The Tub is back from painting

[kiwi-jim]

Finally after what seems such a long time I have a painted tub back from the painters ready for me to start putting the car back together. I took the chassis to the paint shop and we lifted the tub straight on to it to bring it all home. Now comes the big job of Bolting it all down and putting it all together.

The eventual colour I choose after a lot of thinking is The triumph Pearl/ spa white.

now I have to be careful not to mark/scratch it to much

[stuart]

Finally after what seems such a long time I have a painted tub back from the painters ready for me to start putting the car back together. I took the chassis to the paint shop and we lifted the tub straight on to it to bring it all home. Now comes the big job of Bolting it all down and putting it all together.

The eventual colour I choose after a lot of thinking is The triumph Pearl/ spa white.

now I have to be careful not to mark/scratch it to much

 

Looking good Jim. Pearl white is a nice colour, I have had a couple in that colour and they look very smart and a nice change from red .

Stuart.

[M. Pied Lourd]

Very Nice Jim, can't wait until I make it to that point. Good inspiration for me!

 

Cheers,

M. Pied Lourd

[kiwi-jim]

Thanks Guys, its great to feel and see some progress. I;m looking forward to seeing it all dressed up with the chrome and trim i think the pearl /spa white will look sharp, what Trs you do see here in NZ a big percentage seem to be red, its as popular a colour over here as well.

[Ian Vincent]

Good looking paint job Jim and a nice colour.

 

How good was the shell before they started?

 

Rgds Ian

[kiwi-jim]

Hi Ian

The tub was not that good, the car had had a frontal accident many years ago in a past life and had been poorly repaired then, and prior to me picking it up it had had new sills and floors put in. That work was ok but could have been better. So there has been a bit of time spent on the tub and while its not perfect it will have to do.

[Kiwifrog]

Looks fantastic Jim,

 

The best part of a rebuild putting all the shiny clean bits together, just like a meccano kit for big kids. My car is still decomposing in the garage I have a couple of repairs before I pull the tub from the chassis

 

Cheers

 

Alan

[Andrew Smith]

Niiiiice Jim - red looks good too (Stuart)...........

 

Cheers

Andrew

[Menno van Rij]

Great looking car! I know the feeling of absolute joy and thinking that the worst part is over. And it is!

What colour are you choosing for the interior and hood? Spa white and red is great, but too obvious, I think. The fun part is, that almost every interior colour matches spa white!

 

Go on, go for chocolate brown. I did that with my powder blue car.

 

Menno

 

[TR3BGeorge]

I appreciate all your comments on car colors. I can't speak for across the pond or Oz, but in the US of A, RED was the supreme color. By FAR. It was a CHICK MAGNET. It didn't matter whether it was an MG or a Jag, the young chicks headed for the red car like it was a magnet. And they always asked the same question, "Is this a Jaguar?" And we always answered, "Yes." The girls would literally walk right past a white XK120 or 140 to get close to a RED MGA. It never failed. In America, someone coined the phrase "little red sports car," like it was one word. The greatest chick magnet I ever saw was the red first-edition T-Bird ('55, '56, '57).

 

Personally, I saw enough red, white and black TRs, and was more drawn to the powder blue and primrose yellow cars, which I saw very little of over here. My 1958 TR3A was black, and I felt that its shine held up the best of all the colors. It was a classy color. Of course, keeping it clean was a 24-hour job that I loved.

 

I don't have the exact figures handy, but over half of the first Miatas were red. "Little red sports car" will always mean something special.

 

Epilog: I have a red TR3 now, AND I HAVE TO BEAT THE WOMEN OFF WITH A STICK.

[vivdownunder]

Hi Jim,

 

Congratulations, it really looks the bee's knees.

 

For trim, the hounds-tooth pattern used on the Oz assembled TR3's might be something different

 

Here is the off-white with green used on the very first Oz assembled car.

 

http://www.tr-register.com.au/pics/2006/sextong/concours2.jpg

 

It came in red and black too, made by screenprinting the darker colour onto vynil the lighter colour.

 

Regards,

 

Viv.

[kiwi-jim]

Alan, I think your comment about this stage almost being like a meccano set for big kids is spot on, and i feel just as excited. In fact I would bet almost everyone whose on this forum, doing what we all do with restoring these cars, had a large meccano set as a boy( or their national equivalent).

The trim colour scheme is the next big as yet undersided decision, I can say it wont be RED Menno, your right that might be a little obvious even for me.

My thoughts had been running to a Black or Grey trim in some shade, but based on the number of times I changed my mind on the body colour who knows what I will do. The old seats and trim are black, but they all need redoing, so I will have to make that decision very soon.

 

Cheers