TR7 advice please
Discussion
Hi,
I want a TR7 fixed head. Preferably a late car. There seem to be lots of convertibles for sale but not too many fixed heads.
I'm curious as to how they drive, are they similar in feel to an Opel Manta for example? Reviews at the time seem very positive about the drive, if not the styling!
Many thanks
I want a TR7 fixed head. Preferably a late car. There seem to be lots of convertibles for sale but not too many fixed heads.
I'm curious as to how they drive, are they similar in feel to an Opel Manta for example? Reviews at the time seem very positive about the drive, if not the styling!
Many thanks
Lot's of myths surrounding TR7's, usually put out by people who've never even been in one! Usual comments are that everything about them is crap!
Whilst there's plenty of bad points handling is one of their saving graces. The fixed heads are a pretty rigid shell so are good starting point for a decent handling car, engines in the right place & power goes to the right wheels!
Most 2 litre cars will be putting out somewhere around 100bhp so aren't the quickest but V8's or Dolly sprint engined cars give the cars the power it should have always had.
You've got to put these cars in context of what else was kicking around in the late 70's but if they're well set up they're just as much fun to drive as any cheap british sports car.
Build quality is pretty poor as with anything built by BL of that era but just about all the bits are availble to repair them. Try and find one that's already had a decent resto and had the suspension & brakes upgraded and it'll put a smile on your face when you drive it!
I think values are slightly going up but these haven't really got the appeal of the older TR's or MG's so I don't values will ever go crazy which is great for people wanting a cheap British sports car.
Whilst there's plenty of bad points handling is one of their saving graces. The fixed heads are a pretty rigid shell so are good starting point for a decent handling car, engines in the right place & power goes to the right wheels!
Most 2 litre cars will be putting out somewhere around 100bhp so aren't the quickest but V8's or Dolly sprint engined cars give the cars the power it should have always had.
You've got to put these cars in context of what else was kicking around in the late 70's but if they're well set up they're just as much fun to drive as any cheap british sports car.
Build quality is pretty poor as with anything built by BL of that era but just about all the bits are availble to repair them. Try and find one that's already had a decent resto and had the suspension & brakes upgraded and it'll put a smile on your face when you drive it!
I think values are slightly going up but these haven't really got the appeal of the older TR's or MG's so I don't values will ever go crazy which is great for people wanting a cheap British sports car.
The manta & the capri as well as the Porsche 924 were competitors when new. The only thing criticised by the road testers in period was the brakes. They ride very well as they have a lot of rubber in the suspension.
They are quite lardy as they were built for the US market to a set of safety regs that never came in. So massive chassis rails & proper door impact bars. Mine was around 1150kg.
Also they are very comfortable, much better than say an MGB or earlier TR. FHC split into late & early, early ones have 4 speed boxes & a weaker back axle. The later cars have 5 speed boxes from the Rover SD1 & a back axle with the same diff. These are much better. The standard 8Valve gives around 105BHP which is OK, easily tunable to 130BHP or so. The Sprint lump gives 127BHP & feels a lot sprightlier. The V8 is a completely different car with monster performance.
The rubber bushes become an issue when they get older & a session replacing the bushes with either rubber or poly makes a huge difference to the way they drive. Drivers seats collapse with age & FBs sitting in them but are easily repaired.
The big issue is rust, they rust badly as do most cars of the period. Sills, floors, inner wings, strut tops etc. If you live in the south then Robsport are the specialists with S & S in the north. I had an extensively rebuilt one with a V8 & loved it.
This was mine:-
They are quite lardy as they were built for the US market to a set of safety regs that never came in. So massive chassis rails & proper door impact bars. Mine was around 1150kg.
Also they are very comfortable, much better than say an MGB or earlier TR. FHC split into late & early, early ones have 4 speed boxes & a weaker back axle. The later cars have 5 speed boxes from the Rover SD1 & a back axle with the same diff. These are much better. The standard 8Valve gives around 105BHP which is OK, easily tunable to 130BHP or so. The Sprint lump gives 127BHP & feels a lot sprightlier. The V8 is a completely different car with monster performance.
