Happy New Year!

Here at the end of the year, I need to post my progress.  I’m not the most chatty blogger nor the most prompt blogger.  But there has been progress. Since the removal of the right front suspension was so dirty, I learned a few things that helped out tackling the left suspension.  The trickiest part was the removal of the cotter pins, all covered up with encrusted gunk.  Got to clean them up and get them out. All the major nuts have cotter pins and the suspension is not coming off without all those pins coaxed out of their 40 year slumber.  I did buy a three foot threaded rod and a number of very large washers to act as a spring compressor. All in all, the second suspension removal was much easier. 

The removal of the rear suspension was much easier, much more straightforward. There are several nuts and bolts on the springs, the suspension travel limiters, the shock absorbers, etc.  Pretty easy when I use this lubricant I found. Its a 50/50 mixture of acetone and automatic transmission fluid. The test information that I read showed that it required 20% to 25% of the force when compared with WD40 or PB Blaster respectively. I just mix it up in a bottle and shake it good before I apply it with a dropper. The former owner of the Triumph used it to break loose the lug nuts of his old tractor. The stuff works and is less expensive. 

With the suspension parts and all the miscellaneous brackets off the frame, it was time for the frame to get some attention. I thought about all the work to get the rust off and then paining. And the frame does need to be straightened, as evidenced by the damage in the right front corner of the frame and suspension. One of my basic ideas is that the frame needs to be straight so that when the body is placed back on it, all the panels, specifically the doors, then stand a better chance of lining up. A couple of months ago, my friend Tony and I spent an hour or so trying to see just where the frame was out of whack. There's a very detailed drawing in the Triumph shop manual. We made cross measurements but could not ultimately be sure of what was true. It may have been due to a non-flat floor. Lack of a datum. 

Cleaning the frame with ventilation

I looked up sand blasting  in Gwinnett County and found Action Sandblasting and Painting on Killian Hill in Lilburn. Yes, they would be able to sand blast and put a base coat of paint on the frame for a very reasonable price. It would be better if the frame was cleaned of the excess greasy gunk. Starting with a gallon of xylene and scrub brush and lots of old rags, I proceeded to clean the frame. The cross member in the center of the frame was the toughest to get to with the cleaning process. I took the frame to Action Sandblasting late on a Saturday afternoon and it was ready by Sunday afternoon. Very quick service and it looked great.

Back from Sandblasting

For direct comparison, here's the frame on the rack at the body shop. Then, I tell the story.

For over 20 years, our family has taken our cars to Doug Bethea. Doug has recently passed away and they did recently move their shop further east on Lawrenceville Hwy but they are still my mechanic. I asked them where I might get my frame straightened. They recommend McGraw Auto Body Paint and Frame Specialists in Lilburn. With the frame still in the bed of my truck from picking it up at the sandblasters, I went over to see Steve Ball sball_mcgraw@bellsouth.net and his crew.They were very interested in my project. Maybe because of the age and maybe because it wasn't a run of the mill modern body repair. We discussed the project. I left the big red shop manual and needed to call about getting a couple of replacement parts for the frame. Most of the outriggers that support the body in the middle under the doors were past the point of repair. Also the rear brackets had been damaged in a couple of wrecks a longgg time ago. For help with these  parts, I turned to Tony at RATCO in Yaphank, NY (http://www.rat-co.com/) . As far as I can tell, these are the only folks in the country that produce new frames for TR3s. The frames do look nice on their website but I'm trying to do this project at a lower affordable cost. (Make it fun, make it safe) Tony was able to make the four outriggers and the rear brackets and ship them to McGraw directly. Tony talked with the McGraw folks so that they had a shared understanding, body man to fabricator, of the condition of my frame. I found that very helpful. In a couple of weeks, Tony had fabricated the parts and McGraw had completed the frame work and welded on the replacement parts. It looks like they did a great job. It sure looks straight as it sits in my garage. Below are a few pictures from McGraw during the time they were working on my frame.

On the frame machine at McGraw's

Making sure the new brackets are in alignment.

Welding on the new rear bracket

Nice weld plus they filled a couple of small holes.

I'm working on what the next big step ought to be. I've been buying parts from The Roadster Factory, http://www.the-roadster-factory.com/indexmain.php  over the past month, taking advantage of some pre- Christmas sales. I think I have the sufficient bushings and other parts to put the front suspension back together. But I probably should paint the frame, probably black, next. I did get a paint gun from Eastwood, http://www.eastwood.com/ , for my birthday last week. But more about that next time.

I knew the suspension felt loose.

When last I posted, I and some friends and family had removed the body leaving the frame and suspension. Now its down to the nitty gritty, literally. I say that because much of the suspension and frame is coated in 40 years of grease, sand and dirt. Certainly some areas worse than others. I did a fair amount of scrapping and got at least a half gallon of crud off the frame and other parts. I got the back suspension and rear axle off with little trouble. I did get to use the engine hoist to pick up the axle. No sense straining my self.

