30-odd years off road - Triumph Toledo, now in its new home

[CotswoldsDave]

Hi all, long team reader, first time poster and driver of modern shite here. 

 

My dad has recently passed away and his old Triumph Toledo has now come into my possession. It's been in the family since he bought it new in 1975 but has been garaged for at least 25 years and is need of a complete restoration (bodywork and mechanical). I'm torn between just passing it on to someone who can make something of it, or paying to have it done up myself and keeping it - sadly I possess neither the garage space, tools or mechanical ability to do anything myself. I know it's never going to have any real value other than sentimental (first car I ever drove!) and have no idea about parts availability.

 

Can anyone recommend someone/a company in the Coventry area who'd be worth contacting for a discussion about restoration?

 

Cheers chaps.

 

 

[Mally]

Restoration costs will be massive, ask TripleRich.

Sometimes sentimentality has to be tempered by reality.

Be worth getting someone local off here to have a look round it first though.

Give you an on the spot opinion.

Stick a few photos on here of the bad bits if you can.

[Tamworthbay]

As above, get an appraisal on it. I have seen cars that look like wrecks that are sound in the right places and ones that look mint that are lethal. It may be that a sympathetic amount of work could get the car useable. And you could not get a better car to learn on, they are beautifully simple and most bits are easy to find. Once it’s gone it’s gone so I would keep hold of it if you can.

[captain_70s]

For a full restoration by a professional company I'd budget at least £6k, with an extra couple of grand in reserve for the inevitable price rise. In mint condition the car will be worth about £4k.

 

Mechanical parts are easy to find, lots available new off the shelf, because BL parts bin. Quite a few bodywork bits are covered by the Triumph Dolomite owners club.

 

Really it depends on the state of the car, it could potentially be brought up to road-worthy standard with much less work/money.

[Remspoor]

Rimmer sell parts.

https://rimmerbros.com/ItemList--Triumph-Toledo-1500-1300-FWD-RWD--m-671

or this site.

http://www.jonniejumble.co.uk/classic_car_parts/vehicle/Toledo.shtml

You may well find the likes of ebay, hunting around car events or even joining the club for the cars.

Maybe go to classes to learn about mechanics and bodywork repairs if you do not presently have skills.

[purplebargeken]

PM me mate, the Triumph force is strong in Cov.

[danthecapriman]

As others have said, you need to get it looked over by someone who knows classics. Someone on heres bound to be close to you, just to get an impartial opinion. It’s all too easy to get hung up on sentimentality etc and end up spending a hell of a lot of money fixing a car that’s got real issues! I know from experience!

Getting a few pics up on here will give you a few pointers too.

 

Don’t kid yourself about this type of work though. It IS expensive and it IS time consuming. You need to consider how suitable your car is to start with, then decide how far you want to go with it. Do you want something that runs and drives and looks nice? Reliable daily driver? Show winner? This too will determine what you’ll likely pay.

Don’t underestimate the cost of replacement parts either, your Triumph shouldn’t incur too much in the way of so called ‘scene tax’ so parts prices should be better than, say, Ford’s or Volkswagen’s etc. But, once you start pulling apart a car of this age it will get worse and you will find more and more problems as you go, hence - the costs are also likely to rise!

Paintwork. This also costs a lot nowadays for a quality job. You can get it cheap, but from experience it’s cheap for a reason! Don’t scrimp on it.

 

I know you said Coventry, but I’d seriously consider a much wider search radius. For the sake of hiring/borrowing a trailer and a bit of travelling you might get a better price and a better job. It’s worth thinking about.

If you do, I’ve had superb service and work done by this place. https://www.woodiesclassics.co.uk

He’s a small company, but very very good at what he does. Prices are very very competitive too. He did my Capri for me from a half repaired bare shell up to a fully repaired and painted shell with all the running gear back installed so it ‘rolls’ again. I’d highly recommend him.

He’s located near Chichester, down south though...

Also down here is this place. http://www.carcraftrestoration.co.uk

They specialise in classic car body and paint work, they did the metal work and paint on my Capri and their work is also second to none in my opinion.

 

 

As mentioned above, give TripleRich, a user on here, a PM. He does this for a living and his work is superb. Have a look at his mk1 Granada thread on here.

Likewise, JuridicalGrunt, I think he works at the same place? But his Rover SD1 resto thread is another great thread to have a look through.

 

Despite the warnings and costs etc though, it’s a great thing to do and you’ll have something really special at the end of it too.

[Uncle Jimmy]

I'd suggest you sell it then; get an ad up on here and you'll certainly achieve far less hassle than elsewhere.

Good luck...

[sierraman]

Why not have a go yourself assuming you have the space to do it. Learn some really useful skills.

[Rod/b]

Have a chat with Dave at Canley Classics. He looks after my father in laws TR4 and know the right people to speak to.

[dozeydustman]

Welcome! Toledos (and the Triumph Ajax cars) are great little cars to drive. I'm hoping that 25+ years in a garage has helped preserve the bodywork to a degree. I do agree that an appraisal would be your best first step.

 

I think this would leave 3 options open to you.

 

1) sell as a project. Someone on here will snap it up if not a member of a club.

2) a recommissioning without the full restoration

3) take it somewhere and spend a load of money making it all new and pretty.

 

If it was my car and I had a sentimental tie to it, I'd try option 2 and get it structurally sound, running & roadworthy. Once up and running then I would see if I get on with the car as a regularly used classic. If not, sell on; if yes, then make it a rolling restoration or decommission for full restoration job. If you want to source recommissioning work out, then get a few quotes for having the work done.

 

Thankfully a Toledo is quite simple mechanically and should be a good starter for someone who has no knowledge assuming you want to get your hands dirty.

