TR6 Project
Past TRs
I have always love the lines and beauty of the Triumph TR6. In 1979, I was finally able to purchase the car of my dreams. It was a midnight blue, 1973 that I bought from an American Airlines pilot when I was living on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. I named her Vanessa.
In 1981, I moved from Hawaii to New Orleans where I purchased Bailey, a burnt orange 1976 Triumph TR6.
In 1986, I moved from New Orleans to Fort Worth, Texas where I purchased Michelle, a maroon 1974 Triumph TR6.
Painting
As beautiful and fun as my previous Triumphs were, as an artist, I wanted a TR6 that I could customize and make a unique, “one-of-a-kind” car. In 1995, God blessed me with “Diana”, a 1976 TR6 that was EXACTLY what I was looking for.
Diana came with a coat hanger as an antenna and a view of the road below my feet as the floorboards were completely rusted out. There was only one other small spot of rust on the rear of the car. It was perfect. I purchased the car from… an American Airlines pilot! It had come full circle and I firmly believe, was meant to be.
David Boatwright was the brother of someone that I had worked with. After talking to him and feeling that he was the person that could help me create that extraordinary, beautiful, rare TR6 that I had always dreamed of building, we began our journey.
The body removed from the frame
Sandblasting the body (that is me…)
David was going to do all of the mechanical work and painting and I was going to do the “grunt work” of sanding or taking things apart and of course, all of the woodworking.
When I painted the car, it was not painted an original Triumph color. I wanted the car to be MY original color. I chose Porsche Polar Silver Metallic.
Dropping the painted engine onto the frame.
Ready to drop the body onto the frame which was
acid dipped and then powder coated.
The painted body
Placing the painted body on the frame.
Woodworking
While David was working his magic painting the car and rebuilding the engine, I was doing the same on making the interior special with my woodworking.
The Dashboard
The new dashboard is made out of elm burl.
This piece took around 100 hours to do.
Close up of the center of the dash. The trim pieces are carved out of Padauk. The small button on the left is the garage door opener.
The Door Trim
The door trim is made out of Birdseye Maple.
To create this piece, I colored the door with a blue crayon. Then after carving out the rough shape, I rubbed the piece against it…
That showed me what I needed to carve away to secure a perfect fit.
The completed door trim.
The Steering Wheel
The Steering Wheel is also made out of Birdseye Maple. These are the original pieces cut out using a jigsaw. This piece took around 70 hours.
A large portion of the time spend on any of these carvings is spent sanding. I learned a long time ago that the sanding is just as important as the carving.
The finished steering wheel and dashboard.
Smaller Pieces
The Emergency Brake lever also carved out of elm burl with the “TR6” inlay caved out of Padauk.
The Triumph Laurel on the rear speakers. Carved from Birdseye Maple.
Front plate – Padauk with Zebrawood inlay.
Front Speaker – Birdseye Maple
Stick Shift knob carved out of Elm Burl.
Diana
Here are a few photos of the finished restoration of my 1976 Triumph TR6.
At a car show, a years ago, when the M.C. was giving out the award for “Best of Show”, he described Diana as “More of a work of art than a restoration.”
