>In my time of restoring cars I hear these "TERMS" used and, as understanding
>is SO important between customer and restoration facility I wrote a short
>explanation to give to customers so we got our points and UNDERSTANDING in
>line, If you would like to read it, see it at:
>
>http://members.home.net/bmack99/paneldoctor/work/terms.htm
Nice set of definitions;
Lets see what I have done to my TR3A via these definitions...
Original - Not hardly
Concourse - I'm not that rich, I want to drive my car & I had to make it mine.
Restored - Lets try that one:
>*The car has been stripped down and every nut and bolt has been cleaned,
>plated or replaced.
Yep, been there, did that
>* The body is stripped to bare metal.
Yep
>* All rust is removed and correct replacement panels installed.
yep, That was a terrible job requiring a new rear valance, inner & outer sills,
floor panels, good condition used doors, boot lid and bonnet lid (One on the
car was incorrect), cutting sections of sheet metal and welding in replacement
parts.
>* All bodywork is done to the highest standards.
Well I paid for it, but there seems to have been professional goofs by people
who do this for a living. I had some nightmares there. The company had done a
number restorations during that time. An AC Ace, & bugeye were there about
the same time. I just got the body person who was having a problem with Heroin.
>* All prep work is done to the highest standards.
I just happened to go into a paint shop that was going broke and was on it's
last legs. I prepaid for the paint using Glasser paint. The process was to
be: everything primed & sealed, then the interior and sections that attach gets
final colour; The car goes home & the drive train gets assembled, the body gets
assembled; the car goes back to the paint shop and the assembled car gets it's
exterior painted; Final assembly of the body; back to the paint shop for touch
up paint of final assembly scratches, colour sanding and a clear over coat;
final bits of interior installation & the exterior trim.
The company went out of business while my car was home for final assembly
between the outside being sprayed and going back for touch up, colour sanding &
clear coat.
When I found out about the closure all the stuff inside the building had been
removed with "junk" sent to the dump. I was able to retrieve my hard top from
the yard out back. The scuttle vent, sticks, and body caps had all been taken
to the dump.
>* All paint work is done to the highest standards in an original color.
Well what was done was well done, Glasser is a high quality paint, and I did
return the car to it's factory original signal red from Chevy white.
>* All fluid lines have been replaced like fuel, brake and clutch.
Yep, All new lines carefully routed per stock. Oh Oh I used stainless steel
tubing and did not paint over the tubing inside the engine compartment per
original. Polished stainless steel hydraulic line is a no no for a
restoration. But it looks real nice & blows concourse.
>* All hydraulic components are rebuilt
All hydraulic parts are new
>* All drive train, suspension, steering and brake items are rebuilt or
>replaced.
Yep, EVERY BIT from new ring & pinion gears in the rear to a new worm gear &
peg inside the steering box.
>* New exhaust installed.
Yep, but I went with the TR2 & TR3 tail pipe instead of the TR3A resonator.
Another concourse no no
>* A new wiring harness in the correct material and color-coding has been
>installed.
I tried. The ONLY type available at the time had that yellow stripe in the
covering.
>* The interior is redone in a duplicate pattern and material to original.
Yep. Including original factory colours for my car
>* All chrome is redone or replaced.
Almost - The chrome what cleaned up like new stayed. I had the windscreen
stanchons rechromed and replaced all the other chrome parts with new
reproduction parts. This was a BIG mistake. The chrome on the repro parts is
very poor and almost all the chrome repro parts have pitting and chrome pealing
within a year of being put on the car. It would have cost more but if I knew
then what I know now the original parts would have been rechromed locally to
the highest standards.
>* New tires are installed.
Yep, correct size as the optional radials.
>* All rubber parts on the car are replaced with new.
Yep
>* All assembly of the vehicle should use the correct clips, clamps,
>bolts, hardware and routing and placement of the replaced items as
>on the car when delivered new.
Yep. I had do do some research on some of this but I got it.
>* Can be modified to meet an owners individuality, like radial tires,
> extra chromed parts, period accessories etc.
Oh oh this is where I got carried away & concourse really flew out the door.
My goal was a car that looked like a new Triumph TR3A that was hot rodded by
the original owner right after purchase. So the stuff under the hot rodding
parts had to be like new & correct. From the outside, and the interior, the
car looks as close to a stock restoration as possible. Hot rod modifications
were limited to suspension and drive train except for seat belts, polished
stainless steel hydraulic lines, polished unpainted brass build plates,
unpainted stainless steel bolts inside the engine bay. The interior, boot and
spare tyre compartment is as close to new original as I could get it, including
the tool kit.
>A restored car cannot have:
>* Incorrect drive train.
This is where I strayed. My car came with a non overdrive transmission. I
installed an overdrive full syncro TR4 gearbox (with TR3 shift lever).
>* A non stock interior.
Completely stock and as original except for the competition Simpson seat belts
instead of the original no seatbelts
>If the above guidelines (plus many more, I have only hit on
> the highlights) are not met the car is not restored it is
> refurbished or modified. In the above references I have
>dealt with a ³restored to original specification² restoration.
> There are many different kinds of restoration, from an amateur
>done job to a professional restoration, restored to an era like
>a Hot Rod etc. Hey but what can I say, Iım a purist! A restored
>car can (and should) be a driver on sunny days and to club events.
Oh well I tried on the professional work. I just had real bad luck with body
and paint "professionals" I should have done a better job choosing companies
that did work for me.
I should have never replaced original chrome parts because the chrome was not
in the best condition. New repro parts tend to have really poor chrome. I
should have spent the money to have the original chrome parts rechromed
properly.
I wanted a hot rod so I guess "restored" by the above definition did not happen.
If everything had gone right with the professionals I chose to work with I
would have had a restored to period hot rod. I guess I ended up with
refurbished and modified to period hot rod according to these guidelines.
I went with factory option parts (which were not original on my car) whenever
possible ( Factory optional Competition front springs, shocks, anti sway bar,
aluminum deep sump oil pan, aluminum valve cover)
Then there ware the deviations from "restoration" (stainless hydraulic lines &
bolts, 87 mm pistons, 280 degree cam, nitrided crank, harmonic dampener,
reworked cylinder head, stronger than stock engine fixings, 45 DCOE carbs, full
mechanical distributor advance, strengthened valve train, four tube header,
oil cooler, higher capacity magnesium diff plate to help the ring & pinion run
cooler and TR4, syncro overdrive gear box and Simpson competition seat belts).
Even though I do not meet the above "restored car" guidelines I would only
change two things:
1. Do a better job chossing "profesionals" to work with
2. Have good condition original chrome parts rechromed to the highest standards
instead of replacing them with new reproduction chromeed parts.
Otherwise I prefer my "period hot rod" to a pure stock "restoration" or a
nondrivable concourse.
TeriAnn
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