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Triumph TR6 - Fender Attachment and where to use of body filler

I am getting ready to put the fenders on my 1969 TR6 which I am doing a frame up restoration.

Can someone confirm where body filler is placed where the fenders attach to the body?

I believe there is body filler around all of the seam of the rear fenders. I don't believe there is body filler where the front fender attaches near the door but there is around where it attaches to the front valance.

I have tried to find pictures that clearly showed it but have not been successful.

I appreciate the advice.

thanks

Michael S. Petryschuk

Michael
Not exactly sure what you are talking about but if it is a seam/bead that you would find in say a Spitfire then no, the TR6 did not have this on front or the rear fender.

" I don't believe there is body filler where the front fender attaches near the door but there is around where it attaches to the front valance." Me thinks you have this backwards. There IS a rubber seal/baffle that attaches to a baffle bulkhead (attached to inner fender) near the back of the 2 front wings closer to the doors. There is no filler where the wings attach to front valance.

Did this help?
Rick C

Rick Crawford

Michael,

When I restored my 73 I replace the rocker panels and of course had all of the fenders off in doing so. I did alot of research on the joints where the fenders meet the rockers. As you know both front and rear fenders overlap the rockers and are bolted to the rockers themselves. There was never any filler used in these joints. You should see the gaps where the fenders meet the rockers. The fenders should butt up nicely with the indents in the rockers. Look at as many TR6 pic's as you can find. If someone filled in the seams it is wrong. I'm assuming you are talking about this area. I think the only difference in 69 with respect to the body is that a rear fender welt was used across the top seam.

Good luck

HP
HP Henry Patterson


Oh yeah. As for your question about the front fender meeting the valance....no filler. I could not find any evidence that Triumph used any filler anywhere.

As far as the top seam of the rear fenders and the deck. I did alot of research on that too. As I said I think 69 used a fender welt. Check out your parts catalog you should see the use of the plastic welt for 69...or maybe it was 68 only...I forget. As far as what I found about the rest of the years. I had seen the seams treated many different ways. But for originality the seams should be visible. I ended up using a body sealer between the fender top and the deck when I assembled it. I let the uncured sealer squeeze out of the seem as I tighted the bolts and then wiped off the excess making sure the seams were completely visible but sealed. This seemed to be the most popular method.

HP
HP Henry Patterson

Henry
Sorry lad but '68?.... I think in '68 they where called TR5 or TR250. Production started in 09/68 but was a 1969 TR6.

Michael, I think I misunderstood what you mean by "body filler". I thought you where talking about the bead you would see on a Spitfire or a TR4A and earlier. (On the TR6 there was NEVER any bead/seam/welt/piping whatever you want to call it, used between pannel seams at all).

Michael, I suppose it is necessary to find out what you exactly mean by "body filler".

If you are talking some sort of goop, then that is a different story. Not sure what the factory did as my car when bought was a "kit" car...all in boxes:). I did like you Henry and put some goop down the front fender seam where it attaches to the inner fender. Nothing at the valance joint. If you decide to put some sort of sealant like silicone in the seams before attachment then make sure the "squeezed out" amount goes to the non visible side of the joint. When looking at a fender seam on a TR6 it should look like metal to metal.
Rick C
Rick Crawford

Michael
cant't help you out with the filler/gasket question,
but is your tr6 the same one that was featured on
the cover of a TTC ragttop mag.wearing a surrey top
a few years ago.
Malcolm
M Macdonald


Rick,

In 68 or 69 I can't remember where I was let alone remember anything about a TR6. Maybe I was at Woodstock....I don't know!! I even owned a 69 TR6 back in the 70's and drove it through Michigan winters. It had rust holes in the tops of the front fenders that covered my windshield with mud and snow and rain water before I retired it. The most important thing was keeping the windshield washers working. Still have good memories of that car. I guess that's I have one now.

I could have sworn they used the welting on the first TR6. Must have been the TR4. Sorry for the misinformation and thanks for correcting me. I'm fairly confident about every other info I gave. At least as confident as where I was in 69.