Next I tackled the right suspension. I should have called Mike Rowe because it was a dirty job. There were 8 or 10 nuts with cotter pins, all coated with gunk. I had some spring compressors that I got from Autozone but they never fit just right. With considerable caution and a manly chain for safety, I did get the spring compressed enough to get the suspension apart. But that won't do for the other side and the reassembly. I called Chic Fries of the Georgia Triumph Association Georgia Triumph Association. He's the TR3 model expert and he suggested a long section of machined screw and the appropriate nuts and washers. I made a trek to a good hardware store, Live Oak Hardware here in L'ville. Also, later that day I went to Tucker to go to the dentist which is near a big Ace Hardware that has a vary large selection of nut and bolts and many, many other things. Good to know that there are still some decent hardware stores out there.

Any way, I got the suspension all apart and laid out. I've got the parts laid out and I'm doing a basic cleaning and inspection of all of one side before I tackle the left side suspension. I want to be somewhat organized and not end up with tons of miscellaneous parts that I know go somewhere.

So this car is 52 years old. I don't know if it ever had its suspension bushings replaced but I think I will need a complete set of suspension bushings if this photo is any example of the condition of the rest of them.

One other discovery. I had noticed a dent on the right side of the frame up towards the front behind the right wheel. I was doing some measuring to see if the frame was bent any and maybe the right front is a bit out of alignment. I'm not finished with that project something might be amiss. In disassembling the right front suspension I came across this piece.

This is down where the shock adsorber is attached. I don't even know just what it is just yet but it did take a pretty good whack. And it right in front of that dent in the frame. I was glad to be able to get it off easily. Maybe I can scan EBay for a replacement for whatever this is. And I need to talk with Kim Hirsch, the previous owner and see if he remembers some big whack a long time ago.

I am encouraged to be at this stage. It has been very hot and muggy recently and I have not felt like really diving into it the last couple of weekends. However, soon all the miscellaneous parts will be off the frame and it will go get sandblasted and primed. That's a big turning point because from that point forward, I'll be putting stuff back on the car!  Cooler weather is just around the corner and the Mitty Classic is 8.5 months away. Tick Tock, times a wastin'.

Remove the Body, Expose the Frame

Happy Fourth of July!
The next step for this restoration project is to remove the body from the frame. Sounds simple. Most restorations brace the passenger compartment and the door frames and pick up the body in one piece. In this case, this TR3 was parked in a carport with the back end facing west in South Miami where it was rained on by storms coming in from the Everglades and baked in the Florida sun. This resulted in very bad rust through the trunk and the spare tire carrier floor. Additionally, the car had been hit at least twice in the rear which resulted in sheet metal wrinkling in several places. In short, the rear clip, as the back half of the body is called, is beyond repair, at least for my skill level. I got a different rear clip on Ebay that is in much better shape (a topic for a later post).

When I got the car, there was sheet metal riveted to the floor. When it was removed, there were gaping holes in the floor. Examining the inner and outer door sills revealed cancerous rusty holes on both the passenger and driver's. So, the floor pans and door sills will need to be replaced. In reading various repair guides, one suggested restoration plan would be to cut the body in half across the door sills and then repair the front and rear clips independently. Then you very carefully weld in the sills and floor plans while using the frame as a jig for the body. No, I really don't know how I'm going to do that. But like many things so far on this project, I'll figure that out when I get there.

The task this weekend was to cut the body across door sills and floor pans, remove or grind off the dozen or so bolts holding the body to the frame and then lift off the body. Helping me this weekend is my friend Bob Rose, in the long sleeve tee shirt, my son Matt and Kathaleen recording it all for posterity. The first six bolts on the front clip came off easily, as I had presoaked them with lubricating fluid for a week or so. The next step was to cut through the door sills with a reciprociating saw. When the the rust is so pervasive, its better to just take a saw to it. Bob cut through the driver's side. I cut through the passenger side.



The next step was to take some tin snips and cut through the rusty floor pan. Bob is manning the snips. I'm working the big channel lock pliers.



Next, I used a angle grinder to grind through the remaining bolts. Sorry, no good videos for this. Then the front clip comes off!



Cut a few more bolts and the rear clip comes off as well exposing the frame for the first time in perhaps 40+ years.

The frame was covered with a mixture of dirt, sand, rust, greasy residue and a thin coat of black paint. A bit of time with a wire brush and scrapper and things looked much better. No rust holes, a few mysterious dents but not in to bad of shape.

  

The next steps will be to remove the front and rear suspension, the rear axle and the miscellaneous brake lines, fuel lines, etc. Then, the frame may be headed to the sand blasters.  Enough for now.

