• The Roadster Factory Recovery Fund - Friends, as you may have heard, The Roadster Factory, a respected British Car Parts business in PA, suffered a total loss in a fire on Christmas Day. Read about it, discuss or ask questions >> HERE. The Triumph Register of America is sponsoring a fund raiser to help TRF get back on their feet. If you can help, vist >> their GoFundMe page.
  • Hey there Guest!
    If you enjoy BCF and find our forum a useful resource, if you appreciate not having ads pop up all over the place and you want to ensure we can stay online - Please consider supporting with an "optional" low-cost annual subscription.
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this UGLY banner)
Tips
Tips

TR6 Asking the Judge on TR-6 Originality

Mark_Gibson

Jedi Trainee
Offline
Well, my TR-6 just got dragged home on my tow dolly after a trip to the alignment shop. That was the last hurdle to getting the car on the road except for my seats, which should be back to me by this weekend. I stopped by one of the TR-6 resident judges in my area with the car in tow and asked him to give it a look over to see what I had missed as far as originality for judging purposes. He only noted 3 things, which amazed me:

1. The headlights were not Lucas brand (fixed at a cost of 80 bucks for two headlights..ugh!)

2. The oil sending unit was aftermarket, not a Smiths sending unit (fixed, for 10 bucks from my buddy at British Auto)

3. My rear center section of my bumper has two chrome plugs to fill two holes that I guess aren't suppossed to be there on the earlier TR-6's. That will have to wait!!

Looking forward to driving the car soon! Hope y'all are already out there enjoying yours......

Mark
1970 TR-6 Awaiting Seats!!!
 

sammyb

Luke Skywalker
Offline
That's pretty dang good! Congrats Mark.

I've never believed that the Lucas brand headlights should be a big deal. As long as they are "period" replacements.
 
OP
Mark_Gibson

Mark_Gibson

Jedi Trainee
Offline
Sam,

Wouldn't you know that one of the headlights I bought has two settings; dim, and dimmer..ha! Good old Lucas, hard to beleive they got into the missle guidance system business in the 90's. I would think the safest place to be is the spot the missle is targeted at!!

Mark
 

Bruce Bowker

Obi Wan
Offline
[ QUOTE ]
Good old Lucas, hard to beleive they got into the missle guidance system business in the 90's. I would think the safest place to be is the spot the missle is targeted at!!
Mark

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually Lucas has improved tremendously in the 1990's and now into the 2000's. They can assure a missle strike within 500 miles of the targeted area.

Bruce
 
G

Guest

Guest
Guest
Offline
Mark, if your question was looking for some insight into what the professional judges are looking for in the way of a concours car, be prepared to pull your hair out. They can be brutal. For all of us that have fooled with these cars over the years, it is really quite gratifying to know which car had which bolt where and when. I have a friend, which I have mentioned on this forum before, that did a total rebuild on a TR4, soley for the purpose on putting it into competition judging. He was crushed after bringing it to the VTR/TRF Summer Party last year. He didn't even place. Those guys are SOOOooo nitpicky. The wrong bolts holding the body on the frame, the wrong headers (these particular ones weren't available in '67), etc., etc. Three years of hard work and all he got was the mumps. He does have a really nice TR4A/IRS that he takes out on occasion, but he will never shoot for concours again. It takes someone with extremely deep pockets and/or an insane ability to watch for details to get a 100 point car. I personally have a lot of respect for the few who chase around the country trying for the ultimate prize, but I could never do it (oh, alright, I could, but my pockets aren't deep enough). I like my resto-mod the way it is - perfect, in my eyes. (I think my friend hasn't learned his lesson, he just bought a cadmium plater, I am worried about him.) Enjoy you resto. The good news, the baby boomers are coming to age and the top 5% are loaded (1946 to 1964, I was born in the first number) and are wanting to relive their youth, hence the price for any LBC will climb steadily for the next ten year. Your investment can only go up from here. Enjoy.

Bill
 
OP
Mark_Gibson

Mark_Gibson

Jedi Trainee
Offline
Bill,

I am satisfied to know I did most of the work myself, and I'm sure the 1st time I have it judged and someone starts to nit pick the car, I'll try to grin and just nod. I'm not going to get too anal about it, and since I'm planning on driving it, I'm sure it won't compete with the trailer queens. Thanks for your insight, I appreciate it.

