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TR2/3/3A TR3 Interior Question

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martx-5

martx-5

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I'm rolling along pretty good on putting the interior in, but have run into a snag...

How the heck do you get the back panel in front of the fuel take in place?? See the attachment.

I see the clips and all, but the panel is very tight. Not just on the sides, (I have NO PADDING on the sides of the wheel arches), but I just can't seem to get the panel to slide onto those so called clips in the back. Any tricks that I might be missing?? And, what holds it at the bottom once the panel is in place.
 

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Art, I would think it should have had two steel tabs sticking out at the bottom for screwing into the back seat pan, which is how the pre TS60000 cars are. And they are meant to be screwed down under the carpet. The problem fit at the top, I believe, is because they didn't put enough curve into the top where it bends back, plus a bit too much padding that doesn't want to crush down. You might have to soften the backboard a bit with water and reform over some big pvc pipe (4 inch?), etc. Give me a transmission rebuild any day.
 
Tom, you are right on both counts. I'm already making up a couple of brackets for the bottom, and have re-bent the back piece a little but it needs some more work. I'll definetly try your suggestion of the water and pipe. That should get it bent enough.

Thanks
 
Hi Art I have an original one in my car and it never fit that good. I would pull mine out to show you how they fit, but once they are in kinda right I just want to leave it. If I remember right, mine has a wooden and metal piece toward the top and that kinda hinges about six inches down from the top to accommodate that return angle where it slips into the little clips. That gives it a little wiggle room. Again mine would not fit right and slip out at the top, so at the top towards back and where no one can I see it, I drilled a couple of 1/8 inch holes and fed a tie wire through it and tied to the lip of sheet metal above the gas tank again where it cannot be seen. I think I drilled 1/8 holes in the lip also. Anyway I put those swively braided ties in the wire and sucked the cover back. Now it stays nice and tight. If I remember right, Don showed some original straps that fit on a 1961 and yours is somewhere in that neighborhood.
 
Art,
It was a long time ago, but from what I can remember I pushed the top of the panel into the clips so that it was almost horizontal. I remember that I had to persuade the two sides to fit in, but it just popped in. Once the top was in place I bent the panel down and then fixed the bottom by the two metal brackets. It was a bit of a tight fit, but not too difficult.
Good luck.
Nick
 
Sometimes ya can't see the forest fer the trees!

I finally realized why I was having trouble getting the rear panel into position. The fuel tank and hold down straps were preventing the panel from going back far enough. The felt pieces I got from Moss were way too thick (about 3/8" and not very compressible) and they pushed the straps out too far. I pulled the straps off, replaced the felt with some much thinner stuff, moved the fuel tank back as far as possible (about 1/4") and bolted the straps back on. It gave me enough room to get the panel in. It ain't perfect, as there are other fitment issues, but it's something I certainly can live with. I'm working on the rear cappings now, and then the doglegs. I'll post pics when I get all that done.
 
OK, a pic with the doglegs and all the cappings on. I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. I'll finish the carpeting, and it's on to the doors... :thumbsup:

I don't know why the red looks so bright when I take the pics. It doesn't look that bright in the garage. The flash must have something to do with it.
 

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Hey guys,

I'm trying to source a new back panel (between cockpit & gas tank) for the 3A. I already have new covering for it, so I just need the piece of fiberboard. I called TRF and asked if they could get just that piece since all they sell are upholstered units. Their UK supplier basically said no as they wanted to charge me almost the same price for an unupholstered one as an upholstered one.

Where'd you get yours Art?

Cheers,
Gavin
 
I got all of the interior stuff from TRF. All the panels were already covered.
 
My TR3A is an early TR (TS 27489 LO) with the complicated rear floor like the TR2s and TR3s. When I did my restoration in 1990, the rear interior back panel came complete with the intewrior attached to the panel. But the base panel was not like the original one. The new one was one-piece masonite which had been formed somehow to give a curve to the top which forms the sort-of ledge.

I took off the new interior and put the new material onto my original base.

The original base consists of a piece of 5/16" thick plywood for the flat back and the ledge at the top is a separate piece of sheetmetal about 16 ga. thick curved to form the ledge at the top. This steel piece is secured to the upper edge of the plywood with about 5 or 6 screws, or maybe pop rivets ? 18 years is a long time.
 

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Don Elliott said:
This steel piece is secured to the upper edge of the plywood with about 5 or 6 screws, or maybe pop rivets ?
Click to expand...
TS39781LO had rivets. Not exactly pop rivets, but close. But ISTR the vertical piece was some sort of pressboard (like Masonite) rather than plywood.
 
Mine is a later 3A: TS66231, so I have the flat deck where the "rear seat" could go. I have the original backboard, but it's cracked across the upper curve. I was actually thinking of trying to fiberglass it, but figured that could end up as a hack job.

I was also thinking I could fabricate something out of wood or plastic. The problem here is obviously getting a nice curve.
 
There is just something special about a TR3 with a red interior to me. My first ride in a Triumph was in a white TR3 with a red interior.
 
newmexTR3 said:
Mine is a later 3A: TS66231, so I have the flat deck where the "rear seat" could go. I have the original backboard, but it's cracked across the upper curve. I was actually thinking of trying to fiberglass it, but figured that could end up as a hack job.

I was also thinking I could fabricate something out of wood or plastic. The problem here is obviously getting a nice curve.
Click to expand...

My early 3A TS296xx also came with a single piece of masonite/hard board type material that is formed on the sleeves of the t-shirt shaped piece. on mine, the curves were a little beat up and had a couple of cracks starting from being removed by POs.

So I repaired mine. I used tiger hair - chopped fiber glass fibers about 3-4" long mixed in resin w/hardener - to repair the damaged area of the panel on both sides of the car. I left the vinyl covering on since it was good and applied the tiger hair to the back side of the panel, pushing it into position with a putty knife. Trick is get the hairs fully stuck down into the resin, the as it hardens, do a final smoothing all over.

Mine seems to be strong and I have taken it off a couple of times when I fit the hardtop.

From what Don said about his original panel, mine has been replace sometime during it's 50 years.
 
Paul - My first ride was in a black TR3A with a red interior. That's when I went to the Triumph dealer to pick up the firat car I ever bought. And I still have it.
 
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