1959 Triumph T3

[Dave from Pleasanton]

I've been commenting on people's work here for a while now but I've never posted anything that I have done. I mostly start things and don't seem to finish, but unfortunately I won't have any builds going on until my house remodel is done, likely in December. Therefore I figured that I would post this Minicraft Entex kit I built. As a kid I thought these cars from England were so cool. Completely different from American cars at the time. I owned a Triumph TR250 (called a TR5 everywhere else) which looked like a TR4A but with a 6 cylinder engine. It was replaced by the TR6 which had updated sheet metal. As to this kit, what a complete piece of junk. I'm guessing that it was motorized at some point because there was not place for a person's legs in the interior tub. Fit was not very good. I had to trim a lot of the headlight bezels so that they would fit in the space. Mold lines took a lot of work to get rid of. Not the fault of the kit maker but mine had a severely bent windshield post which is why I went with a race car windscreen. I went for an SCCA club racer sort of look. No bumpers nor emblems, street drivable, but weekend racer. I scratch built the dash from some bass wood. I think the gauges are from Model Car Garage, but not sure. The interior of the kit stopped just past the dashboard so I scratch built the foot wells and the pedals. There was no emergency brake in the kit at all so I scratch built one. There should be matching upholstery on the doors but the gap was so large between the interior tub and the body and, truthfully, I didn't want to take the chance of screwing up the body paint. Unlike the box art the front end sat up way too high. I lowered the chassis pan so that the wheels tucked in nicely to the fenders. The wheels were all chrome so I drilled out all the vent holes and then painted the wheel portion leaving the hub cap chrome. I put a black wash on the grille to give it some depth. The headlight and turn signal lens got several coats of clear glass paint. The headlight bezels had to be filed down to make them smaller in diameter so that they fit the headlight fairings. Red taillight paint on the taillights and they look pretty good. I added a 2mm uninsulated ferrule to the exhaust to give a better look. Overall I am quite pleased with the look. The paint is Krylon Short Cuts. Bonnet Blue I think. I didn't clear coat the car because it wouldn't have been that shinny back in the day.

[Spike]

Nice one Dave.  I think you nailed it, love the cut down windshield.  I owned a TR4 back in the eighties and used to see TR3's like this at owner's club meets.  Did you know that the motor came from a Standard Vanguard (an ugly lumpen thing) and was also used in the Ferguson tractor.   

[Dave from Pleasanton]

Yeah, a friend of mine also had a TR4A and he always talked about the tractor motor. My TR5 didn't exactly handle like a dream. Did really well to the limit, but because it was so long and narrow, once it broke traction there wasn't much chance of saving it. Something about polar something if I remember correctly. It's why race cars tend to be more square.

Thanks for the kind words Spike.

[41chevy]

Nicely done! Wood grain dash is excellent! I had a 1956 TR3 I bought at an auction, once I got rid of the Czech tires it handled pretty well, 'course being 6'2" and 200 pounds I fit rather snug. Paul

[Dave from Pleasanton]

Thanks Paul. The TR4, 5 & 6 were pretty narrow as well. Shoulders didn't quite touch but were close. The previous owner had replaced my steering wheel with a smaller speed shop unit so it was a bit easier to get my legs in. Of course you had to learn how to slide in and out. I couldn't do it at my age now.

[patw]

Superb! Good to see a TR3 from the UK!

[Dave from Pleasanton]

Thanks Pat. Too bad the kit isn't a good version of it. I wish someone made a 1/24 or 1/25 scale of the TR4, TR5 and TR6. I have a TR2 kit in my collection that looks to be a much better version that I hope to build someday.

[41chevy]

Aug 25, 2022 23:45:57 GMT -5 Dave from Pleasanton said:

Thanks Pat. Too bad the kit isn't a good version of it. I wish someone made a 1/24 or 1/25 scale of the TR4, TR5 and TR6. I have a TR2 kit in my collection that looks to be a much better version that I hope to build someday.

I would love to see a TR4 in 1/25 1/24, a Bug Eye Sprite and a TR7. Not going to happen  I suppose. 

[Dave from Pleasanton]

Somebody did a TR7 but I don't remember who. Would love a Bug Eye Sprite.

[jimrichards]

I admit I am not very knowledgeable about British, (and Foreign) cars, but I do like them.
So your description was very helpful.
I like the mods that you did, on this very clean build.

If this is your first post, looking forward to more of them.

Jim

[TooOld]

For what seems like a very basic kit you've transformed it into a beautiful model of a T3 ! And the color is perfect , great job !

[Dave from Pleasanton]

Thanks Jim and Too Old.