It’s about time
Matt’s trusty 2000 saloon is well overdue for some TLC
This one’s for you, Chris Rabbets. While attending the 10CR driver’s briefing in Nottingham back in August, fellow Club Triumph regular and MKII saloon owner Chris accosted me. ‘When are you going to write about your car in the magazine?’, he asked me.’ ‘Err, I’ve written about it many times this year,’ I replied. ‘No, not the TR6 – your saloon. That’s what I’m interested in reading about!’ Ah, right.
Suitably chastened, I had to agree that it had indeed been some time since GRX 398K graced the pages of Staff Car Sagas, with the TR6 project requiring the lion’s share of both my ready cash and workshop time over the past couple of years. To my amazement, after a quick trawl through our electronic archive once I was back in the office, I discovered that I hadn’t written a Saga solely about the 2000 since the December 2017 issue of Practical Classics. And then I felt bad.
So, what has the car been up to in that time? In comparison to some of it’s mile-munching adventures around the UK and
Europe in recent years, there hasn’t been a whole lot to report. Regular use and general servicing has been about the whole of it. Even with the car having a garage to live in, however, the one thing I couldn’t deny was that areas of the bodywork had started to look a little worse for wear.
I could be so good for you
The trouble is, the car is now so damn reliable mechanically, in a ‘keep on keeping on’ kind of way, that I’ve always been loath to take it off the road for any length of time. Ever since it received an uprated 2500 engine in 2012, it has done a chunk of miles and generally one long-distance event per year. So, the good thing about the TR being good to go, and the Morris 1100 for that matter, is that we won’t be short of a classic car for events or general enjoyment.
I’d been putting off repairing the rotten nearside front wheelarch for two or three years, plus the rear of the offside sill was also looking pretty crusty. Contributor Gary Stretton and I spent countless hours and late nights repairing the entire nearside sill assembly and the front
two thirds of the length of the offside sill assembly – from in to out and complete with jacking points fabricated from scratch – back in 2014. The offside rear sill was deemed solid enough to remain in place back then, but the intervening five years of all-weather action had changed that.
As is usually the way, the situation developed rapidly once I began gently poking around the area in question with a screwdriver – what started as a small hole soon grew. And grew some more, until I was left with a gaping hole.
How bad can it be?
To cut a long story short, the rot extends to both the inner sill strengthener and the inner sill itself, while the outer sill and bottom closing panel will also need to be replaced. Oddly, I’m quite relaxed about the situation – having had plenty of sillsalving experience on both this car and my old Carmine 2500, I know that it can all be repaired. It’s just a case of time and patience.
Happily, the Triumph ‘Big Sixes’ are much better served for replacement repair panels today. Back in 2014, I was indebted to an incredibly fortunate autojumble find at the Tatton Park Classic Car Spectacular, when the aforementioned Mr Stretton chanced upon a set of pattern outer sill panels for just £18. Nowadays, thanks to a chap by the name of Lloyd Reed, quality repair panels are readily available. Through his company, South Wales Triumphs, and at great personal expense to himself, Lloyd has made it his mission to help keep as many ‘Big Sixes’ on the road and being enjoyed as possible.
Which is why I now have a brand-new nearside front half-wing repair panel, plus a replacement inner bowl panel, stashed in the 2000’s capacious boot. The car itself has actually been tucked away in a portable garage adjacent to the PC workshop for the past few months, but will be making its way inside and up onto the four-post ramp, just as soon as it can elbow James Walshe’s Citroën CX GTI Turbo project out of the way that is!
So there you have it, Chris – consider that my 2000 sit-rep complete. I’m looking forward to getting the car solid again, as well as making some localised paint repairs along the way.
Well… the door bottoms have started to look a bit scruffy, as have the edges of the front valance. Then there’s the Dolomite chin spoiler that I’ve been meaning to fit for a few years.
I’d better get cracking then! ■ matt.george@practicalclassics.co.uk