When I restored my TR3B I bought 4 new fenders (at around a grand apiece)
and had to cut, weld and fill them. Maybe the car was the wrong shape, but
they just would not fit. For my latest restoration ('57 small-mouth), I
decided to keep the original fenders and accept a lot of bodywork time and a
liberal amount of bondo.
TR3 doglegs are the worst - I ended up returning several to the usual
suppliers here and sourcing alloy ones from the UK.
Let me know when you start making your own panels......
Andrew Uprichard
-----Original Message-----
From: triumphs-bounces@autox.team.net
[mailto:triumphs-bounces@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Brian Induni
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 2:59 PM
To: triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [TR] what is the most stressful thing to do on a Triumph?
Most frustrating thing for me on ANY car I restore is crappy replacement
body panels! I haven't found one source yet that can supply decent (I didn't
say perfect did I?) panels that I don't have to slice, dice, and reshape.
Case in point - I ordered a rear valance for my '63 MGB from Rimmer (figured
it was close enough to the source to get it right) and ended up having to
totally reshape it to get the correct curve in it. No, it wasn't just a
little off - the curvature of the panel was so far off that didn't allow the
bumper to fit and I could stick my hand in the gap between the boot lid and
the edge. Dog legs, fender repair panels, and so on - all the same crappy
work.
Seems to make sense to buy a shrinker / stretcher and make my own panels.
Stepping off the box now...
Brian
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