• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

TR2/3/3A Replace rusty sills?

Share this page

J

JAJohn

Member
Bronze
Country flag
Offline
Hello! I'm restoring a 1961 TR3A with rust everywhere. I discovered my door sills are rotten on both sides, inside and out. I will need advice. First, will MIG welding be useful? Totally rusted floors already out.
 
Yes, you will need to mig weld quite a bit (or tig, or stick for that matter). For starters, the bottoms of the A and B post need to be welded to the inner sills....outer sills with need to be either welded or spot welded...floors will need to be welded in as well...lots of other areas to be concerned about as well eventually like sheetmetal patch for the bottom of the b post dogleg and the attachment of the lower exterior footwell sections to the inner sill.

Cheers
Tush
 
Too bad we aren’t close. I’m in Pa and am doing the same thing to my 61 TR3A. I have started a post on Triumph experience forum and am asking questions along the process. I will be glad to share my experience with you as I am on my way.
 
No my car is in pretty good shape except the floors and sills. Today I found a needed repair/patch to do at the front inner fenders right beside the steering box and same spot on other side. That will be a simple fix. Another patch is needed at the bottom fire wall in front of the high beam switch. I attacked the bolts on the floors today and all but two came loose with heat. Cages broke and the bolts are just spinning so I’ll cut those off. Next is bracing and start cutting the floors. I wasn’t planning on cutting the lower B pillar or quarter panel to get to the inner sill. But that makes sense and would take less time . I have a friend helping me who has restored a TR3 . I will run that by him tomorrow. He hasn’t suggested that route so I am curious now how he was going to have me do it.
 
The B pillars and quarter panels are anchored onto the inner sills. I'm afraid that's in your future!
 
You may find that the repair on the lower front inner fenders beside the bottom of the radiator is not as simple as you think....

Many times, the body mounts are corroded badly as well on the opposite sides of the inner fenders. Often this will require repair/replacement of these mounts as well.

Anyway, just thought I’d mention it. Good luck.

Cheers
Tush
 
IMG_0366.jpg
I have gone thru this repair and is not an easy repair, but my car was in bad shape.This shows the damage and the cut lines to remove the damage.
IMG_0367.jpgdamage removed IMG_0368.jpgpatch panel fitted ready to tack
IMG_0369.jpgIMG_0381.jpgIMG_0387.jpgbody mount fabricatedIMG_0388.jpgzink primer where the body mount mates to the inner wing. I made the bottom of the body mount stronger using 11 gauge where the body mount bolts to the frame.
IMG_0383.jpgbody mount plug welded to the inner wing welds
IMG_0381.jpgIMG_0595.jpgwelds ground, hammer and dollied and body filed. driver side same as above.
Hope yours is not this bad, Good luck, Frank
 
JaJohn, glad to see you were able to post in the TR forum. Best of luck on your TR repairs!
 
Nice photos Frank. That’s exactly what I had to contend with and what I was referring to.

Cheers,
Tush
 
Back
Top