So dad talked me into finishing his TR6. It's just something that needs to be done. I remember driving this thing up to Provo from Delta to get it worked on and painted. That was before we moved to Heber City. Mom informed us this past month that they have now lived in Heber for as long as we lived in Delta. So this car has been unfinished for 15 years or so. Now dad has owned my GT6 for a longer period of time that this TR6, but he hadn't done anything to the GT6, but he had started this project. So it's up to me to finish.
There are only minor things to do on the engine before I can get it running. It needs a fuel line, the clutch slave cylinder installed and plumbed, and the electrical hooked up with a new battery. As far as I can tell, that's all it needs to get running. But all the exterior trim and signals need to be installed, the interior is non-existent, and the dash is a mess. So in my opinion, this shouldn't take long.
Here's a pic of the interior. I've removed the soft top and vacuumed out the floor to get all the hay and spiders out.
As you can see, the dash is a mess, but I'm going to go ahead and thank whoever took it apart because you can see the masking tape labels they made to mark the bulbs and wires and what they go to. That's going to make it nice.
The cockpit is so small the interior is going to go in piece of cake. Plus it will be nice not having a roof to bump my head on and stuff.
Here the front bumper is on and the front turn signals and indicators are installed. I'm going to put off installing the grill for a while because it's nice to have it off to work on the front part of the engine. I don't have to lift the hood, just reach in.
It's a little cramped in my 1 car garage, but I've purchased some wheel dollies that go under each wheel. Now I can push the car forwards or backwards or even sideways to make room around the part of the car I'm working on. Then during down times I can push it against the wall to make room to walk by.
I've placed the transmission tunnels in place. The white and brown pieces cover the transmission and drive line. I've also started placing sound and heat insulation on the floor. This will help quite the road noise and make it a sweet ride. And because the engine and transmission are just under that brown fiberglass cover there is a lot of heat that could transfer into the cockpit and make your feet nice and sweaty. This insulation will help with that because there is no room for A/C in a car this size.
Here's the same area. I've got the floor all insulated with the heat foil and the carpet kit came with a pad/insulation layer that I'm putting down before carpet. So the transmission covers have a layer of foil insulation as well as the pad that came with the carpet kit. So there will be another layer of carpet over the top of what you see here.
The rear bumper installed. Mom told me it took dad all day to install this himself. I scoffed a little. Then when I got it up here to Washington and started doing a piece inventory, I realized he had left off the rubber bumpers and had to take the bumper back off. Then I realized why it had taken dad all day to install it. What a pain! Even after seeing how it was installed and taking it off, it took me another 3 hours to install it again.
So here's the car as it sits today. Bumpers are on, I've set the hood so it's aligned and the hood latch and supports are functioning and installed. And I've started on the interior. The carpet you see over the transmission covers is the final carpet, but it's just set there for fitting purposes.
One of my new favorite shows is the British version of Top Gear. These are the guys that know anything about everything when it comes to cars. James May had the opportunity of testing out the TR6 and the video below is what he had to say about it. Now they are British, so if you watch it and don't know what they're saying you may have to ask Kev to be your translator. So pause the music at the bottom of the page and enjoy.
