• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Assemble and run or body off restore?

Share this page

Looks like the car has good bones to start a resto. I wish mine were in half that good shape.

This may have been asked before and I didn't see it but, How do/did you get a car into the basement? I've heard of walk outs. Do you have a drive out basement?

You must have a very understanding family. With the chemicals, noise, dust and dirt produced restoring a car, my wife would have me living in the dog house if I wanted to do something like this in the house.

Gordo
 
Gordo: As an aside, my father-in-law was an avid
mechanic. My wife is wonderful, like I can't even
believe. Things I do make me cringe and she'll just
clean. She says: Reminds me of my Dad.

I am very lucky.
 
Well... We worked all day Sunday and managed to get the body off the frame.

00025.jpg


00026.jpg


More photos here. (#25-49)
https://xjguy.com/triumph/jan28/800x600/

The passenger side toe panel may need some attention. The driver side was replaced once before it seems, but the passenger may be an original. I was able to push through in a few spots.

On the frame side, everything looks solid. One of the rear drums is missing a brake fitting and e-brake attachment, which seems like a weird thing to be missing.

We braced the body using some angle iron I had around. We based our brace off images found in the Restoring TR3 book recommended here on the forum.
 
Good on ya! I think you'll find working on the car this way to be a blast - much easier than trying to crawl under/around/through to get to that one piece that invariably needs replacing (like the e-brake stuff you mentioned). And you'll have a huge satisfaction factor to deal with!

Now the fun really starts!

Mickey
 
Great.

I had to run out into the garage to make sure my body was still on a 2x and 4x frame with casters, because it looks so much like yours! -Funny part is I have to put the body back on the frame, engine and trans back in, so I can get a motor vehicle appraisal, so I can begin to get the title.

BTW on ebay right now is a set of gas tank straps you were looking for.

Jer
 
Great work rlandrum. You got that done quickly! The car looks like a good one. Thanks for the pictures.
Nick
 
I am overjoyed with excitement for you and your
dad. This car is going to be fun to rebuld and more
fun to drive. Stand proud and wrench on!
 
Getting to the body off point was relatively easy. I went over to my sons house around 2PM and built the body tub cart out of spare 4x4 and 2x4 lumber he had laying around along with some wheels from the local tractor supply - all put together with 3 inch deck screws. He then bolted and welded the body bracing in place and horsed the last few body mounting bolts out (one near the front fender had to be cut). I then put some screw-in eyebolts into the floor joists in the basement ceiling, hung some pulleys, cut four 20-foot lengths of nylon rope and we simply tied it to four points on the front and back of the cockpit. We only had three people - my son, my 13 yr old daughter, and me, so we had to take the lifting in stages. My daughter and I would lift one end while my son temporarily tied off those ropes on a nearby basement support pole, then we'd go do the other end. In this way we seesawed the body tub up about four feet where it hung while we rolled the frame backwards and rolled the wooden body cart underneath. We then carefully untied the back end and lowered it, then the front. Done by 7PM.

Was actually way easier than I expected.

My solution to the 'stagnation' problem will be to keep the momentum going and get the frame and tub and panels blasted and painted as soon as possible so we can begin reassembly. We plan to have the frame blasted then painted locally. We also plan to do the body and panel fixup/painting ourselves to save some $$ after it is blasted. Once the painting is done, that will give us some incentive to get it reassembled just to see how nice it looks :smile: Cash flow will determine how fast we can purchase parts such as suspension rebuild kits, etc and spare time will determine how quickly we reassemble.
 
Go Landrums! Glad to hear it went well and was easier
than you expected. Painting any car in this state
of disassembly is exciting because the finish shows
so professionally.

Great to hear of your progress and keep us posted
as she goes.
 
You guys (and girl) ROCK!

I don't know about you, but when I got my tub on the wooden frame, I had to sit down, relax, drink a beer and just look at it for a while. It felt so good knowing that a milestone had been reached.

I lifted mine a little differently, I used a floor jack and lifted each end alternatly, adding 4x4 blocks between the real frame and the tub. Then I slid the upper part of the wooden frame between the real frame and tub, and put the legs under it. Then I lowered the real frame down to the ground where it can roll out from under the tub on it's wooden frame. I had planned to get some club members to help me the next day, after the meeting, but it was so easy I finished it myself while I was 'getting everything ready' the night before.

I don't have any stated restoration plans (other than doing it), but need to backup a little to get the title. I know you've been working on your dash and instruments, as have I, but it will be interesting to see how our progress compares as we continue.

Jer
 
Back
Top