'64 Triumph TR4 Build

Brief backstory for the sake of "everything in one place".

I came into ownership of this car on my fourteenth birthday, courtesy of my parents. Previous owner had left it with a professor after graduating, and hadn't come back for it 27 years later. He mailed us the title wishing us well and asking us not to send any money. I tinkered with it for a couple of years, got it running and reasonably road-safe, took it to my junior prom, had entirely too much fun tooling around in it on the days it decided it wanted to run. It lived in my parents' barn while I was at college. I've been out of school for a little over a year and have a steady income and enough garage space, so Theresa made the trip about 6 weeks ago.

I'm preparing this car for SCCA G Prepared autocross and possibly F Production or vintage roadracing.

Work done in the last 6 weeks includes conversion to electronic fuel pump with pressure regulator and inertia switch, electronic ignition and high-performance coil, electronic cooling fan with thermostatic switch, radiator ducting, removal of various parts (heater, top frame, radio, luggage rack, windshield frame).

Here she is, as she sits today.

Plans for the near future include a roll bar, Kirkey seat and OMP harness mounting, fuel tank replacement, (some kind of) windshield replacement, brake rebuild. Longer term plans include fiberglass body panels, roll bar additions, wheels and tires, suspension tweaking.

The windshield seal was garbage, hadn't ever been replaced, as far as I could tell. Decided I wasn't happy driving the car with the windshield all but just sitting there held in by hopes and dreams, so I pushed it out and pulled the seal. Removing the seal revealed this:

...which is pretty much consistent across the bottom edge and up the passenger side of the windshield frame. At this point I started thinking about different options for windshields. My wife likes the idea of a cut-down version of the old frame with a low-profile plexiglass screen. Also considering running without entirely, replacing with a sportbike-style tinted screens over the main gauges and glovebox, or replacing the frame with a less rotten one and using the old windshield.

On to the roll bar.

Went and bought 46 feet of 1.75 x .105 (?) tubing yesterday afternoon. Metal by the Foot in Kansas City didn't have 1.75 x .095, which is the minimum size for GPrepared cars over XXXX pounds (the TR will be above XXXX), so I went with the smallest wall size available. It'll be heavier and was probably more expensive, but so it goes.

I'm not sure I like my original roll bar design, so I'm asking for feedback.

Option A was my first idea. Main hoop mounts to the frame rails, then flares at about half its height to get around the rear wheel wells.

Option B was the alternative I cobbled together this morning. Mount the main hoop to the wheel wells (via spreader plates) to eliminate the extra bends.

A couple of pictures, for the sake of clarity. Rolls of tape represent rough mounting points for the main hoop.

Option A:

Option B:

Any thoughts on this? Mounting to the frame rails would be sturdier than using spreader plates on the wheel wells, but I'm not sure that the "S" bend in the main hoop would be a good idea.

I'm pretty sure you'll have to attach the feet of the main hoop to the chassis, which I hope is out somewhere just inboard of the rocker panels. I'd suggest you start looking at TR4 vintage racers and see what they're doing.

Very nice little rig, but now my wife wants a TR4.

Slow progress is discouraging as hell. The afternoon started so promising. New brake lines, hardware for the steering column, shear bolts for the tubing bender all purchased on my way home, and my roll cage padding had been delivered to my porch when I got there.

Thought I had everything I needed to replace the brake lines, but (of course) the tube-to-hose connections are goofy/not what I have. Berkeley. Pulled a hose, going to see if I can find something generic and less oddball tomorrow.

Finally got my tubing bender working, but the farther I get the tube bent, the more I suspect it is deforming more than it should. I'm not sure I'd call it "crush", but I don't like it. Buy a proper bender with dies that fit the OD of your tubing instead of a (slightly) cheaper HF roller with dies that are slightly larger than the OD of your tubing. Oh well. I think the tool will work okay for some applications, just not the insanely heavy DOM I'm using. I've got a buddy who builds modified dirt track cars, I'll talk to him tomorrow and see if I can persuade him to put two 90 degree bends in a tube for me. Which means I'll have to drive the 12 foot stick of tubing an hour in my 6-foot pickup bed for what I imagine will be less than half an hour worth of bending.

Maybe I'll feel better with some dinner in me.

Brake lines are done, but I need a warm body to help me bleed them. Wife's out of town for the next 10 days, I'll have to ask the landlord tonight.

Roll bar is being bent by somebody with more experience and better tools than I. $10 and a couple of days waiting to get it finished isn't too bad. I'll have the bent tube tomorrow, but I'm fully booked this weekend. Might be able to look at it Sunday evening, but no sooner. I should be able to have it together and the seat and belts installed by the end of next week.

Here's a good shot of typical TR4 main hoop location. There are outriggers from the frame rail to the body mounts. These are pretty sturdy tubes - but check for rust/structural integrity. Looks like the replacement floor in your car is missing a couple of bolts/holes for those body mounts. (four bolts at the front of the door, another four at the rear of the door). If you might go vintage racing, recheck your main hoop height - minimum is 3" above your helmeted noggin. Your measure may be just fine, my main hoop has a small tilt to the rear (10* is allowed).

I've been using that car for inspiration for several months.

I'm planning on using those frame extensions to mount the main hoop. My height measurement should be good, I'll double check it before I install. I was counting on a little bit of rearward tilt, though I hadn't figured an exact angle yet.

Been a while since last update.

