Could this be an aluminum top?

[Joshua]

Wow, I an interesting bit of information come to my attention. Let me run it by you, if I may. I came home today to the top on my car, about 30ft away. I had left it unbolted since I've been checking it out, trying to make notes of the condition of all the parts. While looking over the top, I noticed a "gash" in the paint. Upon closer examination, no rust was present in said gash. I went back to the previous pictures I have of the car and found that this has been present on the car since I purchased it. What makes this interesting, is that over the period of time I've owned this car, surface rust would have easily accumulated on the top where the bare metal is exposed.

 

I went in the house, and grabbed a "rare earth magnet" to try to get it to stick to the top, on every attempt, the magnet falls to the ground. Same on the backlight frame. To the rest of the car, the magnet sticks with great force. I will be looking into this further to see if the top is, in fact, Aluminum. In the case that it proves true, I will have a whole new outlook on this car. I will keep you updated, as have had several people inquiring about this car.

 

Any additional information that you can give would be appreciated!

 

thanks for your time and attention

[TR 2100]

Hi Joshua,

 

Aluminium hardtops are not all that uncommon. In fact, they are now almost more

common than a rust-free steel top. I've even heard that a really rust-free steel top

would get a higher price than an aluminium top (don't know if that's true, though).

 

The car seems to be straight and rust-free, and therefore very desirable as a basis

for restoration (despite the wheels and seats).

 

The selling prices suggested by Tom Fremont (in another thread) seems a bit high

to me, but perhaps he is more familiar with US prices (although I do follow TR4s

for sale on eBay US).

I certainly don't think the top alone would fetch $3-4K unless it was fully restored,

re-trimmed and re-sealed and ready to bolt on.

 

The later style gauges (with the shroud on top as against the TR3-style with full face

and domed glass) dates it as 1963 or later (assuming they are original). The carbs

(Strombergs not SUs) and radiator (no header tank) do the same.

Can you give some idea of the CT commission number (to the nearest 1000)?

 

As Tom says, the value of the car would be based on the true state of the body

and chassis, rust-free and without repairs is what people look for, and pay for,

so this needs to be checked and documented to help you with the sale.

 

Even so, it's hard to find someone to take on a restoration when the finished

product is worth perhaps half the restoration cost (if you are lucky).

 

AlanR

[Tom Fremont]

Joshua,

 

Sure sounds like aluminum. If should weigh ~ 15 lbs or less ( 11 lbs stripped ). Steel ones weigh at least 2X if not 3X. The only original steel ones without rust would be either dry climate examples or unused, as they weren't coated on the inside and condensation rusted them thoroughly. Very difficult and costly to restore to perfection as the front lip and gutters have to be remade.

 

As for the prices I floated, these are not-likely-to-be-exceeded values.

 

If your car isn't rusty, the package with the surrey kit is quite appealing to TR enthusiasts and worth more than it may seem.

 

Alan's quite right that TRs cost more to restore than they sell for ( with some exceptions which prove the rule ). I believe that one done today will fetch its cost eventually - maybe 10 years hence? Not a good investment, but worth it for an " amatore ".

 

Finally, a few years back a gent named Andy tried to sell his surrey kit in restored condition on this forum. His asking price of 1500 GBP ( if memory serves ) brought all manner of negative commentary and no takers. So he put it on ebay piecemeal and got 3000 GBP, or today's equivalent of $6000. A complete, undamaged kit with aluminum center section will easily fetch $3000 today on ebay - I've seen a few exceed that already.

[Rhodri]

One pretty good looking complete ensemble, with an alloy lid, just finished on ebay for £975. Number 290200897264.

[Tom Fremont]

One pretty good looking complete ensemble, with an alloy lid, just finished on ebay for £975. Number 290200897264.

 

That was an unusually good deal

 

I paid a little over half that for an all alloy kit with minor dents in the roof, but that was over 2 years ago.