Charles,
I remember very well when my car was in that state. My car's even the same
color as yours. When I restored my car I remember looking at all the boxes
and boxes of carefully labeled parts and thinking "how in the world am I
ever going to figure out how to put this thing back together". Its been in
the road 7 years now.
When I painted the frame on mine I used something called Black Miracle Paint
from Bill Hirsch Automotive (http://www.hirschauto.com). This paint is
amazing. Impervious to everything, including brake fluid. Like I said, the
car's been on the road 7 years so last winter I put it up on jack stands and
crawled all around underneath it touching up chips in the frame paint.
Surprisingly, there weren't very many. I even painted the suspension parts
with the stuff and they've also held up well over the years, no signs of
rust showing through yet. One note of caution about this paint if you
decide to use it: Don't get in on you, there's nothing that I'm aware of
that'll take it off. I got a few drips on my hand and had to wait for it to
wear off over time.
One other thing you might consider is running paint through the inside of
the frame. I used the poor man's method and simply dumped some paint in one
end and waited for it to run out the other. Not sure how much use that
ended up being. The "real" way to do t is to drag a paint hose with a spray
end on it through the inside of your frame rails. This will be one more
barrier to rust in your frame later on.
Finally, as to strengthening the frame. The only place I reinforced is over
the diff mounts. That big wide plate where the diff and the springs mount
in the rear tends to crack over time from the torque induced by the drive
train. I had 2 1/4" plates welded onto the frame right where the diff
mounts are.
Hope this all helps.
Phil Beckman
Libertyville, IL
73 TR6
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Charles Markham
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 8:26 PM
To: 6pack@autox.team.net
Subject: New Aqusition...
Hi All,
I just aquired my first TR6 last week and have been lurking for a few
weeks.
It is a 1975 with 44k miles. It also came with a brand new frame. It is also
in pieces. I have a few questions about the frame. It is painted black and
is
in good condition- however I am thinking I should put a good coat of
something
to keep it from rusting..any ideas? Is there anything else I should do to
prepare the frame? Here is a link to some photos. Don't laugh I do have
most
of the missing parts!
Charles Markham
http://www.oscar.batcave.net/photo.html
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