TRIUMPH TR2 RESTORATION

Like a building you need to start at the foundation.

​​

Once I started on this seriously I knew I needed to make sure the chassis was correct first. I stripped everything off it, body, running gear and suspension. I then took the chassis to Triumph Sportscars outside of Bendigo who straightened the chassis. Other than the back, the middle and the front, it was in pretty good shape. 

 

It appears to have been in a rear end prang, hardly surprising being a 50 year old sports car at the time, Andrew thought the back of the chassis had been replaced but subsequent reading says that the rear of the chassis were welded on in earlier cars which explains the weld across the rear section and I have seen the same configuration on a very early TR2 so it may have not been replaced but was damaged. The rear RH body mount was 12 mm short, the middle of the chassis was 20mm too narrow and the front suspension had taken a pretty big hit at one stage which damaged the lower suspension arm pivot which explained the tyre wear. Andrew also added stiffening gussets to reduce the chassis twist using the configuration used on the works cars. 

 

After an absence of 3 months from July 2013 to September I brought the chassis home and did a bit of work in cutting out the dents from the underside of the chassis rails to improve the appearance of it. I had run out of money for Andrew to do this at Triumph Sportscars. The sections I cut open were pretty clean and in good condition with no significant rust so chassis strength looks pretty good. After a phosphate treatment I painted it POR 15 which was recommended by the local auto paint shop. I was pretty happy with the finish of this product and reassembled the suspension and running gear which I had been blasting and painting while waiting for the chassis.

 

The suspension is back on and the body dropped on during the rebuild as the reference.