Blog

WHAT we’re doing, and HOW we’re doing it!

August 18, 2025

At some point in your restoration, you very well might wake up from the fog and suddenly realize that you’ve gone too far down the rabbit hole. Unfortunately this has also happened with local “restorers” who’ve had your car forever, and they had the same thought long ago but are just too embarrased to tell you. Most times, they simply stop working on your car and hope that you’ll get frustrated and take it away so they don’t have to look at it. Fortunately all hope is not lost, as a call to Macy’s Garage can get your restoration over the rough patch and back on the road to completion. We’ve shown this TR2 home- restoration a few times before, but when adding the complete sequence to our Gallery “Before-After” page, we realized that we’d never shown the very beginning of our magical transformation here in the blog. So this is the first photo that the owner sent to us of the stalled project, in his garage, and it arrived with the usual question of our ability and willingness to help. Those answers were a resounding YES!, and you can see the transformation from loosly assembled panels to complete rolling vehicle on our “Before-After” page (under Gallery). All that remains for the owner to complete is the final bodywork and paint, then the fun parts of final assembly and soaking-up the driving pleasure.

August 11, 2025

Rusty frames are a common ailment of TR4A-TR6 (IRS cars), and this is a good example of how NOT to “repair” them. Scabbing a piece of new steel over an old crumbling frame section might give you a warm and fuzzy for a short time, but it offers questionable strength to this critical component of your Triumph. We’ll even go farther and mention that a “repair” like this will actually hasten the demise of your frame, as it creats an improved moisture trap between the layers that will accelerate the rusting process. The same is true for body panels which have been “repaired” in a similar manner. Far too many times we have seen cars repaired in this manner (frames and bodies) advertised as “no rust” and the sellers must think that if you can’t see it, it must not be there. This is why we always recommend that you NEVER buy a TR4A, TR250, or a TR6 without giving it a thorough inspection, and the bottom side is more important to check than the top. And if you have a car like this or recently purchased one, remember we have the most experience with making these types of repairs CORRECTLY.

August 4, 2025

While we’re on the subject of cooling system corrosion, we’ll show this thermostat cover from a 4-cylinder TR2- TR4A. Even aluminum parts like this will corrode (rust) from the acids that develop in a cooling system, which once again makes it hard to keep a hose connection from leaking. You can minimize the effects of this cooling system corrosion by changing your coolant (50/50 green antifreeze mixture) every 2-3 years. Antifreeze contains additives which prevent cooling system corrosion, and these additives wear out or loose their effectiveness, even in collector cars which are parked for lengthy periods and driven infrequently. Do not run straight water in your cooling system (even if you live in a warm climate where it will never freeze) because you won’t have the benefits of the additives contained in antifreeze. You should also never use the modern pink or clear (not green) “permanent” antifreeze which is not engineered for the cast iron engine blocks and heads in our vintage Triumphs. (And just for the record, they aren’t really “permanent” either!) And speaking of acid build-up in our Triumph liquids, you should also change your engine oil and filter annually, regardless of miles driven. The same phenomena happens inside an engine and can eat away at bearings and soft internal components if allowed to sit and deteriorate.

July 28, 2025

This photo shows the bulkhead fitting, used for hot water to pass from the engine to the heater and back (through the firewall) on a TR4-TR6. The sidescreen cars (TR2-TR3B) use two similar fittings with only a single tube through each. These fittings are made from mild steel, and as such are prone to rust. They are also prone to plug up with sludge and muck that can form in your cooling system so if the heater doesn’t work, this is a good place to begin trouble- shooting. But back to the rust hole, when someone sees a drop of anti-freeze from a hose attached to this fitting, the natural tendency is to simply tighten the clamp and call it done. But after seeing the rust hole in this one, perhaps you’ll be inclined to disconnect the hoses and examine the fitting more closely when you see a leak in that area.

July 21, 2025

What a glorious day it is when we get to go out and take the final photos of a completed restoration! Like most of the complete restorations we do, this one has a lengthy family history, only this time it’s ‘with a twist’. In almost every case, the special Triumph was owned by a beloved family member, or perhaps the man of the family and used when the happy couple were first dating, but those “usual” cases do not apply here. This Triumph actually belonged to the wife in high school, and the TR actually pre-dates the husband! Many times throughout the restoration we were reminded that it was HER car, and she made the final decisions when decisions needed to be made. We’re certain that the car is now in better condition than at any time during her lengthy ownership, and probably even better than when it first rolled out of the factory doors back in 1959 (although titled as a 1960). Just as soon as the logistics are scheduled (which is really easy), the car will be headed back home to Colorado, where the proud owners will have plenty of scenic mountain roads to cruise and enjoy.

July 14, 2025

All of the TR2-TR6 cars that we service and restore are now 49-72 years old, and a lot has happened to them during that lengthy time period. It’s not unusual for us to find all kinds of maladies that remain from poor service techniques, non-available parts at various times, wrong parts installed, and prior accident damage, just to name a few. Some of this is quite obvious and jumps right out at anyone with even a slight amount of mechanical skills, yet other items are only discovered by our laser focus and intimate knowledge of the cars we accept. Once these various ailments are discovered, they need to be corrected, and again our concentration on the TR2-TR6 cars comes to the rescue. Presently we have a TR4 in the shop that had an accident many years ago. The disc brake stone shield was missing, and both lower suspension wishbones were bent. These replacement pieces were here and installed the very next day, pulled from stock in our 9000 sq ft used parts warehouse. This bypassed the need to do a lengthy and costly search for the necessary parts, and halted progress while we would have waited for better replacement components to arrive. It’s a sure bet that any place that works on a variety of car makes and models will not have all the Triumph aces up their sleeve that we do!

July 7, 2025

Even at this stage, when the painted body has been mated to the finished chassis and “loose” body panels are bolted on for the final time, a partially assembled TR is a thing of beauty. Soon, a “new” Triumph will roll (drive) out-the-door of the Macy’s Garage mini factory, and bring a smile to the lucky owner’s face once again! Has your Triumph been sitting neglected for too many years? Perhaps it’s time to give us a call and reserve a spot on our schedule. You’ve both waited long enough!