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TR6 Shift knob to Steering Wheel, TR6

jjbunn

Jedi Knight
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I have my eye on a '71 TR6. This car has a new Moss transmission in it. What puzzles me is that the gear knob is very close to the rim of the steering wheel. It doesn't actually touch it, but it's close.

Is that normal? What might be the problem?

Here's a photo:
1279924021_26a1e02621.jpg
 

roofman

Jedi Knight
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I have a non stock wheel ( 14" ) and the shifter gets to about 3" away at closest point. ( 72 TR6 ).
 

roofman

Jedi Knight
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Maybe th PO had short arms?
 

jobster

Senior Member
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this is definitly not the stock shifter. The stock one is shorter. Simply remove it and replace it with a new stock one. Should be easy to get from all the well known parts-suppliers. Whatever the DPO did, it may have suited him well, but to me it looks plain stupid and not very comfortable.
 
OP
jjbunn

jjbunn

Jedi Knight
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roofman said:
Maybe th PO had short arms?

It didn't appear so, when I met him ... maybe a prior PO!

While I have the attention, here are a couple of things that are puzzling me on the car.

1) There is a small notch in the top of the panel just behind the passenger door. Is it normal?
1279935103_6e73c2001d.jpg


2) What is this foot-operated switch at the left hand side of the driver's footwell for? I'm guessing headlights.
1279922165_b45faf1b83.jpg


By the way, this car was first registered in Germany. It's currently blue, but judging from the colour in the footwell was originally red.
 

TR6oldtimer

Darth Vader
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There may be a bigger problem lurking under that notch behind the passenger's door. The rear and front fenders should have a well defined seam. It appears that the car was repainted at some time, and who ever did it used body filler to seal the seam. Look for rust under the fender seams and from under the rear deck at the inner fender well.

The original color may not have been red and what you are seeing is the red primer.


The switch on the left is a dimmer switch for the high/low beams. Welcome to old cars.
 

RomanH

Jedi Knight
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The switch on the floor is the headlight dimmer.
The notch is supposed to be covered by an piece called the B Post Finisher. It's a small chrome cap.
 
OP
jjbunn

jjbunn

Jedi Knight
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Thanks for the replies.

The red paint being primer makes sense: the blue paint job was too good and original looking to be a respray.

Regarding the B post caps, the curious thing is that the opposite, driver's side doesn't have a notch:

1280794628_a395949a12.jpg
 

roofman

Jedi Knight
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Look at part 108 and 109 in the Moss Motors catalog under rear body panels, or part 21 & 22 in the Victoria british catalog. These butt up to the rear fenders, and there is a seam there. In the first set of pictures you see a 1" notch. That is where the seam should be. The filler came out in that picture, and not in the driver side picture. this is shoddy body work at best, and hiding big time rust at worst. Originally Triumph probably used a seam filler "caulk" or similar. To fill these areas with bondo would suggest something negative has been covered up in a common rust prone area.
The chrome caps go above the area with the seam at the top inside portion of the turned down edge.
 

TR6oldtimer

Darth Vader
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Julian, That split looks to be exactly where the fender meets the body. As stated in a previous post, TR6's did not have sealed fender seams. Whatever was used to seal the seal has come undone.
(Click on the thumbnail to enlarge)

 
OP
jjbunn

jjbunn

Jedi Knight
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TR6oldtimer said:
Julian, That split looks to be exactly where the fender meets the body. As stated in a previous post, TR6's did not have sealed fender seams. Whatever was used to seal the seal has come undone.
(Click on the thumbnail to enlarge)


I see what you're talking about, but on the car I'm looking at there is no trace of a seam in that position on either side.

Here's a large photo of driver's side. If you look down in the door jamb there is no seam visible.

https://farm2.static.flickr.com/1096/1280794628_236a1758cb_o.jpg

Also, if you look at this, a little further back, the seams are quite visible. The front/back seam doesn't extend forwards.

https://farm2.static.flickr.com/1224/1279929029_434a6e04c8_o.jpg

Is it possible that the cars made in Belgium used different pieces?
 

cyaker

Senior Member
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The red is too red, the primer is much duller in tone. I say it has been painted. The chrome finishers are missing on both sides. I am not sure why the notch the rust I would expect in that area would be the 'b' pillar itself.
 