Mark
 

BOXoROCKS

Jedi Knight
Offline
TR6BILL is Oh so right. Not to mention not all judges know all the correct info,{who does}, even B.Piggotts books have some incorrect info.
 

Andrew Mace

Moderator
Staff member
Country flag
Offline
[ QUOTE ]
....I stopped by one of the TR-6 resident judges in my area with the car in tow and asked him to give it a look over to see what I had missed as far as originality for judging purposes. He only noted 3 things, which amazed me:

1. The headlights were not Lucas brand (fixed at a cost of 80 bucks for two headlights..ugh!)

2. The oil sending unit was aftermarket, not a Smiths sending unit (fixed, for 10 bucks from my buddy at British Auto)

3. My rear center section of my bumper has two chrome plugs to fill two holes that I guess aren't suppossed to be there on the earlier TR-6's....

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't speak on #3, as I'm not nearly so familiar with TR6s. However, as one who has judged other classes at several VTR Conventions, I can speak to #1 and #2.

Neither a non-Lucas headlamp nor an aftermarket oil pressure sender should cost points in VTR judging, so long as the replacement item has the same general appearance and is installed the same way. The headlamps were identical in all other respects to any available 7" sealed-beam unit available in the US. (I don't know about what a non-Smiths sender might look like.)

Funny thing is, some "knowing" judges, as well as equally "knowing" owners/restorers, will insist on those Lucas sealed beam units on older British cars as well...blissfully ignorant of the fact that Triumphs and many other British cars built specifically for and shipped to the US market often came over on the boats with no headlamps at all. Lucas didn't have a proper sealed beam unit for the US market until around 1964, after which said units WERE routinely installed. Before 1964, headlamps likely were sourced either by the dealer or perhaps by the regional distributor and could easily have been whatever GE or Guide or Sylvania bulb was available. But even after that time, I know of few dealers who would have bothered to stock a "genuine Lucas" sealed beam headlamp. ;-)

I have to wonder if there are judges who might go so far as to ensure the master cylinder is topped off with the proper Girling Crimson brake fluid, the radiator with Bluecol, and to make sure that all other bulbs were either Osram or Mazda brand. ;-)
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
K TR5/TR250 TR250 question [Not asking for a friend] Triumph 17
DornTRoriginal General Tech The Devil is in the Details! Am I asking too much? Triumph 21
T swallowing my pride and asking a basic question Triumph 2
A New Member asking a question Triumph 2
A asking for a friend Triumph 9
A who was asking for a bn2 rear shroud? Austin Healey 0
RickB Asking here too - removing headlight trim rings? Spridgets 4
drooartz Front suspension--asking the experts here Spridgets 21
2wrench TR6 Asking for info on tap and die sets for TR6 Triumph 14
G Timing - I feel like an idiot even asking Triumph 7
Editor_Reid New Record Asking-Price for a Healey Austin Healey 17
Lin Bugeye for Sale, asking price? Spridgets 8
mlarnoldTR6 Asking for help with a new overheating issue Triumph 9
B 948 Crank and Rods---Free for the asking Spridgets 0
D Since we are asking really dumb dash questions Triumph 4
G Somebody was asking about distributers???? MG 9
T You be the judge.... Spridgets 12
bighly You be the judge [Transmission Photos] Austin Healey 3
mctriumph General TR Colors and originality Triumph 18
arizonamike TR4/4A Collector's Originality Guide Triumph TR2 TR3 TR4 Triumph 1
mikecyc72usa Personal choice over originality MG 20
steveHealey3000 Originality versus performance Austin Healey 38
bighealeysource Originality of carpets for BN6 Austin Healey 4
angelfj1 TR2/3/3A TR3A originality questions Triumph 14
W Up-date to the "Originality Guide" Spridgets 0
M 64 B GHN3L roadster Originality questions MG 8
Geo Hahn TR2/3/3A TR3 Originality Question - Bonnet Buffer Triumph 14
drooartz RHD, originality, and other musings Spridgets 20
LeeMcKee TR6 1969 TR6 [question of originality] Triumph 29
M GT6 John Thomason's Triumph&Gt6"A Guide To Originality Triumph 5
R6MGS TR6 Late TR6 Grill Originality Triumph 5
jlaird Originality Guide Spridgets 2

Similar threads

Top