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Lead Loading on Production Line???


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Just returned to TR's after  selling my TR 4  (john Weedon now runs it)  with a late  1957  TR3A . It's an ex USA car  advertised  by the dealer  as a 3 but the registrar confirmed what i thought, it was a very early 3A  ( did not tell dealer of course!). I imported it back end of 2018 and it's the usual DRY STATE  car, if so why am i fitting new floors, sills etc!!

Question for you all:

One thing that looked good on all the photo's of the car prior to buying it were the door  gaps, wing fits etc. From contacting the previous owner its sat around for years before he sold it to a dealer  and  a lot of the paint appears to be original.   When i started on the repairs to the tub first, i found that the door to B post gaps were good because the B post edges have been lead loaded ( a devil to remove the residue to weld new metal to original) under what i believe is the original paint.  As i removed the rear wings i found this practice had been continued  in the area around the rear lights and down where the rear panel  meets the lower rear wing.

Was this the practice on the production line in the 50's at Triumph, in those cash strapped times would not have thought so??

Any thoughts anyone

regards Adrian

 

 

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There was always lots of lead used for panel fit back in those days and FWIW Ford still used it up to the end of MK5 Cortina production.

Stuart.

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My neighbor worked at Opel's main factory in Ruesselsheim/ Germany - so a "sister" to Vauxhall" and part of the GM family.His first job was a plumber, than he changed in to the car industry for the money… they placed some pounds of lead onto the bodys in those days, closing gaps, straightening surfaces etc.

So I think you can be sure that this was "from factory"

Later restaurations tend to use bondo

Regards, Johannes

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Just to add my bit, my 1959 TR3a had lead loading around the B pillar along the door shut face and there was also some on the front scuttle.  All of it original.

Rgds Ian

Edited by Ian Vincent
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2 hours ago, Adie TR3A said:

Thanks to all who replied so quickly, looks like it is original production line process then. Intend to have shell dipped when panel work finished on the shell , have to find out if this removes the lead work

 

regards Adrian

It will Im afraid, same would go for blasting too.

Stuart.

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