TR Action London Group report for issue 328
Despite the winter lockdown, freezing temperatures and snow, London Group has been busy with Zoom calls and tinkering with our TRs, plus some other non-TR related car activity.
February kicked off with a highly informative Zoom presentation by Pete Barrett, the manager of TR Register Insurance. Pete took us through the history of the Register insurance scheme, walked us through the key elements of the package and dealt with the many questions from members. I think it is fair to say everyone on the call learnt something new. I for one shall be investigating re-instatement cover next time I renew.
Meanwhile, several of our members have been busy with their cars and taking advantage of lockdown to complete some long overdue jobs:
Pat Brady has continued the restoration of his TR4, including fitting a radiator expansion tank (bought from MGOC), a replacement speedo cable and a replacement steering rack.
He has also bought some narrow-soled shoes so he doesn’t depress the accelerator and brake pedal together as modern shoes are just too wide! He still has some jobs to do, so hopefully we will hear more in future editions of TR Action.
John Conlon has also been busy finishing the restoration of his TR6 – a project he started 15 years ago…
John has owned his 1974 left-hand drive TR6 for 30 years. Originally it was exported to the US and ended up in Kansas where, back in 1990, it was purchased and sent back to the UK. He bought it in 1991, it was in reasonable condition but not fully restored, and was able to use the car as his everyday run around vehicle for many years.
John decided to carry out a partial restoration about 15 years ago which however was never fully completed and stayed on the back burner until COVID struck. With time on his hands, his ambition to complete the restoration was rekindled. So far the process has involved every component of the car being stripped, cleaned, repaired and restored or renewed. An overdrive incorporated into the original gear box, total rewiring of the car and a bare metal respray. With any luck, the restoration will be completed within the next 3-4 months.
John says “I don’t think you should underestimate the amount of time something like this can take. I was very fortunate in that the structure of the car was fairly sound and the only panel to be replaced was one rear wing that could not be salvaged. After all the thousands of hours of work, the high point was to see the car roll off the transporter in its bright new paint job, which was probably a better finish than when it first rolled off the production line!”
Hopefully we can persuade John to submit an article for TR Action once the work is all complete.
Alan Jones has been refurbishing the dash on his TR3 - something he has been putting off for the last 7 years, despite it being “torn, creased and peeling” (his own words). So, he decided it had to be done. Bob “Lebro” and others on the TR forum not only gave a complete description of how to do it but also provided photo of all the relevant bits and it looked just about do-able.
The central console was held on by 4 wing nuts and the removal of the glove compartment and speed and rev counter gave access to the retaining nuts which secured the dashboard (All the bolts securing the dashboard all had a surface covering of rust which was a bit worrying!). The thought of all the messy wiring that was about to be revealed looked daunting, but wasn’t such a problem as the wiring for all the switches could remain connected leaving only the petrol gauge and ammeter wiring which needed to be labelled. The temperature gauge and sensor had to be removed as a single unit, but a finger cut off a rubber glove stuffed with kitchen towel sealed the sensor hole. (Thanks Ed China)
After that, the dashboard needed scraping and sanding to remove the old vinyl plus any old glue and then covered with new vinyl and refitted. The central console was repainted and then everything was refitted in reversal of the dismantling. It now looks really good.
Finally, Stuart Minster has discovered that not all classics are as simple to work on as our TRs (in his case, a beautiful white TR3). It has taken him two weeks, on and off, to replace the headlamp bulbs in his Jaguar due to their inaccessibility! This Jaguar deserves a mention as it was one of the last XJ6 made and is a twin-turbocharged 2.7 litre V6, full aluminium unibody chassis/bodywork with self-levelling air suspension. It is a black Jaguar XJ6 X358 and was the Lord Mayor of Reigate’s official car. As you might imagine, it is the exact opposite of the Triumph, not only in terms of sophistication and comfort, but also in terms of (as Jaguar would say) “grace, space and pace”.