In message <9506011208.AA03829@ig1.att.att.com> G A Oliver writes:
> First, a BIG THANK YOU to all the folks that responded to my plea for help
> yesterday. The advice was great.
>
> I saw the car last night and it was not as respresented, though probably what
>
> most of you anticipated for $400. I would describe it as mostly complete,
> but
> pretty rough.
I would like to offer the opinion of someone who is in the assembly phase of a
TR3A. From the discription below this car seems to be an excellent candidate
for restoration and WELL worth the $400 asking price. My car was MUCH worse if
the discription is anywhere near accurate.
>
> I told the owner, Warren Bigos, a decent guy (despite his lack of candor
> about
> the car) that while I was not interested, I would post it here, if he wanted,
>
> and he was quite happy with that. He does not have net access, so if you are
>
> interested please contact him by phone (609) 683-4470.
>
> The CAR
>
> It appears to be a TR3A, probably a 1961, the number on the maker's plate is
> TS74788L.
Without any documentation to refer to and believing my car, TS75519L was built
in June 1991, I would guestimate the car was built in April or May of '91.
> The worst problem appeared to be a fair amount of rust in the sills that
> continues into the front and rear fenders.
I have had the inner and outer sills replaced on my TR3. New sill parts are
available through the Roadster Factory. A competent body shop an replace the
inner and outer sills. Its not a big deal. It was in my case since it was
later discovered the body person was having some problems with drugs and made a
trial fit of my doors without the hinges & ended up with door openings 1/4 inch
too short. The body shop made good on it for no additional cost. I had inner &
outer sills and both floors replaced for $500 + parts. I think I got by
cheaply.
> It looked like the front fenders
> were rusted behined the wheel, between the wheel opening and the door post,
Triumph never painted behind the splash shield on the front wings. The rear of
the front wings is almost always rusted out on cars that were not kept dry and
maintained. Both The Roadster Factory and Moss have repair panels. Moss's is
cheaper. Once again, an easy repair for a competent body shop.
> and the rear fenders appeared to have rust in front of the rear wheel,
This can be the back of the inner sills. It was in mine. Fixed with
replacement of the sills.
> It was a little hard to tell, but the car appeared to have a
> little of a sway back with the seam behind the driver's door being smaller at
> the top than the bottom.
If the doors fit, its fine. Remember the car was cheaply made and parts did not
always fit perfectly. The frame is the key & it is incredably strong.
> (Could the frame be rusted that badly?)
SOunds like that car has less than half the rust mine had.
> The bottom of the car appeared very rusty from the side,
Probably mostly surface rust. You would get the bottom of the body steam
cleaned, sand blasted, put on a primer, sealer & undercoat it The sand blasting
will eliminate the surface rust and any resulting pinholes can be welded sut
quickly & easily.
but when I looked under the
> front, the front cross member looked reasonably clean.
The British external lubercation systenm has saved many a frame & underbody
>
> The other most apparent problem is that the nose has been tapped and the
> grill
> is pushed in a bit and bent and the front bumper is twisted and just hanging
> on the car.
Grills and front bumpers are easy to come by & cheap for the 3A. I ended up
replacing mine because they were not quite perfect. I still have the front
bumper sitting about, I was thinking of giving it away when I finished my 3.
Front valances are hard to come by & expensive. The underpart is the easiest &
cheapest to repair.
> Finally, there appears to be some rust around some of the seams
> in the trunk,
I wish. mine was mostly cheescake holes and major moon craters. I had to have
sections cut out and replaced by new metal, pin holes welded up and mooncraters
filled. Currently it has zero rust & looks new. Rust in the seams will be gone
with a pass of the sand blaster.
> The interior and top are almost nonexistant, though the dash appears
> complete,
Couldn't ask for better. The insturment panel parts & insturments are hard to
come by, and you would want to replace the interior anyway if you are doing a
restoration. Both Moss and the Roadster Factory carry complete interior kits
for a reasonable price. Someone saved the future owner work & trash by
stripping the interior.
