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The start of something big. Frame off restoration

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I went to a british car part swap meet south of boston this weekend, and while I didn't find any parts there for the TR6 resto, I found a lead on a good set of doors (Mine have a lot of rust) and did get to see my 'dream car' a nice TR2, black with red interior. This one is local and belongs to a longtime member of New England Triumphs, original owner!

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After returning from the swap meet, I finished wire brushing, blasting, etc, the anti-sway bar, radiator protector, and some other parts. I then painted them, with several coats and let them dry.

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This morning I gave them each another few coats, and let them dry all day. This evening I assembled them on the frame. I didn't finish attaching the sway bar, because the mounts that I had that go on the lower control arms for the linkages to attach to were both all warped out of shape. Instead I went online and placed an order for new mounts, rather than trying to hammer mine back into shape. Hopefully they arrive sometime this next week and I can finish getting the front assembled.

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All my body work concerns have been low on the priority right now =) I want to get a finished rolling chassis with engine drive train etc all done and ready to go before i start dealing with the aircraft stripper etc. That said, i need to start on that sooner rather than later, as I'm rapidly approaching that point.

I'll need to get the tub, with sills and new floorpans and whatnot done next when that's done, and then I can really dig into the exterior body work.

That TR2's a beauty, aint it? =)
 
TA's are done! =D With many thanks to Paul Rego for letting me borrow his kit, I was able to get the keenserts all installed in very short order.

Before I did that however I got the rusted to pieces studs out of my exhaust header, I'd been soaking them in PB Blaster for a few days, but was unable to get enough thread to actually put double nuts on them and try to get them out. Paul let me know that you can get stud removers at the hardware store. I knew of bolt removers and screw extractors, etc, but had never seen a stud remover, but low and behold, there they were when I actually looked for them. Worked like a charm!

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But anyways, on to the TA studs!

These have been covered a lot before, so I'll just go over it quickly. The plate fits over 3 studs and lets you work on 3 at a time

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They then get drilled out using the jig and a size X drill bit. You need to measure the depth and make sure not to go to far. The tape on this drillbit is the stop indicator.

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Then (and this is not necessary, but it makes it nicer) you can put a little chamfer on the hole with a counter sink

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Next you use the tapping jig and tap the holes. I forgot to take a photo of that step =)

Next you remove the jig and clean out any debris from the holes and insert the keenserts till they're just below the surface

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Finally you use the keensert set tool and knock down the locks

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Once this is all done you're ready to install the new studs, using some loctite thread locker while you're at it.

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My new steering rack arrived today, and with it my new mounts for the sway bar link arms. The bushings were so far gone in my old link arms that the sway bar link arm mounts had actually bent from the forces of the sway arm driving into them. Rather than refurbish them and try to straighten them out, I just bought new ones. Turns out that I cant get the link ends attached to the sway bar without the weight of the engine to push down on the frame for me, so I'll just leave the sway bar loose for the time being until I get my engine from Al.

The new steering rack came with a set of aluminum solid steering rack mounts, but I had already purchased the goodparts solid steering rack mount, and it looks nicer, so I used that instead.

I was not able to get the tie rod ends on, because while I got a new steering rack and new tie rod ends... I totally forgot to get new tie rod end jam nuts, and my hardware store didn't have 1/2 UNF nuts on hand.

I know on a normal vehicle the 'quick way' to do an alignment before taking a car out for professional alignment is to measure distance between the front of each tire and the rear of each tire, and to adjust the tie rod ends evenly on each side until the front is 1/16 or so less than the rear, would this apply / be more or less close enough for the TR6? I certainly plan on taking the car out for 4 wheel alignment (already have a ton of extra rear shims for this too) but I'd like to get it as close as I can before I get it on the road.

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Lookin' better every day Justin. I'll see you later in the week.
 
So I hit a semi-major milestone tonight. The TR6 is on all 4 wheels and can roll around ! =D

I haven't decided what color to paint the rear drums, so I just tossed them on along with the rear hubs and half shafts for the time being, and for the first time in 6 months, i dont have wheels and tires of some sort in the middle of my living-room =) I've been thinking about something that contrasts widely with the silver and black that the car will be when done, and maybe using red for the calipers and drums.

