No progress being made

[mallard]

On the weekends I spend hours out in the garage in 100 plus temps with the Arizona monsoon humidity working on the car. This car seems like it will take forever to finish. I got all the body panels back from the media blasters only to find hairline cracks all over. I should not complain because rust is almost none existent. All of the cracks have been welded and ground, so it's back to trial fitting.

TR3's seem to be more of a challenge than the TR6 to get it all right before paint. I may change my plans to have the car painted in pieces, and then put it back together. New plan may be to paint all of the shell except for top surface areas. Then bolt it down to the chassis. Next to paint all the undersides of the fenders, doors, bonnet, apron, and deck lid. Then put all panels on the car for final block sanding, and painting. This will require a lot of carefull masking so you don't see any mask lines, or overspray. Then to install the SS beading without damaging the paint. Fun Fun

Well that was part of my sound off, just getting a bit frustrated I think. Can't wait for summer to end. Everybody else enjoy your summer, and drive those cars.

 

[JodyFKerr]

On the weekends I spend hours out in the garage in 100 plus temps with the Arizona monsoon humidity working on the car.

Arizona summers suck. That's why I added this AC Unit to my garage. Now, in 115 degree heat (like today) I can work in 75 degree comfort.

Jody

 

[TexasKnucklehead]

It's no cooler in Houston. Last week I was in New Orleans painting the outside of a house. It's no cooler there. My garage has no A/C, but working in the shade beats the sun. I'm making progress on both projects, but with better weather, it would be much more enjoyable. It's hard to stay hydrated with these temperatures.

 

[hondo402000]

Hey I feel your pain, I had some issues too. some my fault and some not my fault. painting pannels at a time gives you the feeling you are getting things accomplished, some say if you paint pannels separately there will be a slight difference that you can see. I dissagree, the paint, as long as you stir it really well there should be no difference, now spraying there could be a difference, tendancy of runs, orange peel, but if you are wet sanding and buffing you cant tell. Now when you start putting on beeding, bumpers, etc just put masking tape all over the painted pannels adjacent to where you are working and if you hit the painted area the tape will protect the paint, and just keep thinking, in 6 months you will be looking back and it wont seem that bad

Hondo

 

[TR4nut]

Keith-

I'm knee deep in sweat in Houston as well. Hang in there. My frame is done and now the engine is completely torn down with parts heading to the machine shop. So that means the unavoidable work on the body will need to get done - and I'm WAY behind you!

Randy

 

[Trevor Triumph]

Over further east I have the swamp cooler- not so helpful this time of year. Although last weekend wasn't so bad, today was wet. Working on a replacement differential for the trip to Del Mar in October, I watched the after monsoon approach. No rain for us however. I did get things cleaned and pat of it painted. Tomorrow I'll get more parts off to see what needs to be replaces- seals and gaskets.

T.T.

 

[KVH]

I'm building a garage so that when the big day comes that I can finally retire, I'll have a workshop to hang out in while playing with my LBC(s). Wall plugs and a small freezer for Blue Ribbon or Miller Beer will be fine.

I'm in Arizona, too, so I'm adding a swamp cooler. I can't quite bite the bullet for "refrigeration." After all, when the grandparents came here in the 50s a swamp cooler was seen as a luxury.

I've had plenty of 100+ days in my garage, with sweat pouring off in buckets. I delude myself into thinking I'm getting a workout.

But after seeing George Hahn's garage, I've decided I need to do something with a little style. His looks like something from Griot's Garage, complete with a ceiling hung TV so he won't miss Oprah (sorry, Geo). I haven't broke ground yet, but I'm getting close.

 

[DougF]

For masking the rolling chassis, I placed plastic sheeting over it before mounting the body. It covered the wheels, engine and everything underneath. Yes it got in the way at times but was easy to work around.

It saved a lot of masking time and kept dust build up to a minimum.

