TR2/3/3A TR3A - grill to apron attachment

[angelfj1]

hey gang.

I would be very grateful if you can post any photos which show details of the grill and how it should attach to the apron.

Thanks!

 

[Adrio]

I just took mine off (I have no idea if this was original) and the grill is attached with screws directly to the apron. The screws were countersunk and had slightly domed heads. Stainless steel (and this next part makes me think they were not original) Philips heads.

Others may have a more historically accurate description.

 

[Andrew Mace]

Let's see if my tired eyes read the Spare Parts Catalogue and Standard-Triumph Hardware Catalogue properly:

<span style="font-weight: bold">Screw, self-tapping</span> -- cross recess 'A' type
YZ3364, No. 6, 1/2" Oval countersunk head (total of 8)

<span style="font-weight: bold">Fix (called spire nut in TR2/3 SPC) nut</span>, Simmonds 'J' type
FJ2443/9, 11/16" long, 7/16" wide, .020" thick, screw thread No. 6 (total of 4)

<span style="font-weight: bold">Fix nut, Simmonds plate type</span>
FN2043/9, No. 6A/J/Z screw thread, self tapping; 17/32" long, 11/32" wide; thickness .020" (total of 4)

[NOTE: suffix of /9 denotes 1 coat of zinc chromate paint -- colour, olive green]

Hopefully my fingers also typed most of that correctly as well. :wink:

Randall or anyone else, please feel to let me know if this is wrong in any detail(s), and I will edit or even delete the post so as not to confuse future generations! :blush:

 

[TR3driver]

Looks good to me, Andy. Here's a scan of those screws.

 

[angelfj1]

Andy, thanks. where did you find that detail?

 

[Don Elliott]

I put in Philips head screws when I re-did my TR3A and lost points at TRA because they were not screws with straight slots. But that's all I could get in 1990. But about 1996, while at Car Day in Bowie, MD, I saw that Roadster Factory had the correct ones so I bought more than I needed. Then I changed tham all for the straight slotted ones with the correct tiny dished cup washers. Interior trim, interior doors, up the A-posts and for the grille.

I was told these are #4 size, but I never checked it out. But they are identical to the ones that came on my 1958 TR3A when new. I still have about 30 of these in my box of old spare screws.

The 8 for the grille were always hard to remove or secure with the spire clip under the apron at the bottom. And the 4 on top of the grille - well, forget it.

So I cut some pieces of hardwood ( from an old broken hockey stick handle) and used my bench grinder to "file" the curve needed to match with the curves on the back of the apron. Then I glued them into place behind the holes in the apron, allowed the glue to set, manually installed the grille and match-marked the 8 holes in the grille with pencil marks for the screw holes in the wood. Then I removed the grille, took a tiny drill and drilled the 8 tiny holes into the wood. I re-installed the grille and tightened the 8 tiny screws into the tap-drilled holes in the wood. It works and they stay in place each time I remove the grille. On occasion, I have to re-tighten the top ones at these tend to be affected by vibration and gravity. No TRA or VTR judge has ever seen them.

 

[NickMorgan]

The 8 for the grille were always hard to remove or secure with the spire clip under the apron at the bottom. And the 4 on top of the grille - well, forget it.

So I cut some pieces of hardwood ( from an old broken hockey stick handle) and used my bench grinder to "file" the curve needed to match with the curves on the back of the apron. Then I glued them into place behind the holes in the apron, allowed the glue to set, manually installed the grille and match-marked the 8 holes in the grille with pencil marks for the screw holes in the wood. Then I removed the grille, took a tiny drill and drilled the 8 tiny holes into the wood. I re-installed the grille and tightened the 8 tiny screws into the tap-drilled holes in the wood. It works and they stay in place each time I remove the grille. On occasion, I have to re-tighten the top ones at these tend to be affected by vibration and gravity. No TRA or VTR judge has ever seen them.

Ah, but they will all know now!!! :wink:

 

[PeterK]

I think this is one (if not only) place on the TR3 where Philips head is correct as original. As Don stated interior panels were fixed with slotted screws.

 

[Andrew Mace]

Andy, thanks. where did you find that detail?

Frank, the sources are in the first line of the post. I'd already had a downloaded copy of the hardware catalogue, with its detailed descriptions and pictures (such as Randall posted), but, at least for me, Googling "Standard Triumph Hardware Catalogue" yielded a copy on the Internet as the very first hit!

Those familiar with the TR2/3/3A Spare Parts Catalogue issued by Standard-Triumph know that illustrations weren't often added to or brought up-to-date; most still show only earliest versions of parts in the illustrations, if indeed parts are illustrated at all (lots of hardware bits aren't illustrated). But a late enough edition does show the part numbers for attachment of grille to apron, so all I did was take those part numbers from the SPC, look them up in the Hardware Catalogue, and then prayed that my not-so-nimble fingers and eyes could transcribe the information to [virtual] print!

 

[angelfj1]

I put in Philips head screws when I re-did my TR3A and lost points at TRA because they were not screws with straight slots. But that's all I could get in 1990. But about 1996, while at Car Day in Bowie, MD, I saw that Roadster Factory had the correct ones so I bought more than I needed. Then I changed tham all for the straight slotted ones with the correct tiny dished cup washers. Interior trim, interior doors, up the A-posts and for the grille.

I was told these are #4 size, but I never checked it out. But they are identical to the ones that came on my 1958 TR3A when new. I still have about 30 of these in my box of old spare screws.

The 8 for the grille were always hard to remove or secure with the spire clip under the apron at the bottom. And the 4 on top of the grille - well, forget it.

So I cut some pieces of hardwood ( from an old broken hockey stick handle) and used my bench grinder to "file" the curve needed to match with the curves on the back of the apron. Then I glued them into place behind the holes in the apron, allowed the glue to set, manually installed the grille and match-marked the 8 holes in the grille with pencil marks for the screw holes in the wood. Then I removed the grille, took a tiny drill and drilled the 8 tiny holes into the wood. I re-installed the grille and tightened the 8 tiny screws into the tap-drilled holes in the wood. It works and they stay in place each time I remove the grille. On occasion, I have to re-tighten the top ones at these tend to be affected by vibration and gravity. No TRA or VTR judge has ever seen them.

Don: As always you have a very clever and practical solution to issues like this one.

 

[angelfj1]

Andy, thanks. where did you find that detail?

Frank, the sources are in the first line of the post. I'd already had a downloaded copy of the hardware catalogue, with its detailed descriptions and pictures (such as Randall posted), but, at least for me, Googling "Standard Triumph Hardware Catalogue" yielded a copy on the Internet as the very first hit!

Those familiar with the TR2/3/3A Spare Parts Catalogue issued by Standard-Triumph know that illustrations weren't often added to or brought up-to-date; most still show only earliest versions of parts in the illustrations, if indeed parts are illustrated at all (lots of hardware bits aren't illustrated). But a late enough edition does show the part numbers for attachment of grille to apron, so all I did was take those part numbers from the SPC, look them up in the Hardware Catalogue, and then prayed that my not-so-nimble fingers and eyes could transcribe the information to [virtual] print!

Andy: Thanks. I'll have to check my copy of that catalog.

 

[TR3driver]

The 8 for the grille were always hard to remove or secure with the spire clip under the apron at the bottom.

FWIW, I installed Riv-nuts in the apron and used SS screws. The grille hides the Riv-nuts, so unless someone crawls under the car, they'll never know the difference.

 

[Andrew Mace]

Way back when, my beater 3A had oversized, slotted sheet metal screws that just about held in a very battered grille. :wink: