TR2/3/3A Restoration of TS 69891LO 1960 TR3A

[Andrew Mace]

Hard to tell from those pictures WHAT the original color was!? What do you see way up under the dash/scuttle area? Original paint often is thin up there, but....

And what did the Heritage Certificate say?

 

[M_Pied_Lourd]

Hi Andrew,

The original colour according to my Certificate was BRG.

So, am I to assume that the interior of the tub was painted body color as well from the factory?

Cheers,
M. Pied Lourd

 

[prb51]

The exterior of the tank looks old enough to match the car but that really looks almost new on the inside...reconditioned at some point?

 

[Don Elliott]

I knew a TR3A owner from Wisconsin who painted his TR the orange colour you can see inside the rear and also the gas tank. That colour is appropriate for Wisconsin. He used to wear a cheese-head hat and had a licence plate that read ECOD. He told me that it stood for "Eat Cheese or Die". He used to trailer the TR in a closed truck with a million spare and used TR parts to every event in the mid-west. At one event, he arrived in the orange TR without any truck or parts. It seems that his truck broke down on the way, so he off-loaded the TR and drove to the event not to miss the start of the weekend. The day after, he went back, fixed his truck and showed up later with all his stock.

His name was Bob K. and I think he sold all his TR parts to someone in Kentucky or Tennessee and moved there as well.

 

[TR4nut]

His name was Bob K. and I think he sold all his TR parts to someone in Kentucky or Tennessee and moved there as well.

Bob Kamholtz or something like that. Pretty sure I recall reading his obituary a few years back, too. Nice guy, and a pretty car.

Very sorry to hear that, didn't realize Bob passed on. Never met him, but knew he was a nice guy, bought a couple things from his ebay trading name (ecod). Still running the Kinby air filters I bought from him on my TR4.

Randy

 

[NickMorgan]

I restored an ex-Californian TR3A a few years ago. According to the Heritage Certificate it left the factory in Pearl White. When I removed the trim I noticed that it had been painted in metallic BRG as thoroughly as the orange on your car. I suspected that this had been done by a dealer when the car was new or almost new. The only signs of the original colour were deep under the scuttle. It was interesting that even the inside of the doors were green. I suspect that the dealer would have completely stripped out the interior before painting the car.
Your petrol tank looks to be in fantastic condition. Judging by the outside it can't have been replaced very recently. It could have had some sort of treatment inside at some time, or maybe you are just very lucky!

 

[angelfj1]

MPL: Just a suggestion, before you lift the body off the chassis, you want to brace the shell so that it doesn't "fold in half". I'm not kidding. I have seen this happen. This is a simple matter of some steel members either welded or bolted from front to back. AND put the doors back on - they provide rigidity to the whole body and they maintain the critical relationship between the "A' and "B' posts. There are photos of this in past posts.

I also agree that this orange colour is not original primer. The grey lady had lots of original primer and what we saw was red lead oxide.

good luck with the project

 

[Andrew Mace]

His name was Bob K. and I think he sold all his TR parts to someone in Kentucky or Tennessee and moved there as well.

Bob Kamholtz or something like that. Pretty sure I recall reading his obituary a few years back, too. Nice guy, and a pretty car.

Very sorry to hear that, didn't realize Bob passed on. Never met him, but knew he was a nice guy, bought a couple things from his ebay trading name (ecod). ...

Yikes! I could be mistaken, but I think the reports of Bob's death have been greatly exaggerated! Maybe I should ask around?

Meanwhile, <span style="color: #006600">BRG</span> was the original color? Wow! I'd never have guessed that. And yes, most of the inside of the tub would've had final body color paint. It got thin down inside the inner fenders and up under scuttle, tonneau area and the like, but it was there.

 

[TR3driver]

I could be mistaken, but I think the reports of Bob's death have been greatly exaggerated! Maybe I should ask around?

Never mind, Andy, no doubt I'm the one that is mistaken.

 

[angelfj1]

<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">It got thin down inside the inner fenders and up under scuttle, tonneau area and the like, but it was there.</span></span>

when we disassembled the grey lady a few years back, we found places with virtually NO paint. Someone at Mulliners must have been in a hurry (maybe on Friday)

 

[M_Pied_Lourd]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the responses.

I guess that I just found it a little odd that this orange color has completely covered the original BRG except for under the scuttle as Andrew suspected. This orange is even sprayed down inside the inner fender where the cage nuts are....

This is only a two owner car as I bought it from the second owner who bought it in 1968. He told me that the car had been painted a shade of silver/grey at that point.

Frank, yep will brace the door openings accordingly especially with my weak rockers.

Cheers,
M. Pied Lourd

 

[rlandrum]

Hey M... I have a brace I'm not using. You near VA/MD/DC?

 

[M_Pied_Lourd]

Hi Robert,

Sorry, North of the Border....Newmarket, Ontario, Canada.

I have some that I made during the restoration of my TR6 that I should be able to modify for the 3.

Thanks for the offer though. Also, thanks for all the postings made by You and your Dad on your restoration. They have been most helpful along the way and have helped to motivate me on my project.

Cheers,
M. Pied Lourd

 

[Don Elliott]

If you sand carefully through the orange colour, you might find its true history of all of its previous colours. Maybe you'll find the whole spectrum.

 

[Tinkerman]

EGAD, ECOD! I used to see him in Madisonville, Kentucky at Paul Ogolsby's spring gatherings. I have bought parts from him on ebay. Good to find out what the ECOD was all about. He was and I'm sure, still is, a great character. I think he kind of worked for Paul, but I was never real sure of that.

Tinkerman

 

[M_Pied_Lourd]

Hi Guys,

Thought I would give you a quick update.

Finally got a chance to do a bit more work on the 3. Been busy here getting the 6 out of storage and ready for the driving season. Also been busy organizing a few event for my local Club, The Toronto Triumph Club.

Got the body off today so I can start stripping down the chassis and cleaning things up.

Here are a few photos.

Hope to start stripping off the suspension in the next couple of days.

Cheers,
M. Pied Lourd

 

[Russ Austin]

His name was Bob K. and I think he sold all his TR parts to someone in Kentucky or Tennessee and moved there as well.

Bob Kamholtz or something like that. Pretty sure I recall reading his obituary a few years back, too. Nice guy, and a pretty car.

Very sorry to hear that, didn't realize Bob passed on. Never met him, but knew he was a nice guy, bought a couple things from his ebay trading name (ecod). ...

Yikes! I could be mistaken, but I think the reports of Bob's death have been greatly exaggerated! Maybe I should ask around?

Meanwhile, <span style="color: #006600">BRG</span> was the original color? Wow! I'd never have guessed that. And yes, most of the inside of the tub would've had final body color paint. It got thin down inside the inner fenders and up under scuttle, tonneau area and the like, but it was there.

Last I saw Bob he lived in Madisonville, KY and was still kicking. He worked with Paul Oglesby before Paul sold out!