Goodwood Revival and Final Push ?

[WillBoa]

Hi to all ,

Special thanks must be mentioned to one or two members on here who reccomended me to Terry Foxen in Gloucestershire for getting my steering wheel rebuilt for £250 - the steering wheel is a little stiff as before , but Im assuming it will loosen after time like a pair of new shoes ?

 

I did see a few Tr`s in the classic car space , so I hope alot of you had a good weekend and dressed up in costume . I had parked my car outside the Bonhams Auction Marquee with the blow up cover of TR Action and etc .

 

On to final thing , the final push if I can afford , for those who had spotted my car , the car needs a respray ( nice from afar , but up close you see different shades of red - that came from my previous owner who didnt properly maintained the car .

 

The dilemma is or the car needs to put it right ;

 

 

1 New chrome front bumper

 

2. Quite possibly front cowl ,

 

3. Rear Wings as a pair

 

4. Rear boot lid

 

5. Rear section where the spare tyre goes

 

6. The Heater was swiped either by owner previous to me or whatever I do not know ?

 

7. What cost of welding and respray with engine out and cosmetics of seats refurb , dashboard tidied up and the black plastic material which lips over the doors .

 

 

The problem is that I have spent nearly £5000 already redoing, repairing and replacing the bodges that I inherited from the previous owner ... I have an awful feeling that it will be quite a bit of money ... even though good nick Tr3a`s are around 20K ?

 

Any help from above , I would be pleased to hear from ,

 

 

 

Best Wishes ,

 

 

Will

[Ashley James]

Will

 

I've recently bought a TR3A that seemed pretty good and probably it was good enough to use, but in the end I'm doing pretty much what you say yours needs. Mine is having new floors, inner and outer sills, various welding and most of the panel work around the rear body mounts that was actually missing. The previous restorer had brazed two flat strips from the spare wheel compartment to the chassis! When all this is done, we'll bare metal respray it, I'll re-wire it and re-trim it.

 

The big question is whether or not the car is worth it and the answer is no, but if I want to enjoy a TR as it's manufacturers intended and not just a worn out old facsimile, I'm better off doing the job properly and who knows, it might be worth enough in a few years time to cover my costs, so it's a better buy than a new BMW that might cost the same.

 

Back in the sixties when I was young, I got to drive or own all sorts of what are now considered important classics, most were dreadful because they were worn out, now if I buy one, I want to know what it should be like with everything as it should be. Lots of people do, I know of one chap who paid about £70,000 for a Rolls-Royce PIII and then spent £400,000 having it built to concours and now having won a series of awards with it, he's driving it around London like a modern car and anywhere else he fancies taking it to. By the time he's finished it'll probably make £100,000, but he can afford it and he's got to drive his dream. He's also provided work for very clever craftsmen who wouldn't otherwise have a chance to do anything as satisfying and for the rest of us, it's a chance to see something rare and beautiful the way it was new.

 

TRs are lovely old cars and much admired wherever you take them and they will be cherished after we're all buried, so my advice is spend the money, do a good job and enjoy the result in the knowledge that successive owners won't be able to criticise you for bodgery.

 

Ash