Good Deal?

:confused: This is my first post. I know absolutly zip about Triumphs. However my daughter has an opportunity to purchace a 1964 convertable (no engine or tranny) for $150. She wants to turnm this into a project car. Questions are: 1. Is this a good price assuming it has a decent body? 2. Are parts hard to find? 3. Are parts expensive. -Don

Firstly where do you live???? Parts depend on location



$150 is a good deal for a decent body:)

My dad posted that. He likes to do research first. I live in New Mexico. I went online and requested a bunch of British car catalogs. The prices didn't seem too bad to me, but it will be a complete restoration, right down to the steering wheel. The body is good, but will need a new paint job. I am buying the car from my boyfriend's family, that is why they only asked for $150, plus that it is pretty much just a body. I am looking foward to this project, major one I know, but still excited. :flash: :bloated:

What model Triumph is it?

If its a Herald or a Spitfire then parts won't be to hard to get hold of, especialy if you have a good body, then you can just buy another car with full running gear but a rusted body and start restoring and swapping parts over.
$150 is a excellent price.

If its a TR4 (I think if its a 64) then the job will be a bit harder.
Parts are much harder to get, and may have to be imported from the UK at some expense. Again finding a wrecked donor car is the best way to go, but will very hard to do, as they were only sold in limited numbers in the US, and most will have already been restored or totaly junked by now.
However if it is a TR4 body with no rust in it then its worth a lot more than $150. I say buy it and resell it for 4 times as much. :)


If you have the time, space and mechanical know how then this will be an awsome prject, they are quite simple cars to work on and great fun to drive.

:alien: Yes, it is a Spitfire. Like I said, when I checked it out online it doesn't seem like it will be expensive. I'll restore a little at a time too, so that is even better. My boyfriend is a mechanic and has already told me that he will build my engine for me. his uncle builds trannies and said he would build one for it too. So really, the major stuff will be taken care of. Thank you for your help, I am sure my dad will be pleased. Right dad?

Cool, sounds like your all set then.
$150 is certianly a good price, its hard to give an estimate in US $, but I guess it will cost prehaps another $2,000 to complete the car.
Depends interly on how much you can do yourself, but things like painting and rust proofing the chassis will add up quickly.



I recomend haveing a really good search of the internet, there is quite a large comunity of Triumph fans online all of which will be happy to help.

As your totaly rebuilding the car I recomend building it to a later spec, A MKIII would be best, as they sorted out the rear suspension and made them a lot safer and faster.

You also might want to consider useing a later engine and g/box from say an early RWD Toyota or Nissan. As well as a Differntial from an early RWD Nissan. The Triumph engine is very strong, but not terriably powerful by todays standards, while the G/box and diff are unforunatly notoriously weak.
The Toyota K series is a perfect engine, or if you want a bit more power then a T series will do. Both come with a 4 or 5 sp gear box, and both are an easy fit into the Triumph chassis, requiring only minnor engine mount changes. The Triumph electrics will then hook up to the Toyota ignition and starter.
If you do run the standard diff then there are ways of getting them strengthened, any good diff specialist will be able to do it, and I cant recoment it enough.

Also take the time to get the chassis properly dipped and coated to prevent rust. If left unprotected it will go bad very quickly, and the extra expense will pay off by increasing the value of the car when it comes time to sell it and move on (or keep it for the grand kids :) )



Anywhere, heres a few links Iv had lying around from my Triumph owning days:

Triumph Webring, which links to over 160 Triumph Sites:
http://n.webring.com/hub?sid=&ring=triumphautos&id=&list

Triumph Home:
http://www.team.net/www/triumph/

Triumph Register:
http://www.vtr.org/

US Triumph Parts source:
http://www.triumphsonly.com/index.htm

Someone rebuilding a GT6 (same chassis as the Spitfire)
http://www.gt6man.freeserve.co.uk/Index-fr.html

Triumphs:
http://www.eimc.brad.ac.uk/~ijpalmer/triumphs/index.html

OK Becca, you got it. -Dad