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TR2/3/3A Crossroads with TR3 restoration

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Now the front grill I can help you with, because I was going through the fitting issue of the grill 3 years ago. I took these pix at the 2010 TRA to help my body man. Bottom line was the dimensions were all over the place and in the end my grill had to fitted to the nose with a lot of fiddling.

I think how the apron is sitting on the cross bar is the same thing - it's not right as it is, but rather than start over with a used piece discuss with a good panel fitter and come up with a plan. Don't assume a used piece will fit a whole bunch better. If you need more pictures for any part of the nose, put the call out. The guys on this board are awesome and willing to help, and most likely someone has been through what you have, and can provide a picture you may need.

Hope these help.

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So million dollar question Mr. Knucklehead (or hopefully more like $1000 question): What is a reasonable expectation of time that it will take to fix the front apron; assuming I know a good panel guy (which I don't)? 8 hours? 16 hour? 100 hours? etc.
 
As I recall I paid a shop $300 (labor only) to rework my TR3A seats. The leather was good but the padding and springs were shot. I went with a built-up foam base instead of springs though I believe good replacement springs are available.

I never did shimming for door alignment and never bought an apron so I can't help there -- though I have looked at a lot of aprons on eBay and cannot recall seeing one that didn't have some issues.

I didn't mean to imply you were only half-way when I said mid-project -- just that it wasn't finished. I do have a friend who describes his TR3A project as 'half-done' -- 90% completed and 90% to go. I suppose it feels that way to him some days.

As a seller you would (naturally) think about all that has been accomplished, but a buyer may focus more on what remains to be done.
 
mcguijo said:
So million dollar question?
Click to expand...

Million dollar question indeed.

I just checked Moss and they want $2,750 for a new one. -And my guess is, it will not fit, doesn't have the cage nuts nor the holes for anything nor the lower flat sections. I purchased one off ebay for $99 plus another $69 to ship it. It had all the holes plus a few extra. Then I removed the 6 or 10 layers of paint, removed the rust, un-dented it from where it met a telephone pole, reshaped it and the cross brace so they matched the hood profile, reshaped the grill opening to match the grill, welded the rust holes shut around the head light buckets, cut/trimmed/bent/added metal at the lower corners so it would match the end of the front fenders, replaced most of the cage nuts, had it bead blasted and primed, then I spent a few (tens of) hours applying filler and block sanding, sprayed at least 6 coats of high build primer, a coat of epoxy sealer, 2 coats of base color, 3 coats of clear, sanded with 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper to remove the orange peel and buffed. I can't guess how many hours I have into it, but at any shop rate, I couldn't afford my own work. Before and after pictures attached.

As far as the name of the color, PPG calls it Orchid Yellow from a "2001 2002 N American Honda". My wife calls it butter. -Margarine is much more yellow.

Your cost will have a lot to do with how much you can do yourself and how picky you are about it. A shop familiar with TR3s will be able to give you a better idea of what they might charge. Still, an estimate is just an estimate. I estimated I'd spend a few thousand before I had my car running. -That was well over $20k ago, but I learned to weld, fit, use a hammer and dolly, paint, buff...

primrose.jpgapron.jpg
 
You bring up another point. The paint on the car has "orange peel" texture on it. The guy who evaluated the work was very much against the "peel". I just don't know how to feel about it. I have a brand new F-250 that has orange peel from the factory. Look at the pictures on the link provided. Is the orange peel on this car terrible in your opinion? If that's something that has to be redone, I definitely couldn't afford.
 
Orange peel.
Well, I am no expert. This is my first time spraying base/clear-coat. I think it should be called "base/clear-coat/guide-coat" because it seems to me that I have to sand and respray as often as not. I think orange peel is something not very uncommon. There are people that manage to avoid it more often than others, but it seems to be more common to have it, than not. However, if the clear is thick enough at the low spots of the orange peel, it can be sanded smooth and buffed to look perfect. One of my fenders took me 3 tries until I was able to sand the orange peel without going thru the color. -That means sanding the area, reapplying color, then sanding the clear and spraying the entire panel with clear so there is no start/stop line. Since your car has a number of spots that need touched up with color, it might not be too much extra to ultra-sand and buff the remainder. All that aside, if the orange peel doesn't bother you, you can let it be. I know this is not the answer you were seeking, but the resolution may be as complex as my answer.

