(Or removing the rust from the wreck)

I hope the following information and pictures are of some use to others in identifying problem areas when restoring or purchasing a Triumph TR7, it also goes to show that a real wreck is recoverable.

This car was professionally bodged before selling to the previous owner, After the sale I found receipts for around £1200 from a garage in Bradford (no names) who had used every trick in the book, Sill cover plates, countersunk riveted repair panels, tons of filler mixed with metal filings to fool magnets, even wood screwed to the floor pans with metal plates attached, and a sealer that was rock solid. There where some areas with rust I knew about, such as the turrets, and some bubbles on the wing which had seemed like minor jobs.

I am sure that it would have been cheaper for the garage to repair it properly, a woman teacher had been driving it like this for 3 years, talk about life in your hands!

This is the convertible as bought, Does not look too bad, but there are hidden bodges to be found.

Stripping the car was quite difficult with seized bolts on nearly every part of the suspension, and hidden pitfalls everywhere, finally after a good 3 months work I had everything off and stored in a new shed, bought supposedly for garden equipment but soon filled with TR7 parts. Only item left on the car was the dashboard.

The floors must have been soaking for years, perhaps the newish carpets fooled me, I had lifted the carpets when I bought her and found what I thought to be solid floor, but no, it was 1/4 ply covered with metal. The hard work started here.

Floors and Sills

The first task was to sort out the floors and cills, The car was chocked up nice and high on the solid chassis rails and front outriggers, levelled by measuring floor to rails, and braced with metal and timber. Doors where removed, all front and rear wiring stripped out, and the sound deadening removed, along with chunks of wood and floor pan. Upon removing the well hidden countersunk riveted cover sills and the lower half of the wrong wing, I found the original cills had been gas torched off leaving a nasty jagged edge, the rear cill strengtheners where perforated through and could be simply torn off, as could the strengthened portion of the cills where front wings join.

Hidden Rust Found beneath Sill Cover Plate.

If you buy a TR7, obtain a dentists mirror, peel back the carpet on the sills, pull back tape on large round holes, and shine a torch through holes and using mirror try to check you have not a rust problem like this!

Inner cills where OK apart from the very bottom lip, so this was neatly cut off and a new fabricated lip attached.  Applying a rust remover, followed by a few coats of chassis paint cured slight surface rust on the inner sills.

                             New Lip Welded to Inner Sill

Virtually the whole of the front and rear floor pan where removed and new repair panels welded in. They where cut back to good metal near the chassis rails, repair panels cut to size, and totally seam welded, with a few plug welds on the front outriggers.

                 Extent of new metal welded in to Front Floor

Rear floors where cut away where rotten, as was part of the rear suspension mounts and rear bulkhead, with new sections let in and thoroughly welded. I have seen a lot of TR7/8 conversions where the rear suspension mounts have not been treated in this manner, the forces applied in this area will probably result in a nasty accident if not renewed.

              Extent of new metal welded in to Rear Floor

Most of the repair panels where bought from Robsport, now at Meldreth, Nr Royston, Herts where you can get excellent advise from Rob and Simon. 
 
Once the floor was finished, new sill strengtheners where welded in, these are only to be found on the convertible and are very important as they stiffen the body. Once the inner sills where painted with black chassis paint, I then welded complete new outer sills in position.  A tip here, when fitting up new sills, re-hang the doors prior to final welding to ensure all is well and fits properly. It did not catch me out, but I know of one person who welded up new sills and could not get the doors closed afterwards, resulting in grinding off the door bottoms.

                    New sill strengthener welded in position.

Final job in this area was to refit the lower rear wing in the B post area. This has to be removed to allow for welding of the sill and strengthener, you can see the bottom of the old lower rear wing peeled back for welding in the picture above. 

Front Bulkhead/Turrets/Front Wings

A major bodge was discovered where inner flitch joins front bulkhead, this consisted of Aluminium strip, bent into a V, then formed to the shape of the joint and stuck in with sealer, even under the battery tray. This was an area where I had poked a screwdriver to ascertain soundness as advised by those in the know, I cut the rusty bits out back to clean metal and fabricated and welded in new pieces. The opposite side was even worse, with perforated metal round the steering shaft housing, this was all cut away and a new repair panel welded in.

