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After sitting on my Gran's drive for about 3 years, unmoving and open
to the elements (and some of these elements aren't kind to cars
- believe me!) it was pretty darn obvious that TRisha TR a Speke
built 1976 FHC would need a second restoration at some point in
the near future.
Briefly, as there's a more in
depth history of the car to read elsewhere, TRisha was moved in
Sept 1999 and back on the road in April 2000. Between 2000 and 2003
there were several trips to the garage - some planned some not - for
upgrades and repairs... but none for body work.
In 2002 (see left)
the underside of the passenger door looked bad; by 2003 (right) it looked
a lot worse .
But at this point it was running well and was proving reliable, however
driving was becoming hazardous! The car had a valid MOT, brakes were
sound and so on but with all the rust falling into my eyes I was in
real danger of stuffing her into a ditch! Chiefly because with the state
of our roads these rust flakes meant I was driving with only one eye
open (and that was a squint) for about 40% of the time. And, I figured,
the mighty tin worm would all do a runner if they saw a rapidly approaching
hawthorn hedge... this would leave me to face the the consequences of
a crash protected by my t-shirt and (probably) some very dirty underwear.....
you get the gist.
So in April 2003 the search was on for someone to do the restoration
work. After much research and a few e-mails a couple of prospects were
visited in order to seek quotes. Eventually Triumph Specialists Moordale
Motors (of Potters Bar, England) agreed to take the project on. Not
only were Moordale competitive in their quote they are Triumph experts
and have many years experience of working with the marque - and are
approved by the TR Register.
Trisha was taken to Moordale on Monday 14 July - a little over a week
after the TR Drivers show. On the way down we stopped to collect a few
more panels with the two full length, outer, sills, joining the scuttle
alongside me in TRisha. TRisha's co-pilot followed behind with two,
good second hand doors - collected on route - a front and rear wing
and a couple of other bits.
Just 5 days later - which had seen more bits head down to Moordale -
we dropped in to pick the seats up and were able to see the rapid progress
being made.
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