'80 Triumph Tr-7

[Hemi Joel]

Well Stiney, what do you think? Did I give you a bum steer, or is the car satisfactory?

[STINEY]

All-in-all..........



I'm giggling like a little girl inside. Both Bosses just gave the thrice-over.......one smiled a bunch and the other was amazed at the "rust" it doesn't have.

Both think it needs a Beauty Queen cushion on the rear deck. Hmmm.....

Even the skeptics at work had a smile when they shook their heads. Good sign, and 1/2 of them changed their tune when they saw the weight slip.

Definitely good project bones.

[SuperBuickGuy]

ya know, a 215 would nicely nestle in that space

then you wouldn't have to take a running/driving van apart

just a word of advice... wives do not take kindly to the suggestion that you will be hauling beauty queens in your car - no matter how many witnesses there are to your eyes remaining on the road

[STINEY]

just a word of advice... wives do not take kindly to the suggestion that you will be hauling beauty queens in your car - no matter how many witnesses there are to your eyes remaining on the road

Even if I blame my Boss? Darn, thought sure I had that one covered.....



Guess I could throw the van in on that Healey deal. Actually, you'll need it to put all the extra parts in for the cross-country trip.

Good idea!

[STINEY]

Got a better picture of the dash plaque.

Do you suppose this is from a Class Win, or was the car a special edition?

[STINEY]

And these Car mover guys were super to deal with. Good attitude, easy to talk to, down to earth and knew how to do their job.

LakeSide Inc out of Salt Lake City 801 466 0098

Call them direct instead of fooling with those crazy brokers.

[BBR]

Special edition.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-SCCA-CHAMPION-TRIUMPH-TR7-CONVERTIBLE-AD-/290873806013?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43b96e0cbd

[STINEY]

Thanks! It appears to be a plaque-only thing then......doesn't seem to be any distinguishing features for that edition.

It also appears that this car spent some time in the hands of an audio-phile. The rockers and trunk floor sides are cut-out for speakers, and there are RCA jacks and 12 guage speaker wire laying around like a pile of dead snakes.

I'm guessing it was still on the road in some form in the early 90's, which lines up with when Joels' Dad acquired it.

[Hemi Joel]

... wire laying around like a pile of dead snakes.

Considering it came from the middle of the deasert, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a REAL pile of dead snakes.

I'm glad you like it! Once you get used to that dry Arizona sheet metal, it's hard to go work on anything rusty.

[STINEY]

Hopefully the steam cleaner got them just about medium-rare. Maybe have some snake tonight!

[DanStokes]

Tastes like chicken.

Yeah, rust-free is for sure the way to go. The Buzz Bomb was/is really rust free as is the S-10. I'm still a bit in shock after all those years of MI cars.

215 - 215 - (planting a seed.....) I always wanted to do a MGB that way but it was a round toit that I never got. I seem to have another ridiculous swap going on now.

Dan

[Bob Holmes]

Turbo 2.3.

I had a 63 midget that was going to get a 215. Would have been a riot, so I can certainly see the allure.

[CTX-SLPR]

There is a rebuilt one for sale here in CO! Though I'd grab a later Rover block since they are crossbolted on the mains and bigger displacements without adding any external size.

[DanStokes]

My "good" 215 had an Offy intake, 390 Holley, an Isky cam, and a Unilite ignition. I stayed with the stock exhaust manifolds though I did toy with building a set of headers. D&D may have something in the header department these days - haven't checked. Anyhow, it ran well though I never got it on a dyno (man was that frustrating - here I am working in Dynoland and they're completely off limits to me!). It kicked 79-80ish Trans Am butt really well on the street. The TR would be even lighter. BTW - the 215 is 40 lbs. heavier than the standard Vega 4 and a WHOLE lot more durable.

Interesting 215 tidbit - the bores were centrifically (sp?) cast iron - essentially a metal spray process. The blocks can only be safely bored to + 0.020 though some guys have pushed them to 0.030. The Rover/Land Rover engines are extra cubes if you want that but I don't know how they're sleeved.

Dan

[74NovaMan]

Cool Project! I'm looking forward to the build!