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| Archives |
January 2010
OK... with some major financial priorites now cleared (it only took a little under three years, but we
now have no liabilities outside of a mortgage), I'm back off and running on the Triumph!
Yesterday I rented a trailer, drove over to my father in-laws shop (Bigger Hammer Racing), loaded-up all the body components and drove everything over to Metal Rehab for
cleaning and priming. While at the shop, I took a cutting wheel and an angle grinder to that thin piece of metal that was brazed over the battery box.
As I suspected, tons of rust and some major holes to boot. So, I know that I am going to replace it, and most likely the driver's side floor pan.
I'll make the decision on the floor pan once I see how it looks after Metal Rehab gets done with it.
While they are working it over, I'm thinking through the rest of the body effort and the critical path for completing the car.
I'm also flirting with various upgrades, etc., trying to decide what's worth it and what's not.
Also looking for some more alternative suppliers. The prices at the big three are getting stupid expensive.
In the latest catalog for Moss, they're asking over $250 for a alloy water-pump housing. Yikes! Make me
wonder what the freakin' mark-up is on their stuff.
As always, thanks to everyone for their gracious help and support.
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April 2008
It's been a slow time on the project. The last major bit of work I was able to do was back in June of 2007.
It was then that I picked up the rebuilt gearbox and overdrive from the shop (on 6/23/2007)
and completed a test-assembly of the 4 "wings" to the dolly-mounted body tub. This taught me a lot about the
little nuances that I will experience when I put them on for keeps. Next step is to finish working
out all the minor dents in the sheet metal, drill through the sills for the eventual drainage tubes
(so that rain water can drain from the scuttle to the road, as opposed to directly into the body itself)
and send all the body parts off to Metal Rehab for stripping. I think I've also got my painter selected.
Right now I'm in a holding pattern while I build up to successfully complete the body work. During this "down time"
I've replaced the fan extension in expectation of an electric fan, and also upgraded to alloy steering rack mounts.
My body plan calls for having all the dents worked out then cleaned to bare metal. I'll apply the primer
and prep for paint. Once I'm done with it, I'll take the parts over to the painter and have them do any additional
work they might notice, and lay the paint. Still not decided if I will take over the body parts as individuals or pre-assembled.
I see pros and cons with both approaches, and would appreciate hearing some success and/or failure stories with each option.
Finally, with the drivetrain fully mounted on the chassis, I have reach milestone number two!
However, I purposely did not fit the manifolds, thinking they might possibly interfere with the mounting of the body
tub to the chassis itself. I will add those once the body tub is on.
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March 2007
The engine is rebuilt, the gearbox is off to be rebuilt by someone who knows
what they're doing, and I've moved on to the body work. I suspect it will
take me some time to do this phase.
The basic plan is to get the body tub 100% complete to paint, lower it onto
the chassis already hosting the engine, gearbox and exhaust, then start in on
the electrics and interior whilst completing the other major body components.
I am currently entertaining the thought of doing all the body work myself, including
the paint. However, the wisdom in me says to do the body work, and have a professional
lay the paint. Whichever way I choose, I still need to educate myself about
auto body work as to at least learn how to hire a painter.
The body work itself is not complicated, just time-consuming. However, since this
is a hobby and all, I am willing to invest the time to learn how to, then do the work
right.
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October 2006
The engine is really coming along now. I have only two major items remaining: the head and the pulley/fan extension/fan assembly.
I sent the rocker arm off the Rocker Arm Specialists folks and it came back in great shape. One of the things I need to learn more
about before proceeding is if I will need a new pulley if I go to a modern alternator, in place of the old Lucas dynamo.
If I'm not mistaken, most compatible altenators will use a belt wider than the original pully can handle, thus making it neccessary to replace.
If I have to replace the pully, then I am probably going to have to replace the water pump for the same reason.
While I am completing the last two major items I will start looking into sending the gearbox out for someone else to rebuild.
I just don't have the tools or space to pull this off.
After the head assembly and the pulley/fan extension/fan assembly are on the engine, I will start looking to adding on all the ancillary engine things
like the fuel pump, distributor, oil filter, manifolds, etc.
Stay tuned!!
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August 2006
As of this writing, I have the crankshaft and liners in the block and I am ready to add the pistons and rods.
I've got the procedure defined and it only a matter of getting the time to get started.
I've added a page that will deal with liners and pistons, but for now it's only covers the liners.
I'll add content for the pistons as soon as they are in.
Enjoy!