 

[luke44]

...TR3's seem to be more of a challenge than the TR6 to get it all right before paint. I may change my plans to have the car painted in pieces, and then put it back together. New plan may be to paint all of the shell except for top surface areas. Then bolt it down to the chassis. Next to paint all the undersides of the fenders, doors, bonnet, apron, and deck lid. Then put all panels on the car for final block sanding, and painting. This will require a lot of carefull masking so you don't see any mask lines, or overspray. Then to install the SS beading without damaging the paint...

Hi Keith - I may be a step or 2 ahead of you and I do not want to come off like a know it all, but I suggest you put the tub on the frame before you paint to check fit. I was also feeling some frustration with the TR3 body. One thing that jump started the stalled situatiuon was putting the tub on the frame and starting to play with shims. It's amazing how much you can impact gaps. I would suggest this should all be done before painting.

As for the order after that - I am painting tub inners, under etc. Then loose panels inner. Fit panel to tub and paint tub/panels outer.

I saw some nice pix on this website - you may enjoy it but basically that was their sequence, and also the conclusion my body shop has come to after we had the "voila" momment on the gap adjustment.

https://www.healeywerks.com/gallery/gallery.php?rid=32&cid=1

Good luck. Keep the faith. Enjoy the journey. It's well worth it.

 

[tdskip]

Good time to stay in the main house and rebuild some carbs guys!

Pic of Luke's car below - very sharp!

 

[Member 10617]

At least Arizona has "dry heat," as I remember from my early days there. Here in Virginia, the heat and humidity make it feel like about 105 to 108 degrees!

I, too, have been under my car in my basement garage the past week or so. The body of the car was painted professionally before I bought it, but underneath was left alone. Not much rust -- only slight rust here and there and lots of old undercoating, some peeling off. Although all this was hidden from view, I didn't want to settle for it.

Having put my money into rebuilding the mechanical works, I decided to do the minimum on the underside. So, this is what I have done, and it looks terrific:

(1) Hand sanded sheet metal and frame where it needed it. Cleaned it really well of all oil and grease and road grit.

(2) Applied two coats of Eastwood Rust Converter -- allow 48 hours to dry.

(3) Applied a coat of Eastwood Rust Encapsulator -- allow 36 hour drying.

(4) Applied two top coats of Rust-Oleum Professional, matched to the color of the car. (The professional automotive paints are no doubt better, but they need to be sprayed on and the fumes will knock you out unless you are properly protected. So, if you are doing this in your average garage, in this heat, stick to something less lethal.)

In painting the frame, I used a high quality brush to apply the top coat. For the sheet metal -- inside of fenders, etc. -- I used a sponge brush, applied two or three very light coats of paint, and this gave an almost perfectly smooth finish.

This reads, I admit, like front yard, under the tree type auto repair, but it is a good alternative.

I don't intend to enter any shows with this car. I just want to fight the rust and make it look good. And I haven't done anything that cannot be undone later if someone wants a truly professional restoration done.

If you don't want to take your car apart and "do it right," I recommend this fall-back, less expensive, less time-comsuming, "tentative" fix.

I'd rather be in the car than under the car.

 

[mallard]

Lot's of great comments, and ideas guys. I guess I'm not the only one out working in the heat.

KVH you are correct about George's garage it is a sight to be seen. Also if you are refering to Blue Ribbon as PBR, I thought I was the only one left drinking the stuff. Must be the red neck in me.

Doug I heard that the plastic could have static so it would attract dust that could be released when spraying. I was thinking of using paper instead.

Luke44 I do have the shell mounted to the frame with all the shims in place. It looks like I'm leaning the same direction that you are with the painting and assembly process.

Tom the picture of Luke's car is fantastic. Is the engine and trans in the car? If not you would have to remove the apron to install, correct.

Lex your approach has alot of merit. All of my restoration have been over restoration. I really like to show my cars for a few years while they are still in good condition. Then as the restoration fades, drive them much more often. My restoration on the TR6 is 7 years old now and showing it's age. I drive the car much more now.

Hondo the experiance you had with painting is still fresh in my mind.

