Having noticed the thread title concerning the purchase of a TR3 for
$5000 and I thought I would add my two pence worth. In 1999 I
purchased a TR2 for $5,500. It ran and it looked pretty good from 20
feet away. I do think that in my excitement of finding a TR2 in rural
NW Indiana I got carried away and I paid too much for it. It had
undergone a poor quality restoration. Lots of bondo had been used and
scrap, thin sheet metal had been used to replace the floors. The
engine did run well, although it had very low oil pressure even with
the 50 wt. Valvoline racing oil I was using. It did get me to and
from the 1999 TRF summer fling in Indiana, PA, about a 1200 mile round
trip and I did enjoy lots of miles going to events in and around
Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. I had owned later model MGB cars for
about 8 or 9 years when I found this TR2. I had sold my 2nd and last
MG when I found the Triumph and I had always wanted to try a Triumph.
Hence my quick impulse and the purchase of the TR2 for perhaps more
than I should have. In the last year or two I have rebuilt the engine
on my TR2 twice and I had the transmission sent to New England for a
shop rebuild. I have run into lots of difficulties on the rebuilds,
mostly due to my own ineptitude as a "mechanic" and I have logged only
about 300 miles on the car in the last two years. The present status
is that this summer, just before I went into the hospital for heart
surgery I did, finally, get it running again. But alas, on test runs
to try to adjust the carbs, something new went wrong. One of the
rocker arm stud bolts broke off in the head. I have tried to drill it
and then use an extractor to remove the broken bolt, only to break off
the extractor. Eventually I got the old bolt material out by drilling
and drilling. I tried to tap new threads and managed to cut a couple
of threads, but it did not hold. Now my tools are boxed again and the
car is back in the corner of my garage. I will eventually have a
talented mechanic come to the house and redrill the hole oversize and
fit a "heli-coil" or I may (again!) remove the head and have the
heli-coil installed at the machine shop. Stay with me here, I am
nearing the bottom line. Although I have put WAY TOO MUCH $$ into my
car than was sensible, (is that a familiar story!) when I do get it
running and I am confident that it is resonably reliable, I will put
it up for sale for about $5,000. For all of the LBCs I have owned
(only 3) I have always improved the cars and then sold them for less
that I paid for them. It isn't that I am lousy at finding a good buy
or that I cannot make a "good" sale, I just don't ever want to feel
that I have been unfair with someone. I fully intent to continue to
attend shows, rallys, and other LBC events and I hope to see my old
cars there. I want to always look the new owners in the eye with
confidence that I was entirely fair and honest. I want the new owner
to be happy with the car and to feel like they got a good bargain. I
want others to enjoy the cars enough that they will continue to be
involved with the LBC clubs and events and that they will try to keep
the LBCs on the road where they belong. This is not a for sale
announcement, so please don't email me about it. I don't feel it is
appropriate to use the list as a "classified" listing. But I do think
it is possible to obtain a TR2 / TR3 for the price previously
mentioned. Later in the spring or the summer of '04, I may offer my
car through the VTR classifieds or possibly over eBay. Of course, I
reserve the right to change my mind about selling it. If I do get
past my own stumblebum mechanical ineptitude to get I running, it is
lots of fun to drive.
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