My appologies for bombing the list with this, but I accidently deleted the
messages from someone (Ed D.?) who was asking me about a TR3B he is looking at
to purchase.
I looked at the giffs. If I were judging a Triumphest funcorse, this car would
not quite score high enough for a bronze, but if the drive train is in good
shape and there is no bad rust or bondo problems under the paint, it looks like
a solid car that would take about one thousand dollars to bring up to a solid
silver a funcourse.
I won't go over the things that you mentioned before other than to say the valve
cover is a TR4 cover so it should have a TCF commission number and an all syncro
transmission. I think it is the first TR3B I have seen that didn't come with a
factory windscreen washer.
Anyway, here are my observations.
1. The heater has been bypassed with a jumper hose and the heater valve is
missing. This usually indicates a bad heater core.
2. The fuel line is in a non-original location.
3. It looked like someone put on a Lucas sport coil
4. It looks like there is a metal patch on the top rear of the left inner wing.
Could be screwed or pop rivited on. I would ask about this.
5. The vertical bars in the grill look bent in both views. People usually do
this when some damage has bent the front valence so that the mouth does not open
wide enough for the grill.
6. The seat covers do not look original. The style is correct, but usually the
piping is in a contrasting colour (mine is black with white piping for
instance).
7. The carpet set is aftermarket and may or may not be the original colour.
8. The instrument cluster has been refinished. Instead of wood trim, the center
cluster should be black crinkle paint.
9. The rear luggage rack is not a factory style. It is the AMCO style which was
very popular.
Over all, my impression from the pictures is that the car appears all there and
looks to be a decent driver with a number of minor things wrong with it. I get
the impression that the outside has been repainted, and interior redone several
years back. It feels like an older restoration by someone not concerned about
making it complete or original. I would check the panels for bondo closely.
The way the heater bipass was done would make me want to look into the drive
train a little more closely.
Be sure to ask about a soft top & side curtains, and tools, esp an original
jack. And once again, look carefully at the hubs & wheels. Worn splines get
expensive quickly.
I have not kept up with TR3 prices lately, but if the car is as solid as it
looks, with good hubs and drivetrain, I think it is priced on the high side of
the range of what its worth. I think it would be a solid deal at 1K less, but
at an acceptable price at what was asked. If it needs additional body, drive
train or hub work, its worth less. You are really going to need to look closely
at it.
Once again sorry for accidently deleating your posting
TeriAnn Wakeman Large format photographers look at the world
twakeman@apple.com upside down and backwards
LINK: TWAKEMAN
408-974-2344 TR3A - TS75519L,
MGBGT - GHD4U149572G, Land Rover 109 - 164000561
|