Roll bar is tacked. Need to haul the car up the hill to my neighbor's barn for access to 220V to finish welding, as I suspect 110V in my garage isn't hot enough (and trips the breaker frequently).

Fuel cell is ready to be plumbed. Waiting to finish until I replace the trunk floor this weekend.

Handbrake is mounted. Modified a throttle cable from a mid-80's Ford truck to serve as a brake cable, need to make some changes to the mounting point at the rear axle, and I'll be able to mark the brakes off the list.

Quick-release steering wheel hub is on the UPS truck today. Should make ingress/egress a bit smoother.

Still need to mount the seat and harness, reinstall the windshield frame, and replace the windshield seal.

Last autocross I can make it to this year is in 11 days. I should be working on other things (like getting back to having more than two running vehicles), but I'm putting off reasonable projects in favor of getting the TR out this season.

JohnInKansas wrote: Roll bar is tacked. Need to haul the car up the hill to my neighbor's barn for access to 220V to finish welding, as I suspect 110V in my garage isn't hot enough (and trips the breaker frequently).

110 is fine up to 3/16" in a single pass so... - is it a long home run to the panel, is the beer fridge on the same circuit or are you using an extension cord? That will usually be the cause when you trip a 20a breaker with a 110v welder.

I love the TR-4, keep the pics coming.

Breaker box is about as far away from the garage as possible without being outside the house (basement garage on west side, box on the 1st floor on the east end). Takes me about 3 minutes round-trip, assuming I don't have to feed/pet the dogs, smooch the wife, do the laundry/dishes, etc on the way. Just introduces all kinds of delays to what should be a fairly quick project.

May be able to cut the beer fridge and some wire distance out of the equation though... I'll give it another go tonight.

JohnInKansas wrote: Breaker box is about as far away from the garage as possible without being outside the house (basement garage on west side, box on the 1st floor on the east end). Takes me about 3 minutes round-trip, assuming I don't have to feed/pet the dogs, smooch the wife, do the laundry/dishes, etc on the way. Just introduces all kinds of delays to what should be a fairly quick project. May be able to cut the beer fridge and some wire distance out of the equation though... I'll give it another go tonight.

It isn't "delay" it's too long a wire for the size (gauge) of it. For a long run you need to up the wire gauge. For the next project - bring a #8/3 wire in from the house (feed it on a 2 pole 30a) to a switch/panel in the garage and feed the outlets from there on their own breakers.

By delay, I meant the unassociated delays. Dogs, wife, beer, forums, etc. I go upstairs to flip the breaker and wind up doing something else "while I'm at it".

This house wasn't wired with a workshop in mind. Garage is in the basement, as far away from where power comes into the house as is physically possible. Fortunately, its a rental, so I haven't spent my hard-earned dollars on a building a house with a crummy electrical setup.

When I do build a house/workshop, I'll do better than this.

In reply to JohnInKansas:

Sorry- didn't mean to threadjack... post more pics of the TR-6 to shut me up :)

Old picture; it'll have to do for now. I'll take some more pictures tonight.

JohnInKansas wrote: By delay, I meant the unassociated delays............wife.............wind up doing something else "while I'm at it".

Hey now, this is a family forum. Keep it clean. (JK)

I wondered if one of you shiny happy people would edit that down. Leave it to Datsun310Guy.

Tonight:

-Gusseting and painting the cage

-Reinstalling the windshield frame, new seal, and old glass

-Installing the seat and harness

-Installing the quick-release steering hub

I'm collecting a half sheet of 16 gauge Friday afternoon to rebuild the trunk floor. I won't be home 'til late Friday, and will be out of town Saturday until very late, so Sunday's list includes finishing the handbrake cable installation, replacing the trunk floor, and installing/plumbing the fuel system. Hope to start the car Sunday night, drive to work next week to shake down before the Oct 7th autocross.

JohnInKansas wrote:

Mr Dog is serious about driving!

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

Yep, he's waiting for me to give him the "course is clear, you're free to go" signal with the starter's flag.

What a lovely design! THe TR 4 was THE Sports Car to me while I was in high school, thanks largely to a couple of rides in one with a buddy's cousin, who actually did some SCCA racing.My lust was so strong, I actually bought a new TR 250, a somewhat misguided decision. Can't wait to see how this one turns out.

Windshield is installed. Looks ridiculous, as the roll bar sticks up a good 6 inches above it, but need it for legality. I'm exploring other options.

Steering wheel quick-release is installed.

Roll bar is in, painted, padding installed.

Harness is 90% installed, need to get the seat mounted before I finish.

Seat almost went in tonight, but ran into a bracket crisis, and need to rethink my design. Shouldn't be an issue, it'll go in on Sunday morning.

I love TR-4's. I had one back in college during the '80's and it's one of the few cars I've owned that I'd really like to have back. Nice Build!

Nearly there. Worked pretty much all day yesterday, have probably 90 minutes of work left, and 90 minutes of vehicle shuffling to get it out of the garage (two non-running, fully jack-standed vehicles with wheels removed).

Haven't got the 16ga yet, guy I'm getting it from is being a bit flaky. If this wasn't an out-of-the-ordinary request for him, I'd be frustrated. He'll get me some this week, so it'll be in before the autocross next Sunday.

On the slate for tonight: Adjust the handbrake, fill the cell and check for leaks, prime the fuel lines, check fluids, start engine.