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Posted

Hello, since I'm new here, you might be interested in the development of my TR3A over the last 40 years?
My wife Birgit and I were looking for a new "used" car in 1984. My wife's work colleague at the time had a lot to do with old cars, furniture and flea market items and suggested we look for a classic car.
We really liked the idea and it soon became clear that it had to be an English Vehicle.
After delving into the classic vehicle scene and the prices at the time, we chose a Triumph TR3.
The search began. We drove all over Germany for half a year, even going to Milan in Italy to find our TR3. We finally found it just 15 km from our home in Frankfurt. There we had the choice between a TR3 and a TR3A, which had just been imported from California. At the time we gave the TR3A priority over the drum-braked TR3 because of its disc brakes.

Interested in more?
This will be an interesting journey into the past for me too.

cheers

Rainer

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  • Like 5
Posted

Hi Rainer,

Good colour.  Familiar story too. Recently drove all over the country looking at old Triumphs and eventually bought one just 20km from home!

We did look at one US import (TR6) which was terrible. Hope you did c better. Look forward to the story :smile:

Posted

Thank you Hamish and Nick.

Now that we were the owners of a TR3A, we had to complete all the official procedures to be allowed to drive the TR on German roads. The German TÜV (MOT) was the biggest obstacle, but this was solved after a few repairs to the wiring harness, tuning the engine and converting the headlights to German standards.

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Our TR adventure could begin.

On our trips in the summer of 1985 (thank God, we never went very far from home) we broke down on the side of the road more often than we drove. Often there were problems with the fuel supply and dirt in the tank that kept clogging the line, but also ignition problems.

 

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Then it became clear that the car had to be completely dismantled and restored.

  • Like 1
Posted

The first restoration!

I was 27 years old at the time, had always tinkered and worked on cars, but a restoration like this was new to me and a challenge.

It started in the fall of 1985 and would take a year. The TR3 was disassembled, and the frame and all parts were cleaned (with a wire brush, a lot of manual labor and sweat). Afterwards, a particularly resistant "truck primer" was applied to the frame and then painted black with a brush.

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At that time, I met a lot of people my age who had also recently bought a TR and were also restoring it. This meant we could exchange ideas.

Looking back, we did a lot of the work in a very amateurish way, but it took us across Europe for 40 years.

At this point I had not overhauled the engine, only cleaned and painted. Only auxiliary units such as the water pump etc. were replaced. When I bought the car I had already replaced the gearbox with a sedan gearbox with J-overdrive.

 

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I painted the vehicle interior as well as the engine and trunk myself. Afterwards the body was put back on the chassis.

Posted

I had never done any bodywork before, so I left it to the "professionals". I didn't realize what that meant until 40 years later.

The outer sills were replaced and the front apron repaired on the body. To my horror, I saw in the old pictures that there is still an ugly piece of metal under the grille (it came from America). The two front fenders were so corroded at the bottom that new sheets of metal had to be made and welded in.

So the Triumph went to the painter.

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That was right after the restoration in 1986 with new wire wheels and  still with white wall tires.

  • Like 3
Posted

Travel with the TR

Before the season 1987 could really start, there was a new front mask and the newly acquired engine was overhauled by a "Triumph specialist". I also think differently about that today.

 In June we drove to the Alps/Dolomites with some TR friends. I can no longer remember what happened with the police at the beginning of the trip.

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Tuscany/Italy 1988. We had a bit of trouble with the OD, but it was only the ground connection that had come loose.

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Tuscany 1988

On the way home to Germany, there were three of us in the TR. In Tuscany, one of our group members unfortunately had a small accident with his TR5, which meant he was no longer drivable. But his co-driver was determined to continue driving the TRs. During the day in our TR3, in the evening when it got cooler in a TR4A with the hood down. See Video.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Posted

Good to see the car has a long history of proper use. We love the Alps as well, but it’s a really long drive to get there…… so we don’t manage it every year…..

Pretty sure you,d get in plenty of trouble for “3 in a 3” these days!

  • Haha 1
Posted

...and it continues

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The highlight of 1988 was our trip to Scotland, where we got married.

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The first of many visits to Darryl Uprichard, owner of Racetorations, in Gainsborough.

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Corsica, France 1989

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Another trip to Racetorations 1989 with a test drive in 600BPC

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Italy 1990

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Racing on the circuit Colmar Berg / Luxembourg 1991

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On the Way to Venice, 1991

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And it always went back to England, this time to Shepton Mallet, 1992

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Italy again, this time Modena. 1992

 

  • Like 4
Posted

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At the end of 1992, the original engine was rebuilt. I had bought enough spare parts from Darryl 😊

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In 1993 my son Colin was born and from then on we travelled less. But we needed a second car to continue driving Triumphs to local meetings.