The rubber bushes become an issue when they get older & a session replacing the bushes with either rubber or poly makes a huge difference to the way they drive. Drivers seats collapse with age & FBs sitting in them but are easily repaired.
The big issue is rust, they rust badly as do most cars of the period. Sills, floors, inner wings, strut tops etc. If you live in the south then Robsport are the specialists with S & S in the north. I had an extensively rebuilt one with a V8 & loved it.
This was mine:-
Strangely I went from a Manta GTE to a TR7 DHC about 17 years ago. Loved it, perhaps too much as instead of selling it on I still have it having spent far too much on fully restoring it and converting to V8 power. As the post above comfort and handling out of the box are pretty good but at one time the pads available for standard front brakes were useless and could best be describes as dangerous for spirited driving. Went the 2.8 capri route for brakes and now cosworth/mondeo with discs on the back.
I have more pictures on my blog http://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/caught-...
Well being an avid Triumph fan and having had most marques I can definately give the "thumbs up " for the TR7.
Admitedlly, like alot of people, I wasn't a great fan of the TR7 at first but soon changed my views after I had purchased one.
The car I bought for my Winter runabout ( 6 years ago and since sold) was a 1978 Pimento FHC and was in remarkable condition.
After driving it, I can vouch that it is one of the nicest Triumph marques I have driven and IMO the driving position and gearchange are spot on.Also I found that it was rather torquey and a grin car .
The only issues I had in my ownership was a leaking fuel tank ( quite common I believe) that I replaced and it had a tendency to blow a certain fuse, again electrics are an issue.
The FHC are getting quite rare nowadays esp without a sunroof fitted. I prefer the FHC to DHC and I would love another one day.
Incidentally, my mate as just bought a TR8 Rally Replica that he is tinkering with and must admit it ticks all the boxes.........
Admitedlly, like alot of people, I wasn't a great fan of the TR7 at first but soon changed my views after I had purchased one.
The car I bought for my Winter runabout ( 6 years ago and since sold) was a 1978 Pimento FHC and was in remarkable condition.
After driving it, I can vouch that it is one of the nicest Triumph marques I have driven and IMO the driving position and gearchange are spot on.Also I found that it was rather torquey and a grin car .
The only issues I had in my ownership was a leaking fuel tank ( quite common I believe) that I replaced and it had a tendency to blow a certain fuse, again electrics are an issue.
The FHC are getting quite rare nowadays esp without a sunroof fitted. I prefer the FHC to DHC and I would love another one day.
Incidentally, my mate as just bought a TR8 Rally Replica that he is tinkering with and must admit it ticks all the boxes.........
I had a Solihull convertible - 135th from last made. Mine was lowered, had Konis and a tubular manifold. I restored the car and a lot of work was put into rewelding poor spot welds. The Spoke cars are bodily very much better put together but let down by poor mechanicals.
It is one of the few cars I have owned that I thought was too low, and the seat was way too low as well.
The wheelbase is very short and the handling is pretty decent. Brakes are weak. If I was making my 'dream' TR7 I would get a Spoke car, fit a 200 or so HP Rover V8 from a late Range Rover and massively uprated brakes.
It is one of the few cars I have owned that I thought was too low, and the seat was way too low as well.
The wheelbase is very short and the handling is pretty decent. Brakes are weak. If I was making my 'dream' TR7 I would get a Spoke car, fit a 200 or so HP Rover V8 from a late Range Rover and massively uprated brakes.
Yup Gavin mine had Princess 4 pots on solids. The big issue was pedal pressure. Changing to the uprated master cylinder & servo (Sherpa!) helped hugely.
Given the unsprung weight of the prinny 4 pots I'd go Wilwood if I was doing it again.
The engine n mine was a 3.5 Defender V8 with a lightened flywheel, 1mm off the heads to give 9.x:1 CR, mild cam & Webber 500 on an Offy 360 manifold.