           Extent of Metal cut away at Bulkhead/Inner Flitch Joint.

                      The Repair Panel welded in position.

Attention now turned to front suspension turrets which I knew where in bad shape, measurements where taken for reference, then the grinder got to work and I cut of the top and sides, I also decided it was false economy to patch up inner and outer wings, so these where cut away in preparation for new ones. I also decided at this stage that whatever work was required on one side, for integrity it should also be done on the other side, for example only the left turret was badly perforated with rust, however the same work was carried out to the other side, more expensive at this stage, but could be worth it in the long run. The turrets rust badly due to the location of the intake grills in the bonnet, when raining water sits on the turrets and gets under the spot welded double thickness parts, if you have a car laid up for a while outside either cover up the whole car, or put cling film accross the grilles and on the turrets.

Major rust removed from Turret - Note Turret Repair Panel in Background.

New metal was cut for the sides of turrets, holes replicated from old parts, welded in place and turret tops attached, These where welded both inside and out, and the outside then ground to a 5mm radius. The area where then coated in red lead and primed. Some minor rust holes on flitch panels and side of front chassis rails where cut out and new material flush welded in position, front chassis closing panels where cut out and new parts fabricated and welded.

                          The Welded Turret Repair Panel.

By this stage I had worn out 2 electric grinders and around 5 heavy duty wire brush cupolas through removing rust, flaking paint, and underseal round the front end and floor areas, at some stages my overalls looked like a porcupines back with the wire brush bristles embedded in them.

At times like this enthusiasm wears off a little and a good weeks break had to be taken now and then, before plunging back into the garage, it certainly becomes a labour of love and you wonder when it will end. Good words of enthusiasm and plentiful supplies of coffee and biscuits from her indoors also helps.

Carrying on at the front end, time now to weld in new inner wheel arches, making sure to match up with front wings at the same time, quite a fiddly job, but best to make sure sure inners and outers match up, a little metal bashing was required here.

Another tip, water gets into the void near windscreen/top wing corner and can collect on top of the sill section and an angle bracket, just visible in photo below, I drilled some drain holes in these areas, which will hopefully allow any accumulated water to drip into cill and out of cill drain slots.

Also at this stage ensure doors still fit and match up with the wings, it is always worth checking the fit of the next panel as it saves grief later on. Then it is on to the final finishing at the front, liberal coats of red lead, seam sealer, grey primer, and filler, plus copious amounts of wet and dry and finally front bodywork is complete.

                              Welding in New Inner Wing.

   The completed Front and under bonnet areas, primed and filled.

Rear End  Bodywork

Moving to the rear of the car a real problem was found high underneath where the fuel tank sits, a portion of the chassis rail on both sides has a blanking panel fitted, upon removing tons of dried mud, the panels where found to be totally corroded. Consultation with Robsport revealed no panels available for this, so new panels where made, old metal cut away, and the sections welded in. This was the most difficult piece of the restoration, there is no room to get a welding helmet up there, so I had to resort to removing the glass from the helmet and holding in it front of my face, some 4 or 5 hours later, half blinded, burnt, covered in underseal, the job was finished. Ensure this area is watertight on your vehicle, as water getting in here, will run down the chassis rails, into the cills, onto rear floor, and into rear wing causing rust. You can see the right hand area by removing Fuel Filler Blanking Plate and peering inside.

I suppose in hindsight I could have made a revolving spit mounted to the bumper mounts, this would have made most of the floor and cill work much easier, but you live and learn! I have since seen these on sale on Ebay.

From here on there was light at the end of the tunnel, all that was left where now minor jobs, cut out part of boot floor and insert new metal, weld in new rear lower wing repair panels, sill end caps, and more wire brushing, red lead, and filler.

                                     Rear Wing Repair Panel.

Finally the bodywork is complete after over a year of hard graft, In all I used 6 mini welding gas containers, 4 mini spools of welding wire, 8 wire brush cupolas, 1 litre tin red lead, 1x 2 litre tin of black chassis paint, 4 cans of spray grey primer, 2 burnt out grinders, 1 burnt out drill, numerous cutting attachments and I dare not count the cups of coffee.

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