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TR6 Crackled Paint on TR6_Common?

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petrops

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Oh the journey!

I am close on a TR^ TR6. 1974 with OD. The owner indicates that it has original paint (minus a repair to the driver's door and what he reports to have been a repair to a man made hole in the rear deck <aftermarket antenna>)

It sure seems nice and at $7000 I am eager to take a trip to see it. There are few obvious issues but one is the crackled paint that I see in a few of the photos. The area around the headlights is the most obvious though there are a few others.

I seem to recall seeing this a few times and wondered if it was a common issue with these cars. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks (again)

Jack
 
Dig the color - looks like what my 1971 originally was (and inner panels and engine bay still are).

She looks like a nice honest car.

As far as the cracking, I've seen that too. Not sure if is just age and heat that does that honestly.
 
My TR3 had similar paint issues where it had been resprayed. The car basically appears to be solid. Photo #77 looks questionable, but I can't tell exactly what part of the frame we're looking at.
I see the OD badge, but I didn't see the switch. It should be in front of the turn signal switch. The headlights and highbeams are on the right side of the column. It definitely looks interesting enough to check out.
Good luck!
 
My 73 6 had original paint when I bought it. It was definately "crackled" probably from all the years out in the California sun.

Cheers,

M. Pied Lourd
 
The car looks to be in good condition. I noticed the check strap on the passenger side door appears to be broken and has damaged the door. As far as paint cracks and checking, I have seen that as well, but usually on the top of the body surfaces, not on a vertical or protected surface. Paint checking is more likely to occur with a respray or over body work.

I also noticed what appears to be touch up paint where the rear deck, boot, and rear wing meets, a very common place for rust.

All in all, if the mechanicals are good, it looks like a good car for the money.
 
since I am in the process of repainting the bonnet on my TR6 and in talking with the auto paint guy cracking can occur if there is body filler under the paint that shrunk if it was not mixed up correctly, ratio of filler to hardner. I have also seen lacquer paint crack like that too.
 
I don't claim to be THE expert, but I've seen almost none of that sort of cracking on truly original paint; it's far more likely to occur under such circumstances as Ray notes. But there is one consideration regarding "original paint": such is what one would normally expect from the factory, but keep in mind that a pretty fair number of these cars suffered bumps and scrapes during their little ocean journeys to our shores...or during unloading by dockworkers who might have had a bit of a union beef that day, or .... :wink: There were times when distributors or dealers were busy touching up or otherwise repairing such damage.

Example: I bought a slightly used 1969 Mk3 Spitfire in January 1971. It was the cheapest of the three I looked at, mostly because it had a nice, soft dent in the RR fender, which I was able to push out with a sneakered foot once I got the car home! But not too long after that, I notices some chips around the wheel arch on the same rear fender of the Laurel Green car. Oddly enough, underneath the chip was not primer or bare metal, but more Laurel Green paint. There's virtually no doubt in my mind that there was some minor shipping damage that had been fairly well repaired before the original owner ever saw the car.
 
A very common cause of cracking is an excessive build up of paint and the thinner/reducer from the top layers attacks the bottom and causes the cracking affect. That was very common in the 60-70's on cars run through an auction with cheap, quicky paint jobs on them. Sadly for some buyers, it didn't show until weeks later when the cars were parked in the hot sun and the paint fully cured.

I can't find any pictures of the engine compartment or frame, or am I just to tired to see them tonight?
 
Paul- Take a break for a while. I am sure it was tough out on the course this week end! :laugh:
 
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