RomanH

Jedi Knight
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Julian,
Forget what I said earlier, I misunderstood the question. Everyone who said that that is the seam for the fender is correct. In the last photo you posted you can see the seam run forward along the trunk lid to the rear deck. That seam continues up along the forward deck portion. It does appear that someone has filled it in.
In that second picture I also noticed that the top is installed in a strange manner. The top should be fitted over the body work and attached to a retainer bar then the bar is bolted to the body. On the one in the picture it appears that the top is stuffed under the body work. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif
 
G

Guest

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Julian, where do you find these cars? It's almost as if you were a gluten for punishment. That car has more problems than you need. Just peering inside the door one can see rust abounds. Stop looking at basket-case TR6s, they will cost you way more than a driver that has been already fixed up and might need additional restoring later.

I have a friend that totally restored a 67 TR4, but he started with a basket case car, figuring that he would save money. He overlooked a solid running TR4 because the cost was about 2K higher. After hundreds of hours of welding, beating, replacing, stretching and generally killing himself, he has a super-nice restored TR4 that he could have had for a lot less had he bought the more expensive car. He realized his folly afterward.

I realize every story is different and people have different priorities and different budgets, but the old adage still is valid, buy the best you can afford. Just stay away from cars that have weird body repairs. Engines are cheap in comparison.
 
OP
jjbunn

jjbunn

Jedi Knight
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TR6BILL said:
Julian, where do you find these cars? It's almost as if you were a gluten for punishment. That car has more problems than you need. Just peering inside the door one can see rust abounds. Stop looking at basket-case TR6s, they will cost you way more than a driver that has been already fixed up and might need additional restoring later.

I have a friend that totally restored a 67 TR4, but he started with a basket case car, figuring that he would save money. He overlooked a solid running TR4 because the cost was about 2K higher. After hundreds of hours of welding, beating, replacing, stretching and generally killing himself, he has a super-nice restored TR4 that he could have had for a lot less had he bought the more expensive car. He realized his folly afterward.

I realize every story is different and people have different priorities and different budgets, but the old adage still is valid, buy the best you can afford. Just stay away from cars that have weird body repairs. Engines are cheap in comparison.

Hi Bill,

Which photo are you referring to where rust abounds?

There is some rust in the passenger footwell, and on the rear valence of this car. Other than that I couldn't see anything serious. The underside is clean and the frame looks good.

The adage "buy the best you can afford" is one of those pieces of advice that sound wise but actually are of little practical use, I'm afraid! I agree that saving 2k on a car that needs 2k or more of work is a bit daft, but that does depend on whether you enjoy doing the work. My situation is that I'm looking to buy a car to work on, not a completed car to drive around.

I'm still puzzled by these seams, or lack of them. Why would somebody fill those seams and repaint on both sides, without filling the other rear seams?

Anyway, many thanks for the warnings: I appreciate them, and like to go in with my eyes fully open /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

Julian
 

roofman

Jedi Knight
Offline
I'm still puzzled by these seams, or lack of them. Why would somebody fill those seams and repaint on both sides, without filling the other rear seams?






Because this is a common rust spot, and filling them is easier than taking the car apart to put in those 2 pieces. Just spread the bondo, sand and paint and it looks better to someone who is A). trying to sell, or B). someone who doesn't give a rats behind.
 
OP
jjbunn

jjbunn

Jedi Knight
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roofman said:
I'm still puzzled by these seams, or lack of them. Why would somebody fill those seams and repaint on both sides, without filling the other rear seams?






Because this is a common rust spot, and filling them is easier than taking the car apart to put in those 2 pieces. Just spread the bondo, sand and paint and it looks better to someone who is A). trying to sell, or B). someone who doesn't give a rats behind.

To help me understand, are people saying that in this photo:

https://farm2.static.flickr.com/1073/1295677257_3246cf38fc_o.jpg

the yellow arrow is pointing to the filled continuation of the seam running from the right hand side of the photo?

I guess I'm way out of my depth here because this seems most unlikely.
 

jobster

Senior Member
Offline
unfortunately for you, yes that's where the seam is supposed to continue. I am really curious why you bought this car because to be totally honest, from the pictures this car looks like it has potential to become Cripty #2
 
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