MIKE'S TR7
TR7 Home page
In 1981 I purchased a Tahiti Blue 1979 FHC (Fixed Head Coupe). I had fallen in love with the "Shape of Things to Come" from England. The car made driving fun, and I took full advantage of driving it whenever I could. Sadly the gremlins these cars were known for stated to plague me. I had a cracked cylinder head. Then a rod bearing failed, and next the water pump started leaking. Then one day while driving a rear wheel bearing gave out, and shortly after that something went in the rear end itself. At that point I gave up on the car and sold it.
Gone but not forgotten. British Leyland introduced the convertible model (aka Drop Head) and the TR8 shortly thereafter, but by 1982 they had closed up shop and renamed Rover Group in 1986 after much restructuring. I later learned that the early model cars suffered poor build quality because of labor problems BL was having with its employee's at the time. Later models were more reliable, although not bullet proof. So I started daydreaming about owning another TR7.
It wasn't until September of 2015 that I gave in to the urge and decided to get another one. Right from the start I knew I was going to be making changes to it, so my only concern was that the body be solid and the drive train functioned. (And even that changed as I decided the rear end and transmission were going to be swapped!) I wanted a car that could be driven but wasn't somebody else's baby. I wanted it to be my own creation.
So I decided to chronicle the steps taken to make it uniquely my car. I'm not restoring it, It's called a resto-mod. Some things will be stock, but some things will be more modern and performance driven. After all, it's been about 40 years since she went on sale!
Gone but not forgotten. British Leyland introduced the convertible model (aka Drop Head) and the TR8 shortly thereafter, but by 1982 they had closed up shop and renamed Rover Group in 1986 after much restructuring. I later learned that the early model cars suffered poor build quality because of labor problems BL was having with its employee's at the time. Later models were more reliable, although not bullet proof. So I started daydreaming about owning another TR7.
It wasn't until September of 2015 that I gave in to the urge and decided to get another one. Right from the start I knew I was going to be making changes to it, so my only concern was that the body be solid and the drive train functioned. (And even that changed as I decided the rear end and transmission were going to be swapped!) I wanted a car that could be driven but wasn't somebody else's baby. I wanted it to be my own creation.
So I decided to chronicle the steps taken to make it uniquely my car. I'm not restoring it, It's called a resto-mod. Some things will be stock, but some things will be more modern and performance driven. After all, it's been about 40 years since she went on sale!
Mike Slivka 2022