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In 1997 and 1998, in January/February, I drove the Histo Monte Carlo with my brother. Open, of course.

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1999 - Now we have two kids. The fleet had to be expanded a bit. My wife used the Spiti as her everyday car for 2 years. Instead of the passenger seat, I installed a Maxi Cosi for our son. Later he was strapped into the "back seat" with a lap belt and the daughter in the Maxi Cosi. It was good that the "big car" was finally purchased - the Mini!

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2011 - Time passes so quickly, my son Colin has grown up to be a mechanic and is already helping me a lot.

  • Like 1
Posted

Now we are at

The second restoration in 2023

The father and son project

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At the end of May 2023 we had our first accident with the TR. Luckily it was just a dent in the bodywork and not that big either. The frame was not damaged at all. The other car was an Audi A5 and it didn't look good either.

After 38 years of driving in the summer heat, in the winter in snow and ice, on gravel roads, etc. ... the bodywork was no longer in the best condition. There were small cracks in the paint here and there and the color had faded in places and I had known for a long time that the bodywork needed a new coat of paint. But I also knew that it would be a lot of work and very expensive, so I had no desire to tackle it.

Now the opportunity was there and we got started.

  • Like 3
Posted

Such an accident is of course always very annoying, but the first inspecition at least did not reveal a catastrophe. It remained just a sheet metal damage, here is the first line-up:

• Front Apron ruined and not salvageable

• The grille also scrap

• Headlight broken (unfortunately the good Lucas - no longer available)

• Lamp rim broken

• TR3 emblem bent

• Fender dented but salvageable

• Inner fender ditto

• Oil cooler broken

 • Water radiator bent and leaking

• Kenlowe fan broken

• Hella fog light broken

 

 

The expert prepared a damage report = economic total loss!!!

That surprised me and even more so the amount of damage determined: estimated repair costs around 32,000€.

For us, however, the question of not repairing the TR never arose, especially since the frame was not damaged. Since our TR has now become a generational car and son Colin has been tinkering with it for years - and drives it himself - the project is being carried out by both of us, especially because he has an excellent background and network.

We want to build the car the way we have been wanting it for a long time. We were able to take our time with the planning, especially since not much has happened in terms of insurance. The lawsuit is ongoing.

The most important part for reconstruction was already purchased one day after the accident. Colin was able to buy a used original front apron in very good condition for little money in the classifieds. Unfortunately, we only realised months later that this was not so good.

We had the radiator refurbished in a specialist workshop, and a high-performance mesh was fitted.

The bonnet had hardly any damage, but we wanted always Louvers which are embossed in a specialized company.

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The TR is now in the workshop (it's shortly before Christmas 2023) and the body fitter is starting

the work.

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As the whole bodywork is being checked or reworked, let's take a look at the rear. It looks OK so far.

 

We thought the same about the scuttle panel.

A few small cracks had formed in the paint over the decades and these now had to be addressed.

We noticed that quite a lot of filler had been applied in various places. That was from the Americans. My painter, who painted the TR in 1986, didn't bother with it either (it has held up until now).

After removing the paint and filler, this was what came to light:

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And not only on the right side it looked like this, but also on the left side.

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  • Like 1
Posted

What did I write above: “The rear looks pretty good”. We suspected there was a lot of filler on the right rear, which unfortunately turned out to be true after removing the paint. It must have taken a good hit on the back.

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We have now brought our masterpiece home from the workshop (due to space and time) and we are continuing step by step. Always looking for surprises.

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The cavities were opened, blasted, treated against rust and closed again.

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Improvised sand blasting cabin.

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And pounds of Bondo.

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It takes dozens of hours, to get the rear end back into shape. Very frustrating at times and then happy again when I see the result.

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All special tools were procured or borrowed to achieve the best possible result. Here is a spotter in action.

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Do you know how expensive bodywork tin is these days?

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My motorbike lift has been converted into a wonderful TR lift

  • Like 4
Posted

Ah….. American bondo sculptors….. who are absolutely no good at panel beating…….. To be fair, I’m reminded of very similar efforts and work standards inflicted on my GT6…. By a UK “artisan”. Your pics are giving me flashbacks! That right rear corner reminds me of the rear of my GT6…. So much harder to repair properly due to the damage inflicted by the original bodger. 
 

Still, I guess we have to be grateful that their repair, however poor, has carried the car through to this point where it can be done right…. 
 

Some good, thorough work happening here.   Insurance quoted repair cost is completely mad - I’m sure they weren’t allowing for a full restoration! On the basis of the one accident pic I suspect a good body man could have saved that front panel - assuming it didn’t have a previous repair like the others you show!!

  • Haha 1
Posted
17 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

Insurance quoted repair cost is completely mad - I’m sure they weren’t allowing for a full restoration! On the basis of the one accident pic I suspect a good body man could have saved that front panel - assuming it didn’t have a previous repair like the others you show!!

