 MY TRIUMPH TR3A Restoration PageThis car started its life with me in 1980 after it had been in storage outside suffering the harsh Canadian climate for 10 years. It was given to me on the condition that I restore it. Being a 17 year old, I said "sure thing, I will have it done by fall and take it on a trip to Ocean City before I start University in September." Ha!! It took me 4 summers and I never got to Ocean City either. I spent the first summer taking it apart and getting the engine running. The engine had been put away properly so it came to life fine. The problem turned out to be the bottom 4 inches of the car had rusted out completely, including the frame. As a result I ended up buying an other TR3 the following summer to use as the frame and lower body panels. This car was a great learning experience for me and when I was done I kept saying "if I only knew this much before I started it would have been so much easier and all those little things would not be there." Well I did have an engine and OD transmission left over, why not find a TR4 that needed an engine and do it all again. That is an other story. |
These images are thumbnails, just click on the image to see a larger version.
A few spare parts |
When I finally admitted it could not be done with the one car, I went down to Kingston and picked up this parts car. |
It had a good frame and many complimentary parts. One interesting thing it had was a louvered bonnet. I have not been able to figure out if it means anything, if anyone knows anything about louvered bonnets on TR3s please drop me a line. |
Then they made fun of me |
The folks on the street began to think it would never get done, so they let me know what they thought of the "car" I had in plain view of all. It was inside for this picture but for the first 2 years we did not have a garage so both cars were "there for all to see." |
What every engineering student needs on the side of his sports car project. One of the folks on the street was a sign painter, so I never knew what I would find when I looked out the morning after a party.
|
Magic transformation |
On the left is the car at some point before it was painted. And on the right you have it after it was painted. I put an end to the sign painting on the car at this point. Also the car had now earned a garage, so the summer after this picture was taken (1983) I built a garage for it.
|
How I learned to sew. My father and I spent many hours together making patterns and then cutting and sewing these seats. After the two front seats were done we guessed at a pattern for the rear seat and made one of those as well. In fact we had enough material left that we rebuilt the entire interior of the car.
|