TR2/3/3A It begins in earnest

[Alfred E. Neuman]

Got the TR2 into the shop on Friday afternoon and spend Saturday and Sunday with my wife removing all the bolt-on body panels.
It's bad. Not as bad as it could be, and I've seen way worse repaired here, but it's bad.
The entire car is covered in a weird silver that's making it look a lot worse than it is. The underside of everything is also COMPLETELY covered in a fine grey powder. It's like it was rallied on crushed stone roads and then parked. Forever. Maybe it was.

 

[NutmegCT]

Congrats on taking the first step in a rewarding journey! Hope the grey powder isn't also inside the engine ... Would be interesting to know the car's history details.

What's the first thing to do in bringing your TR back to life?

Tom M.

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

Every panel will need a fair bit of work, both from rot and fender benders/dings/dents/cracks.
Front fenders and bonnet are by far the worst, I think. Fenders will require the mounting flanges to be separated and repaired, then repair the fenders and mount them back together. At least John has the design of the lower flanges where the front fenders mount to the inner sill. Other than that, I'm going to be spending a lot of time forming and welding 20 gauge to get everything looking good.

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

Congrats on taking the first step in a rewarding journey! Hope the grey powder isn't also inside the engine ... Would be interesting to know the car's history details.

What's the first thing to do in bringing your TR back to life?

Tom M.

Thanks Tom! It's going to be a LOOONG journey, but I'm in it for the hobby.

First step, once I get the rest of the body fully stripped, is to get it braced and onto a cart so I can assess the frame. I think the frame looks very good and should clean up with just some minor repairs to the outriggers and rear bumper mounts. If it measures square, it will get stripped and wire wheeld so I can build my body to the frame I plan on using. If it is bent or rusted, I'll have zero hesitation ordering a Ratco frame. I plan on driving this thing with some beans. It's going to be solid and as "safe" as a TR2 can be.

I'll have the body media blasted so I'm working with a clean sheet instead of staring at all the rust and rot. The doors fit very well right now, so I'm thinking the best course of action is to NOT mess with the doors yet and use them to build the inner/outer sills and floorpans. The frong fenders are so bad, I'll build them to the tub and doors later.
Once the sills are back together and the tub is stable again, I'll move to either the back or front of the tub and get those straight. Then I'll build my body panels to fit the straight tub.
Sounds "simple" in practice. Not so much in execution.
Engnine/running gear/suspension/steering/brakes will all get rebuilt as I need a break from metal work. Same with interior and electrical and trim pieces.

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

Front shroud isn't too bad. Some flange work and a little strightening and welding up the ususal holes and cracks in the mout from the crank handle.

Doors aren't too bad, but will probably require un-crimping the skin to get everything cleand and any minor repairs done. I don't think I'll have to get whole new skins or anything.

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

Boot lid will need some work to the lower edges where water collects, as usual. I was planning on removing the bracing to clean and rust proof anyway, so hopefully not a huge deal.

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

Bonnet is horrible. It's bent, rusted, and oil canned. TR2 didn't have any sort of strengthening lip at the rear. It's just a big sheet of thin metal and bends like a potato chip. Combine that with some corrosion and damage, and I'll probably have to use parts of the two other bonnets I have to make one good TR2 bonnet. I may cheat on this one if I can find a way to scavange the four vent secton and pop it onto a TR3 bonnet.

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

Doors look OK. I'll have to disassemble them to do some minor repairs and for cleaning and rust prevention on the frames. I think the skins look good. Should be able to re-use with some repairs.