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TR2/3/3A Tr3 dash rail capping

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sp53

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Hi all. Well I think I made a choice mistake this time when I was putting the dash rail capping on. I made the assumption that the dash rail with the two large sets of holes under the rail must not fit a post 60,000 tr3. Now that I look a little closer I see that the post body style has the two groups of holes. I made this assumption because I figured that the sissy handle would swap left or right on the older cars but not the newer. Now I see that I have no idea why there are four holes under the dash rail on the post cars. Unless they wanted the bar to switch. I must have spent a week fitting and heating and gluing the vinyl to that rail. Has anyone ever used the latter rail on a new tr3?
Steve
 
Hi Steve - do you have a picture of the area? I think that would help. I am not an expert but I am confused by the description above. Mind you, I have an early 3A - maybe the post 60000 are different.
 
Personally, I left that bar off mine. IMO it was more of a danger to the passenger's forehead than it was worth as a thing to hold onto.

If I ever chose to refit it I think I could find the holes. I can feel about where they are and would then probe with a sewing needle to find the exact location, then trim out a pair of holes in the leather with a pointy Xacto knife. My dash cap is covered in leather so perhaps any errant needle marks would heal up better than vinyl but in any case between having a good idea where the holes are and the result being well-hidden I don't think it would be a problem.
 
Hi all as usually I did not make myself totally clear, sorry. The problem I have is that I cannot get the dash rail capping on because it is too tight. It looks to me like they are different for the early and late body styles. According to my stuff, (which has been in boxes for years) the earlier has a smaller opening than the later body style on the tr3. The problem I have is that I cannot tell for sure because the ones I have are kinda bent. Does anybody know if there is a significant difference in the later and early dash capping or are mine just damaged?
Steve
 
There could be a difference, as I installed a post 60K body on my early chassis, so I used the early capping. The capping on the dash was a real tight fit, but I attributed that to the fact I covered it in leather, which is thicker then vinyl. It was a struggle, but I managed to get all of the tonneau studs, hand grab and other screws in place. I got the studs in first, and then just finessed things around until I could get the rest of the screws in place. The capping is thin, so be cautious when doing this.

One other problem I ran into was most of the holes in the capping did not line up with most of the holes from the early body. I filled all the holes in with zinc rods and then re-drilled in the right place. They work well on aluminum with nothing more then a propane torch. No flux required. You just have to clean the aluminum well with a stainless steel brush.
 
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