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Hi All,

Another newbie here who used to live in Mississauga and found out about this thread via a British car forum. I have a 1962 Triumph TR4 that has spent the last 28 years in a barn.





Yummmmm... TR 4 I had a total of 5 TR4A's all with the IRS ( Independent Rear Suspension - not the Internal Revenue Service ).

My first advice on restoring an older TR4 is to go over that frame with a screwdriver and check it out from the front to the rear - paying particular attention to the spot in the box frame where it crosses in an X pattern, just in front of the differential. The fatal flaw of the TR4's and TR6's is that the box or channel frame usually blocked up the drainage holes in the bottom of the frame and the drainage holes on the side of the box/channel was too high up for water to drain out. So the box/channel frame would RUST OUT big time.

I only mention that... because of the first TR4A that I rebuilt. Foolishly I went for the body restoration first... and after putting in a couple hundred hours on the body... the frame cracked while I was driving it. I think back to all the work I put into that puppy, only to get screwed by the frame splitting arrrghhhh...

So double check the frame before going too deep into the cosmetic aspects of your TR4.

That having been said... the tackiness of the paint problem sounds like the initial thicker layers ABSORBED the mineral spirits that you later added to the lateer coats. At this point you can either let it sit and hope that it will evaporate out over time and harden. If it stays soft... I would be tempted to take a heavily soaked towel ( with mineral spirits ) and try to rub off as much of the paint as you can ( in order to try to remove as much of those thicker layers as you can ( basically to start over on that panel ).

And I would definitely stick with the 4" white high density foam rollers and leave the foam brushes only for popping bubbles. I know those panels like the back of my hand and I know it can be done.

Good luck on your TR4.

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