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TR2/3/3A TR3 Small mouth grill restoration

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M

mallard

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Has anybody done any type of restoration to there small mouth front grill? Mine is in good shape except for sand pitting. I was thinking about a industrial vibratory tumbler. Machine shops use these to polish parts. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

The body shell of the car may go to the media blasters this week then to be metal etched primed. Of course it's going to rain this week. I guess rain 5 or 6 times a year beats all the snow and cold some of you are getting.
 
Keith,
A tumbler or shaker would work as long as the media were soft (walnut shells work great on brass and alloys) you could also use a blast cabinet with soft media (they make walnut media for those too).
 
If it is stainless steel it will polish nicely after some effort. Small dings can be tapped out and sanded smooth,then polished with fine(and then finer) paper.The real issue is getting into the egg-crate holes,you may have to disassemble it depending on the condition....
MD(mad dog)
 
Unfortunately, the front grill is aluminum. I have some small scratches and pitting in mine also. I thought about powder coating, ended up with and aluminum toned paint. It covers most of the blemishes.
 
FWIW, I've seen several sets of original stone guards that were powder coated, and they look quite nice. The powder seems to fill the pits to a large extent, and even where you can still see the pits, they look more intentional than accidental.

But I would guess you'd have to disassemble the grille for a proper PC job. Gonna be hard to get an even coat down those holes otherwise.
 
I was thinking about taking the grill apart and sanding each piece with very fine paper and then polish. I only have one small dent that will be easy to push out. I never thought about powder coat or paint. Can not show a picture right now due to technical difficulties.

As for getting the car media blasted this week that has been put on hold due to the weather.
 
Sounds like the best option is sand ,polish then powdercoat.There are places that anodize such bits but it could get pricey.I have seen the results of powdercoated aluminum look quite nice,and I doubt it would be necessary to dissasemble.
MD(mad dog)
 
emmett1010 said:
Hi:
Anybody understand the reason for the question of whether the horozonal bar faces are flat or curved?
Mine are flat!
Emmett
Click to expand...

Its important to someone on the forum. I remember being asked that question when I got mine.
 
emmett1010 said:
Hi:
Anybody understand the reason for the question of whether the horozonal bar faces are flat or curved?
Mine are flat!
Emmett
Click to expand...

Not sure if this answers your question ... but Piggott writes of the early grille: "On some cars this grille was made from buffed die-cast aluminium rather than stamped out from chromed Mazak."

Tom
 
prb51 said:
Tom,
Isn't that a reference to the TR2 flat inner grille?
Click to expand...

Good catch. Here's the paragraph I was looking at - p. 23 in Body and Exterior Trim, Piggott's Original TR2/3/3A:

"Three distinct types of front grille were fitted. Within the TR2's front apron mouth, a chromed grille was inserted just in front of the radiator, the 3/4 inch square sections of this grille giving some protection to the radiator from flying stones. On some cars this grille was made from buffed die-cast aluminium rather than stamped out from chromed Mazak. The TR2's mouth originally had steelwork continuing all round it internally, whereas the last TR2s and all TR3s had cutaways at the top, presumablly to reduce airflow through the radiator and to increase it into the engine compartment generally.

[He then goes on to discuss the "reveal" molding on TR2s.]

...

"The TR3 uses what has become known as the "cellular" or "eggbox" grille. This polished aluminium grille ,which was an attempt to update the car's styling, screws into place in the front apron. The chromed "reveal" moulding continues all round the mouth and sets off the cellular grille nicely, and the TR3s without this difficult-to-source, four-part moulding look distinctly unfinished."

As I've never seen a TR2 or 3 except in pictures ... could the "flat" faces question just be an issue of the grille being mounted backwards?

Tom
Edit: looking at a photo of a TR3 grille, it appears the mounting hardware would prevent the grille from going in "backwards", if the mounts are actually part of the grille itself.

g_Triumph%20TR3%20Rally%20grille.jpg
 
The horizontal and vertical frontal elements of the TR3 grille are flat.
As the pieces are made, though, the bends in the metal are slightly radiused and not sharp 90 degrees and this gives the slight impression of some 'roundness'.
The back side of the vertical/horizontal slats are not backed (hollow) so turning the thing around is impossible and the mounting flanges also make this non do able.

Keith, as the pitting is probably on the front/leading face can they be gently buffed out? I've thought about doing that on mine and then roughing/dulling the surface with 00 steel wool.
 
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