Project Journals

Owner: Howard Leonard
City: Phoenix, AZ
Car Model: '67 Triumph Tr4a

Engine: 3.6L V6 305hp

Cooling: Stock with mustang radiator

Exhaust: Dual 2.5" custom fab

Transmission: cadillac atm 5L40e

Rear Axle: Stock

Front Susp.: Stock plus tr6 sway bar.

Rear Susp.: Stock, plus shortened uprated springs, plus tube in spring shocks

Brakes: incomplete
(master)
(front)
(rear)

Chassis: front lower a-arm pivot brackets reinforced.
Differential mounts reinforced.
Rear upper spring perch reinforced

Wheels/Tires: tbd

Body Mods: firewall mod, dash tipped forward 25 degrees

Interior: tbd

Electrical: tbd


Back ground: Ive had this tr4a since '96. the car was in very good shape (az car) and I'm the third owner. the engine turned out to have a cracked head and the cylinders had been full of water for years. also bent rod. I rebuilt the four bnger same year plus fuel system and hydraulic systems and drove it around maybe a few hundred miles. I got frustrated because I didn't have the time to do everything I wanted to the car. I decided to put it away until I could give it the love it deserved. in 2009 my buddy sent me pictures of his beautifully restored sunbeam super tiger with a stock but completely cromed 260 ford v8.that really got me fired up so that's when I dropped the hammer on the build, only instead of stock I wanted to build something that would beat his super tiger. what's that saying "jealousy is the mother of invention" ???anyway.............

here is my first test fit of the 2009 Cadillac CTS engine to determine the feasibility of this project. it fit pretty good requiring only minor surgery. little did I know at that time what a mistake I had made choosing this engine.

After dismantling the car I decided to sand blast the frame myself in my shop. What a mistake! I thought it would make a mess but I had no idea. ill never never do that again. I checked the chassis for alignment and it was surprisingly straight. the only problem I found was the right swing arm pivot bracket was bent from what appeared to be an accident.(below)

it took me a while to figure out exactly what was causing this misalignment but once I figured it out it was an easy fix (above)

this little bent piece of wire kept my plumb bob centered in the holes in the frame so I could transfer the it's dimensions to the floor without having someone help me

next step reinforce frame. I hand fabricated the swing arm bracket gussets. you can see the buck that I used to the left.

after welding in the front a-arm bracket gussets I boxed the differential mounts, welded rear tube shock mounts into the upper spring perches, gusseted the upper rear spring perches where they overhang the spring perch stanchions and painted the frame with catalyzed rattle can paint. these mods will show up more clearly in later photos. its very likely I will not build another car so to avoid the cost and time of building a rotisserie I jerry rigged the wooden stands that can be seen in this pick. they actually worked very well for my purposes. they have casters so the frame was easy to move around.

here's a shot of my hand fabricated lower rear shock mounts

once i had the shock mounts built and crunched the numbers on trailing arm geometry i could finally select a shock that would not inadvertently interfere with suspension travel (I love having white board wall to draw on)


here you can see that I offset the upper shock mounts to just clear the body once it is back on the frame

differential almost ready to go back in. I replaced pinion bearing and seal. opened it up to check for debris. very clean. checked mesh pattern and replaced axle bearings and seal.
(below) steering rack got a refresh. all it needed was a passenger side rack bushing. Front end bearings seals bushings completely refreshed. I have All Thread in place of the front shocks so I can fiddle with the cars stance once it nears completion.


this is the steering rack spreader tool I built to install the rack.
(below) the spreader in action.





Edited 18 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2017 12:37AM by geerhead.

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