I’ve owned this car for four years now, so this (and possibly the next) instalment will be ‘catch up’ content through to the current state of play.
When we returned to the UK in 2015, part of the rationale was to undertake another restoration project. I’ve done several over the years and find them both challenging and relaxing.
The target car was a TR6, definitely, without question.Either in Emerald Green to match the GT6 or French Blue (one of Jo’s favourite Triumph colours). So I bought a Signal Red TR4A.
The car is a good specification.It’s an original UK RHD car, sold via a dealership in West London in 1967. The build date is September 1966 and it then sat around for 10 months before being registered on 1st August the following year, the first day of the new ‘F’ registration year.
Having got the car home the initial appraisal confirmed it was basically all there. A can of fresh fuel soon had the engine running with good oil pressure, no smoke or strange noises. A lack of brakes meant that was as far as the test could go.
It has what is probably the ‘classic’ specification being Signal Red, Wire Wheels and Overdrive. The only thing completely missing was a roof of any description. It was supplied new with a soft top, rather than a Surrey, so for now, this is what will be reinstated.
There were signs of regular maintenance and it was clear that someone had valued the car and spent money on it recently. However, the tin-worm was running wild and the outer wings had been attached with a combination of weld, braze, fibreglass and silicon bathroom sealant.
I started to compile a list of the bits required before finding that Triumph actually printed one already. It’s called the Spare Parts Catalogue and I could simply go through it from Page 1 and note down “yep, I’ll need those” all the way through to the back page!
A week of work saw the strip down progressed with many containers of fittings, brackets and fastenings together with copious notes and photographs. The body was lifted off the chassis and put to one side (where it made an appearance in Practical Classics – July 2016, Page 41).
The chassis was stripped of the running gear and after a thorough clean and inspection was confirmed as no good. It was corkscrewed (twisted), bent lengthways (banana) had serious (old) crash damage on the front left corner and was generally rotten. In short, it was scrap and a replacement would be required.
I couldn’t believe my luck when only a couple of weeks later I found a US import, TR4A rolling chassis, reasonably local and at a sensible price. Being a US 4A it was from a leaf sprung car meaning the spring ‘bridge’ needs to be transferred from the original chassis – thankfully this was one of the few areas that were salvageable.
Next time, the body goes off for acid stripping and then the hard work begins.