This car arrived at our shop with a note. "I belong to Wayne and Amy who have owned me for 18 years. Amy gave me to Wayne as a wedding gift. We had fun in the past driving the Blue Ridge Parkway and parking on the lawn of Chateau Elan for British Car Day. Darn them, they got a Z3 and there I sat in a car port for around eleven years. I've lost count. This is Amy's gift to Wayne for their anniversary. They want to make me pretty and road worthy again so we can go out and play! Thank you for looking me over. I feel you have very capable hands and will work wonders on me."
After checking the car out, we got together with the owners to learn what type of restoration they were interested in. The first step was to get it to a good body shop for some cosmetics and a good coat of paint. The car was stripped and trailered to a super shop - T.C.'s Place in Cleremont, GA.
This TR had been exposed to the elements for quite some time so a complete interior would be necessary. Good, work for Carolyn!
Oh yes, some great new updates and special additions to this tired motor were in order.
At T.C.'s Place, the car was brought down to bare metal. It was obvious that new floor panels were necessary.
The driver's door had to have previous body repairs corrected.....
...and new rocker panels were ordered.
Some shots of the body work....
..and the first coat of primer.
The color coat - what a great shade of blue!
When the body and paint job was done, the car was brought back to our shop
to live next to the TR-BMW. We hoped they would get along, but not too well.
Bart got started on the mechanical work while the car was off being painted. The block was bored to .030, decked, and new pistons were installed. The block was painted with POR 15.
Bart prepped and painted the block with Glyptal enamel and installed the balanced crankshaft.
The front suspension was rebuilt with shorter springs and Nylatron bushings. All components were powder coated.
While the car was at the body shop, Carolyn started working on the seats. They didn't look too bad....
until she stripped them down. The frames and headrest were sand blasted and then powder coated.
Carolyn installed KoolMat for noise and heat control.
She was able to install the vinyl on the rear wheel arches before the wiring was completed, and then she test fitted the wool carpet and bulk head panel. Looks good!
The front and rear bumpers were shipped off to be rechromed. All the lights were replaced and reinstalled. New door handles and locks were installed.
The windshield frame was sand blasted and powder coated and then installed with new seals. The new front grill was installed. The engine was lowered into position ready to be finished.
Before mounting the owners new wheels and tires, all of the brakes were attended to.
The front brakes were rebuilt with stainless steel pistons, drilled and slotted rotors and heavy duty spindles.
Adjustable control arms and Nylatron bushings were installed. All new stainless steel brake lines were used throughout.
An electric fuel pump was installed for fuel injection.
Wayne and Amy had enjoyed driving the Triumph before it had been parked, but they decided that it was time to do some updating. A 1994 Toyota five speed transmission was the first change. Along with that came fuel injection (Patten Machine TBI), electric cooling fan, a GP2 cam, and higher compression. On a dyno run, the car made 104 HP at the rear wheels and 126.8 lb. ft. of torque.
Another vintage car brought back to life outside....
...and in!
When the car was ready to roll, it was parked in a scenic area for pictures to be taken and then sent to the coordinator of the 6th annual Keeneland Concours d'Elegance of Kentucky. The owners of this beautiful TR6 had been personally invited to show the car at the event which raises money each year for the Kentucky Children's Hospital.
Amy and Wayne had a wonderful weekend and received many compliments on the car. As they expected, there was no trophy as the car had been modified to meet their personal prefrences but they love it just the same!