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June 2006
This month finds me at the beginning steps of rebuilding the engine. As I type
this message, I have the engine wrapped in a trash bag on my workbench with the
crankshaft installed, complete with rear oil seal and all three main bearing
caps secured.
I've got a little too much end-float on the crank (.007") so I am ordering some
oversized thrust washers (+.005") soon to reduce this to .002". Once those come
in and go on, I'll add the front sealing block, the rear cap's felt strips,
then move on to the pistons and rods.
The most recent updates to the site include two more pages on the engine
rebuild, up to the point where I got all the engine parts back from the machine
shop. I'll be adding another page, complete with photos, dedicated to the lower
rebuild once the liners, rods and pistons are firmly in place.
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March 2006
The brake lines and fuel line are now on the chassis. The fuel line was already new from the work that mom had done, so it was reused.
The brake lines were cleaned with a wire wheel and closely inspected; especially the connectors. After looking them over I decided they
were worthy of reuse also.
I ordered a brand new, original-styled, stainless dual exhaust system. After it arrived I took everything out of the large box and laid it all
out to ensure that I had all the pieces. Turns out that I did not, which was quickly remedied by the good folks at TRF. Once I got all the parts in, I set
them aside to install on a later day; the day when I have the rebuilt engine on the chassis as well. Without the engine in place, thus
postiviely locating the exhaust header, I wouldn't know where to position the down pipes of the exhaust, thus calling into question the position of all the other components. Although I admit I was tempted to add
the exhaust, my better sense won over and I elected to wait until I could accurately place it.
I spent just about every Saturday during February in the shop dissassembling the engine. My decision to tear it down completely was made after dropping the sump
and observing several large pieces of shiny metal in the mix. After consulting with the more experienced lads from the TR Mailing List, I decided that
it just made more sense to tear the engine completely down because I did not know what else might be damaged: prudence demanded it. Turns out that the camshaft was the source of all the metal, with several lobes being very ugly indeed.
As the tear-down progressed everything was carefully removed, labeled, bagged, and stored away. I then took the block, crankshaft, head and connecting rods to the
machine shop to have them looked over for warping, cracks, etc. and to have the crankshaft measured. At this time I am assembling a list of parts I will need, developing a rebuild plan and seeking out the
advice of more experienced people.
As a result of all this recent work, I've added "Brake/Fuel Lines" and "Engine Rebuild" items to the "Renewal" section.
Enjoy!!
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November 2005
Front brakes are completed and I've added a new page to the "Renewal" section called "Brakes".
I'm at a stand-still in the project for the moment, without much spare time or cash to spare.
Christmas, the holiday where the faithful celebrate the incarnation of our Lord Jesus, is a time in my family where most things stop,
all money is spent on gifts and we ponder the love and grace of our maker.
At the beginning of the new year I am planning on getting to:
- Adding the brake lines
- Adding the fuel line
- Adding the exhaust
Then, I'll be getting into the engine, sending the gearbox out, and start sorting out the body work.
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September 2005
A milestone has been reached! The rolling chassis is complete and standing in my garage!
On Saturday, September 10th, all four wheels were placed on the car, lowered to the ground, and the car was rolled onto a trailer for the trip home.
It's the first time the car has been on the ground since being torn down.
I have added a new link to the "Renewal" section that describes the work done to the front suspension and steering.
With the rolling chassis completed, I stand in a really good place.
From here I am planning on doing some things from home, and others at the shop.
Home work will consist of:
- Touching up the paint here and there
- Coat the inside of the chassis with a rust-prevention agent
- Adding the front telescopic shocks
- Reconditioning and adding the front brakes
- Adding the brake lines
- Adding the fuel line
- Adding the exhaust
Shop work will consist of:
- Design and contruct a sturdy jig that can be used for both working on and transporting the body.
- Inventory all body parts
- Start a relationship with the body specialist after interviewing several. The plan is to send the body out to a pro in the end, so I want his guidance throughout the body phase, especially in the work I am planning on doing myself
- Make any final body tub repairs
- Make any body panel repairs
- Have all body parts cleaned to bare steel
- Prime all body parts
- Seal all seams in the body
- Apply undercoating to:
- Underside of tub
- Interior of tub (??)
- Wheel areas of tub
- Insides of wings
- Insides of doors (??)
Once these items are completed at the shop, it's off to the body shop so my chosen pro can lay the paint.
Then it should be a matter of mounting the tub to the chassis and refitting the panels to the tub.
