I've picked up Three OD trannys over the past 3 years. Here's how I found
each.
The first one was advertised for sale as a spare part along with a 60 TR3A .
I phoned the owner and offered to buy the tranny, he said no he wanted to
keep his package together as he thought it would help him sell the car.
(Turned out he used to own a used car lot). I mentioned the car to a friend
who had been casually looking for an AH BN7 . We had just returned from
driving my TR3 the 1,500 mile or so to Sacramento Ca. and back for the
Triumphest meet and he was impressed with the speed, reliability and yes even
comfort of a TR3 so he wanted to take a look. The car was in nice shape, two
owner car asking $6,000. He got the car and I got the spare parts, all TR4 by
the way, complete engine, diff. box of odds and ends, and the TR4 OD tranny
and I put $1,000 into the deal. This tranny now resides in TS45738L"O" after
a $500 rebuild. Works great.
The second came out of the Unser family's old junkyard in Albuquerque. There
is not too much left there I guess, but an ex-Truimph mechanic who rebuilt
that first tranny for me is selling off whatver can be sold. He came up with
another TR4 OD tranny which had been laying about the junkyard for ??? years.
It would not turn at all but lots of WD 40 to the front bearing has released
the corrosion. There is a little damage to the case on this one, but the
gears and shafts are not rusted. I have not opened the OD unit but I am
confident that it requires rebuilding. I paid $50 for this tranny. I plan
to rebuild this one and put it into TS 7280L my project TR 2, along with the
now rebuilt TR4 engine I obtained in the previous operation.
The third tranny came in an exchange for a TR 4 Hood. A friend who runs a
small body shop contacted me for help in finding a hood for an early, small
bubble, TR 4 he had in his shop. He had done some work for me and knew that I
had a TR4 with 'Tarp Disease' . It is a 64 car with the larger bubble and
his customer wanted to keep the car original since it is an ex SCCA car still
in the original kit so he asked me to help find the correct item. I located
one for him but the cost put him off. He then offered to buy the hood off my
64 which I did not want to sell since the car 'was' complete and in solid
restorable condition. The owner had mentioned that he had a "spare" OD
tranny and I offered a trade, my hood for his tranny, which he took. This
is a TR 3 box, shafts and gears out, OD not opened. This tranny will most
likely be rebuilt and go into the 60 TR3 bought by my friend when I got the
first tranny!
I've been offered or located a variety of parts just by being out talking to
car people at shows, club meetings, whatever and by having my TR3 out driving
around. I was bringing my son home from a soccer game in the TR3 and a guy
on a motorcycle stopped me and offered me several boxes of FREE TR parts he
had left over from a car he used to own. Included an early bullnose starter,
which at that time I needed !
I suggest you spread the word through all the car people you know. If you
don't have a local TR or British club look for a more general club. Car
people who are NOT LBC car people are just as willing to spread the word and
usually will come up with stuff owned by people who 'don't know what they
have' . Sometimes these people don't want to take the time to check out
current values so they will take a few bucks just to get it out of the garage
so you might get a better price.
I have also seen 'rebuilt' OD trannys advertised in Hemmings on and off over
the past couple of years for up to $1,200 which is a way to go if you have
the gold and the desire. If you have the time and inclination to develop and
keep contacts with a wide vareity of car people, not just LBCs, the part you
search for will probably come your way.
Good Luck
Bob Paul
Corrales NM
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