[TR] V8 TR3 Project Update

[Alan Myers]

Hi Wayne, 
 
I'd be the first to defend your right to modify your car as you
see fit! 
 
But, word of advice.... The "non-matching numbers" excuse won't
fly with anyone who knows anything about Triumphs. 
 
Unlike some other
manufacturers, Triumph made no effort to match the numbers. They simply stuck
whatever gearbox was handy onto whatever engine was at the front of the line,
then stuck them into whatever chassis was waiting, then plopped whatever body
was next in line onto the waiting assembly. Numbers on a single car are
typically are off by hundreds, in some cases thousands. So your car actually
might have had all the original bits. The only way to tell is to get one of
the British Motor Heritage build certificates, which lists all the numbers,
plus original paint and trim colors, factory-supplied accessories (if any), as
well as the date and port of dispatch, the ship the car sailed upon, and the
eventual destination port.

My TR4 has more than a few "improvements". It came
to me already with a lot of mods for auto crossing, when I bought it in the
late 1970s.  It was painted "Porsche Orange", too!  It got resprayed fairly
quickly, though I painted it red, rather than the original Spa White. The
Shadow Blue interior had been dyed black and it wasn't until some years later
that I discovered it had Datsun 240Z carbs on it (didn't matter... I'd
converted to Weber DCOE 40s anyway). 

And I've always wanted to get a TR6 and
drop a Rover V8 in it... Then take the TR6 engine to build a TR5 PI from a
TR4A, but using modern Weber fuel injection.  

Always thought it would be fun
to build up a GT6 Mark III too... though I'd probably stick with an inline
6-cyl.

I've also got a TR4 frame set aside to build a TR3A "Beta"
sometime.... which is a wider stance version of the TR3A that only existed in
a couple prototypes. Triumph considered it as a replacement model, but
produced the TR4 instead. The TR3B is a different animal than the Beta. It's
more of a continuation of the TR3 line that was made concurrently with the
early TR4s, for the traditionalists who objected to fancy things like roll-up
windows. 

Wouldn't mind a building a TRS replica, too... Though probably with
a TR4 engine and gearbox, and maybe a supercharger. 

An Italia is one car I'd
keep absolutely showroom original, if I ever owned one. IMO, it's impossible
to improve upon the Italia! 

Oh well... too many cars, not enough money or
garage spaces! 
 

Alan Myers 
San Jose, Calif.
amfoto1 at aol.com
'62 TR4
CT17602L (with more than it's share of mods) www.triuimphowners.com/640
Triumphest 2009:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/amfoto1/collections/72157626673107235/
-----Original Message-----
Message: 8
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2014 12:34:35 -0500
From: Wayne Brazinski <wbrazinski at hotmail.com>
To: Triumph List
<triumphs at autox.team.net>
Subject: [TR] V8 TR3 Project Update
Message-ID:
<SNT151-W3165D9C9E4314930C4F139C5E30 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"

Hi all!,Some of you might remember me from way, way back
when I announcedthat I was planning a to work on a V8 conversion of my TR3.
Well - after adecade (life got in the way!) I finally have a working vehicle
and you can seea high level overview on YouTube at the link below.  I know
that I havemodified the car and that this goes against some of your beliefs. I
reallyapologize for this - the car did not have matching engine and chassis
numbersso I didn't alter an as-is vehicle, and hope that makes things a
littlebetter.I have 500 miles on the car in all sorts of weather - so far no
overheats withthe 302.If any of you are interested in a bolt by bolt
description I'll happily putone together for
you.http://youtu.be/MYk4eFVzY9IRegards,Wayne------------------------------