Newby Hall - TR3 winner

[Mike Jarman]

Hi all,

 

Wharfedale member Paul Smith got a 1st at this year's Newby Hall Classic car event. This show is a big one-day show with over 1000 cars taking part.

I was admiring the entries when I stumbled across a very proud Paul Smith with his 8 year restoration project, and very nice it was to!

 

I took a photos with Paul's camera and asked him to email them with further details. Pauls said:

 

"A bit of back ground on the TR3 -

 

It is a 1956 model, Reg 131UXM. It is a US import from Texas, brought back into UK late 1996 and I bought it off Gary Bates in Feb 1997. The car although quite delapidated was pretty much complete. Usual dry (US) state story - 'rust free' - meaning the extent of the rust really only come apparent after you strip off the paint rather than before it ! When it turned up at my house on a trailor, my wife doubted my sanity, which wasn't so bad - I hate to think what see would have said about some of the mounds of rust I'd viewed !

 

So then ensued 8 years of glorious restoration!? - every molecule of the car must have felt loved by the time I'd done. With a massive 'can do' attitude I took on welding in new panels, panel beating, filling (lots), spraying (20 layers in all), engine / gearbox box rebuilds. I swapped it over to rhd and put in rack n pinion. I renovated wherever possible as many of the new parts were inferior to the originals. I figured out how to manourvre the body tub around single handed using tyres. I fixed a pulley up to allow me to rotate it through 360 degrees when I was doing the spraying - neccessity being the mother of invention. So I learned a hell of a lot en route and enjoyed most of it, not all - I'm not totally mad. There was no rush, so if it got tedious, I'd back off, regroup and continue later. Complted may 21st 2005.

 

I'm proud to say that I did it all myself apart from covering the seats and getting the cylinder head planed and new value seats fitted for unleaded petrol. In my mind half the fun was the build and now I enjoying the other half - the driving.

 

Winning the best of class (post war 1940-1958 open top) at Newby today was some endorsement of my labours.

 

Ps. I noticed that two other TRs made it into the arena at Newby - a TR3a and TR6 and no MGB's :-)"

 

Congratulations Paul on an excellent and well deserved win!

 

Cheers!