Triumph Sports Cars

This winter in blustery and snowy Canada I am trying to finish everything I need to get my TR7V8 beastie back on the road by end of this May if not before (been 4yrs +).

Done previously:
1. Bought & rebuilt, ported, cammed and tweaked - 3.9L V8 Rover engine, Edelbrock intake & carb
2. Rebuilt and new suspension and running gear
3. Big brakes up front, rebuilt at back
4. Stiffen the body and reinforced the rear swing arm mounts
5. Build custom bolt on wheel arches
6. 16" Mags and 215/55-16 tires (might have to go down a size on the front as they rub at full lock)
7. Built a pocket into and sank battery into trunk.
8. Sorted out radiator & fans, oil cooler, engine wiring, etc.
9. TSI headers into custom 2-1 collector, hand built 2.5" exhaust with resonator and muffler (sounds awesome!)
10. Way more other stuff than I can remember, but have receipts and bruises for.... :(

A few pictures:

Porting, early on:


Engine Assembly:


Engine on Frame:

More Pics:

Custom Front Disk Brakes and Suspension


Mounted to sub-frame


Engine finally back in the body


Exhaust built and rear suspension back in


Martin

I bought the front air dam and arch extensions from S&S in England and had them shipped over, but didn't like any rear ones that I could find, so decided to make my own.

Designing/creating rear wheel arch extensions:


Pass side rear arch plug in progress:


Drivers side, finished rear arch "plug":


Mounted Arches


The rear arches were built last summer and fall. If I had had any idea the amount of effort and time and money to build them, I should have just gone out and bought some ready made ones. :)

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2013 10:55AM by bsa_m21.

This past fall I've:

1. Finished body work & prep for paint, and sent the car out for painting
(I know my limitations :)


2. Rebuild headlight raise/lower brackets

3. Refinished taillight shells


4. Converted Mercedes C230 seats to fit in TR7v8 & wired custom switches (they're electric!)

Wiring the converted Mercedes seats:


Used switches from an old Merc that was sitting in a junk yard and mounted them into the plastic shell side cover.


The finished product:

I rebuilt the door cards, reglued the vinyl, replaced the inner window seals & tacked on new plastic backing (keeps moisture off the carboard door card frame).

Then I dyed everything vinyl & leather in the interior to the same shade of light tan.





The dye I chose is fairly close to the colour of the soft top.


M.

Currently in progress are:
1. Polishing the stainless parts of the luggage rack & getting the pot metal brackets re-chromed.
2. Powder coat various trim, brackets, softtop frame and other bits black - out at coating firm
3. Painting - Finishing and priming the body and fender extensions

More Paint - a metallic reddish bronze colour (proper British spelling!) that my wife selected. (SWMBO....)





The headlight pod, seats and soft top header (still to be dyed)



M.

Yesterday (March 8), I got back the fender arches and front air dam to attach rubber trim edging and prevent damage to the body when I bolt them on:







Getting close to being able to re-assemble the car now...!!

Still to do:

1. Next week, I hope to have the rest of the paint done.
Then I have to install the new windshield and wait for the snow to melt to bring the car home.
(come on come on come on ......)
2. Install the new carpet, replace lights, dash, interior
3. Replace dash clock with electric oil gauge (in progress)
4. Install new convertible top on the powdercoated frame.
5. Install & hook up the electric seats
6. Possibly think about in electric windows and locks.... (Oy!)
7. Keep SWMBO placated.... (not necessarily in this order.. :)

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2013 11:40AM by bsa_m21.

I've been told to enter this:

"SWMBO checking in:
I need to have access to this posting so that I can add my comments!
SWMBO needs placation right now!
You............poop! :)"

M.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2013 11:14PM by bsa_m21.

Looks great. Aren't these things fun to restore. How much higher, if at all, are those seats? TR8 seats sit so low, it's difficult to find anything else that sits low enough with a proper slider mechanism. I've had good luck with Recaros sourced from an early 80s BMW 320is. You can fit 225s and even 245s on the rear simply by rolling the fender lips. Take a hammer and slowly roll the lips back up and flush with the outer lip. When that's done, you can continue to pull the whole lip out another inch or so if you continue to pound away. On the cars I really want a wide tire under, I roll the lip then grab a 5 pound sledge and keep pounding away until the lip on the fender bends slightly out instead of slightly inwards. Takes about 10 to 15 minutes per corner then some light body work to smooth everything back out. Not a big deal if you are going to paint the car anyway. Here is a picture of a car I started fender rolling and body work on last fall, and a picture of my green car sporting 225/45/16s.

