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.