Part One: "The shape of things to come"
---------------------------------------
I don't remember being interested in cars until I saw the TR7. I instantly
loved it - and I have ever since. I bought and assembled countless airplane
models, but only ever a single car. The planes are long gone, but the little
yellow Monogram TR7 sits to this day on my desk at home.
Over the years, the TR7 (and it's engine) established itself a poor reputation,
but I knew that I had to have one. Every time I have seen one for the last
19 years, (holy cow, has it been that long since 1975??) I renewed the desire.
Now, big brother to the TR7 was the mythical TR8. I had never even seen one
until a sports car show a couple of years ago, but knew it only from articles
in car magazines from '80-'81, in the Triumph reprint books I had gotten when
I wanted to read up on my Spitfire. The TR8 was everything the TR7 was, but
was more too, with the nasty 2 litre four cylinder tossed for the sweet
little Buick-Rover 3.5 litre V8. Of course, being much less common, I would
have loved one, but figured that I would still be happy with a seven.
Part Two: "A fool and his money"
--------------------------------
So there I was, picking up a speedometer cable for my Spitfire, when the
proprieter of the shop (Miniman, in Stittsville, Ontario) offered to sell
me another Spitfire.
"No", I said flippantly, "I don't need another Spit, but I'd like a TR8."
"Really?", said he, "I've got one coming in next week."
ARGH! I didn't need to know that.
"Ah well", I protested, "I couldn't afford an eight anyway."
Then he told me the story.
The car had apparently been bought new in 1980, driven for a little while,
parked in an underground parking lot after a minor accident and not touched
since. Not stored, but just parked. For fourteen years. Cosmetically
awful. Vandalism. Alloy wheels stolen. Concrete dust and pipe drips on
the paint. About 300 (!) miles on it.
Intrigued, I told him to give me a call when it came in. I told my wife
that I might have just bought a very expensive speedometer cable...
A little later, the call came, so off I went.
The car was absolutely filthy. Front right quarter glass gone, with broken
glass all over the inside. Radio gone, knobs gone, door handles gone,
various little interior bits missing. Mirrors gone, luggage rack gone,
large areas of messed up paint all over the front end. They had some TR7
wheels on to get it there, so the front wheels were locked up from
interference with the calipers.
Of course, I made an offer (a couple of offers, actually) and bought it.
I spent most of a Saturday cleaning it, to see what I has gotten myself
into. After a lot of elbow grease, the interior is practically new.
The hood is in very good shape. The stuff on the front end seems to be
more hard water/concrete dust than anything else. Careful work with
dental pick and razor blade reveals lovely platinum paint beneath. (Some
minor discolouration in areas, but polishing compound should fix that)
Although the engine hasn't been run in 14 years, it's all there and seems
to be in a nice state of preservation. Lots of oil, still clear and
new-oil smelling. Distributor rotor and plug wires gone. Engine dirty,
but 'seems' fine. A little surface rust under the bonnet from drips
through the vent holes. Battery box (there was a box, wasn't there?) gone
from the boot, and the positive lead snipped off. After a good cleaning
with baking soda, most of the apparent corrosion around the battery tray
was gone. (They didn't steal the battery quite soon enough!)
When the wheels were stolen, it was left on the ground, so there are a
few scuffs and some surface rust on a few small areas on the underside,
but other than that, the floors and undersides are practically new.
(Oh yeah, the odometer reads 367 kilometers, but the original owner said
that an aborted hotwire attempt caused the odo to stop working, and he
figured there was actually about 500 kilometers on it. I haven't looked
closely for any damage)
With a little work, I think I will have one of the newest, original
1980 TR8's on the road. :-)
So, after this long-winded brag about "the one that didn't get away", I need
some information:
1) Whats the best way to breathe life into a 14-year idle, known-to-be-not
seized engine? I already plan on doing a complete fluid replacement.
2) Is there still a TR8 mailing list? How do I sign up? Is there an archive?
3) What should I do for alloy wheels?
I welcome comments or advice!
*****************************************************************************
Scott Miller, in the bowels of Bell-Northern Research
.signature USES DISCLAIMER Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
smiller@bnr.ca (For personal email: aa438@freenet.carleton.ca)
*****************************************************************************
|