To evaluate the condition of my chassis and to start the rebuild process, it’s time to strip down the chassis and take a look at everything.   I started with the front suspension and then worked my way to the rear of the car.  I made up a spring compressor for the front suspension which worked really well and after everything was all stripped, I took a close look at the front lower wishbone mounts.  The PO had welded new ones on as well as the gussets for strengthening – but I don’t think it turned out very well.  I’m of the opinion I should cut them off and redo.

Chassis all up on jackstands:

Front left being taken apart:

Front left suspension all removed:

Caliper from front right removed:

Front Right suspension, Hub removed:

Custom spring compressor in place, ready to remove the spring

Spring removed, upper a-arms removed:

Rear differential removed:

Front right lower rear wishbone mount.  this one concerns me the most since the smaller of the two reinforcing plates has been cut and bent to allow the wishbone to move freely, We’re going to have to fix this.

Here are some pictures of the spring compression tool that I built to safely disassemble my TR250’s front suspension. this tool would work just as well on a TR6.   I’m not quite sure how all the official tools from Moss or TRF work but I designed mine to use the bottom spring tray that ends up being attached to the lower a-arms.  This just allowed me to very safely remove all the energy in the spring and remove it.  The hole kit cost me around 5 bucks.  The threaded rod, washers, and nuts from came from the local hardware store.  The rod is 2 ft long, 1/2″ threaded rod & the aluminum plate was a scrap from a friends machine shop.

Individual parts of the tool:

Aluminum plate resting in the lower spring plate:

Tool constructed showing it’s relation with the lower spring mount

   Boy, what a mess this one is in.  I’ve been thinking about restoring / working on a TR250 for some time – In my mind is a great combination of the TR6 and TR4.  I really like the classic Italian design of the TR4 but with the added grunt of an inline 6 engine.  The problem is, of course, that TR250s can be quite expensive when fully restored and I didn’t want to spend much money on purchasing a project.  The following car was posted up on Ebay but it did not sell.  The owner and I got together several weeks later so I could take a close look at the wreck, a deal was struck and I ended up loading the car into the back of a moving truck.  The vehicle has been sitting in a storage locker since the beginning of summer of ’07 and I’ve now started to get the itch to start working on it.  I will again document this rebuild in the usual way, I’d love to hear comments so if you desire, drop me a line. 

As you will tell from the following photographs, this car will need a complete going through – the body will have to be completely rebuilt including sheet metal work.  All of the mechanicals will need to be done, engine, transmission, rear end, everything.  The guy I bought the car from had started to restore the vehicle – The chassis is probably 50% built but it’s been sitting so long that a lot of the rubber has perished and I just feel that I should start from scratch.  So, I’ll take the chassis all the way to the ground, get it blasted and then check everything.  Finally, all the pieces will be powder coated before reassembly.  I’ve got plans to install Herman Van Den Akker’s Toyota supra transmission kit.  This car originally came equipped with an A-type overdrive transmission but I just don’t want to deal with it.  I also plan on installing GoodParts rear CV axles & the nissan LSD rear differential which GoodParts also offer an installation kit for.  I hope to make this car a real nice reliable drive – I’m going to keep all the original parts so any future owner can of course go back to stock if they really desire.

Here are pictures of myself and my friend Pat down in Southern Oregon loading the car into our rented moving truck – and then subsequently unloading it at the local Public Storage.