That was the cost of the damage only. The other 90% for the restoration is on me. 🤣
In hindsight, it would probably have been easier to repair the damaged front panel.

Posted

As this (restoration) project is so time-consuming, we are gradually coming up with new ideas. We want the TR to be pretty ‘clean’ on the outside. For example, we have removed the door handles and made TR3 doors out of them.

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After the rear panel was finished after what felt like an infinitely long time was completed, the rear wings was adapted.

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The next disaster is on the horizon. The front apron, which was purchased immediately after the accident and was deemed to look good, does not fit. The lower part of the apron was probably reattached once, but now its curves don't match the fenders at all. After some thought and trial and error, three masks became one. Dozens of hours passed by. It is adjusted here, tinned there, sanded down there, putty applied there and sanded down again. There is no end to it.

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Fitting the radiator grille. I thought I'd buy a new one and just put it in. Far from it, it takes a few hours again to make it fit perfectly

So that my friend, who is a master coachbuilder, can work in peace, I devote myself to other important things. The stainless steel tank, bought around 1990, showed a problem after just 2 or 3 years. A baffle plate inside the tank had come loose and had been rattling around happily in the tank ever since. This had always been annoying and I was always looking for solutions to eliminate the problem. But the only thing I could think of was to cut open the tank. Of course, insiders know that this work is not entirely without danger. That's why I've held back so far.

 Now the opportunity had come! The tank had been open for months and there shouldn't really be anything left to explode. So, I took a deep breath, used the angle grinder and cut open the side section. I'm still writing here, so it went well.

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I have now perforated the plate, so that the pressure is no longer so great when cornering at speed, and welded it again.

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A new threaded weld-in sleeve for the petrol hose was also welded in. Then the side cover was put back on and re-welded.

A special in-house construction for leak testing was applied then pressurised. 0.3 bar is prescribed for tank tests. That doesn't sound like much, but with that volume you quickly get a queasy feeling. You think it's already blowing its cheeks open (is that English?). Checked with leak spray, everything ok!

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As the emblem was bent due to the accident, I bought a replacement. There's a huge choice, from €80 to €400, and nobody knows what differences there are. I chose one from an English dealer and when I went to try it out, I realised that it was only suitable as a paperweight. The original (from the 80s) is made of brass, curved and follows the shape of the front apron. The 2023 version is cast and straight, not to mention the incorrect spacing of the two mounting pins. I then got a matching new emblem from a Triumph club mate.

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The front mask is finished. The end is approaching. It continues at the front right with the last fender, and then once again over the scuttle panel.

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Please mill once - a favourite activity of the junior (great when you have access to such specialists).

 

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Customise, drawing, drilling, the leather straps are almost ready for installation.

  • Like 1
Posted
3 hours ago, SpeedTR3 said:

Dozens of hours passed by. It is adjusted here, tinned there, sanded down there, putty applied there and sanded down again. There is no end to it.

That’s bodywork. I’ve become reasonably good at it at an amateur level but as a professional I would starve - too slow!!

3 hours ago, SpeedTR3 said:

0.3 bar is prescribed for tank tests. That doesn't sound like much, but with that volume you quickly get a queasy feeling. You think it's already blowing its cheeks open

Yeah…. My GT6 tank is a bit fatter than it should be as we used a bit too much pressure……

 

3 hours ago, SpeedTR3 said:

Please mill once - a favourite activity of the junior (great when you have access to such specialists).

I’m the main mill operator in this outfit, but young ‘un has his uses. He’s the better metal basher, and also can do CAD & 3D printing. 
 

Your car is coming on well. Paint soon (ish)

Posted

I am now ready to take off the bodywork. Before that, I screwed in a stiffener and used it to lift the body.

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With the help of a motor crane, it works very well.

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Until the bodywork is finished, the chassis with engine/gearbox can wait in the other garage for further disassembly.

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In the meantime, we are always working on other projects for the TR.

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This will be a housing for additional instruments, which will be placed on the gearbox cover.
First in 3D print to check if it fits.

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Here is the sheet metal processing to then have the sheets lasered with the file.

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The sheets are then TIG welded.

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As you can see here when fitting the dashboard, it won't be like an original TR3.

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Here is the final result, powder-coated.

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  • Like 3
Posted

In February 2023, we travelled to Stoneleigh for TR Spares Day, more for pleasure than because we bought a lot.

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We also made a detour to Coventry and then to Racetorations.

 

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Once home, there was a lot to unpack.

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Now it's time to continue with the bodywork.

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Finish the floor. Fortunately hardly any rust through.

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Create space for the carb stacks.

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The new Tilton dual-circuit braking system also needs more space.

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Seal everything...

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... and then placed on the mobile frame to make it easier for the painter.

 

  • Like 1

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