TR3 Appraisal

A 1957 Triumph TR3 recently arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.

It wasn’t with us for long but, during its short stay, the workshop team put the beautiful classic through a thorough appraisal to investigate an oil leak that its owner had noticed.

Classic car technician James conducted the appraisal and said that the overall condition of the car was generally good. It has recently had 4 new tyres and the discs are 12.7mm thick and brake pads 7.5mm. Underneath there were some areas where moisture was getting under the underseal, ideally, this needs cleaning back and retreating. Two areas had some more serious corrosion, the rear valance at the nearside, and a small area to the back of the offside wheel arch/boot floor is corroded and coming away. The oil leak from the engine appears to be high up, probably from the push rod tubes, but the front of the oil sump also looks to be weeping.

On further inspection, there is a leak of transmission fluid from the gearbox area centrally. Underneath the exhaust is fouling the gearbox mount bolt slightly, and on inspecting the rear drums, the shoes appear to be contaminated. On the top side of the car, it would appear the fuel tank cap seal has deteriorated, the central boot lock will not secure, and the ignition switch is a little temperamental. Finally, on checking the car over after being dropped off, the nearside front wheel centre nut was loose. This has been tightened but needs to be kept an eye on so that it does not loosen again.

The TR3 has gone home with its owner for now but we are looking forward to hopefully seeing it back in the workshop soon.