Gallery Mike Ford

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Vehicle Model: TR3A         Year:     1960         Commission Number: TS 81690

State: ACT                        Owned since: 1974

See historical details, up to 2007 further down the page.

This year 2014 has been working to fix the problem of ‘brewer’s droop’ of the front apron that has been with the car since purchase [presumably as the result of a prang in its earlier days].  A bent and battered apron was obtained from a local register member, David Thomson, who had been using it for sheet metal and welding practice, and it was persuaded into a reasonable shape and painted. With further persuasion it has been a close enough fit to enable the original apron to be removed for major surgery, while leaving the TR mobile and participating in events.  The surgery has now been done and the long preparation of the surface in preparation for painting is now in process.  The opportunity was taken to fit overriders for the first time.  This will of course result in another complete repaint, a skill I am getting better at.

Mike Ford’s TR Story – 2007 on…

In 2007 one of my granddaughters informed me that she would like to arrive at her Year 12 Formal in the TR3A in Dec 2008.  What an incentive to put the TR back on the road after19 years.  Having progressed to a Citroen C5, which was trouble free, worktime was available.
A rebuilt gearbox, head overhaul, all shock absorbers replaced and complete repaint later, the new plates went on at 5pm on the day for a pickup at 6pm for the Formal.

History up to 2007

Mike purchased the car in August 1974 in Sydney for $1200. It was BRG with black upholstery. The steering wheel had been replaced with a sports wheel and the column electrics transferred to the dash. There were no sidecurtains and no sidecurtain brackets. Power brakes had been installed. The upholstery/trim had been replaced, except for the door and rear body trim which had been re-dyed from red to black (I assume originally red upholstery/trim).

I drove the car in Sydney and then in Canberra until 1990 as a commuting car. In Canberra it was driven without the hood for 11 years as it was too cracked after two years of non-use in the dry 1979/80 weather. I only got drowned a couple of times when the traffic slowed down in really heavy downpours. Not much done to the car other than a respray and maintenance to keep it going.

Persistent problems with the cooling system and head gasket followed. After many replacements of the head gasket water was found in the sump. Stripping the engine revealed a horizontal crack in the webbing of the block. On obtaining a replacement used block, with long head studs, from Toongabbie it dawned on me that a previous owner had substituted a Vanguard block with enlarged short head studs, to suit the TR head. The reaming out of larger holes further weakened the top of the block. 100ftlb of torque eventually pulled the top of the block off.

In 1989 I lost a tooth on the 1st/reverse gear of the lower cluster. Five months of driving without reverse meant a lot of careful parking.

Buying a Citroen CX2200 in 1990 and keeping that alive has put the TR on the back burner and it has become a “gunna”. In the 2001 Xmas break I brought the engine on line, started it and drove it out of the garage for the first time in six years. Felt I had to do that before taking the gearbox out and having a go at it. A lot of rust is showing through the paintwork and this will probably need to be sandblasted back.

I had previously owned a TR3A, bought new in Melbourne in 1960. A white car with blue upholstery/trim, HEY 293. I sold it in 1963 in Melbourne when I was posted overseas to the USA for two years.

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