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TR2/3/3A I bought a TR2 project

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Alfred E. Neuman

Alfred E. Neuman

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Been a while since I've been on the message board. Life has a way of seeing to that. But I'm ready for another project and I think I found a good one.
I went and looked at the TR2 that was for sale on the BCF Triumph Classifieds and decided it would be a really cool car to get back to its former glory.
First step will be to get it home from Knoxville to Atlanta. I'll get that done in the next few weeks. Then and inventory to see what I'm missing.

Then the real fun/challenge begins. The car has been dormant for a long time, so I'll need to get it dissassembled and assess what metal work needs to be done. I'm anticipating going down a similar road as Mike G is currently traveling (but hopefully not as rough and winding as the road John went down with his TR2 :LOL:) - inner/outer sills, floors, and a bit of rear valence. All the usual bolt-on panels will need a thorough repair/straighten/fitting. Hopefully the frame is solid and straight. I didn't see anything that scared me on the frame other than surface scale from being stored in a garage for years.

I'll start a restoration thread as soon as I get it home and get it in the shop. I'll be on here soooooo much asking for help and guiadance from those who have walked this path. Thanks in advance for all the help I know I'll get.

Robby
 
Robby - congrats on becoming the TR2's new guardian! How's the engine and drive train? The classified only shows a rough body.

Just wondering ... did you actually see and inspect the car before you bought it?

As I'd see often in the 1960s ... "What, me worry?"

Tom M.
 
Tom, thanks for the congrats and questions.

Inspected it pretty well a couple of weekends ago. It's actually a very solid car. The bulkhead is solid. The floors are good from the seat rails back, and only some minor rust-through in the forward footwells that doesn't look like it goes up the bulkhead panels. Everything from the seat rails back appears to be rock solid, including all the trunk panels and the spare tire well. Rear valece will need some work where the rear fender meet it, but that's typlical. I'm hoping the closing panels under the valence aren't too bad, but they're easy to take off if needed. Even the trunk gutter is solid.

It comes with a all panels on the car, plus another set of fenders, a couple of doors, a couple of boot lids, and a bonnet or two. There should be enough to make what I need.

The left front fender is by far the worst of the panels. I may need to source one as the entire rear portion is fiber glassed. The original bonnet is pretty rough, but it's correct with 4 vents so I'll try to save it.

The engine is original and it out of the car but is seized. That will be one of my first projects. I'd like to keep the orignal block. Luckily this isn't my first fight with the 4 cylinder TR engines. I'll get it unstuck, and hopefully the crank and rods will be worth using. If not, I'll go big and build a nice motor for it. Might have to do cam bearings, I'll measure and see.

Transmission is an early O/D unit, single switch so it only works on 4th. I may need to find a clutch shaft and shifter/top cap assembly for it. I'll know once I get it home and see what's in all the boxes.

My plan is to keep the drum brakes if I can.

This will be a decent project for sure. I had an early long door TR2 when I was in college that was right hand drive but it was sooooo far gone I just parted it out. Now I have one I can make new again.
 
Bravo! You've already got it sorted and know what lies ahead. Please keep us posted on your progress! I'm betting you'll get lots of help from knowledgeable BCF TR guys.

Tom M.
 
Will do John.
I have about 50 pictures the previous owner sent me before we went and looked at the car, but I don't want to post them as I don't have permission. I'll get a very detailed restoration thread going as soon as I can so I can get advice from BCF members like yourself who have more experience than me.
Your TR2 bodywork thread has been an inspiration of mine for years now, and has given me the confidence to tackle something that I used to consider beyond my ability to learn.
I'm an auto tech by trade, so the mechanical side of things holds no mystery. But the rust repair and bodywork is something I need to learn more about.
 
Steve,
I'm hoping I don't need to find *too* much TR2 specific stuff. At least it's not a very early car with cable release bonnet, I can't imagine how hard it would be to gather all the stuff for an early commission # car.

I've been following your TR2 project some. Yours is a bit rougher than mine to start, but I'm betting I'll need to do most of the same repairs on some level.

My welding skills will improve, that's for sure! If not, there's always Macy's Garage to bail me out of any insurmountable trouble I get myself into. 🛠️
 
Yes, the 1955 is the later car, there is one thing for sure I am missing like the U-shaped chrome over the grill, but there was a guy in England that made one that looked stock. I plan on posting some more pics when I get the body temporarily on the frame soon. Please post some more pics the forum is getting too slow

Steve
 
Congratulations on your new project...sounds like a lot of fun (and personally I’ve always had a fondness for TR2’s). For what it’s worth, I just did a similar rebuild (although mostly mechanical) on a ’59 TR3 I bought 2 years ago. Just wrapped it up recently and still have a new-ish generator and water pump that came with the car. You can have either or both very cheap. Also have a used but solid with-hole radiator that I swapped out for aluminum. Best of luck, I look forward to reading along!
 