Thanks Todd.

The lips are rolled, both front and back, and I also bent the rear bottom edges of the front wheel arch into the main body to get a bit more clearance on turns. The rears clear ok (as long as they don't expand too much at speed). But, I think the front tires will turn out to be one size too big, as I have felt them rub occasionally on turns while moving the car. I'll have to get it onto the road with the full weight settling the springs, to be sure.

Rear Clearance at full droop:


Front Clearance at full droop:


The seat bases are almost the same height as the originals ones, and it is easy to adjust the height later if need be. Left is stock Mercedes, middle is my converted seat, right is stock TR7 with a lousy recover job. The seat back is a fair bit higher, but the convertible top still clears fine on raise/lower.


I mounted them to the TR7 runners, so the forward/aft movement is now manual. The back recline and headrests remain electricly operated and the seats are also heated (My SWMBO is pleased about that!).

The right seat is stock Mercedes, the left one is how I mounted it. It is a bit hard to see, but the rear of the seat sits on springs on the then non-painted brackets I made. The front sits on pedestels bolted to the grey pivot rod. I had to bend the seat track release arm a bit, to fit around the pivot rod, but that was it.





Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2013 12:38PM by bsa_m21.

Pivot pedestal:


Trial fitting in the car:


Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2013 12:37PM by bsa_m21.

The TR7 sliders are great. I've used them in all sorts of cars including three different race cars. By cutting the lever and rewelding, you can widen or narrow the track width. They are so short that you can weld on a cross brace a to mount just about any seat onto. How much heavier are the Mercedes seats? That seems to be the only draw back on the Recaros I have. I'd venture that the Recaros are twice as heavy as the TR7 seat before lightness was added because the seat back is made from metal.

Todd,

If anything, the Merc seats are lighter than the stock TR7 seats, real leather and waaaay better support. :)

M.

Very, very nice Martin! A TR7 v8 conversion is something that would definitely interest me. Our local club does about 3 autocrosses a summer, and after participating about 4-5 times, I'm kind of hooked. There is a guy in our club who has a TR7 that demonstrates routinely that aside from any debate about its looks (which I like, by the way) the TR7 is WAY ahead of the rest of the classic brits in the suspension department. Watching an mgb and TR7 autocross is pretty revealing in the differences in track width, strut suspension and IRS.

Thanks Ryan.

Only real weak point, if you pick up a TR7 to convert, are the rear axle 4-link mounting points on the body. They are fairly weak to begin with, and the lower ones are in a location that tends to rust really badly. Most guys that do any suspension work, first reinforce them by welding plates around the mounts and tieing them further back onto the body. Then replace the bushings with polybushes and away you go.

Also, the stock springs are quite soft, but can be upgraded easily.

Lots of info is available online. Also, two good sources for speed parts www.thewedgeshop.com and www.tsimportedautomotive.com.

Regards,

Martin

Well I got her back from the paint shop a few days ago, and naturally was so excited I started assembling without taking pictures. Duh! Anyhow, today the weather was relatively nice up here in freezing Canada (+4c), so I backed her onto the driveway to continue assembling and did remember to take a few pics today.

Got the doors aligned, tail lights mounted, 1/4 rail for soft top riveted on, and this morning I bolted on the wheel arch flares.




(Notice the bit of ice still unmelted on the left side of the picture)


I fabricated the rear arches myself. If I had any idea how difficult it was going to be I would have just gone out and bought some.


I still have to finish and remount the bumpers (which are very heavy) , but I think my modified suspension will still sit too high. Once I get everything else done I may have to take a coil or so out of the springs.

Shortly after these pics the weather started to close in and my flu decided to re-emerge with a vengence, so after the first minor paint scrape, stopped for the day.


Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2013 07:52PM by bsa_m21.

I pulled her into the garage and shut it down for the day.



Hopefully I will feel up to working on her tomorrow.

Martin

Martin your project is looking real good!! Yes you spent a lot of time on those arches but they look real good and you now have bragging rights!!
I have a couple of questions for you:
Where did you get the dye/spray? to color your vinyl upholstery and what brand is it? I am refurbishing my 76 TR6 and the old tan seats will not match the GM Victory red that I am painting the car. I think the color you used on your seats would the right color for mine.
You mentioned that your suspension in the back is too high and the possibility of removing a coil to lower it. If you remove a coil from the spring does it change the stiffness of the spring? What do you do about the issue of the cut coil not having a "flat" to sit on the spring pad?

Cheers
Byron