With the new drums and the new shoes, the brakes rub right now constantly, but I assume that they'll set and get better after some hard braking and whatnot. Also with no weight on the frame at all, the rear camber is way off, but I'm hoping that it will compress enough that I wont have to adjust it too much once all the weight is on the frame.

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You can see the new steering rack and Good Parts steering rack mount better here as well.
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Looking good!

Did you go with the quick-rack?

You should be able to get the toe close enough measuring. But it will change a bit as you add weight.

You can also do a fair job at getting the camber right with a carpenter's square.
 
Yes, I chose to go with the quick rack, it just looked better made than the other 'new' rack you can get currently. I didn't want to spend an extra hundred dollars over even the new quick rack to have the old one (still frozen to the old frame btw!) rebuilt.
 
You can go with the alloy Z-car drums. No need to paint, and lower unsprung and rotating mass.
 
I ran into another potential problem today. In adjusting the rear camber, it looks like I'm not quite able to get the correct wheel camber, even when I put 600ish lbs of weight on the rear (hey, having anvils around my shop is good for something other than metal work!)

I've measured and re-measured the frame, and it's within spec, but the ends of the trailing arm mounts really seem like, to get the right camber, they're maybe a quarter inch too low, and that's even cranking the adjustable brackets fully. Now there is a potential fix to this that's not that bad, but it involves taking the outer brackets off, welding shut the current holes, and re-drilling them 1/4" lower to effectively raise the whole bracket by 1/4 inch.

As can be seen above, with the brackets in the middle, there is extreme positive wheel camber, and even when adjusted fully, there's' still a hefty positive camber. I dont know if this is due to something with the repaired trailing arms, or if the outer wings have sagged for some reason, or what, but it's concerning enough to me that I think I want to come to a solution before I get too much further. I'll be interested in seeing how much of a difference having the engine on the frame makes, but that weight is much more to the front than the rear, so I wouldn't expect too much.
 
The frame section that the trailing arm mounts attach have spacers internally welded so when tightening the trailing arm mounting brackets will not collapse the frame section. Not easy to weld-up and move…

I would look more at the rear spring length. If the spring is too long you will have excessive positive camber. If the rear spring is too short you will have excessive negative camber.

The suggestion is not to make any changes or adjustments to the rear suspension until you have the finished body attached. The rear suspension changes with evenly distributed weight. Another factor is the gas filled shocks absorbers without a load. The gas filled shock absorbers will fully extend with no load changing the rear geometry. During the shakedown test drives the rear suspension will begin to settle.
 
I wasnt sugesting welding up and moving anything on the frame sections, as far as I am concerned the frame is done. What I suggested modifying is just the brackets, which is relatively simple. The springs are 1" shorter springs already (Richard Good springs) and with the Richard Good ajustable camber trailing arm brackets, even when I adjust it to the max, load 600lbs of anvils on the rear of the frame and sit on it and push it back and forth, the camber is still excessivly positive, enough so that I'm worried about it already and I'm a long ways from getting the body on.
 
Justin,

I have to agree with Big on this one. Get it as close as you can and wait until the entire chassis is loaded with weight, including the full drive train. Then you can roll it around and set it up properly after the springs settle in.

There is a shop in Boxborough that is supposed to be fabulous with 4 wheel alignments on TR6's. He likes the cars and really likes them with all new parts on the frame. Supposedly he likes letting guys get up front and personal to his work.

This is the link: https://www.smithsalignment.com/id2.html
 
I've heard more than enough 'wait and see' with the rear camber. And I agree that it's not much worse taking the brackets off with the body on if it doesn't settle down than it is to do it now, so I'm going to take that approach.

I didn't get too much work on the car done this weekend unfortunately, with too much other stuff going on, but I did get the exhaust manifold blasted, painted, baked, and with new studs installed, so it's ready to go.

Again, very thankful that I dont have someone else to answer to when I use my oven like this =D This 'flame proof' extreme high temp ceramic paint from VHT needs to bake at 250 for half an hour, then 400 for half an hour, and then 600.

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Yep, that would about do it for me and the car parts...........

I'd be sleeping in the cars and looking for a place to make my next roast.
 
wife "I'm going to my mother's"

wife (several hours later) "what's that smell??!!"

:laugh:
 
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