HP
HP Henry Patterson

Thank you to all for your comments. I will try to describe it better.

By body filler, I am referring to bondo or sealing compund. Basically as was suggested a thin layer that would be squeezed out as the bolts are tightened to fill the crevices along the seam so water cannot seep into the seam.

Front fender. The fender mates with the scuttle assembly and windscreen bracket. At this seam I do not believe any sealer is used. The fender also mates with the front valance. I see the comments support that there was not sealer at this joint either.

Rear Fender. I have not seen in the VB or TRF of Moss catalogues any reference to a welt. I believe the seam along the rear deck (at the top from the door to the beginning of the trunk lid) is a sealed seam. Perhaps a welt was used originally but as I mentioned the catalogues do not reference one. The seam at the rear at the car (from the top of the valence to the bottom. I take it by the comments that this seam has no sealer.

I think I will heed Henry's advice re the sealer and making the seam visible. But I think for protection, I will do all seams. Keep the water and rust out.

Any other suggestions? Please let me know.

As for Malcolm's question. It is highly unlikely that this car was featured. The car I am working on has been off the road since 1983 and was in very bad shape. I am about 2 months away from finishing a frame up restoration.

Regards
Mike Petryschuk
Michael S. Petryschuk

Mike-I think it is important to paint the rear fenders off the car. If the seam is painted over cracking occurs. I had to have mine redone. The fenders were loosened, repainted, and a thin layer of non-hardening sealer applied before tightening.
Berry Price
BTP Price


Michael,

apparently I misled you about the welt so..as they say in the movies...forget about it.

As far as seam sealer, be sure to use something flexible. Don't use Bodo it will crack. I used a 3m product I think called, cleverly enough, body sealer.

When I applied the sealer I put enough on to seal the seam prior to bolting the rear fender on. But I made sure that not too much would squeeze out when the bolts were thightened. What little squeezed out I removed. Since it was bare metal at the time I was able to get the excess out with a sharp tool. In the end all you could see was metal to metal, as Rick puts it, and no sealer.

I didn't do the front fender where the scuttle or valance meet. There was no evidence of prior sealer as there was on the rears. It wouldn't hurt to seal them I guess.

Also my car was painted with all panels attached and sealed and have had not problems with paint cracking. I guess you should talk to your painter about that one. My panter said...no problem. it has been fine.

Henry
HP Henry Patterson

Henry
Fell off my chair on that one:)
Back in those days, I drove a friends GT6...wish I could remember more about that! A lot of us baby boomers are re-living a second child hood...well parts of it:) Unfortunately now I have CRS and can not remember what I did yestersday:)
Rick C
Rick Crawford


Rick,

CRS...I guess that's a twist on the one I use....CRAFT.

It was the Rimmer Brothers catalog that I saw the reference to the welting for 69 TR6. I just checked it. they call it a stainless steel bead srip that is installed between the rear fender and deck and is then painted the body color and was used on 69 TR6 only. Maybe that was on British cars or was something that never made production. Or maybe they were wrong.

HP Henry Patterson

"TRF part number 715230, Fender Bead, rear fender to rear deck, early TR6"

"Note that, although stainless steel, it was painted on both the TR250 and the TR6 models." List price $10.95 USD.
db
Doug Baker

Once again thank you for your input. There is no doubt that this is one of the best buletin boards going. I don't know how I would have gotten as far as I have without it.

I think I will follow the 3M body sealer route and skip the SS fender bead.

Just for everyone's information, I have had the body off the frame and all the panels (fenders, trunk, hood, windscreen frame less the windscreen, doors, all hinges) painted individually and am putting them on now. I then plan to send the car back to the paint shop for a final paint finish before I put the wiring harness, electrical, interior etc back together.

Hopefully another 2 months or less in what will be a three year project. Then it's on the road.

Regards
Mike Petryschuk
Michael S. Petryschuk

This thread was discussed between 03/04/2005 and 05/04/2005

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