The second Restoration of my TR3A

[Speedy]

Hi, I´m Rainer from Germany and I've been reading here for years and I was also a member of the TR Register UK for a few years in the 90s.

As I am reporting on the current restoration of my TR3A in another forum, I would like to do the same here.

There are a lot of changes made during the restoration and it's probably not for purists, but it's certainly interesting for those with a technical interest. I have owned the TR3A for almost 40 years and would like to give you an outline of this period up to the present day.

Unfortunately I don't know how long I can present this here, my restoration will take at least another six months, as the MT wants to restrict access to the forum for non-members. Hopefully the MT will change its mind.

Let's get started.

 

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.

Arrived at home

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.

 

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.

Then it became clear that we wouldn't have any fun with it in the future and that the TR would have to be completely dismantled and restored.

 

[TwinCamJohn]

Welcome to the forum.

Looking forward to hearing your story.

[harlequin]

Hi and welcome 

This sounds like the start of a great article, looking forward to hearing more

George 

Edited December 25, 2024 by harlequin

[Speedy]

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.

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 and of course all bearings, brakes and steering have been overhauled or checked. When I bought the car I had already replaced the gearbox with a sedan gearbox with J-overdrive.

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

 

Edited December 25, 2024 by Speedy

[TwinCamJohn]

Bravo, and in such a small garage!

[John Morrison]

Welcome Rainer.

looking forward to hearing much more about your TR and its rebuild 

John

[Speedy]

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.

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

[roy53]

If the car is still in one piece I would solve your problems now regarding running Fuel/Ignition as you don’t want to be doing that work on a nicely painted fresh car 

Roy

[Speedy]

32 minutes ago, roy53 said:

If the car is still in one piece I would solve your problems now regarding running Fuel/Ignition as you don’t want to be doing that work on a nicely painted fresh car 

Roy

That was in 1986 and the problems were already solved during the first restoration. But let me surprise you, I'll show you a few more photos from the last 40 years and then go into the second restoration that is now in progress.

[Speedy]

Travel with the TR

Before the season 1987 could really start, there was a new front apron 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.

 

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

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.

 

 

 

[harrytr5]

What a great story and keep us in the loop.

The video with the three of you is a joyful scene

Well done.

Regards Harry

[Speedy]

...and it continues

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

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

Corsica, France 1989

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

Italy 1990

Racing on the circuit Colmar Berg / Luxembourg 1991

On the Way to Venice, 1991

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

Italy again, this time Modena. 1992

[Speedy]

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

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.

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

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!

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

[RogerH]

Completely mad and crackers  -  well done.

 

Roger

[Z320]

Hi Rainer,

great to find you here, didn’t we talk about the interest on your TR for this forum during the  last annual general club meeting?

Also great to read your report at the TR IG club magazin, yesterday I read again the last one.

The members here can be excited for more.

Sure you remember, I‘m very interested in testing your new uprated water pump with my heat meter fitted!

Tschüss, Marco

[Richardtr3a]

Very interesting but how do you fit a meter to the water pump ?

Thanks Richard & B

[Z320]

In the return pipe, we better let this thread being Rainer‘s thread

Edited December 27, 2024 by Z320

[John Morrison]

The stuff of TR legends, 

great stories and pictures.

Thank you for bringing them here.

John.

[Speedy]

Thanks for your comments, but now it's time to start the real adventure.

 

The second restoration in 2023

The father and son project

At the end of May 2022 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.

Edited January 6 by Speedy

[Speedy]

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.

The TR is now in the workshop (it's shortly before Christmas 2022) and the body fitter is starting the work.

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:

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

That looks better now.

Edited January 6 by Speedy

[BlueTR3A-5EKT]

You got me thinking about headlamps.    Would you consider Hella?  They are flat faced like your Lucas unit and probably just as good in light projection?

For a Lucas unit I would start by asking around the MG community as that type of lamp design was standard accessory for the MGB world.

 

[Hamish]

That is some great panel bashing 

[Speedy]

1 hour ago, BlueTR3A-5EKT said:

You got me thinking about headlamps.    Would you consider Hella?  They are flat faced like your Lucas unit and probably just as good in light projection?

For a Lucas unit I would start by asking around the MG community as that type of lamp design was standard accessory for the MGB world.

 

Thanks for the tips. But I've now got Tripot headlamps - it's all a bit specialised 

[Speedy]

1 hour ago, Hamish said:

That is some great panel bashing 

Then I can show you much more 

[Speedy]

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.

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.

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

Improvised sand blasting cabin.

And pounds of american Bondo.

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.

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

Do you know how expensive bodywork tin is these days?

My motorbike lift has been converted into a wonderful TR lift