It now lives in the Isle of Man.
Given the unsprung weight of the prinny 4 pots I'd go Wilwood if I was doing it again.
The engine n mine was a 3.5 Defender V8 with a lightened flywheel, 1mm off the heads to give 9.x:1 CR, mild cam & Webber 500 on an Offy 360 manifold.
It now lives in the Isle of Man.
tr7v8 said:
Yup Gavin mine had Princess 4 pots on solids. The big issue was pedal pressure. Changing to the uprated master cylinder & servo (Sherpa!) helped hugely.
Given the unsprung weight of the prinny 4 pots I'd go Wilwood if I was doing it again.
The engine n mine was a 3.5 Defender V8 with a lightened flywheel, 1mm off the heads to give 9.x:1 CR, mild cam & Webber 500 on an Offy 360 manifold.
It now lives in the Isle of Man.
There is a TR7 on the Isle of Man, my boss goes to IOMEGA on his boat and told me about it, every time he goes he tells me its still there so I assume its near. The harbour where he moored his boatGiven the unsprung weight of the prinny 4 pots I'd go Wilwood if I was doing it again.
The engine n mine was a 3.5 Defender V8 with a lightened flywheel, 1mm off the heads to give 9.x:1 CR, mild cam & Webber 500 on an Offy 360 manifold.
It now lives in the Isle of Man.
dycecooper said:
tr7v8 said:
Yup Gavin mine had Princess 4 pots on solids. The big issue was pedal pressure. Changing to the uprated master cylinder & servo (Sherpa!) helped hugely.
Given the unsprung weight of the prinny 4 pots I'd go Wilwood if I was doing it again.
The engine n mine was a 3.5 Defender V8 with a lightened flywheel, 1mm off the heads to give 9.x:1 CR, mild cam & Webber 500 on an Offy 360 manifold.
It now lives in the Isle of Man.
There is a TR7 on the Isle of Man, my boss goes to IOMEGA on his boat and told me about it, every time he goes he tells me its still there so I assume its near. The harbour where he moored his boatGiven the unsprung weight of the prinny 4 pots I'd go Wilwood if I was doing it again.
The engine n mine was a 3.5 Defender V8 with a lightened flywheel, 1mm off the heads to give 9.x:1 CR, mild cam & Webber 500 on an Offy 360 manifold.
It now lives in the Isle of Man.
Jammez said:
I think values are slightly going up but these haven't really got the appeal of the older TR's or MG's so I don't values will ever go crazy which is great for people wanting a cheap British sports car.
The tide appears to be turning on TR7 Fixed Head models albeit slowly.With the crazy prices being asked for Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts, due to their classic rallying potential, the penny has dropped that a Fixed Head TR7 (without a sunroof) is a viable and substantially cheaper alternative and can be very competitive with a V8 installed as per the works cars.
There are stories around of cars being bought for the non-sunroof roof panel alone which is a shame but the market will always turn in the direction of the demand.
A couple of classic magazines had articles recently forecasting prices are on the up (yes I know it's a bit chicken and egg) but maybe we'll at last see the TR7 and TR8 get the praise they deserve once the journalistic cliches from the past have been put aside.
Trophy200
I hope so as I've just bought another fixed head without a sunroof!
Not sure what to do with it yet, we have a late model DHC with a sprint engine conversion, another one almost built with a 3.5 V8 conversion, a FHC with vinyl sunroof getting a lexus V8 conversion so we're thinking of trying to put it back completly to standard spec.
It's a kind of faded red/pinky colour at the moment so that definately wont be kept!
Not sure what to do with it yet, we have a late model DHC with a sprint engine conversion, another one almost built with a 3.5 V8 conversion, a FHC with vinyl sunroof getting a lexus V8 conversion so we're thinking of trying to put it back completly to standard spec.
It's a kind of faded red/pinky colour at the moment so that definately wont be kept!
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