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TR4/4A tr4 shell swap?

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63tr4tim

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Has anybody had any luck with doing a body swap when rust is to much to repair? I've really been contemplating searching for a 63 Tr4 shell to swap out with mine. I've become very unmotivated at this point to repair the shell of mine. Right now I cannot post pics but when I download the pics I will upload them here. Maybe it is just me. But with the cost of replacement sheet metal will end up sending me into major debt and right now that is out of the picture.
 
Tim, you are not going to like my answer, if you could find a donor car, why not use your car as a parts car and make the donor car your project. Hard to hear I know, but sometimes you need to cut your loses rather than put money you don't have into a car that has no special meaning to you.

Wayne
 
Wayne
See that's the problem. The car has so much meaning to me. My car was bought by my grandfather in 1964. I was given the car when I was 8. I'm now 24 and want to put back on the road. I'm really stuck between a rock and hard place right now .

Tim
 
I did just that on my TR4A. The tub had rust in areas that would be hard to repair, like between layers of metal where the fenders attach. I could go on. I found an excellent tub in TX and used that as my starting point. That tub needed some collision repair to the front and rear valences and I was able to find good OE metal for the rear and bought repro stuff for the front (a mistake, try always to find good OE stampings). In the end it turned out pretty nice and is rust free. Look around for a tub to start and as Wayne says use your car as a doner car.
 
Tim, it's really not that much different then doing a body off restoration, except all your replacing is the body. On my TR3A, after everything was disconnected, it was just a matter of unbolting all the bodypanels, removing the doors and unbolting the tub from the frame and with a little help lifting the tub off. The hard part will be finding a good tub that isn't rusted or all beat up.
 
Tim, I hope Marvin will be able to help you. I could help with a good rear fender, boot lid and spare tire floor, but that is still a bit of a cost in shipping, if I gave them to you. Being a young man you may have other things as a priority and I hope SHE!!! likes the car.

Wayne
 
Wayne
When you capitalize SHE Ill take it that you mean my girlfriend? In that case my girlfriend actually helped me out a lot when I was working on it two years ago.she was and is very supportive and actually helped me weld in the supports that I made to brace the car. She is awesome when it comes to what I enjoy
doing.
Tim
 
Tim-

I wouldn't hesitate to swap in a body shell - it will still be your car and your grandfathers car too. I can't pick when it is but at some point a car becomes 'mine' - I put enough work into it and I no longer think of the previous owners work or mistakes - its all my work and mistakes from that point. With the work you put into it I think the same thing would happen for you. Only thing to watch out for is try to get a body shell the same vintage. The TR4 didn't change much, but the earlier cars had some differences than the later ones, one thing being the a-post/door check strap area.

Randy
 
Tim,

I did almost a full body/frame swap when I did mine. I was lucky enough to find a solid inner tub and frame which was stripped except for front and rear suspension and used that as the basis for my restoration. The only body parts that I could use off my old car were the doors and hood.

This was back in 1982-1985 so it was relatively cheap (and not too hard to find). As Terry indicated, I think the hard part is finding a good donor.

Scott
 
Tim, you lucky man. I really hope you can find a way for both of you to get it done. My better half has slacked off a bit since she turned 70 but gives me all the help she can and makes sure I do a good job. We love to see young couples working on these cars and would give you lots of help if you were closer.
A good support team is in place here on the Forum and I'm sure we look forward to your first drive.

Wayne
 
I did a body swap on my TR3, as I was confronted with the same rusty situation...just too far gone. I would agree with Randy and try to find a shell that's of similar vintage, or at least close enough where all parts are essentially interchangeable. My original body was a pre 60k, and the one I put on is a post 60k. For a TR3, that means that a lot of parts are not the same, and I had to source them out to fit them to the replacement body.
 
Be careful and check state regs/laws. This involves Vin plate swapping and the feds take a very dimm view, but of course
there are more than enough laws now to make us all criminals knowing or not....
MD(mad dog)
 
I'm all for buying a good one and using yours for parts . A rusty TR4 is not at all worth repairing if you don't have the skills, time, space, money etc. The market isn't there to support it. If it has to be the same car , wait until the time is right to do it properly. These cars aren't dear and with patience you could find the right one. I sold one a couple yrs. ago for 3500 on ebay that ran and drove and wasn't too rusty that it couldn't be repaired as you enjoyed it. They are out there.
 
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