Radiator to inner wing braces

[foster461]

This is a picture of the brace bars that came off my car. This car had been hit at the front and both horns had deep dents in the covers where these bars had hit them so I dont entirely trust that these are the right shape.

 

Anyone familiar with what these should look like or have an example of a known good one ?. I dont have the body on the frame at the moment to test them and would like to get these cleaned up and painted.

 

[Don H.]

Stan, my car too was hit in the front long before I got it. Nothing to learn there.

 

But I was given some parts a few months ago by a guy in our local club who converted his TR3B (TCF-series) to a race car in 1966 when he got it as the second owner. They've been in storage since then, so AFAIK, they're unmolested. One of the parts was a single radiator support rod.

 

The overall "rise" in the bent section is just under ¾ inch, from lower edge to top edge as shown.

 

I haven't tried fitting these to my car to test them except for holding them in position. They're close, but they seem to clear the horn covers. I'm not sure I'd have guessed that...

[Lebro]

The braces should have a 30° or so bend in them, needed to clear the top of the horns.

Your photo looks about right to me.

 

Bob.

[foster461]

Thanks for the picture Don.

 

Bob, just to be clear, you think the picture of the two braces that I posted looks correct or the picture that Don posted with the mostly straight bar with that single 30 degree bend looks correct ?

 

Stan

[foster461]

Here's another data point, a picture from a Google search

 

 

I wonder did the TR3B get different horns, a flatter profile than the very bulbous TR3A horns that didnt need that additional kink ?

 

Stan

[Don H.]

Same horns, Stan.

[Lebro]

Stan.

I think yours are correct.

 

Bob.

[stuart]

Stan thats one of those parts that very often need "Fettling to fit" when the time comes in the rebuild that you are ready to fit them. As you have had the car to bits and done a fair amount of repair/restoration work they may not necessarily line up as per original. I would make them fit when your ready and paint them then.

Stuart.

[Guest]

That is true. I remember that when I tried to mount them during the resto, they didn't fit; too short... I wa gutted and thought that I'd made a mistake. Stuart told me what he repeated here. I want on with the resto and made bespoke onces to hold the rad. Problem solved.

 

Menno

 

(sorry, on a phone right now... Lots of typos...)

Edited July 23, 2014 by Menno van Rij 2

[foster461]

Very good, thanks guys. I'll clean them up and prime and put them aside until I have the tub back on and the horns in place.The horns now work after a bit of TLC, cleaned up very nicely and I got all of the dents out of the covers. They are quite a feature, too bad they get buried under the apron.

 

Stan

[BlueTR3A-5EKT]

Something tells me that early TR2 had straight ones that as good as touched the horns.

Any comments from the early car owners?

Cheers

Peter W

[Fireman049]

Stan ~

 

My 1960 TR3A is fitted with straight braces and they clear the horns comfortably.

 

Tom.

[foster461]

I'm wondering if the way that the tub is shimmed and indeed variations in the way the radiator is shimmed plus the likelyhood that the tub will tend to sink over time as the rubber/fabric body shims deteriorate and compress explains the variations in the braces.

 

You may start with a newly restored and correctly mounted tub and straight bars (other than the kink near the end needed for the geometry) and 2 decades later need to bend them a bit to clear the horn covers.

 

Stan

[vivdownunder]

Don H's stay rod pic is as original.

 

Stan's on the right track identifying the problem. Sometimes the radiator bottom packers go missing, or a rebuilt radiator ends up slightly different than before. If the radiator sits too low, the stay rods need reshaping to clear the horns. Radiator height is set so the starter handle engages with the crankshaft dog, although it's common these days to delete the starter hole.

 

At the inner guard end, it's good to fit rubber spacers either side of the stay rod to allow some play. Constant flexing of the inner guard has been known to fracture the stay rod brackets on the header tank.

 

Viv