1973 Triumph TR6
Manufactured: APRIL 1973
Commission No: CF7439 UO
Paint: 82
Trim: 11
The UO signifies a left-hand drive carbureted car with overdrive. Paint code 82 is Carmine Red, Trim 11 is Black interior. The car has been resprayed in red although the rear panel is also red, not black as original.
After being built in April of 73 the car was shipped to the US via a distributor in New Orleans. The car was purchased by it's first owner June, 15th of that same year in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The first owner lived in Tennessee and had the car for a relatively short time. I've spoken with the original owner's family and have obtained a photo of the car from this time period.
The car then passed through several owners (???) including one who resprayed the car. A former co-worker purchased that car and was actively working on restoring it in the Knoxville, TN area. His restoration efforts were interrupted by a job transfer to California. The car sat in his garage for several years.
My co-worker re-located again, this time to Hawaii and chose not to take the car with him, leaving it with another former co-worker.
The car sat in storage for a couple more years and although we did intend to work on it nothing really transpired (we did pull the plugs and lubricate the cylinders and drain the gas tank). Having lost the storage space to redevelopment I was asked if I wanted the car and I accepted.
The car was towed to a friends garage where we started to see about getting it running.
That brings us up to date and my ownership of the car.
20220129 - Another new year! My partner in crime has been working on the car, we made big progress today and pulled the transmission out, he had got everthing prepped. As expected the taper pin that holds the clutch fork onto its shaft had sheared which explains the clutch problems. 20210902 - Basic all-season tires arrived, wheels were pulled and taken to a local shop that mounted and balanced them and then I brought them back to the car. Wheels were reinstalled and my partner in crime (PIC) continued testing. No brakes, clutch iffy. We've pulled the fuel tank for cleaning, removed the master cylinder for rebuild, and took a look at the clutch linkage. Hoping to find a work around to pulling the trans at this point...
20210801 - Some stuff has happened in the interim. My partner in crime got the motor to start using a temporary fuel source, I've got tires on order, need to pick up some coolant, etc. But some progress is being made...
20201206 - Started tracking down the missing parts to hook the carbs back up. The link between the two throttle shafts is NLA from the usual suspects. TRF, Moss, VB, etc).
202011xx - Found a supplier of rebuilt carbs (to replace those destroyed in the fire) that would sell reasobably without a core charge or a core. Carbs arrive and look very nice. Thanks Dave!
20200819 - My world changed today. House destroyed by Wildfire and CalFire's ineptitude. TR6 safely in a friend's garage but all my books and a lot of new parts are lost.
20200118 - Pretended to do some work on the car today. Pulled all the crap off the top and in the trunk, went through it and consolidated into fewer boxes and go rid of a bunch of trash. Most of this was to get to the spare tire/wheel to see if it in fact would hold air. If it does we may swap it for the left read that doesn't hold air. Lee put the charger on the battery and it seemed to be verking... brought more literature back to the house and packed my trash. Also noted the tire sizes on the spare and the car, Car has Michelin MXV 205/60 R15 and the spare is a Pirelli (something else). Will shop for tires.
20170710... - Disassembled the rear carb and started to clean it. Watching lots of YouTube videos and reading lots of stuff on the internet and the Haynes manual. Should have take pictures but fortunately the front carb is still intact so that will be the model going forward. After much head scratching learned that the mystery part in the rebuild kit was actually the main jet!!! (pretty dumb of me.) On-line info suggests that the jet just pressed out with a few taps of a hammer. Not! The bottom stem started to bend in the press so with a friends help we ending up drilling it out mostly, threading in a screw and then pounding the remainder out. Not sure it was worth it as I still have to put the new one in! Rest of the job seems straight-forward, once this one is assembled I'll start on the front carb. Old dog learning old tricks!
20170703 - Ordered a copy of the Haynes manual that covers Zentith Stromberg carbs from Goodwill of Michigan.
20170702 - Managed to track down a daughter of the original owner (who is now sadly deceased). She says her Mom and Dad paid cash for the car and put it into her Mom's name in June of 1973. The car was in the family for a relatively short time before it was sold. Not sure if I'll be able to track down any intervening owners...
20170701 - Installed battery. Need bumpers for rear corners of hood. Temporary strap for washer bottle will do, need to drill out rivets to replace existing strap. Inspected the carbs some more, got the choke mechanisms to move as well as the throttle shafte. No wonder we got nowhere last time! Tried again to start the car. Lee played with a timing light and determined that our plug wires were likely hooked up wrong. After rearranging them we got a lot more 'spits' out of the carbs and at one point it even sounded like we were getting somewhere (using starting fluid). Took off the carbs for rebuild.
20170626 - Spent more money. Bought a Group 24 battery at Ernie's Service Center in Felton, ordered a Master Carb Rebuild Kit from Moss Motors in Goleta, and ordered a few things off The Roadster Factory sale flyer, steering rank boots and a proper overflow bottle to replace the Davinci Pizza bottle in the car now. Forgot to order the hold down for the washer fluid bottle.
20170624 - Two hours spent looking over car. Put a little oil in the cylinders and turned the engine over by hand. Nothing unexpected. Installed a temporary battery and cranked until we had oil pressure. Reinstalled plugs and wires. Fed a little fuel into the carbs via the fuel line at the front of the carbs and attmepted to start the car. Cranked fine but no joy. Pulled the tops off of the cabs and found the pistons stuck. Attempted to clean a little but no effect on started. A full rebuild is likely in order. Next steps: buy a battery that fits properly, rebuild the carbs, check spark, and sort out the fuel tank and plumbing. Some nasty looking stuff in the bottom of the tank.
20170604 - The spending begins - bits and bobs from The Roadster Factory Bakers Dozen flyer.
20170531 - Took possession of the TR6, moved from Scotts Valley to Ben Lomond.
2017 - Previous owner begins thinking of parting with the car.
73 TR6
April, 1973
CF7439 UO - Commission
CF beginning in '73, U left hand drive carburettor, O overdrive
82 Paint
11 Trim
CC89872 - Gear
CC, 72 USA
N28L72 - Gear
CD61444 - Diff
CD carburetted, CD 3.7:1
T 7468 CF - Body (body + running gear mated)
7067 CF - Body (?) (body in white)
CF7977UE - Eng
CF beginning in '73, U, US export, E engine