finally some fun stuff is happening

After months of time consuming detail work, cleaning , sanding, straightening, etc. my brother Gary and I  started painting primer on the tr3. in just a couple of hours the car went from looking like a hodge podge of different colored parts to a basic car. I'm sure we will be showing the effects of brain damage brought on by the highly toxic chemicals in the primer. The guys that rebuild cars in a few short days must be doing something different than I, sometimes it takes hours or days to fix a single broken bolt or get one panel to be somewhat straight. Hopefully the blog will be kept more up to date as things are progressing much faster now.Right!

Undoing the damage

Since returning to work on the Triumph I have concentrated on getting the mechanical systems back in order. I redid the brakes, did a valve job to correct a bent valve, had the gas tank boiled out and sealed, cleaned the carburetors and ran new fuel lines. Though it doesn't look like it the car is drivable, The roofers that saw me going by at 45mph were quite surprised. Now it is time to turn to the body work. There isn't much rust to deal with just some poor bodywork that was done in the past. What's the old saying about lipstick on a pig? In the video I showed the building at Teri's house where the car is being worked on, I'm lucky to have a nice place to work! The fenders were acid dipped to reveal the metal underneath layers of bondo, paint (white & red) and some poor attempts at patches. This summer will involve a lot of long days of sanding.
Back to work!

Today's Exciting Accomplishments

The UPS man has become my favorite friend.  I received sanding discs from one source, (cheap), body panel bolts, weather strips.

And I have selected some fine leather for the seats, panels, etc.   Things are starting to come together... 

My next entry will begin to describe the 30+ year journey I have been on to reach this point in time...

Enjoy the stories of my failures (lessons learned) and successes over the years.

Of course the important question still remains in the future...when will the car be done?????  Stay tuned.