Hi Jim,
One of the most popular "Triumph Home Mechanic" books is the Practical
Classics book on rebuilding a TR6. The car they started with had quite a bit
of frame rot and they did as your mechanic suggests. Cut out the old and
weld in the new. Using what's left of the old frame as a pattern for the new
parts.
I have very little time these days and until I finish building my
garage/workshop, I still continue to use my mechanic for the large projects.
The trailing arms of the frame on my '79 Spit had very large holes. There
were some smaller holes in the side rails below the door on the passenger
side. Since the damage was restricted to the accessible bottom and sides of
the frame, they were able to MIG weld patches with the car intact up on a
lift. They then spray painted and under coated the repaired areas.
My guess would be that your quoted price of $500 - $1000 would be in line
with having similar work done on your car. I spent $250. Surely they could
not mean a "body-off" repair at that price!?! You might want to get the
Practical Classics book to compare your damage to the techniques used.
Good luck!
Winnie
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