Triumph GT6 barn find: too far gone?

https://flickr.com/photos/64574314@N05/sets/72157654024475468

GT6 album on Flickr

I was offered this car for free, but it will take some doing to extract it from its current location.

My dad had a TR4A, I drove a spitfire throughout high school, and I always wanted one of these. I have been looking for a project car, but this one may be too far gone, having sat for 20 years.. Single owner car, though!

I believe I would have to tear this one apart to remove it, just to get it light enough to load it onto my truck. I can't get a flat bed or even my pickup to the car except from behind it where there is a church driveway on the high side if a 3foot retaining wall.

One of those lumber pallet delivery trucks could probably just pick the thing up from that driveway. But I dare not guess what that might cost me, including the 35 mile delivery. I might call around to some of the stone sales places.

If that is too expensive or not an option, I would use some scaffolding to remove the engine tranny, wheels, guts, bonnet, hatch, and then drag it across the grass to the curb out front. Or get five buddies to lift it to the parking lot.

Anyway, the owner wants it gone. Assuming I can extract it, do I even want it?

It would be a frame off restoration, since I will need to separate them just to assess the integrity of the frame. But one of the only places I could access, behind the driver side front wheel, I could put my fingers through holes in the piece that sits just below the drivers footwell.. Granted, that's the place that gets the salt spray. 20 years ago.

Rockers are gone. Floor panels... What floor panels? Rust everywhere. Tires shot, of course.

And if/when I remove the wheels, you know more than half of the lug studs are coming off with the lug nuts.

Seems to me there are better projects available for certainly less hassle. My goal for a project at this time is to build a track car, and I was thinking eco boost 4 cal would be bad ass. Pie in the sky, I realize.

Just hoping the wise could weigh in here.

Thanks!

Looks like an adventurous project. My thinking is more like parts car at best. It needs...just about everything. For extraction I would think maybe ATV and winch although my inclination would be to let it return to the earth. As a track car you could easily end up with 10k or more in that - coming from someone building a vintage race TR4 that started out in much better condition.You maybe could do it for less, but for one guy who's not in the restoration business, it could take a lot of time. For a little more you could find a driver.

All I can say is that if it was offered for free to me, it would be in the driveway in no time. It does look like it needs a ton of bodywork and maybe even the chassis replaced, if you're handy it should be doable. But, it will take a ton of time and a fair amount of $$$. You could break it for parts and find a better body and frame to start with, ie restore the removable bits while looking for a better body and chassis, or you could build a new chassis using the odd bit from the stock one, and rebuild the body.

Rod

One thing for sure...If you take it on, you will be a lot wiser when you are done with it.

My two cents: if it's free and you have a place to store it, then do whatever it takes to make it yours. It's definitely a serious project. If it was my project I'd strip it down, categorize and store all the parts. Then look for a better body and chassis and build up one good car. That could be a fun project. These cars are getting scarce. I'd hate to see this one go to the crusher without squeezing everything you can out of it first. Go for it. After all, we are enablers!

An additional comment about registering a barn find like this: in my State, the DMV is fanatical about documentation and credentials. A car without the immediate PO's registration or proof that the PO paid sales tax on it when she/he bought it makes it un-registerable. That's a problem if you put a few thousand hours into a project car and then can't register it for the street. (That could just be the disfunctional State that I live in, but it's worth checking first).

I am going to wait for something that is more suitable for my needs and skills. I am hoping the owner of this car can find someone who will take it off his hands, and more importantly, off his lot.

It was fun visiting the car and researching it, that's for sure. I had some spitfire cred before, but I don't think I want quite this much gt6 cred.

CrookedRacer wrote: I am going to wait for something that is more suitable for my needs and skills. I am hoping the owner of this car can find someone who will take it off his hands, and more importantly, off his lot. It was fun visiting the car and researching it, that's for sure. I had some spitfire cred before, but I don't think I want quite this much gt6 cred.

Whew, the voice of reason. Driveline / OD trans (if it has one) may be worth hanging onto as cores, but otherwise its too far gone.

Is this the point we link to other GT6 finds? :)

GT6 Project

Too bad. It'll end up in the crusher.

Where is it located at?

Finally got a chance to look at the OP pics (flikr blocked at work).

Wow. That car is gone. It's a Mark I engine car, evidenced by the exposed push-rod tubes on the head. That's a real shame.

Mental note for anyone having to store a car outside for long periods: put it on a couple of 2x12's so it doesn't sink into the ground. Also, remove every bit of the interior you can (stuff inside that can invariably hold water). My 1800ES has been sitting outside in my back yard for a number of years now and is in no worse condition (very rusty) than when I put it there.

Get it.
Some enablement:

http://www.triumphexp.com/phorum/read.php?8,1295517

Gary wrote: Too bad. It'll end up in the crusher.

And if he did buy it, his wallet and marriage would end up in the crusher!

That one doesn't look that far gone to be of value, but I'm not the one to comment really, as I'm currently in the middle of resurrecting this one:

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/restore/rt309.htm

Of course, here in Massachusetts, you don't look at the car necessarily, you first look at the title. If it's good to go, then that's really half the battle won. This one came with a title and a legible VIN plate.

A winner in spite of it coming in two separate halves.

Grab up that GT and give yourself a week to strip it out, scrap the remainder for weight and save/sell/refurbish the parts that it gave up. Pick up a case of PB Blaster, a sledge, a cold chisel, and a set of cheep tools, and make a promise that it's yours for just a week, then it's gone.

In reply to TeamEvil:

My sentiments exactly. It's free. What's to lose?

But your MGA project ... I'm speechless ...

But I still have to smile ...

Good luck!

"But your MGA project ... I'm speechless ..."

Hopefully, once I have time to get back to it, I'll put up something of a build thread. Honestly, the rear clip, rear fenders, dash, hood, doors, and trunk are all done in primer. The front clip has been re-worked into a single-piece "shell" and will become a tilt or removable unit, it's nearly ready for prime. Engine and trans is all set, picked up a Mercury Bobcat rear end for it, and have a slightly better frame that still needs the two halves to be re-connected.

Making surprisingly good progress, but it's still just a pile of parts, once the frame is done and the clips are set in place, I'll take some pics and begin a "project build thread" for it.

TC

TeamEvil wrote: That one doesn't look that far gone to be of value, but I'm not the one to comment really, as I'm currently in the middle of resurrecting this one: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/restore/rt309.htm

Holy mother of...

That makes my 1800ES look positively solid.

I was at a friend's hosue over the weekend and he had the latest issue of the Volvo Club of America magazine. There was an article about a 1800ES that was rolled and restored. Essentially every corner of the body was destroyed, but oddly enough the pan itself remained straight. It was rebuilt using a donor car and repro panels.

In reply to TeamEvil:

As I said ... I still have to smile

(You have more gumption than I ).