I currently own a signal red 1961 Triumph TR3A. I purchased her in 1986 when I decided that life was too short not to drive a real sports car. Unfortunately, the new white paint hid severe rust problems. The drive train, steering and suspension were very badly worn. So in early 1989 I took my TR3 off the road and completely rebuilt the car, bringing her back to her factory original colour. That's a job I hope never to repeat again!

During the years that I have maintained and traveled in her I have learned and experienced a number of things I would like to share.  There is lots of good stuff here, but you will find that my primary focus is on the Triumph TR3A.

   About my TR3A  |  Articles (How-to for repairs & modifications)  |  Data mine  (Data useful for Triumph owners)  |  Links to Triumph sites

Known history

The story of a girl and her Triumph, or What have I got myself into

 

My TR3A restoration project

The trials of doing my first car restoration, or never again!

 

Specifications

Specifications and special features of my 1961 TR3A

 

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Weber DCOE carburetors

What I have been able to find out about selecting and setting up DCOE carburetors on the TR2 through 4A engine.

 

Installing a TR4 OD gearbox into a TR2-3A

An easy installation for full syncro

 

Hood sticks (soft top bows)

strap lengths for proper location and finishes

 

Tools

Tools that came in TR2 - 3B tool rolls

 

Bulkhead hole identification

For post TS60000 left hand drive TR3As

 

Demystifying Distributors

How I set my points and timing

 

Positive to negative earth conversion

How I converted my TR3 from positive to negative earth

 

Lucas wire colour code

List of the wire colour code used in the TR3. Includes code for common add-on accessories

 

Common rust locations

Where rust hides in a TR3

 

Bodywork lessons that I have learned

keeping the restoration project going

 

How skirted thermostats work

Why they are important, alternatives to the hard to find TR skirtless thermostat

 

Converting to Halogen headlamps

What you need to do for a successful conversion

 

TR3 optional radio information

Smiths Radiomobile owners manuals, installation manuals, mounting bracket dimensioned diagram, aerial mounting location drawing and pictures.

 

Repairing Jaeger & Smiths Speedometers (PDF file)

A 1 Meg Acrobat PDF file written by Anthony Rhodes (1999)

 

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Frequently asked questions (FAQ's)

Some answers too. The TR2 through TR4A cylinder head ID  information is in this section.

 

Net nuggets

Extracted and saved from Internet mail list postings.  Q&As, history snippets, hard to find or undocumented technical information and things I just find interesting.

 

Triumph Service Bulletins (bulletins are in pdf format)

Covers 1954 through 1965.  Service bulletins are how the factory communicated with factory authorized service providers.  This includes production changes and a lot of technical how-to information that never made it into workshop manuals.

 

TR2 through TR3B concourse judging guide (640KB pdf file)

Triumph Register of America created this judging guide for concourse judges.  It is THE reference for people restoring their Triumph TR2 through TR3B. Created and copyrighted by TRA, in 2004 they voted to make the guide freely available to all.  If you own a side curtain Triumph an can join only one club I recommend the  Triumph Register of America.