Michael Ferguson wrote:
>
>
> Good, solid body/frame. Some surface rust on floor pans and minor bondo
> in a few spots (lower wings). Otherwise, no rust anywhere! Fiberglas
> front apron, but rest is all steel and he has a somewhat rough, but
> restorable steel front apron as part of the deal. Definitely needs
> paint. Some cracking and quite a bit of fading on bonnet and boot lid.
> Needs stripped inside and out and resprayed. Looks good from a distance,
> but...
Just some patience needed here.
>
> Compression is between 150-155 on all four cylinders. Says he has
> receipts for engine rebuild, but I haven't seen 'em. Oil pressure very
> good as well. Started easily and ran very well during my 45 minute
> drive. (HINT: Either wear a jacket or put the hood and side screens on
> when it's 40 degrees outside - a sweatshirt is NOT enough! Don't ask me
> how I know this. 8^)
>
If the compression and oil pressure is good, and it ran well for 45
minutes, I'd assume the engine is in good shape, regardless of wheter
it's been rebuilt.
> Some slop in the steering - maybe 1/2" steering wheel movement with no
> wheel movement. At about 40MPH, there's noticeable shimmy / cowl shake.
> Ok at lower or higher speeds. Pulls to the right when braking. One new
> brake caliper.
>
Front end work, wheel balancing, maybe out of round tires. brake rebuilt
all around. More work, some parts, more patience.
> Engine idles a bit high. Adjusted throttle linkage set screw down to
> 1000 or so, but after running awhile, RPMs back up to 12-1500. Some
> black exhaust and black, powdery looking spark plugs. Deal includes a
> Unisyn. Sounds like I'll need one!
>
carb throttle shaft bushes may be worn, adjusting the mixture to get a
decent idle will result in a rich mixture at higher rpms. This also
makes the car idle fast.
> Decent condition interior, but it's a light gray vinyl w/ gray carpet.
> Really would rather black, but owner doesn't seem to care about
> originality (or that I DO care). Top is brand new, but also gray. Side
> screens are original in VG condition, but they've been colored gray.
> Tonneau is good (and BLACK). By the way, the car is painted burgandy.
>
I've found that the original wool carpets don't wear as well as the
cheaper nylon ones. you can always replace them at your leisure.
> All instruments work. Owner says it has a new clutch - again no
> receipts, but it did seem smooth.
>
Instruments working is good, clutch is nice too, but at some point
you'll replace it anyway, so I wouldn't consider how new it is to be
very important in the scheme of things.
> I didn't notice it, but owner told me the non-overdrive TR4 transmission
> sometimes slips out of second gear. Why?
>
This is not good. Transmission work needed.
>
> Chrome wire wheels in good condition (slight surface rust in hub area),
> new stainless exhaust, new wire harness (installed), no tools (jack,
> crank, etc.). Original horns replaced by louder ones. Horn button under
> dash - steering hub button doesn't work, but turn signals do.
>
Control head can be rebuilt, and the horn button is the easiest part.
Louder horns? I haven't heard anything louder than Lucas Windtone horns
in the last 20 years. Original horns are tough to come by though.
>
> What do you think the car is worth? And how much more do you think it
> would cost to make it a nice, presentable, reasonably reliable (huh?)
> car? I'd really appreciate your collective wisdom. Thank you!!
>
You're going to spend a couple thousand just on bodywork and paint.
Figure another $2K on transmission, front end and carb work, plus some
incidentals. Minimum $4K spent, and this is if you do most of it
yourself.
What's the car worth? Don't ask me, I spent $2K on a rusted lump. It did
drive well though (and still does now that it's not a rusted lump).
Depends on how you feel about the car. If you drove it for 45 minutes
though, I'll wager you're already attached to it. :-)
--
George Richardson
The Wyvern - '57 TR3, TS15559L - Now on the road!
http://www.merlingroupinc.com/tr3.htm
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