TR2 & TR3 Forum

This site has SO MANY books , I can't decide! Please let me know your picks/ favorites and why. in relation to my 59 TR3.
https://books4cars.com/cars/Triumph/All/1959
They have stuff for ALL!
Books4cars.com

Chris: it really depends on what you are looking for. If you are interested in the history of the TR marque, I'd recommend Piggott's books, but they won't be much use if you are looking for technical advice.

I bought a few books off of Ebay. My go to service book is the Triumph Autobook, by Ken Ball. It's got a nice layout and is easy to follow.

For general background reading, I'd recommend "The Story of Triumph Sports Cars" by Graham Robson (published MRP, 1973). It's well researched and written by the man who ran the Triumph Competition Department back in the sixties. Widely available via the internet. My own copy is pretty dog-eared -- but it's signed by the author...

Chris, I too would recommend the Bill Piggott book Original Triumph TR. Excellent quality hardcover with great pictures and good info on all the changes to the cars evolutions through the commission numbers. Also good to have Haynes repair manual. Hard to find both books now. I believe I got the second to last copy of Piggott’s that Amazon had. Maybe more reprints now? The Haynes book was hard to come by. It’s a reprint and laughably poor reprint because most pictures are quite hard to make out details but I use it as a cross reference source. Moss catalog is fantastic referencing pictures. Bentley (sp?) workshop manual is available to download PDF. I found it super useful when I did my apron off servicing and sorting last winter.
And of course this forum and the members post fantastic information. I have a file folder for TR info on my IPhone and bookmark anything that might be needed to the TR file.
Macy’s garage web site has great info in their tech section. Again, bookmarked. Really good info on valve adjustment. Go to always for my valve adjustments. Terry Ann’s Triumph web site has good tech info. Used this site to install and set my hood sticks. Start a file. Bookmark anything and everything. As these cars age it is going to get harder to find competent people to work on them. That is why I’m always educating myself. I trust myself to do the job better than most shops available to me in my area. Which brings to mind , when I bought my car, supposedly a great driver and well sorted from a reputable sports car shop in Vancouver …. well no. Had to redo the carbs, chokes, valve set up, timing. These cars run even when horribly out of tune. I had to spray starter fluid for cold starts. Plugs were as sooty as a chimney. Exhaust note was off…. and black. But she ran well! Sorted all these things . Now she runs fantastic. All the reading material, web sites and this forum was the key to my success.
And don’t forget YouTube. Tom Bryant for SUcarbs. Some great info there. But like all things internet , have a dose of skepticism.
Example, my wife’s Murano SUV. ( what a piece of crap that vehicle was) Needed to replace power steering hose. YouTuber was saying use a Sawsall to get hose out. RED FLAG! Common sense says no. So yeah, things like Bentleys are invaluable.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2025-01-15 11:40 AM by Tobyallen.

Chris, welcome to TR ownership - if it's new for you!
I've been around sidescreen TRs for over 54 years. One of the many fun assets of these super cars is that you CAN do everything yourself including rebuilding engines and gearboxes if you are motivated. No need for computers, black boxes etc. I was driven to this by student penury all those years ago.

I always recommend two essential books. A Triumph TR workshop manual, you can still pick up a well used, dogeared, oily copy or down load a copy on the internet. And a hard copy of the Moss Parts and Accessories Catalogue, written by TR folk for TR folk in the days when Moss employed people who knew what they were talking about. Alas, I believe that the current edition will be the last before they go totally online. So get your copy now!

Then there are two excellent Forums, where there is a wealth of knowledge available, where no question is a stupid one. This one, Triumph Experience but also the TR Register UK forum, but the idiots Management Team that now run the Register have announced that are going to exclude non-members of the Register from participating in the near future.

Any questions? Just ask!!

james

which of these do you recommend?
Thanks!

Those two books just tell history with photos. Not much help for repair work.

If you want or need to do servicing or repair, you need a copy of Service manual (pdf can be found online), or at least one of the other 2 or 3 repair manuals available only via ebay, etc.

I had several different service manuals I bought new in hardcopy in the 1970s when I had my 1959 TR3. But I gave them all to the new owner when I sold the car back then. So I had re-buy used copies a few years ago when I bought my current 1960 TR3.

Chris: they are both good reading, but I find "Original Triumph TR2/TR3/TR3A" by Piggott is the one I use the most when researching the TR3:

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/original-triumph-tr233a-original_mark-hughes_bill-pigott/1526043/item/18381136/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=low_vol_f%2fm%2fs_standard_shopping_customer_aquisition_17483481083&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=688842569242&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-aK8BhCDARIsAL_-H9m7xQHXJC8805fKG5jmMEZhE-67p8wFsxEznhPw71kipFsbQeS7uSoaAik8EALw_wcB#idiq=18381136&edition=3607152

Thanks for the advice and good price!

Interesting that just last night I scored these two books from a very good golfing friend. And I’m going to be getting a bunch of good parts related to the overdrive. My friend is now retired but was a tech for specialty repair shops, both in Canada and England . Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin etc. were his field of expertise. A rarified bunch, but he also loves and turned wrenches on Triumphs. Not sure if these books will be that helpful to me, but I’m very pleased he is passing them on to me! Super Bowl Sunday is when I’ll receive them.

I have used the spare parts catalog diagrams many times to get detail.