Tag Archives: TR6 restoration

1973 Triumph TR6 rescue and restoration

Here are a few pictures depicting the state of the Triumph after sitting outside under a fabric car cover for twenty years… thank goodness it resided in Southern California. But it was truly a rodent hotel.

Clearly we are looking at new floor pans in the passenger area, as well as the trunk. And pretty much everything else!

One word of advice for you when cleaning out an old car that has been host to rodents… MASK! The trunk, for example was at least four or five inches deep in droppings and twigs and nut shells and dirt. Gross.

I was somewhat careful about wearing a mask as we filled a garbage can with rodent droppings and shells and whatever the heck all that other stuff was, but not as careful as I should have been. My lungs have literally never been the same since that original cleanup. This is serious advice, heed it, please! Best practice would have been a good painter’s mask with dual filters, reasonably priced at Harbor Freight. I did utilize one, but there were occasions when I just wore a paper or cloth mask… that is not sufficient.

Triumph TR6 Restoration: frame and suspension rebuild

Rebuilding the suspension and restoring the frame was very satisfying, and it feels good to have all new bushings and bearings, brakes and brake lines, shocks and springs, and a fresh coat of paint on everything.

The alignment process was simple enough. First I found the centerline of the car and then set up a couple parallel strings running along the length of the chassis, a little wider than the car’s track and running through the centerline of the wheel hubs. I used a length of 1/4 thick aluminum bar to represent the wheels. With the bar vertical I adjusted the camber angle. With the bar horizontal I was able to adjust the toe. I set it up without the springs installed so I could raise the suspension to where I estimated they would be if the car was sitting on the ground. Any additional adjustments will come after the car is driven.

In addition to replacing all the bushings, nuts and bolts, and worn out stuff, I replaced both upper fulcrum pins and the passenger side vertical link. New parts also included 390 lb front springs and 470 lb rear springs from Goodparts, which lowered the ride height by an inch and stiffened up the ride. GAZ adjustable shocks in front and rebuilt lever shocks in the rear with custom valves to suit the stiffer springs. World Wide Auto Parts did the rebuild of the lever shocks.