Restoration Projects—Charles Runyan's TR5

This is the photo of my TR5 inner body shell loaded on a truck to go to the sandblasters. The car had been wrecked a few years ago by a former employee on his wedding day. The frame and front center body were damaged, but the car came through the ordeal fairly well. In the photo, you can see a good bit of welding, as the sills and floors were rusted. This is not the first time the car was restored, but I drove it through the winter a couple of years in the late 1990’s. The outer sills currently available are not so great, but my body man made the best of them. In the photo, they look like they are pop-riveted, but those little circles are actually spot welds. Note that the door openings are braced to keep them straight. Actually, all of the body panels have been prefitted, but they came off again for the sandblasting and painting of the inner body. This car was always signal red, and signal red it will be again. My TR5 has always been my favourite car. I will keep you posted on the restoration!

Then the TR5’s inner body shell went to the sandblasters. It is too much to hope that it will be ready for Summer Party this year, but it should be done in plenty of time for next year. Don’t forget to register for Summer Party. The dates are July 30th and 31st. The theme this year is “24 Hours of LeMans,” or “24 Heures du Mans.” Dress up, or turn your car into a LeMans Racer! Think of yourself, driving along on the interstate cleverly disguised as a race car and driver! You have almost three months to think up a good story to tell the state trooper who stops you!

The process of painting my TR5 body shell has begun. All of the hidden parts of the body shell have received red paint, while the unhidden ones have been masked off for painting at a later time.

The car is nearly complete now except for mechanicals, and I am starting to worry about my front “TR5” badge and my rear “TR5 PI” badge. The ones I had were decent, but I sent them off to a badge manufacturer in England for a quote on twenty-five of each. TRF has already manufactured all of the TR250 badges to a high standard, and we have the “2500” badges on the rear fender sides in excellent quality. The TR5 badges will take a considerable investment on my part, and only two customers have indicated an interest, one of them being me. Therefore, I hesitate to commit the funds. Does anyone have a pair of original badges for sale? I’d like to have some for my car without having to completely scrap the manufacturing project by asking for my own badges back. If anyone has an interest in the TR5 badge project, please e-mail me at trfmail@aol.com.