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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| On the frame machine at McGraw's |
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Making sure the new brackets are in alignment.
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| Welding on the new rear bracket |
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| 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.
