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Visit to Triumph paradise

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Brosky

Brosky

Great Pumpkin
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My wife and I were in PA last week and we took a little trip over to the Roadster Factory. We spent several hours with Dave and the many TRF employees and were treated very, very well.

I've never had the chance to visit as TR6 Bill has, even though I only lived 20 miles away years ago. That was in my "muscle car" days and prior to TRF being in existence.

For those who haven't attended a TRF Summer Party and had the chance to visit the facility, here's what you will see when you get the opportunity to go. Or if you don't, you can put a face with the voice coming back at you over the phone. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/savewave.gif

https://www.74tr6.com/trftour.htm
 
Interesting coincidence. Dave Swauger appeared in a dream I had last night. Something about a part that was wrong and he got the right one.

Maybe Paul and I have a psychic connection. Or is it psychotic?
 
I think that we're all a bit psychotic or we'd be on some other forum.
 
Uncle Dave. He has forgotten more about Triumphs than I will ever know.

Good photo layout, Paul. Brought back some great memories.
 
I had Brain Fade again. John Swauger.
 
I still enjoy walking those halls. My first time was in '89 after I got an insurance check for my old TR6. A friend and I arrived unannounced on a Saturday morning with a big list in hand and a big wad in pocket.
Charles picked the order with us in tow. He sold me an NOS "TR6" hood with a "Sell and Die" label attached. He said he could sell it since he owned the company. That was when we found out who he was. Hoods wern't being produced at the time.
Interesting thing was, a couple years later when I opened the crate, I was actually discouraged to find an NOS TR4 hood. A friend almost shot me when I told him I let the thing slip through my hands. Charles was more than happy to trade even up for the proper hood.
 
Real neat Paul, thanks a bunch. I have to go to New England this fall and have been thinking about a stop at TRF. You have just given me a real good reason to stop.

Thanks, Tinkerman
 
Let me know if you're going to be in RI on that trip.
 
Hi Paul, yep that is a definite possibility. Have a cousin in Rhode Island I will be in touch as soon as a time line is established.

Regards, Tinkerman
 
I'm afraid that if I went in there, I'd never leave!!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazyeyes.gif

Thanks for posting!
 
Paul: did Dave show you any of the parts bins with the skull & cross bones? If not, ask him about it next time you phone him.

Frank (still in the UK)
 
Wow Paul, nice layout and great slideshow. I've wanted to visit TRF ever since I started buying parts from them when I was just fifteen years old. Which goes back to 1983 only five years after Charles started the company. My son lives in PA and I hope to visit the Factory with him someday. I to am afraid that I wouldn't want to leave, or at best when I did I wouldn't have any money left in my bank account.
 
Tinkerman- keep me posted on the date.

Mark - take your wife with you as a life preserver.

Frank - he showed me everything. I could have taken 100 more photos, but decided against it.

Joe - I left without finishing my order. That was to keep peace in the family. She gave me two hours of walking and standing while Dave and I bantered back and forth about engines with no complaints and heard what I was going to buy and said nothing. That was good enough for me.

I actually got her interested in the dark gray Panasports too. That I consider a bonus!
 
Pardon for repeating an old story. Having communicated with Dave for years over the phone, when I finally walked in the door of TRF, there behind the counter stood a bearded old fot whom I greeted in my best South Louisiana drawl, "Hi." To which he responded, "Bill Karam!" Took me aback.
 
Dave is a great guy. His knowledge of Triumphs is phenomenal. It would be a tough job to do tech over the phone, but somehow he can make sense of our rambling and gets us back on the road.
 
Thanks for sharing.

Now go buy your signifigant other(the one with the patience) a good dinner, before or after Valentine's Day, just so she knows you appreciate her patience......


Glad you enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, my last purchase with TRF turned into a "never buy from them again, if I can avoid it" encounter.
 
TR6BILL said:
Pardon for repeating an old story. Having communicated with Dave for years over the phone, when I finally walked in the door of TRF, there behind the counter stood a bearded old fot whom I greeted in my best South Louisiana drawl, "Hi." To which he responded, "Bill Karam!" Took me aback.
Click to expand...

Yer reputation precedes ya, Bill!
 
Paul,
In one of your pics there is a TR4A-6 independant rear suspension frame hanging on the wall. I'm not sure of his full intention of hanging it there either, but I can say that the yellow areas (where the frame cuts back in twards the center just ahead of the rear wheels) is the most common area for rust and rot on those frames.
I saved that image for future reference.
Great job on sharing your visit. Thanks.
Armagh is about 3 and a half hours from here. I ought to make a day out of it sometime.
 
Banjo said:
Armagh is about 3 and a half hours from here. I ought to make a day out of it sometime.
Click to expand...

Armagh is in the middle of nowhere. A burg, a village. One red light. TRF is out in the country past that, at the end of a long dirt road. When you get to the one convenience store in town, the gal behind the counter will immediately spot you as an LBC nut and without talking, point you up the hill. Now that was a few years ago. They probably have a Super WalMart by now. Oh, and watch for the rumbling coal trucks!

I was trying to figure out how I was gonna stuff the OE TR6 frame in the trunk of my rental car. That was before there was a RATCO.
 
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