It fells good to be working away again out here! I haven't been working on
my TR's for quite some time, what with building the new garage and
remodeling the basement, but have begun the restoration of a nice '74 TR6
for future sale.
It's a Southern car that had an accident early in it's life. The frame was
repaired but has dents from the frame machine, so I'm transferring the body
to a nicer frame that's been blasted, reinforced and painted in chassis
black. The car is very rust free except for a few little spots in the floors
from having foam backed carpet under the seat tracks holding moisture after
the DPO used latex paint on the floorboards for some unknown reason. My MIG
and I will fix that little problem with a few patches once the body is in
the air. The floors are too solid to warrant replacing them, and the rockers
are perfect, as are the forward deck arms and trunk. I plan to retrofit
some 73 bumpers on it and have a very nice New Tan interior to install. The
car is French Blue now, but I plan to change color to either Mallard,
Pimento, or White. I've been stripping everything from the body the last few
days to do a complete color change, in and out.
When the car was damaged, it was front clipped, and although a pretty decent
job was done fitting all the new parts, the prep was shoddy and the paint is
flaking off from the inner fenders and the back of the hood. Since that
needs painted, I figure I may as well do the whole thing right and get rid
of the French blue (not my favorite color) I am going to pitch all the front
suspension parts and using my used stock of parts to ensure no bent bits are
left from the old accident
Once I'm finished a person will be hard pressed to tell that the car was
ever damaged. I will be refreshing the engine and carbs, replacing
u-joints, installing a rebuilt trans with new clutch, new top,
weatherstripping, tires, relacing all bearings and bushings, front shocks,
dash, crashpads and all trim panels. The fuel tank will be removed and
cleaned and all new hydraulic parts installed. I will be posting photos of
the car's restoration on my website for viewing.
If anyone on the list knows someone who might be interested in purchasing a
really nice driver restoration, have them contact me. If they get with me
soon enough, they could choose which color they want, and also spec out any
optional things they might desire during the build, such as luggage rack or
aftermarket wheels. Projected completion is in October since I work full
time. I used to have a restoration business and have all the tools and
experience to do a first class job. References and pictures of my past work
are available.
Thanks, Jim
|