The rivrts through the back of the hood were for securing the center
portion of the hood (bonnet for you guys accross the pond) to the
pressed steel brace below. Since the hood panel is single thickness
any spotwelding would have distorted or marred it. The rivets are
probably now loose due to 40+ years of cowl shake and vibration. The
rivets being of a soft material have probably stretched some and worn
about the center. They were definitly painted at the factory as part
of the assembly and if they are loose are noe longer performing their
assigned duties. If you are doing a re-paint you might want to replace
them, but find the appropriate size replacements first!!
As for the rest of the car, I think every small mouth 3 is different
in some way. My '57 (TS19514L) has a four light rear panel with a
chrome center light. A good friends car was earlier (around TS16000)
and his had the four lamp rear with the center stop lamp to boot!
Looked like christmas from the rear! The best source I know for the
what changed when info is Bill Piggott's book "Original Triumph TR",
a good investment.
Cheers
Kurt Oblinger - Poster child for the So. Cal. Shipwright's Disease
Association
'54 TR2 '57 TR3 '54 Swallow Doretti '62 Vitesse Convt '80 TR7 Convt
'64 Mini-Cooper S '72 Norton Commando '55 Chevy B.A. Wagon AAAACK!!!
"Look hon, a cheap TR project car!"
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: TR3 Hood Rivets - Again
Author: pwiegman@ix.netcom.com (Paul Wiegman) at smtpgate
Date: 08/23/95 08:39 AM
Thanks for several suggestions. No, they don't replace the windscreen
washer outlets. The car has those and they are back nearer the
windscreen.
These rivets pass through the hood and through the back edge of the
brace which runs across the back part of the hood. However, they are
not secured to either the hood or the bracket so they don't serve to
stiffen the bracket. They are rounded at the bottom a little so they
don't come out, but they are loose, can be turned, and can be moved up
and down a slight amount. The holes are clean so it doesn't look as if
a previous owner added these for some reason - they seem to be
come-from-the-factory.
This is an odd car in several ways. The comm # is TS14551L, but it has
the crome covered light above the plate in the back, and has turn
signal lights to either side of the plate. The holes for the turn
signel lights are cleanly drilled, but there is no raised portion of
the back panel like is found on a TR3A.
Maybe this is a special factory one-off built for the king of where
ever and thus worth several hundred thousand :) Any takers ?
Paul g. Wiegman
TR3 (TS14551L)
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