> the steering wheel and (I believe) hand brake are there as are the pedals and
>
> shift, and he has the frame for the top.
These can be hard to find parts. So far it looks like the hard to find parts
are there and easily replacable parts are missing or damaged.
> The floor did not look like it was
> rusted, though
Amazing. Mine didn't have enough solid metal to bolt the seats to. I drove it
with the seats just sitting in place. I replaced them with new steel floors from
the Roadster Factory.
> I assume there was some, but there was a round hole, about
> three inches in diameter directly in front of the driver's seat. It did not
> look like rust, I looked like a punch out or something.
That's the opening for the jack. It is normally covered by a rubber plug. There
is one on each side.
>
> The windshield is broken, safety glass still in the frame, the frame itself
> looks OK, but not completely attached to the car, it's kind of loose.
I purchased a new widscreen to replace mine when it cracked aboout 6 or 7 years
ago, I got it through my local automotive glass place for about $100. The
frame is the hard to find stuff. The frame is held to the body by 4 bolts. and
it is never real tight.
>
> The engine compartment looked OK. I did not see any rust at the top of the
> front fenders and they appeared solid. He said the engine doesn't turn, so I
>
> didn't even try.
So, there is an engine rebuild. Once again no big deal. Parts are readilly
available from many sources.
> There appears to be some type of a battery box liner glued
> into the battery box, so I assume that it is rusted underneath.
They almost always are. The Roadster Factory sells a new replacement box. Cut
out the old one and weld in the replacement. Once again no big deal and one
that almost everyone restoring a 3 ends up doing. Most people install an AMCO
gray plastic liner that will fit into the battery box & protect it from the
battery.
The liner
> was
> full of eaten acorns, so I it is/has been home to a squirrel. One of the
> chrome headlight rings, twisted, was also in the battery box. He also said
> the car did not have the original radiator and, therefore, no hole for the
> crank. (Is this right? Does a Triumph radiator have a hole for the crank to
>
> pass through?)
Yep. It also blocks the center core rods. I replaced mine with a new core
without the hole for better cooling. Headlamp rims are available and not
expensive. Once again, mine were not in perfect condition so I replaced them.
Another after restoration give away. This car has the easily obtainable late
version.
>
> If you're still with me, we've hit the bottom, the rest is good, or at least
> better, news. The car is painted something like MR2 yellow and while the
> paint is cracked and chipped everywhere, there does not appear to be any rust
Primrose yellow was a factory colour. If its that colour under the dash or
under the front valance, its probably the factory colour. I think its a nice
colour and would stand out in a field of signal red, powder blue, and spa white
TR3s.
>
> outside of the areas I mentioned previously. Are the bodies aluminum?
Steel
Most
> of the body panels appear to have small dents, etc, but no major damage with
> the possible exception of pan below the front grill.
>
> While most of the car is there, small things, like door handles, some of the
> letters in Triumph, etc. are missing.
I replaced my door handles and letters because mine weren't in perfect new
apperance. These are cheap parts.
The car has wire wheels, painted
> silver
> (I think) with chrome knock-offs. I don't know if there is a fifth wheel for
>
> the spare. There is also a second engine and a couple of buckets, boxes,
> etc.
> of small spare(?) parts.
>
> The car is in Ridgewood NJ, close to Route 17, about 8 miles south of the
> NY/NJ border. Mr. Bigos works in Princeton and it is his work number that is
>
> listed above.
>
> Over the phone he told me he wanted $350-400 for the car.
>
> If your interested, the car is clearly good for parts,
NO NO NO!!!!! This is a very restorable example that is dirt cheap becvause it
looks bad. This is a deal for anyone who would want to do a complete
restoration of a TR3. I wish mine were in as good condition when i started.
TeriAnn Wakeman .sig closed for remodeling
twakeman@apple.com
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