Thanks again everyone, it's time to go watch the Formula 1 race on TV, it's to hot outside this morning. Work will have to be done in the afternoon, maybe a thunderstorm will come in and cool it down.

 

[luke44]

Good time to stay in the main house and rebuild some carbs guys!

Pic of Luke's car below - very sharp!

Just to clarify - this isn't my car - I just happened to find this website.

 

[Geo Hahn]

...But after seeing George Hahn's garage, I've decided I need to do something with a little style. His looks like something from Griot's Garage, complete with a ceiling hung TV so he won't miss Oprah...

But it is still hot out there. Doing suspension and brakes in prep for a Fall roadtrip and have to start at 5:30 a.m. to get 3 hours in before I melt. Wife says no impact tools until 7:00. Oprah isn't on until late afternoon and anyway I don't watch her 'cause afterwards I'd have to talk to my wife about my feelings.

Just to clarify - this isn't my car - I just happened to find this website.

That may be the 'Restoration from Heck' that has been recounted through the year (9 years IIRC) on the Triumph list.

 

[TR3driver]

Just a thought for when it's hot; I use a cheap pedestal floor fan with a personal mister (the kind that attaches to a garden hose) zip-tied to the front. The result is kind of a personal swamp cooler, which you can direct at where you are standing. Might not work well if the humidity is too high, but the coolish water droplets feel good to me even if they don't evaporate (and around here, it's usually dry enough for them to evaporate completely within 4-5 feet).

 

[angelfj1]

On the weekends I spend hours out in the garage in 100 plus temps with the Arizona monsoon humidity working on the car.

Keith:

Sorry, but <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 14pt">TIME OUT PLEASE!</span></span>

<span style="font-style: italic">I reported last week that I would be working on "the lady" at night to avoid the 100+ heat. Guess what? It didn't help too much because the humidity keeps the heat index close to 100 even at 2 am. At 4 am this moring it was 86 at the shop and the humidity was in the high 80's.</span>

BUT

Ever since I can remember, I am hearing these stories how retirees are moving to AZ in droves.

Why? <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 14pt">SUNNY and DRY</span>.</span> As in <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 14pt">low humidity.</span> </span>

Not the miserable stuff we have had here in the east. We call it the three H's , you know "HHH", HAZZY - HOT - HUMID.

Are you saying that this claim is less than true, pehaps concocted by shifty real estate types?

<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 14pt">So, what's the deal.</span>
</span>
Frank

 

[Geo Hahn]

Yes, AZ is humid, radioactive, dusty and lousy with scorpions & rattlesnakes. You would be wise not to move here & tell your friends to stay home too.

Some local opinion holds that we are guarding the wrong border, should be watching the ones where I-40 and I-10 enter the state.

Seriously, it does get hot & humid here during the Monsoon season (roughly July thru mid Spetember):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon

Most of all, we like to complain about it.

 

[vagt6]

Hot, yes. I built my dream garage last year and it's great. But, it's not air conditioned. Right now in VA it's 100 degrees F and humid. Crazy weather we're having this summer.

My garage is very well insulated, great in winter because it never really get too cold. But in summer, it's HOT. The heat from car engines dissipates into to room and makes it unbearably hot.

But, I put new disc brake pads on my motorcycle today, 93F in the garage. About a 45 minute job, soaked in sweat.

Sometimes, the tinkering urge is unbearable, to heck with the heat!

 

[PeterK]

I just put up a 56" industrial 3-blade ceiling fan in my shop to keep the air flowing. It's not A/C but it sure does help.

 

[mallard]

Peter that is something I never thought of, that could be a good idea. Frank as George mentioned it does get very hot with somewhat bad humidity. Last week it was 115 with 50% humidity. No idea what that would have been on the heat index.

This post was never intended to complain about the heat, but to express the frustration that comes around now and then when doing restorations. I was just getting a bit down and needed a small lift. Which I always get with this group of enthusiasts. Thanks again.