Loss and Sadness

I've lost the most wonderful woman in the world. My wife, Cheri, unexpectedly collapsed April 29 and died May 8 without regaining consciousness. There probably won't be any posts for a while as Ally and I find our footings.

12 days before her collapse, Cheri bought me a Spitfire for my birthday...she remarked how I hadn't seemed myself since I sold my yellow one to fund this Estate project. I therefore am including a picture of Ally in the Spitfire (taken the day I brought it home) and my favorite picture of Cheri and Ally.

Update

It's hard to believe I haven't updated the blog since December. I'd LIKE to say that much has been accomplished, but that hasn't been true...at least on the car. Home maintenance and repair, job, and time with Ally have taken their toll on car work time. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and some progress has been made.

No new pictures of them, but the nose cone and front valence have been bead blasted and are awaiting coating with Eastwood products for rustproofing and prevention. A few more parts have been sourced also:

• a nice nose cone badge finding it's way across the ocean courtesy of eBay


• a second set of wood pieces so that I can try refinishing them myself (eBay)


• a center console without the speaker hole but with that cool Triumph script (eBay)


• much better condition Stag brake rotors (eBay)


• and finally, something really cool, adjustable camber/caster plates from Australia (KMac, off of eBay)

Once the TCOC Gathering is finished (April 18-20) I hope to be starting on the car again. Maybe next time I post I'll have real progress to show....

And if you're reading this before 10 PM EST on April 10 and you're in the triangle area, be sure and tune in to WPTF am 680 from 10-11 pm and you'll hear Paul Morro and myself talking about British cars on the Tom Kearney show!

I'm Not Using a Sawzall Anymore!

For a long time, it seemed that the last tool I used on the car was always a "sawzall" (a power reciprocating saw if you aren't familiar with the term). Now, it's starting to go back together. I haven't touched the car in December (and probably won't until January), but wanted to post some pictures of where we are. I had to visit Harbor Freight tools to get enough vice grips to hold the front end together to take these shots. I fabricated the silver pieces using 2X4's in a vice and plain sheetmetal...basically they were to fill up the space between the other two pieces. Thankfully, they will be behind the grille! But at least it looks like they fit OK. Here's some closeups as well. You'll see I still have some beating and pounding to do, especially on the ends of the brown nosecone part. I think I'll have to tack the top edge first and then alternate persuading with tacking as I go around.

Another one for sale & more bodywork progress

Here's another chance to join me in my madness...there's another sedan for sale on eBay. It may not have as solid bodywork as the last one I posted did, but it sounds much better mechanically. I wonder why they took it off the road?

BTW, while I'm thinking about it, if anyone out there has a really nice trim piece for the fake hood scoop I'm interested. The one I have is quite pitted, but I'm not sure I'm willing to shell out $100 or more for the reproduction ones that appear from time to time on eBay.

If you're interested in the sedan, here' s the link to check the auction out:

<http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Triumph-2000-1966-Triumph-2000_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6469QQihZ018QQitemZ280154285660QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW>

As far as Chrissy (my car) goes, right now the nose, lower valence and two new panels I fabricated for between them are being held on by vice grips. I had to make a trip to Harbor Freight tools to get enough...but it's nice to see the car starting to look complete again. There is still some shaping work to do to make sure all the panels lineup but I hope to get to some of that this weekend. Once all trimming and tapping is done, I'll take the panels off one more time, protect everything I can with paint, reposition them back and start welding. That should take some time and I'll definitely need some help with holding part of the nose in the right place. I'm also going to be welding up the holes for the original nose badge as it won't be reinstalled. I've never really cared for it, and as the "TRIUMPH" letters will still be there I think that's ornamentation enough for now.

Reconstruction at Last!

Finally! After many nights of pounding, copious applications of sanding, elbow grease and POR-15, as well as my humble attempts at welding, the "under the nosecone" section of the Estate was finished today. It's a terrific feeling to be putting the car back together instead of deconstructing. Now, on to the side panels just below and to the outsides of the center portion. I'll have to temporarily position the nosecone, lower valence and grille to get the spacing right for the paper patterns.

No, the welding is nothing pretty, but it is strong. I wanted to make sure that if the car was ever in an accident again, the front would hold up at least as well as it did when it was new. I'll be carrying my wife and daughter with me and I can't imagine more precious cargo.

You can see from this closeup shot that I actually ended up replacing the entire corner of the piece. What you can't see is that both the front and side edges are formed under to create a flange for other parts to weld to. The front flange was OK...the side flange didn't exist...so I measured the other side carefully (assuming IT was right...) and tried my best to match up with it. We'll see how the nosecone fits. Just laying it up there this afternoon it looked pretty good, but once I clamp things into place I'll know for sure. That's it for this installment; more soon I hope!