Pulling the Engine, Part Two

Part of getting this blog underway is learning how to add video clips. You need to upload the videos to YouTube and then publish a link in the blog. My wife, Kathaleen, is the videographer for this project. She's shooting the video and some stills and uploading the clip to YouTube. Then it amazingly simple. Click on share, click on embed and then paste the link in your blog.
earlier, I posted a couple of stills about pulling the engine but here's a video of the same, staring Matt, my son, working the hoist, my friend Tony Trentini on the left side of the car, and your's truly on the right side of the car.



Tony showed up a bit after 8 a.m. on Father's Day and by 9, the deal was done. I don't really have a good excuse about why it's taken two years to get to this point. There was all this stuff in the way in my garage. I was recovering from foot surgery. I didn't have an engine hoist. Well, those last two are pretty good excuses but nevertheless, two years from arrival, the engine is out!

The engine and transmission are out, to be more correct. The two are connected in the engine bay and it took a bit of manipulating to clear the oil pan over a steering tie rod and the gear shift stalk under the battery compartment/firewall opening. As you saw at the end of the video, you just can't leave the engine hanging from the hoist for ever. It just takes up to much room. But just how to store the engine and the transmission so they are out of the way, won't fall over and could be moved if in the way?

One of the things I use for a source of inspiration and ideas are the numerous car shows on TV. Now, nobody's rebuilding a TR3 but there are lots of guys working on cars. Dennis Gage has a show called My Classic Car, http://www.myclassiccar.com/ and he must be buddies with Jay Leno because he's all the time going by Leno's Garage and seeing all manner of automotive machinery. In a recent episode, they went into Jay's engine room and there are engines and transmissions resting on little furniture dollies. That's a great idea. I can get those at Harbor Freight for about $15. With furniture dollies in hand, I proceed to separate the engine and transmission. I was sorry to discover that not all the bolts joining the two were not there and one was broken off. I put one dolly under the engine and one under the transmission with a few blocks to make both at the same height. Wouldn't want to bend anything.

Gentle force separates the transmission from the engine 

Engine number CT32086 - Yes, its a TR4 engine!

The transmission secured to the dolly

The clutch housing

 It feels good to have this big step completed. Next big step is to remove the body.

P.S.  Here's what the engine looked like when I first saw it.

On to the next post.

Second Anniversary

Today is Father's Day and second anniversary of the Triumph arriving in its new home in Lawrenceville. As you can see, it was a bit of a wing and a prayer affair. I was very relieved to have made it with no problems. Well, I did have to replace the alternator on the truck before I left Micanopy. I heard the bearing going out when I was out test driving the truck and the trailer loaded together.

Otherwise it was a smooth trip north.

My big goal for Father's Day was to pull the engine and we, Matt(my son), and I, did get that accomplished. My friend Tony Trentini came over about 8 am and by 9, the deed was done. There were several advantages; mostly because I had taken so much off the car to this point there wasn't much holding the engine and transmission in place; two engine mount bolts and one ground wire. The transmission end was just resting on a cross member. The recently acquired engine hoist and the yellow nylon strapping was really all that was needed to lift the engine/transmission up and out. Now, I need to build a small frame to keep the motor upright until its time for the rebuild.

Part Way Out

Engine's Out!

Empty Engine Bay

The big present for Father's Day turned out to be a small welding unit. With a really good coupon in hand, Kathy(my wife) and I made our was to Harbor Freight and got a complete welding kit for less than $150. Kathy was duly impressed with the savings. I was also able to show her the equivalent engine hoist that I bought used at 60% off. I did say I was trying to be frugal but there are some big ticket items in the future.

There will be more later. Kathy took some video of the engine extraction. I need to figure out how to imbed that in this blog but that's all for now. Got to get ready for Father's Day dinner at Dominick's.

First post

Tomorrow is Father's Day and that will be the second anniversary of my TR3 arriving in Lawrenceville, GA. We will pull the engine and transmission tomorrow. I'm a father and that's what I want to do on Father's Day. I will post the history of this project on later posts. There are lots of photos. There used to be a website by the same name as this blog but this looks a lot easier. I know some of the history of the previous owners, the Hirsch family of Miami and Micanopy. And just a very small amount about the owner before them.

Here's a status of where the project sits today. Much has been taken off the the car. About everything is out of the passenger compartment, fenders off, doors off  The engine is stripped down as well. Exhaust manifold and carburetors are off. Fan, generator, radiator all off and stored away. It basically down to the engine and transmission, the main part of the body and all the drive and suspension parts on the frame.

Tomorrow, we'll pull the engine and transmission. I'll cut the body across the rusted door sills and floor pans. Then we can lift the front and rear clips off the frame and see what shape it is in. There's a ways to go but there is a self imposed deadline for this project. April 2012 there is a car show and race at Road Atlanta called the Walter Mitty Classic. I'f I'm done in time, I can take a parade lap with the rest of the Triumphs.
That's the goal. And here we go!

This is as I found it two years ago.

Here's how it stands today June 18, 2011. I can see progress but perhaps not everyone can.
Gotta go. May be buying welding equipment for Father's Day.