Like I keep telling my neighbor who wants my car to be perfect, sometimes we have to lower our expectations. I'll be happy with it in the end, as you should be with what ever you do.
 
Hey Jer-
Do you prefer Tex or Mr. Knucklehead? I'd vote for the latter! Hah

BTW, your front apron looks great and you're making good progress. Keep painting and it will get easier. I'm sort of getting the hang of it now!

Pat
 
luke44 said:
...it's a very big job to take a car from start to finish - unless you are a pro at it, almost everyone underestimates the time and $$ involved. And discouragement sets in...
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In my experience even the pros underestimate the time & $$. The difference for them is that so long as the checks keep coming in they don't get discouraged.

The advice to take some time off from it and come back to it later is the best suggestion I've heard here.
 
Pat-

As long as you put the Mr in front of Knucklehead, I'm betting Jerry is good with it! Seriously, its great to be in the club I'm in, we have Tex and several others who just drip skill and knowledge. But Jerry is keeping us all in awe I think.

mcquijo-

Looking at the last picture you posted, yes I think you have a problem - but it still may be something you can fit around. Don't take it wrong please, but who did your bodywork/paint? You may not have been getting your money's worth. In Jerry's work, he had all the panels fitting perfectly before the first drop of paint was put down. I think that is your biggest problem here - its tough to work on panel alignment with the painted panels. I'm in a similar but slightly better situation with the project I took on.

Now, a thought on that front apron - I think you may want to loosen the fender bolts along the top - and probably test fit the bonnet as well at the same time. I think it may be possible to spread the fenders out, which would potentially take the bow out of your apron - from your picture it clearly looks too high relative to the brace. If the bonnet gaps look good, and the bonnet matches up to your apron you would be pretty much done with that fitting issue. Or at least know if you have a worse problem.

Randy
 
Just regarding the cost of a used apron (should you decide to buy one): Don't forget that the one you have now is not worthless. You should be able to sell it at a decent penny.
 
Since these are hand-built cars from the factory, I don't think getting a used apron will solve as many problems as you hope. It will still require a lot of alignment work to get it fit. Although the holes will already be there, I bet you will have to work hard to get them all lined up. Looking at your picks, I personally would work on the one you already have...
 
When i got done painting my car (in the garage), I had a fair amount of orange peel. Since the car is black, I really didn't want any orange peel. I put on three coats, i figured let me try sanding down the peel. If worst came to worst, I'd just shoot it again.

One advantage, was the fact that I decided to only go with the base coat, as i feel that a clear coat doesn't look right on cars of this vintage. Anyway, there ain't much paint left on the car after the sanding, but I'm very happy with the overall results. It was worth the couple of days worth of work sanding and buffing.

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CJD said:
...I don't think getting a used apron will solve as many problems as you hope. It will still require a lot of alignment work to get it fit.... Although the holes will already be there, I bet you will have to work hard to get them all lined up. Looking at your picks, I personally would work on the one you already have...
Click to expand...

Painful as it is to say it, I agree totally. The new posting by 2long shows what you will be in for with a used nose piece.
 
I know the picture looks bad but the piece is fairly straight. All of that rust which is mainly surface would come off if it was dipped which is why it is my preferred method of surface prep. Soda blasting would not clean it though. Bead blasting would work to clean it off but you run the risk of damaging the sheet metal. Having said that, you are still back to having to fit it and make adjustments after cleaning.
 
I agree. And it has the proper holes for the correct (ribbed) letters for your car and appears to have all the cage nuts still in place. But there is no way to know how well it might fit your car.
 
I was lucky enough to be given a front cowl for my tr2. It had some rust at the fender edges, but other than that it was in good nick. Pondered for a while snd then made templates for each fender and welded new side flanges that exactly matched the fender profiles. Took the better half of an afternoon, but now looks great.
 
How do you adjust the doors on a TR3? The body shop is really confused on this. everything is done on a "Frame Off" & the doors don't line up anymore.
Help Please!!
 
It depends on what's off. Have you got a picture, or a at least a description of where it's off?
 
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