Hi ..........welcome ............enjoy your visit . ..... .......
..................Last update : July 6, 2004, advert and new photos.
3 March 2008 Links
30+ YEARS WITH A TRIUMPH TR3A...
Or.....Why do we keep cars like these ?
I purchased this TR3A # TS 75178 in January 1970 as my unique means of transport but less than two months later the cylinder head gasket blew because of stripped threads on two studs . That was the beginning of my "Triumph apprenticeship".
During the following year or so only routine maintenance was required...........that is , until the crankshaft broke , just one week before a planned engine rebuild !!
A used crankshaft was found , reground and refitted together with new 85mm pistons and rebored liners . Why 85mm ? Well , I got the pistons very cheap from a now very well known supplier in the UK . Once the engine was running again I decided to fit the fibreglass front wings and apron which had been acquired some time before , as the tin-worms had been very busy . At this time , the body colour changed from pale yellow to typical '70s aubergine .
Then followed eight months of normal motoring until several first gear teeth gave up the struggle .....etc , etc , etc .
As the "etceteras" became more and more frequent , there were only two solutions left ....crusher or rebuild.
So...........Why do we keep cars like these ?
Difficult to say really , no doubt Freud would have found an answer . Today's air-conditioned , computer-controlled , asceptisized vehicles are very convenient for getting from A to B and back again , but you just can't beat the sheer pleasure of driving one of these cars that were designed more than fifty years ago .........Perhaps that's all there is to it ?
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