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July 11, 2005
It's taken seven months, but I am finally complete in reconditioning the chassis and the rear-end of the car.
Thanks to all the folks from the Triumph mailing list for their words of wisdom and encouragement.
Next step is the front-end of the car, which includes both suspension corners and the steering mechanisms.
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May 14, 2005
Since the end of last year I've been able to get a quite a lot of work done on the project.
My focus has been on the undercarriage on the rear part of the car. This work has comprised of
reconditioning the rear suspension, rear brakes, differential and outer-axle shafts.
Today I am at a point where I now have both sides of the rear suspension and the differential mounted to the chassis.
I've made some mistakes in this part of the project which I share in the specific section dealing with the areas in which those
mistakes were made.
Hope you enjoy and please feel free to drop me a line sometime.
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December 31, 2004
Today finds me at the beginning of the renewal half of the restoration project. I've spent
the last 20 months studying, evaluating and dissassembling the car, but I have finally reached
the bottom and am ready to start going the other way.
As of this moment, I have managed to fully restore the chassis, complete with the differential
reinforcement kit from Revington TR, the front suspension kit from Revington TR and the two-bolt
lower-suspension pivot brackets from TRF.
So far I can honestly say that I haven't had many surprises. I think a lot of this stems from the fact
that I am being extremely deliberate as I go through the project, as I do not have enough funds to waste
on careless mistakes that could have been avoided.
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October 3, 2004
Happy Days are Here Again!! I got the car back from my body man a couple
of week ago, and yesterday I removed the body tub from the chassis using
my hoist. One of the things I had my body man do, in addtion to the repairs,
was to fabricate the lifting plates needed to hoist the tub into the air.
He also fabricated me some cross-bars for across the door openings, but done in such a way
where I can still fit the doors up to the car completely.
Getting the body off of the chassis is a huge step. This means I can finally
proceed with the project, having this task completed early in the critical path.
Any way, I've added the photos of the fun in the picture show to the right, and have
scattered some more throughout the site.
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August 1, 2004
I sent the car off with my body repair guy a couple of weeks ago and am hoping to
have it back soon so that I can continue the project. In the meantime I have designed,
and will soon be constructing, a simple hoist with which to lift the body tub free
from the chassis when I get it back.
In addition to fulfilling my obvious lifting needs, I do not have a lot of floor space for the project, so suspending the body overhead is
the best solution for storage as well.
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June 12, 2004
Well, after talking to the body stripping shop, Metal Rehab of Fort Worth, Texas,
I decided to take the doors off the car. However, before I did this I drilled small
holes in the A-post marking the location of where the doors are located. This way
I can line them up to their original locations, permanently! Once I got them off
I disassembled them so that I can take the shells to the dip.
Right now I am basically in a holding pattern. I've got the car ready for my
chosen fabrication man to do the needed repairs to the body tub and panels. But,
in the meantime there isn't a lot I can do but study. So study is what I do.
Once the body repairs are made its off with the body and on to stripping the suspension,
differential, brakes, exhaust, etc. off of the chassis and getting down to the
chassis repairs.
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April 18, 2004
Well... I've reached a milestone moment in the restoration of my TR4A.
Anything that was attached to the body tub, save the doors (which I am
terrified about removing), have been removed and I am now ready to begin
the body restoration process. First step will be to determine the extent of
the rust in the battery panel area and make the appropriate repairs.
Then, I am planning on replacing the tip in the left-front
inner-wing (the point at which the lower front valance bolts on) and
knocking the dents out of the rear valance. Most of the other parts
of the body tub look remarkably good.
I purchased a replacement front-lower valance from a member of the Triumph mailing
list since mine was in such bad shape. It needs a little work, but not nearly as
much as mine!!
Anyway, once the body tub is done I'm lifting it from the chassis and moving on to
stripping the chassis down and taking the measurements to determine how bad off
from square it really is. The Bentley Manual gives from extremely detailed specs
on what the chassis is supposed to be. Should be a fun project! Give me the opportunity
to teach my son about measurements and measuring tools.
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February 29, 2004
I've done quite a lot of work recently on both the site and the car.
As far as the site goes, I've added a lot more photographs. In the
"History" section under the California story, I've added photos from
when the car was first torn down.
In the "Restoration" section under evaluating the body, I've added some
more photos of the work as I've been progressing along.
Starting on Saturday, February 21st, 2004, I have begun tearing the car down
in earnest in order to begin the restoration process. I will make updates
to the site as I go along, so check back from time-to-time.
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