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look before you buy!

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stinky60

Jedi Hopeful
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Iwas looking for a driver to drive, while restoring my Healey.Stumbled upon a 73 spitfire by a coworker, he showed me some real good pictures that looked real good, even had a factory hard top. Iwas expecting to put a little money and work to make this a good driver. I asked him if this car had any rust whatsoever. He said no, so being the trusting guy that I am I bought the car unseen. Brought the car home, it vibrated a liitle bit, no problem. Icould fix this. Jacked the car up removed the tire, looked underneath almost had a massive heart attack, the dreaded r word, the whole driver side floor board was just about gone. If I had the time and money I would go for it. I feel like a real idiot right now, just be safe and look before buying. Ilearned this lesson real good now.
 
I wonder if your coworker actually new about the rust and was being shady. I was just telling my coworker (who was I am sure, fascinated) how the IRS TRs rust out right at the t-shirt pressing. (TR4/250/6). Many people who look at them are willing to get all the way on the ground and reach a foot and a half into the rear of the car to feel for rust. When the cars sit so low to begin, finding the corrosion can be difficult. Guess you have a parts car on your hands. Maybe you can find another Spit cheap that isnt rusty but has parts issues.
 
Hi,

Sorry to hear that you had a bad surprise.

On the other hand, most Triumph floor pans are not terribly difficult to replace. And, it's possible to replace only part of the floor, if other areas are still solid.

Of course, rust in one place often means you'll find rust in other areas. On the other hand, the driver's floor pan might be a key exception to that general rule, since it usually rusts after being attacked by brake fluid, when one or both master cylinders leak.

There are also some cheap, temporary fixes and patches that can be done, to keep the car on the road and stop that rust from spreading.

Hope it turns out okay and is otherwise a good driver for you!

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif.
'62 TR4 CT17602L
 
Hi Stinky60....
Don't let simple floorboard rust put you off.
You may have a solid car otherwise.
Floor is simple to fix and rusts on all these cars as a result of the drivers feet tracking water/snow in, gets in carpets and rusts.
Take a good look around the rest of it.
Good luck.
 
As others have said, I wouldn't necessarily give up on it just yet. Floorboards are a fairly common replacement item on all Triumphs, and it is possible to do spot repairs. Way back when, I had a '70 Spit and didn't realize the floorboard was rusting away until I felt the suspension pushing me in the back on acceleration. I paid someone to weld in a patch, which worked fine for many years. Of course, when they welded it in, they didn't realize how close they were to the brake line. Boiled away the brake fluid, which no one realized until I started the drive home. I drove it home on the emergency brake, bled the brakes, and everything was fine. I can't imagine doing that now!
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Don't feel bad, most Spits have rust in the floor boards and are solid otherwise. If the rockers aren't gone then I'd say it's worth patching. I bought a car off ebay last year that was just gone. The guy failed to mention the licenceplate/heater tin/plastic bag/bondo patches all over the place. To make it even worse, I paid for the car up front and had a friend pick it up and store it until I could get out to Ohio. Oh well, live and learn... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif
 
Thanks, from the responses that I have here I don't feel so bad now. I did a closer inspection, I can go ahead and give it a good patch job, the car seems to be solid.I'm not giving up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
I bought a 1970 TR6, not on ebay, but through it. It was described as having "No rust!" & "garaged for 15 years. Beautiful paint job. Needs a new top probably. Great rust free car." The owner had her phone listed and I called and asked if I could come see it. She said yes, anytime. (I am in DC and the car was outside Philly) It turned out I couldn't get a train back the same day so after alot of asking questions and deciding, thinking, etc I called and offered to buy it for her reserve of $4000. She said ok so I paypalled a deposit of $1000 and she withdrew the auction. I got a flatbed trailer and went up the following week to get it. The drive took longer than I thought and I had a meeting that night, so with a cursory look at the car (it wasn't in the best condition but hey "No Rust" she said. I gave her the balance and drove the car on the trailer, took it home. A few days later I started the normal resto things...got a Bentley manual, ordered some basic parts, etc. I'm a general contractor and work was very heavy so I didn't actually get into the tear down until 2 weeks ago. Well...with the seats, carpet, dash, fenders and hood removed I found the floorpans rusted out in the front, the battery tray was a piece of flashing with a hole underneath, the rockers were smashed in and bondoed, the right fender was crushed at the headlight and filled with bondo, the wiring harness was shot, the bolt holes for the seats were rusted shut, the fender baffles were rusted and bondoed, and the doors had huge sections of swiss cheese holes bondoed over. Obviously I was pretty irate but I began the task of cutting out the rust and welding in sheetmetal patches I made. With every repair a new spot would turn up elsewhere. I have a limited time to do the work because the garage I'm using is being leased as a storage space in 2 weeks. I had preordered all the parts (seatcovers, interior panels, carpet, bushings, shocks, rubber seals, hoses, plugs, etc so every night until 3-4 a.m. I worked on the repairs to the rust,the heater (had a animal nest inside) the wiring, the gauges, the dash, the top frame, the seats, etc. Tonight I got to the rear of the car. The trailing arms. The frame had been previously welded, badly, so the drivers side rear tire is out of alignment, some of the frame is still rusted and the inner wheel well was loaded with balls of fiberglass mat hidden by "rustproofing material". I am so ****** furious I want to go blow that woman's house up! And I have no recourse because I was an impatient fathead and wanted a TR6 but was sick of being outbid at the last second (3 times). SO LOOK BEFORE YOU BUY!!!!! Sorry, needed to vent some.
Steve
 
This will be no consolation, but I feel your pain, I really. I had a similar experience with a 63 XKE I bought over the internet without looking at it. I spend a great deal of time talking to the owner and looking at lots of pictures he sent me (its amazing how much deteail is lost in a picture). Long story short, the car was nowhere near what I was expecting and I felt like a complete idiot for buying it! It took a lot of time and $$$ just to get it in good enough shape that I wouldn't feel bad about selling it. Take heart though, you have found a place whre you will find as much help as you will ever need to bring back your TR to life once again!

Welcome to the forum again! Basil
 
I feel your pain also. I found my Spider on EBay, and since it was local, went and looked at it. Overall, it looked good, no bad leaks, magnet stuck everywhere, but had been neglected for a couple years and so needed a few things. Well, after sinking about $3000 into it for the new top and a few other items(expected), new fuel tank (unexpected), new fuel system (unexpected and expensive with the F/I), and new ignition (unexpected) I finally got a fairly reliable car. Some things you just can't tell anyway (how was I to know the inside of the fuel tank had about an inch of rust sludge on the bottom?).
 
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