TR Resto

Soon after the new chassis had been collected from Britain, work on the body did actually progress.

Assessing the condition of what was left after sandblasting it became very clear, that an enormous amount of new panels will be needed. Starting at the front the list seemed to be endless: lower front valance, both front wings, windscreen frame, both A-posts, both inner and outer sills, both floor pans, both B-posts rear inner wheel arches, lamp housings, both rear wings, rear valance and boot lid. Only the bonnet and the doors did pass the inspection.

At this point anybody in his right mind would have scraped the metal lacework, - but not us, - having already gone too far. Emotionally.

Actually, only because Istvan said he can fix it, if the Foundation can source the panels.

While it was still not so difficult to find original Stanpart panels some years ago, nowadays most of the sources have certainly dried up or asking silly money.
When a good panel beater is working on it, reproduction items are not too difficult to adapt for the inner panels, but for the outer used good originals can save a lot of work. In the study case of the blue TR4 it came in handy to have the wings of an American TR kicking about in the workshop. Repro panels came from Gary Bates of TR GB (www.trgb.co.uk) and Limora (www.limora.de)


Repassi Zoltan and Futo Gyorgy cut away still more of the rotten metal for the poor TR to have its corners made up of thin air. At a certain date for a quantum of solace they started to weld in the first new panel.

Being master craftsmen they really made the shape of metal to follow their will. For us it was a joy to see the progress, that was ongoing. In order to achieve a perfect result many more hours than most bodyshops would care to invest, were spent.

Look out for the next report to come.

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