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50 years old

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T

TexasKnucklehead

Jedi Knight
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Before you say "happy birthday" read this...

According to the certified factory record, for the VIN number I sent that was on my TR3, the build date was Feb 24, 1958. But there's a few issues. First the motor and transmission are about a year newer than 1958. The VIN plate had been replaced, and the "O" for overdrive had been omitted on the new plate. There is both green paint and red paint under the VIN plate, making it obvious the VIN plate had been (at least) removed. The body does not have blanking plates, or holes for RH driving -which wasn't produced in 1958. So... the body is newer, the engine and transmission are newer, the interior was missing when I got it, as well as the chrome, front apron, windsheild, stanchions...

Tomorrow is it's 50th birthday. I can't point to any part, except the damaged worm gear removed from the steering box (that has "7 58" stamped onto it) and say "that is 50 today".

But I'm still going to celebrate the occasion.

Jer
 
Look on the sunny side - Happy Birthday to your original factory record!

images


Tom
 
Tis better to have a Triumph with an unconfirmed birth date than not to have one at all.
 
My TR3A (TS 27489 LO) turned 50 last Thursday Feb. 14th St Valentine's Day. It was "born" between 2:30 and 4:00 PM on a Friday. Maybe that explains something about all the things that happened during its first life. I bought it new in May, 1958 here in Montreal.

Look at the bottom of the coil to see if the date is still there. The one I have in my TR is the original one with 178,000 miles or more on it.
 

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Don:

Nice underhood shot but I would give a few demerits for the wrong distributor cap. Should't the LUCAS up upside down? Some guy in Canada sent me a correct one a few years back and it has been on the TR2 since.

Lou Metelko
Auburn, Indiana
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Look at the bottom of the coil to see if the date is still there. The one I have in my TR is the original one with 178,000 miles or more on it.[/QUOTE]

Dale, did you see that??????
 
Don, that's brilliant. I ran out and dug through my parts. Yes, it's a lucas coil! Cleaned the grundge off the bottom and the date is 9/90.

Well, it's still a birthday. I'm considering this car a "survivor" because it was restored before the previous owner had it (probably around 1990), and it survived a 20' storm surge during hurricane Katrina. It didn't survive well, but it will be fine. I'm also considering this a "numbers matching" car, because all the numbers match ones in the standard set.

Now, to celebrate this numbers matching survivor's birthday, I'm going to take a drive in my TR6 and wonder where I'll get a title for this driver-wanna-be.

I think a Guiness is in order as well.
 
Brosky said:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Look at the bottom of the coil to see if the date is still there. The one I have in my TR is the original one with 178,000 miles or more on it.
Click to expand...

Dale, did you see that?????? [/QUOTE]

The one I took of my 1974 (May) TR6 yesterday is marked 17/74 -so the 17 must be the week.
 
I just threw my original into the spare parts bin last summer and it was 10/74, if I remember correctly. My car was built in April of 1974, so that must be the week.
 
My TR2 is a 54 and being commission # 5012 I estimated it to have been produced in the autumn (sept-oct) of 54.
I've yet to get a certificate.
That makes my 54 TR2, 54 years old this year. Kinda neat.
 
Lou - Long time no hear. The cap I gave you is the one that the TRA judges said was wrong for my TR3A. It is right for an MGA and also for early TR2s. The one on my car in the photo is correct. If you look carefully, you can read the LUCAS correctly. The story is that when the TR2 was introduced, they used the distributor cap that was a standard item for the MGA. It was the only one available at that time. Since the MGA has the distributor lower on the block and the wires come out the top heading up towards the sparkplugs, the name Lucas is easily read on the MGA. But the TR2 had the distributor high up on the block with the wires aiming downwards, so the early cars, like your TR2 should have the MGA type cap and this should show the name LUCAS upside down on your car.

At some time, later on, S-T must have had Lucas redesign the moulds for the cap so that the name would read correctly when installed on a TR. Bill Piggott's book and the TRA judging standards do not specify the TS number when they made this change.
 
Thank you. What you see in the photo on the previous page shows my engine compartment that helped the judges award me 2nd place in the early TR3A class at VTR last July near Philadelphia with 384 points out of 400.
 

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Aloha Jer,

My TR3A has it's golden jubilee tomorrow, 26 February 2008. Happy birthday to your car.
 
My TR3 turns 51 next week, March 5th.

Happy birthday to all!
 
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