TR6 Possible Purchase of a TR6

[smaceng]

Hi All,
So I have finished up with my BE restoration, and am ready to move on to the next project.
I am considering a 1970 TR6, 120K miles, never been restored, nor in any serious accident that I can tell. Needs paint and interior, and minor mechanical bits. The underside of the body is covered with light rust. This refurb will be to make a nice driver, nothing like my BE. Once I check out the cost of the painting, I may make an offer of $3500. So, the question. how easy is it to take the body off to do a reasonable job of removing the rust and POR15 the bottom? I'll post pictures by tomorrow. Car runs and handles well, without any unusual noises.
Thanks, Scott

 

[Healey_Z]

If it s a complete, running, driving car, with only surface rust and needs only paint and interior work, $3500 would be a good buy. I have not removed my TR6 body, but if you can gain access to a lift, I bet you could accomplish the same thing for a whole lot less. My painter up here in Sacramento will do an incredible base coat, clear coat paint job for around $3600. Here is my Healey he did and he will be doing my TR6 within the next few months.

 

[justin_mercier]

Make sure to read up on the places to check on the frame, rocker panels, and rear deck seams for rust that will be costly and time consuming to repair. Removing the body from the frame is a bit of a chore, and can lead to serious "while you're in there" disease.

At 120k miles you'll want to check the end play in the motor to make sure it's not lost the thrust washers and if you're able, you'll want to do a compression test on the engine as well

 

[smaceng]

Here are some pictures of the subject TR6

 

[trrdster2000]

Not bad and it has the bars on the bumpers, which are getting hard to find. The body comes off fairly easy and you can use a engine puller and a couple of 2X4's, just takes a bit of effort to get all the bits out of the way.

Wayne

 

[mrv8q]

Agree, 3.5K is probably OK, as best as I can tell from the pix. Is that Maple Brown? As suggested, check the thrust washers. If you pull the body, you can reinforce the diff mounts while you're there.

 

[DougF]

The TR6 is a fairly easy car to restore as restorations go. The separate frame makes any work on the tub easier than what you experienced with the Bugeye. There are several suspension mods available, should you wish to go that route. If you aren't looking to go bone stock, there are some various mods that are highly recommended.

 

[red_tr250]

Agree, 3.5K is probably OK, as best as I can tell from the pix. Is that Maple Brown? As suggested, check the thrust washers. If you pull the body, you can reinforce the diff mounts while you're there.

Judging from the year...should be sienna. I think Maple may've been 73-74 or just 74.

Todd

 

[smaceng]

Thanks for the input all. But the color has to go....not a favorite at all.....It will not be red, black, white, or yellow.
I am partial to green and blue...What orig. color do you think? This is for a guy who has not pulled the trigger yet!
Scott

 

[George_H]

#1 BRG
#2 French Blue

Any shade of brown is not my favorite

 

[Darrell_Walker]

#1 BRG
#2 French Blue

Any shade of brown is not my favorite

I'll second that!

 

[justin_mercier]

Silver! TR6s look FANTASTIC in silver, even though it's not a factory color. Some of my favorite TR6s are silver =)

 

[DNK]

Brown
Nothin wrong with B.S.B.

 

[mrv8q]

Judging from the year...should be sienna. I think Maple may've been 73-74 or just 74.

Todd

Jeez, I should know that, as I own a '74 brown TR6. I call it British racing brown.

 

[Gordon_Dedrick]

I like the reverse...........French Blue would be my FIRST choice . Lot's of BRG cars around not so many French Blue........It's a gorgeous dreamy color

 

[smaceng]

Thanks all,
The French Blue is very nice....much like the Iris Blue which was a std. color for the BE.
My first BE was BRG....very good color, but a lot of british cars are that color.
Scott in CA

 

[glemon]

There was a beautiful French Blue TR6 with a matching hard top that my shop teacher in Junior High drove, the car would have been fairly new then, but as I recall he seemed to take very good care of it and used it as a daily driver well into the 80s. Being a teenage boy I of course lusted after the car and it left quit an impression.

 

[Got_All_4]

I heard it once called British Racing Brown. Makes it more tolerable to look at. Anyway if you plain on using POR 15 don't remove the rust. It needs rust to chemically bond to it. It does not bond to bare metal.

 

[smaceng]

So I pulled the chain, but not on the car thus descriped. It was a recent ebay item (Didn't I tell myself I would never do this without looking at a purchase?) which had the bad floor panels repaired, frame painted, and body painted. Interior is gone except for the seats (needs covers). (BTW, if anyone has black door or side panels, wood dash, or dash cushions, let me know.) Sorry for this request, yes it needs to go in the classified.....on to the question. The owner has descripted this as a 1973 TR6 with a VIN # of CC55613L, and the copy of the title verifys it. Online research indicated that this should be a 1970 year car. Once the car arrives, what items on the car can be checked to determine if it is indeed a 1970 or a 1973 model?

Thanks, Scott

 

[Gliderman8]

If it's the original seats (sometimes PO can change them!), the 1973 was the first year of the moveable headrest. The headrest on the '73 moved up/down on a stalk. Prior to '73 the head rest was built into the seat and did not extend/retract.
By the way, I think it was late '73 that commission numbers started with "CF".