Back when we were looking for a project for my daughter I stopped and looked at this TR7. I made the fellow an offer, but they didn't seem terribly excited about it. I let them know it was a standing offer. Just about a month later I received a call back from the sellers. Having not had success trying to sell the vehicle they agreed to my offer price.
Here's what the 1980 TR7 looked like when I dragged it home:
Believe it or not, it looked even shabbier in person than it does in this photo.
Luckily, though, the car had been garaged and covered during it's 20 year slumber. The interior doesn't look too bad. You can see, however, the damage to the center console that occurred when the stereo was stolen (20 years ago).
The rear of the interior looks just as good. This whole area is usually terribly faded out and often water damaged from the convertible top dying.
Now I wanted to see what was under all that grime. The following photos were taken as I was power washing the car with an epic amount of cleaner/degreaser:
The black looks black! Or, at least it looks black when it's still wet. The paint, though very dirty and somewhat oxidized is in pretty good shape.
The rear end looks pretty good too! The downside is that someone at some point decided that the rubber bumper needed some dressing up, so they painted it. This is common on TR7's and TR8's. It's annoying and will need to be cleaned up.
If the engine compartment is any indication, this car should be pretty easy to get running. It is hard to see in the photo, but the brake fluid reservoir has been siliconed until it cried uncle. A replacement will have to be located and installed.
The old battery is still in it. We'll have to pull that and replace it. Again, I'm very surprised at how clean this engine compartment is.
It wasn't unti lthe years of grime were blasted away that I noticed the cracks in the windscreen. Here's another part to add to the list.
Until next time!
Jody
