frenchyd said:In reply to Greg Smith :
Lay warped Fiberglas out in the direct hot sun for several hours. Them bolt, screw, or clamp the pieces into the correct location.
Good tip! I'll make sure not to attach it in the cold, but use a space heater in the garage or wait for a warm day to install.
So, I got an upgraded welder for Christmas. It's still a flux model from Harbor Freight, but surprisingly decent!
$150 on Black Friday coupon. Runs on house current just about anywhere, so I can go to the work instead of bringing work to the welder.
The car had previously installed body side moulding. (gone and in red primer when I first saw the car) leaving holes along the body contour. Time to start filling!
Also, we got some HF angle grinders and have one for flap disk, one for white wheel, one for cutoff, etc. Handy!
this is the passenger door, with a quick shot of primer over the repairs.
I am absolutely no good at welding, but I am learning and I have better tools and I did two weeks ago. after a little more work on this I should be comfortable stitching together the body handle repairs underneath the rear, and in the floorboard under the passenger seat.
Weld it, flap it, check it, weld it some more...
Sigh. Many, many, many, many more cubic hours to invest in this project.
And looking at it after dinner I still need to touch some of these up a bit more.
:(
Keep up the work, a little each day and you will be amazed how much gets done over a few months.
More bits slowly coming together. Between the Phoenix rebuild after my car was hit in January, then the Chevy Metro rehab for my son (where he graciously allowed me to learn to paint on his car) and other stuff, progress has been slow... and the TR7 has been partially reburied.
But... It's been Easter season. So we lifted the Triumph high! The free green car rear end is way up in the air, and I was able to get one salvageable taillight and we removed the whole solid rear axle.
...to lay next to the Explorer 8.8 one. I'll be shortening the long end of that pretty soon to make the axle symmetrical & shorter overall.
This way, I will have two TR7 rear ends to work with - one for measurement, and the second to strip suspension mounting brackets to weld to the Explorer rear end.
This rear end is, well, sad. I'm hoping the bracketry is sound so I can use it (these are the "free" parts after all) and potentially recoup off of the better axle in the garage.
There's a lot of weight to take off of the Ford rear yet. But the axle tube looks to be 3/2 the size of the TR rear. This swap has been done before, but it appears I will have to make some adjustment to the bump stops, which appear to want to live where the calipers sit.
More progress... finally.
The "free" TR7 from last year has been stripped of most nonmelted & useful parts. The main wiring harness was even melted. No end to the hackery I found there.
Its roof was removed and is still on track to act as a removable hardtop for the project car.
The project car has been further buried by parts from the "Phoenix" as I have yet to paint the front fender, replace the grille plastic, and side skirt. And other parts / projects. I got a try at paint doing #2 son's new to him 2000 Chevy Metro in Royal Blue. Passable for photos from a distance, but I will need more practice for a better end effect. And then #3 son has sidetracked garage resources with the 300ZX car courtesy of Hoser Racing.
#3 son turning TR7 FHC ("fixed Head Coupe" aka a hardtop) shell into a convertible.
The rear was MUCH more challenging than the front to cut out. LOTS of layers and seams to deal with. I ended up not keeping the section under the window and will have to fab from something else to cover the edge of the convertible top.
We cut keeping more than will be needed because we can trim to fit more easily than adding metal...
Sad shell. Seats won't slide (and I have others) so I'm not trying to save those.
Nose set by the garage for future engine test fitment. 
More cuts on the A pillars and leftover hardtop placed on another DHC (aka "convertible") to augment the deteriorating car cover for now and because I don't have a place to fit it inside the garage.
...and spent a couple hours clearing room in the garage. some parts going out for scrap/recycling, and some going with a vehicle that will be leaving the fleet soon. Garage is not back to "its best shape ever" but it's improving.
...and after posting this to a Facebook TR7 group, I have an offer to give me a FREE hardtop (no back glass). Pickup in NJ. Now I'll have to make some choices.
Nice score!
I really want to see a TR7 at the Challenge. I remember when I was probably 8 or so my Uncle Jerry bought one. I thought that wedge design was the E36 M3.
It *is* the E36 M3.
Pretty sure this ad caught my eye around age 12. My dad worked at a Chevy dealer that also sold Rolls Royce. This was from one of the 'Symbol' coffee table magazines in the RR waiting room.
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