John McCormack Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 Now that the body and chassis are together (photo attached) I have dug out the wiring loom and the upholstery. The wiring loom is an original factory item purchased in the late 60s or early 70s and is in perfect condition and complete with all fittings. The insulation is like new and the original colours look great. Woohoo. The upholstery is the original cardboard backing, mostly original leather, vinyl and even the original brown carpet. It will need complete replacement which I was going to source from Skinners. The car was last registered in Apr 65 and driven in Dec 66 and only one or two things had gone missing while it was in storage. I have obtained them from another long door that was to be scrapped (now being restored). This dashboard is the original from the car, although the brown vinyl was painted black at some stage. The brown on the back and behind the instrument holes is untouched and provides an excellent colour match. The dash even has its clips and fittings as per original although an extra switch or two has been added to what was there. I have always believed that the centre panel on sidescreen TRs was painted black in a crinkle finish. The centre panel on this dash is finished in the same brown vinyl material as the rest of the dash. There is no black paint under the vinyl on the centre panel, it appears it has never been painted. My first question on the interior restoration, was the centre panel finished in vinyl the same as the rest of the dash on long door TR2s, or some of them? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RUBY131 Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 According to a TR Guru in South Africa where my car was built all S.A, builds had vinyl center sections, so it was obviously an option. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 All TR2`s had the Vinyl covered centre section as standard. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EdwinTiben Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 John take a look at My Google photo album. I used a skinner set which i was happy with But needed Some detailing to have it original Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mjdearing Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 Thats lovely Stuart not many around with this option, many would think it was a self done jobi, best I saw was a 2 in Jabeke 2003 Metric trim, mushroom (yep mushroom) paintwork and beige interior a local CKD car, the owner had touched up so many bits it looked mottled but was proud of its originality. Anybody know this car ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TR 2100 Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 All TR2`s had the Vinyl covered centre section as standard. Stuart. IMG_2478.jpg Wonderful to see metric trim but I wonder how many would choose it if it were not original! AlanR Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John McCormack Posted March 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 John take a look at My Google photo album. I used a skinner set which i was happy with But needed Some detailing to have it original Thanks Edwin. Beautiful job. What detailing did you need to do to the Skinner kit? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EdwinTiben Posted March 29, 2018 Report Share Posted March 29, 2018 The panels were not in the same shape as the underlying metal, like the doors , dog leg panels and the b-post sections. i removed a bit of the cardboard and re-attached the fabric. the draf excluders dont have the typical tr2 "button" ends, so did those too, There is of course a difference in a bespoke set at a trimmer shop, but in my opinion its good value if you are willing to invest some time into detailing. before: after on the left side, the dog legs. i ordered some extra material when ordering the set to be able to do things like this the correct center: Did a lot of cutting on the carpet to have it in correct shape on the tunnel. i actually glued it to the tunnel, little area by area and stretched it a bit after warming it with a hair dryer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John McCormack Posted April 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 My seats still have the original covering on them and the seat backs are carpet, not vinyl. The carpet is sewn on professionally and appears to be an original factory fit. It is on both seats and the carpet is the same as the bits of original floor carpet I have with the car. I suspect it was a factory option. Has anybody seen or heard of long door TR2 seats having carpet on the seat backs? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EdwinTiben Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 Hi John, i havent heard of this before and havent read it in any of the known books. perhaps the back replaced at a later moment which could be in the 60, this would give it the right patina. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John McCormack Posted April 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 John take a look at My Google photo album. I used a skinner set which i was happy with But needed Some detailing to have it original A bit of a delay but I have been through your photos. Lovely car and restoration. I like the quality of the Skinners kit and they have sent me colour samples which very closely match the original items I have. Decision made. I have a original crank handle but no other tools. Any advice on where I could get a set? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John McCormack Posted April 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 Hi John, i havent heard of this before and havent read it in any of the known books. perhaps the back replaced at a later moment which could be in the 60, this would give it the right patina. You could be right. The fellow I bought the car from bought it in 1966 and didn't do the interior, so it would have had to be done very early on. The carpet on the seats is the same as the samples I have from the floor and the seat leather is definitely the original. The 1st owner could have renewed the carpets and done the seat backs at the same time but it does seem to be an unusual thing to do, replace the seat backs with carpet keeping the original leather. I'll keep searching for the answer.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EdwinTiben Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 (edited) A bit of a delay but I have been through your photos. Lovely car and restoration. I like the quality of the Skinners kit and they have sent me colour samples which very closely match the original items I have. Decision made. I have a original crank handle but no other tools. Any advice on where I could get a set? Here's my tool roll (nice detail of the screwdriver.. it has 2 engraved in the handle) 2 version of the original jack, the small one was NOS with an original stanpart label still attached. The tool roll itself is a new one (but i like to use the tools, because you can almost restore the complete car with the tools ;-) ) The rest, i collected on sites like ebay and local bootsales etc. The tools are used for different brand cars. very useful site to look at the types of tools: http://www.tr3a.info/Tools.htm another site: https://vintagetriumphregister.org/tr2/ (almost) complete tool rolls on ebay fetch big money, it was cheaper to collect the parts myself. Edited April 27, 2018 by EdwinTiben Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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