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TR2/3/3A Requesting some body measurements.

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tallguylittlecar

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A little background on the car first. The previous owner took the body off the frame. restored the frame/suspension and then cut the body in half to replace floors and sills. At that point he quick and I took over. I would have preferred to fix the floors and sills while the car was still attached to the frame but I am well past that so I must work with what I have. I had the two halves media blasted and then I got them in epoxy primer. I currently have new inner and outer rockers, floors and trunk floor from TRF to begin the re-assembly.

In order to get the two halves aligned I have chosen to mount the doors and get the gap to the scuttle panel as well set as I can for now and then align the doors to the rear. I have both halves mounted to the frame with the correct pads and spacers. I know that is a lot to get to my question but I was hoping that someone out there that is working on their car could give me some measurements off the inner rocker. I want to make sure that the two parts are sitting at approximately the correct height off the sill. I think the rear is in the correct spot but in order to get the door to align up I have to lift the rear to the point where the flange in the foot well will not have much overlap with the sill and the floor. What I need to know is the hight from the top off the sill to the tip of the door opening up front and the top of the sill to the squared off section that is inside the door jamb, any help is much appreciated. tr3 p4.jpg
 

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I will give you my measurements with the preface that this is on a preTS60000 car and that it has had been involved in a roll over accident in its past. I have replaced the inner sills and floors just recently. The measurements are front--20 and 1/4 inches. Rear --11 and13/16 on driver side and 11 and 7/8 on the passenger side. I will add that after seeing some threads regarding getting a good door fit, I have backed up to "loading" the frame with the engine, front suspension, axle and tires before I continue. This is because once the frame is loaded and the car sitting on its wheels the body will be stressed differently than it is with just the bare frame. This should not really change the two height measurements that you requested. But it may very likely change ( very slightly ) the angle of the "A" and "B" posts as they are welded onto the sill. This will ultimately result in the door closing lines being better or worse.
I did what you are doing and used the frame to fit the parts together. I did build a tube frame work inside the car to hold the door openings in a fixed state.
Good luck.
Charley
 
Charley,

Thanks for the help. Given your measurements I think that the rear of my car is sitting about where it should on the inner sills. I am measuring 11 3/4 on both sides, a bit less than yours but in the ballpark where I think it will be fine. I need to get better measurement's of my front end but I think I will have to raise it up a bit to meet up with the rear.

My car is sitting on its suspension right now without the engine. I am in the middle of the rebuild on that but plan on getting it back on the frame once the rebuild is done.

Cheers,

Derek
 
It would seem to me that the fit of the doors should give you the proper distances from front to back of the two body halves. Fitting the front fenders is a good way to help with the door fittings also. I have hung the front fenders twice now trying to make sure of the best fit. Same thing goes for fitting the hood against the cowl and the front fenders.

So just how tall is tall for a small car? I'm 6'3" and fit in the TR3 very nicely. But for the TR4 I have moved the seat back to gain some leg room. I also switched to TR6 seats in the TR4 so that I can recline them to get even more room.
Charley
 
I am probably going to do something similar with my car so I appreciate the post and please keep posting. If I get any epiphanies, I will try and convey them.
 
I know there is a lot of sheet metal work ahead of me but I feel like this is the real hump that I need to get over. If I can get the front and rear welded together I think the rest will fall in place rather quickly.


I am 6'6" so it can be a bit of a squeeze though I fit just fine in my MGB with the seats moved a few inches to the rear. I am looking at having 2Tall do my interior and think I will have him take a few inches of foam off the bottom when he covers them.
 
A few question on body mounting. After a several week break due to work I am finally getting back on the TR.

I have mounted the two halves to the frame but am still having some issues with the alignment. How many pads, on the outriggers in particular, have people had to use to get he doors to align? I started with four pads per outrigger as per the manual, but I am currently using seven on the front pads in order to get the front shell and sill to sit high enough so the doors meet up with the rear end. Initially I tried raising the front withough raising the sill but that did not work as the front fenders would not fit over the sill in order to be bolted on the bottom.

Should I remove some of the pads on the rear outriggers, say go down to two, so that I do not have to use as many on the front. I want to make sure I am tackling this the right way before I go ahead and start welding. Right now I am holding everything together with clamps, rivets and self drilling screws. Eventually when I am happy with the fit it will all get plug welded.
 
If you are still in the welding phase, I'd use the manual recommended stack of pads all around, and match the body to the stacks. That leaves you room to adjust later if you need to. That's just me, though. Nothing prevents you from using whatever works...
 
I started off with the factory specified amount of pads all around but that does not seem to get everything aligned. I have not welded anything yet as I am going to wait until it aligns up just right. I want whatever pads I will be using in the final assembly to be in place while I try to fit the two halves together. Have most people had to use extra or less pads to get things to fit?
 
It seems like 3 or 4 shims is what works maybe 5. If you need more than 5, then something is twisted. But like John suggested if you go with say 4 you can and work with that after you weld.
 
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