Today we removed the exhaust and muffler from the car. Only a few bolts and one wire were used to mount the exhaust so this was a pretty east part to take off.
On the tail pipe, I couldn't tell if it was rust or paint on the surface, but after giving it a good scrub with some steel wool, the shiny chrome underneath was revealed. With most of the chrome parts on the car, this appears to be the case. With a lot of elbow grease, this car can be pretty.
Removing the steering wheel has been tricky and thus far unsuccessful. After purchasing a 1 1/16" socket from AutoZone (couldn't find this size in the local hardware store), we tried to remove the nut holding the wheel in place, but it does not seem to want to budge. Even a good dousing of liquid wrench didn't help. Going to have to think about this one a bit more.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Now it really begins.
Last week, Chris' friend Paul stopped by to check out the car. Paul has been a british car enthusiast for many years and owns an MG. So it was nice to get an opinion from someone who has done this before.
After explaining our plans to Paul to rebuild the car from chassis up, Paul suggested we check out the chassis more closely to determine if this was actually needed or if we could get away with just working on the surface of the car and engine.
I finally got around to purchasing a 2-ton floor jack and 4 jackstands so I could lift up the car and inspect its undersides more closely. Before I actually went under the car, though, I made sure to shop-vac its underside for fear of some bug landing on my face while underneath the car.
The bottom of the car looked grim. The underneath of the floor panels were badly rusted, which was to be expected from what we saw in the interior. The metal had separated into rusted layers which could probably be peeled off with little effort. Conclusion: new floor panels are a must.
The chassis wasn't as bad, but was covered in surface rust. Rather than fixing up the car and leaving the chassis as is, only to have it break later, we decided the best plan would be to strip down to the chassis, clean the chassis up, powdercoat it, and work up the car from there. Granted, this will take a lot (a lot) of work and also cost more, but I would like to feel safe in this car while driving it 65 mph on the highway.
And so it begins. It's official now that this car will have to be completely stripped down for restoration and will not be operational for a good few years. It's going to be a big project.
After explaining our plans to Paul to rebuild the car from chassis up, Paul suggested we check out the chassis more closely to determine if this was actually needed or if we could get away with just working on the surface of the car and engine.
I finally got around to purchasing a 2-ton floor jack and 4 jackstands so I could lift up the car and inspect its undersides more closely. Before I actually went under the car, though, I made sure to shop-vac its underside for fear of some bug landing on my face while underneath the car.
The bottom of the car looked grim. The underneath of the floor panels were badly rusted, which was to be expected from what we saw in the interior. The metal had separated into rusted layers which could probably be peeled off with little effort. Conclusion: new floor panels are a must.
The chassis wasn't as bad, but was covered in surface rust. Rather than fixing up the car and leaving the chassis as is, only to have it break later, we decided the best plan would be to strip down to the chassis, clean the chassis up, powdercoat it, and work up the car from there. Granted, this will take a lot (a lot) of work and also cost more, but I would like to feel safe in this car while driving it 65 mph on the highway.
And so it begins. It's official now that this car will have to be completely stripped down for restoration and will not be operational for a good few years. It's going to be a big project.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Tetanus shot...check.
It's been a while since I last worked on the Triumph. I've been either out of town or busy the past few weekends and haven't had a chance to work on the car.
Today, we finally got the bonnet (british term for hood) off, so things appear to be slightly more productive. Only a few bolts held the hood in and the majority of the time was spent tracking the wiring to the headlights and indicators.
Before taking the bonnet off we built 2 sawhorses out of 2x3 wood (I would recommend using 2x4 in the future and following instructions online for the ultimate sawhorse using an I-beam as the center structure) so that we would have something to prop the bonnet on.
We didn't start working on the car itself until after dinner, and 
were only able to work on it for a few hours until the sun set and the mosqitoes started biting.
were only able to work on it for a few hours until the sun set and the mosqitoes started biting.Now about the title I chose for this blog. As we were moving the car back into the garage for the night, I managed to scrape my hand along a piece of metal that once held the side mirrors, and since there's so much rust on this car elsewhere, I'm pretty sure there's a lit of rust on the little piece of metal. Lucky for me, I got my last booster tetanus shot last year and although painful at the time (I hate needles), I am grateful for it now. Lesson learned: make sure you are up to date on your tetanus shot before starting a restoration project.
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