StuHomer Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Hi all, I'm sure I've read a topic about this but can't find it now... What's the best order in which to refit the exterior panels on my TR250? All I've got on so far is the trimmed backlight, I plan on fitting the front screen surround next, fitting the glass to both (or bottling it and getting a pro in), after that I'm not so sure. I thought I'd protect edges with a layer of 2" easy peel masking tape with a layer of gaffer tape on top for a bit of extra padding. Cheers Stu Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barry911 Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Hi Stu, it's ages since I've had to do this on a TR, but I do it daily on other makes, so I'll throw some ideas up in case they are of use. The biggest risk panel of all is the bonnet. On most cars you'd use the outer wings to stop the bonnet from slipping sideways off the car during fitting, but on the TR's the inner wings do this. Therefore I'd be tempted to get that on first. Might be worth popping a dust sheet at the scuttle area in addition to your tapes. Once you're roughly in place, the sheet can come out, although leave a bit of cloth across the rear corners of the engine bay gutter so you have something to lift the bonnet by. Make sure your bump-stops are in place and adjusted high to start with, just to protect the paint. The rule with all opening panels is not to have the latches and catches in place until the panel is lying correctly: ie you don't want them to be pulling the panel at all. Therefore the general process is to align the panel so that it fits nicely, then introduce the catch / latch and get it so the panel still sits well. Obviously in the case of doors and boot you have seals to deal with, but the principle remains; you may choose to fit seals afterwards, but at least you can just press the panel into place against the seal to make sure the height and gaps are correct. I think as a start I would fit bonnet, as largely it's position is dictated by inner wings and scuttle, and it would be a good boost to get you going, The boot is independent of all other panels, so you can put that on at any time. I think then I'd try the doors, but just have it in mind you'll have to do some jiggling around of all the side panels, so I expect to be revisiting them several times through the process. I'm suggesting doors as they are a bit fiddly to fit compared to the wings, so the more room around them the better, for a first attempt anyway. After that it's wings obviously. The main thing to get your head around though is that you'll likely have a merry-go-round of trying to find the best overall positions to get nice gaps all round. As an example you might find a rear wing is a bit short to the inner portion, and yet if you move it rearwards the rear door gap might look a little large. You'd then move the door and front wing back, only to find the front of the front wing now looks a bit rearward to the bonnet. So you might try closing the rear bonnet gap a fraction. You can see therefore, to leave the catches off where you can does save you a lot of double moves. The main thing though is that it's really easy to have a catch pulling a panel out of true, meaning they don't close as nicely, and it puts stresses on the hinges and mechanisms. Rather than manually adjusting them BTW, often you can have the fixings just loose enough to get some movement, and use the panel itself to slide the catch to the right place. Eg on the doors, first tweak the hinges so it fits nicely. Add the b-post fitting, and use shims so that it engages with door without scraping (watch paint on back of door!), then gently do up the screws just nipping, close the door to where you want it, give it a jiggle, and very gently open it back up. Tighten screws. Using this method saves a lot if trial and error, but it does work best without seals in place. Worth a try anyway. The key here is patience and frankly, if you struggle at all, take a break and come back to it fresh. Even if it takes a couple days, it's time very well spent, and very satisfying indeed. On the other hand you might get it all back together in a morning: both are absolutely fine. As I say, it's all a process and a completely different mindset to mechanical tasks. Good luck with it, and I hope it goes together really well. Barry Edited February 1, 2015 by Barry911 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barry911 Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 Oh yes, before you get 100% committed anywhere, you might just want to offer up things like rear light units whilst rear wings are on 'first fix' to make sure they're going to still O.K. before you bolt on the wings once and fore all. Hopefully someone will just cast an eye over the above to make sure I've not blundered: I was just wondering about the front wing fixings at the rear, versus the door hinges. I think doors first is the option I'd take, although it's probably fair to assume the car would have hardly been designed to require the door to come off to remove the wing, or visa versa. One tip I use on the Porkers,is to put a cut-off bolt in the threaded door captive plate (one top, one bottom), as it gives something to hang the door on whist you negotiate the getting the bolts in. Frankly I'm not sure if this'll work on a TR, as it's the hinge itself with the threads, might be worth a try though: put one bolt top and bottom in from the outside of the hinge, so that the bare thread pokes through the A-post holes. It might not help, but might steady things up a bit: sorry I can't be more helpful here. The one thing I do know is I did my last 4 on my own (bonnet, then I'm sure doors, then rear wings, boot and then front wings), and didn't have any great issues. Just took my time and enjoyed seeing it come together, and all that lovely lovely workshop space reappearing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
StuHomer Posted February 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thanks Barry, it all makes sense. I've already fitted the bootlid, because as you say it doesn't affect anything else and its a nice psychological boost to making it look like a car again! Although I did find that the boot seal from one of the usual suppliers ( a foam 'h' shape) was far too big and didn't compress making the lid sit too high, so I took a look at seals direct (as suggested by Stuart) and ordered some ETS3237 which seems to be perfect Stu Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barry911 Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) We used to have loads of problems with pattern seals on the 911's: you'd get the panels fitting really nicely without seals, fit them and the panel would be miles off. Obviously you expect them to be a bit fierce to start with, but then settle, but these were something else. Turned out they'd used a different section, a different density and different dimensions. Otherwise they were perfect! The stop-gap at the time was to linish the underside of the seals, thinning them down without affecting the top section, a messy and unpleasant job. Luckily good ones hit the market, and that was the end of the matter. Really frustrating though to see 500 hours or so of metalwork being undone by a £30 seal. All best wishes with it, Barry Ooh yes, don't forget pics ; o) Edited February 1, 2015 by Barry911 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
StuHomer Posted February 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 The door seals seem to a source of woe on the TRs looking at the forum. I'm hoping the ones that are coming with the carpet set from Aldridge trimming are ok. I should be getting everything from them this week including my re trimmed MX5 seats back and the rest of the interior Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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