Thanks @traveler501!
I might take you up on the water pump and generator. It's definitely going back to a positive ground generator car. No alternator conversion on this one. I have what I think is a decent radiator that is original to the car, and it has a brass tag stating it was made in Ireland (where the car was assembled). I'm going to try and reuse it if I can. I have a radiator shop I trust to go through it for me.

Update on the car:
Got him home over the Christmas break!!!! Haven't had alot of time to take many picutures, but spent a lot of time organizing and boxing up parts and assemblies for future restoration before they go back into service. Most all of the important bits are there, and everything that makes it a TR2 is present. I will need to source a set of sidescreens to rebuild. This car is late enough that it doens't have the fixed windows, but does have a flap to reach in and open the door.

The engine has been stuck for about as long as I've been alive, and that's saying somehting. I've got it on a stand at the shop and nearly apart. Another few evenings and I'll have it down to the bare block. I plan on having Hap at Acme help with the motor rebuild choices. I've taken plenty of pictures as I went through the dissassmbly/unseizing. Good grief it's been a chore. Every. Single. Thing. is putting up a fight.

The body is going to take me a loooooonnnnnnggggg time. It's got the usual TR2/3 rust in the front of the floors and lower firewall and kick panels, plus the additional fun of a love-tap on the right rear bumper that knocked the over rider into the rear valence and left a ding, plus moved the lip of the rear trunk gutter forward about 1/8". So I'll have to gain access to knock all that back out. The valence itself looks like it should be good to go other than that, but so much has to get removed to gain access to the underside of the valence it will give me a good opportunity to clean and de-rust and prime/paint areas the factory never touched. Then it's on to the removable panels.

One small bit at a time.

I'll get a thread going showing the engine tear down as soon as I get a spare moment.
 
I also restored an early long door RHD TR-2 and even took it around my local race track. A bit of advice - seriously consider converting to front disc brakes for safety! PS - getting out of an early long door model with RHD when parked beside a curb was basically impossible (short door version, would have been no problem).

tr-2_1.jpg
 
Bravo Bill!
(Who's hiding on your left ...?)
 
NutmegCT said:
Bravo Bill!
(Who's hiding on your left ...?)
Click to expand...

Pit crew/wife! She wasn't much f a fan when I drove it on the street and it rained - the Brooklands screens are really only slight deflectors of the wind (and rain) stream! PS - coming into a hairpin turn at c. 100 mph with drum brakes was either bravery or stupidity given that a TR is about the last car you'd want to have to toss sideways to slow down (my other race cars were MGA and TVR)
 
Agree with you there! and the fitted side screens are perfectly engineered to channel as much rain as possible directly into the driving seat!
 
@billspohn, I've got all the front axle parts to convert over to discs, but I'd like to try to get the drums up and running if I can. I had a long door TR2 for a bit in my younger days, and the brakes weren't bad at all considering what they are.
I do have a question about the conversion though. Will the original Lockheed dual master cylinder run a disc brake setup? I'd definitely like to keep the original master cylinder under the hood if I can. It's in pretty good shape and Apple Hydrualics shouldn't have any trouble making it work like new.
 
Until more knowledgeable folks than me pop in, take a look:

FITTING DISC BRAKES TO MY TR2

I'm considering fitting disc brakes to my TR2 which has the standard 10" drums now. I have no experience of discs on a sidescreen. I see on the Moss catalogue that there are 3 types of disc brakes for the sidescreen series TR3 through to 3B. Moss lists them as Type A, B or C. I understand that th...
www.trforums.com

Tom M.
 
Afraid I can't answer whether the TR2 master cylinder moves enough fluid for the calipers as I never did that specific modification. I suspect that you an as MGAs used the same Lockheed master to actuate both early drum brake cars and later disc brake models. They had a 7/8" bore so check what the TR came with - I think they are the same bore.
 
IMG_1106.jpg
IMG_1105.jpg
I'm down to a bare block!!!
That was the single most stuck engine I've ever dealt with. By a very long way.
Any other design than the good old four cylinder TR wet liner would have been toast.
Block looks good at first inspection. I'll get it cleaned and really give it a good look tomorrow.
Crank looks fine. Spun like a top in the mains when I finally got the pistons and liners out. Journals all look good. Haven't mic'ed it to see, but I'm betting it's standard sized as the bearings weren't marked at undersized. I'll have it tested and polished, ground if needed.
The rods look OK, but I'll feel better about some Arrow rods from Racetorations.
I'm whooped. Nearly three weeks of beating, drilling holes between pistons and liners, knocking pistons down, heating, swearing....It's a good thing I gave up drinking :ROFLMAO:
 
Before you go too far on the block, be sure to check the the front and rear head stud holes for cracks. Is that left rear oil pan bolt broken off...or just sealant?
 
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