery Oil. He let it sit for a month and then tried to free the pistons up by rocking the car back and forth while it was in gear. After 30 minutes, no luck.

Then he took the cylinder head off. He mixed up a concoction of WD-40 and Marvel Mystery Oil and poured it directly on the pistons. Another month passed and the rocking resumed. No luck again.

Then Fred read online about a technique where someone filled their whole crankcase with diesel fuel. The thought was that there would be a "penetrant" that would surround the piston and cylinder from the bottom and the top. Unfortunately, the crankcase would only hold about 3 gallons of fuel before it started pouring the rear main seal and dipstick hole. So, he just left the diesel sitting for about 3 days.

Still more rocking. No luck once again.

HOWEVER>>> On a whim, he decided to use the STARTER! The solenoid has a push-button on it that engages the starter. After hooking a starter battery to it...FREEDOM! The pistons turn!

Start of restoration

Dustin here...

Well, I finally badgered Fred long enough until he capitulated and started the restoration of the 1958 TR3A. On Saturday, 5/16 he un-tarped the car and rolled it into the bay.



Here are the details on the car:

1958 Triumph TR3A
Commission number TS34643L Here is a link that deciphers the commission numbers.

Status:
Engine partially disassembled, however pistons are seized.
In true English car fashion, the car came with several boxes of "extra parts".
The body has surprisingly very little rust.



In order to get the ball rolling, Fred gave himself a self-imposed deadline of June 6 to have the body removed and at the body shop. So..... off with the fenders, etc.

First, squirt BG Enforce onto all bolts/nuts slated for removal (gotta loosen up all the years of rust, dirt, stuff).
It turns out that the English use a LOT of bolts to hold on the simplest of parts.

The second step is for Fred to explain to me what a wrench is. Ok, that might be pushing it a bit...but I did feel that way throughout the morning. So, we start taking stuff off. And we start photographing it all so we know how the heck to put it all back together.



While taking the door off, a large amount of dirt and sunflower seeds fell out of the door panel. Apparently the door also doubles as a nest for a critter.

While taking the door panel off, Fred comments that for some strange reason they used wood screws to hold on the side curtain bracing. After taking the part off he realizes that there is a part made out of wood inside the door!

The removal of the first fender called for some picture taking....

Apparently the front end was replaced some time ago, and used to be red.

Next off: the hood (bonnet), radiator, horns, and dash.


Along the way we encountered some "interesting" British engineering. For example, here is the steering column bracing. It should be interesting to see how long it will take to figure out how to get this back on.

The dash finally came out.

The day ended with us stuck on removal of the rear fenders. The flat head screws were frozen with body paint and required more patience than we had left in us. We will update this blog as we progress. Thanks for reading!