[purplebargeken]

I've sent you a PM. I know my small Triumphs pretty well and am happy to advise/point you in the right direction.

[CotswoldsDave]

Really appreciate all of the replies. It's definitely easy to get tied up in the sentimentality of it all! We've got a while to think about it as we still own the house where the car is currently located and it's going to be a couple of months for the sale to go through. If, and when , I can pull the car out of the garage then I'll get some pics up. 

[dean36014]

I know a top notch welder, and painter. John Adams, of Coventry Classic Minis at Shilton. He does all models these days, might be worth asking.

http://www.covics.co.uk/

[CotswoldsDave]

https://i.imgur.com/05TLSKl.jpg

 

Turns out I have got a picture of its dirty backside, now being used as my profile pic. I'll try and get some more next weekend when I'm at the house.

[purplebargeken]

Looks bloody good tbh!

[Bren]

Labour is the killer.

Have you thought about going on a course for welding? Things will not happen overnight but you will have developed a skill.

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

Last tax expired December 1987, over 31 years off the road, thats amazing.

[jonny69]

Welcome! Toledos (and the Triumph Ajax cars) are great little cars to drive. I'm hoping that 25+ years in a garage has helped preserve the bodywork to a degree. I do agree that an appraisal would be your best first step.

 

I think this would leave 3 options open to you.

 

1) sell as a project. Someone on here will snap it up if not a member of a club.

2) a recommissioning without the full restoration

3) take it somewhere and spend a load of money making it all new and pretty.

 

If it was my car and I had a sentimental tie to it, I'd try option 2 and get it structurally sound, running & roadworthy. Once up and running then I would see if I get on with the car as a regularly used classic. If not, sell on; if yes, then make it a rolling restoration or decommission for full restoration job. If you want to source recommissioning work out, then get a few quotes for having the work done.

 

Thankfully a Toledo is quite simple mechanically and should be a good starter for someone who has no knowledge assuming you want to get your hands dirty.

This is really good advice.

[lesapandre]

Yes. Getting the car running on the road - is a first step. Otherwise it's just a lump of metal costing money. Once driving about you can then stage the repair to get it really nice. Get a garage for it to keep it out of the weather. Good luck.

[Mally]

Looks good to me. I'd wash it and take more photos.

[CotswoldsDave]

This is really good advice.

 It really is. PurplebargeKen of this parish has very generously offered to come up and have a look to see if it's a viable project. 

 

This is a great forum and its nice to see a bit of love for the old girl.

[dozeydustman]

First impression based on that photo.

 

The tail end looks pretty solid in that photo. Original (or certainly period correct number plate) for bonus points. Can see a little rust on the lip of the boot lid so certainly looks like the garage is dry. Tail end looks straight so I doubt it's been in a rear end smack. If you're lucky it's been stored with the handbrake off and will roll out easily, so probably worth spending 15 mins or so seeing if the tyres hold air and you can roll it. Chuck a bucket of water over it to shift the worst of the grime.

 

Root around inside the car, garage or house to see if you can find any service history for the car, it will give you an idea why it came off the road in 1987, it's a good starting point for any recommissioning work whoever undertakes.

 

I'm hoping PBK gives it a relatively clean bill of health for you.

[loserone]

Excellent, you'll need to find him a decent kebab to return the favour

[CotswoldsDave]

First impression based on that photo.

 

The tail end looks pretty solid in that photo. Original (or certainly period correct number plate) for bonus points. Can see a little rust on the lip of the boot lid so certainly looks like the garage is dry. Tail end looks straight so I doubt it's been in a rear end smack. If you're lucky it's been stored with the handbrake off and will roll out easily, so probably worth spending 15 mins or so seeing if the tyres hold air and you can roll it. Chuck a bucket of water over it to shift the worst of the grime.

 

Root around inside the car, garage or house to see if you can find any service history for the car, it will give you an idea why it came off the road in 1987, it's a good starting point for any recommissioning work whoever undertakes.

 

I'm hoping PBK gives it a relatively clean bill of health for you.

 

It's definitely never been in an accident and, yes, those are the original plates. The car was bought new from a dealer in Lowestoft - we used to go on our holidays to Kessingland in an old car and come home with a new one, as you do. This is the second Toledo that we had, the first being a green one (VPV 926K - funny how you remember really old reg numbers but not more recent ones! I remember that one as I got to choose it from the list at the dealers). Before that we had Mini Travellers that Dad bought from a dealer in Market Harborough.

 

There's no service history unfortunately, Dad was a bit of a driveway mechanic and sadly he's not around now for me to ask what's up with the mechanical side of things. The transmission cover is off so I guess he was fiddling around with the gearbox or clutch at some point. 

[purplebargeken]

Kebab not necessary after seeing another smoll Triumph lol.

[CotswoldsDave]

So we haven't got a service history but we do have an original Toledo sales brochure which looks like it's from 1972 or thereabouts.

 

 

 

 

 

[dozeydustman]

There's no service history unfortunately, Dad was a bit of a driveway mechanic and sadly he's not around now for me to ask what's up with the mechanical side of things. The transmission cover is off so I guess he was fiddling around with the gearbox or clutch at some point. 

 

That's a shame, though it does hint that the clutch or gearbox is a possible reason why the car was taken off the road.

 

Just did a check to see if your late dad's green Toledo was still on the road - last taxed in 1986.

[somewhatfoolish]

Service history is only of significance for selling and then only if it's an Earnshaw Diamond Mk1a phase 2 originally ordered by the right honourable Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling, earl of West Dullex, in 1957.

[CotswoldsDave]

Service history is only of significance for selling and then only if it's an Earnshaw Diamond Mk1a phase 2 originally ordered by the right honourable Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling, earl of West Dullex, in 1957.

 

You knew my Dad then?