In The Beginning...
Saturday, January 11, 1997
I took the seat frames to Dave's Place in Henderson, NC. He is going to sand blast and spray them with primer as well as find new wire for the lateral supports. Then he will order the seat kits and take them to his upholsterer to rebuild. The upholsterer will order the vinyl as soon as the decision is made as to what color to do and how much is needed for the rest of the interior.
Saturday, January 25,1997
A friend Scott helps me start the project. The first thing I do is change the oil and filter. I assumed it would be good for the engine to circulate fresh oil through it before beginning the restoration since the engine would more than likely not be started for many months, probably for more than a year. Then I read some notes on the Vintage Triumph Register web page regarding long term storage which suggested that it is important to run the engine (by driving the car) for twenty or thirty minutes before storing the car, which I didn't go after changing the oil. Oh well, I'm sure that's not the first mistake I will make during this restoration. Next the seats came out, which were not original anyway, so they will go to a junk yard. Then the seat belts and all of the interior panels.
Saturday, Febrary 1,1997
The following parts came off: spoiler, headlights and headlight rims, grill, bonnet (hood). The headlight supports are still connected via the wiring harness, I can't figure out how to remove them without damaging the harness.
Sunday, April 20,1997
Lets see, its been two and half months since I touched the car. At this rate, my child will have to finish the car with me shouting instructions from the nursing home bed. I figured out how to handle the headlight buckets, just unsnap the wiring harness in the engine bay and pull it through the inside front fender. So the headlight buckets came off and have about two feet of wire attached to them, permanently in my case. The front bumper came off, and with ease at that. I had been warned that the two bolts connecting the bumper to the front part of the frame were more than likely to be rusted on fairly well. I got lucky, they loosened right up. I didn't even have to use liquid wrench. In addition to the bumper, today I removed: the four front turn signals, the two horns, the drivers side door and the left front fender. I also took lots of pictures of the wiring harness in the engine bay for reference when putting it back together.
Saturday, May 10,1997
Removed the passenger side door and front right fender.
Friday, May 23,1997
Removed the trunk and the trunk trim components.
Saturday, May 24,1997
Removed the rear bumper and both rear tail light assemblies.
Sunday, May 25,1997
Removed the two rear fenders
Monday, May 26,1997
I should have gotten a lot done today, it being Memorial Day, but I called Ed Zimmer (I met him through the Triumph Club of the Carolinas) and went to see his freshly painted Mallard Blue '74 TR6. I took some pictures of his car which I'll post after I get them developed. Mallard is a beautiful color. I did manage to get the windshield off today.
Tuesday, May 27,1997
Started working on the dash. I got the heater duckwork out on the passenger side, along with the glovebox. Also removed the center dash pad and the four switches/handles in it.Monday, June 29,1998
Over a year since my last update. I need to get pictures on this page so I don't have to describe every part I have taken off of the car up to date. Here's some of the major parts removed since last year. That's right, I'm still taking it apart. Everything under the dash is out. Then engine and transmission are out. That's it, hopefully I'll update the page a little more often and get some pictures out here.
Wednesday, July 1,1998
Removed the gas tank. I emptied it as best I could, then filled it with water and emptied it again. I removed the oil cooler. I started to cut away the driver side outer sill.
February 1999
Here are some pictures of the car in its current state.
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