1956 Triumph Thunderbird

80960

Here's a really nice find for somebody looking to restore a pre-unit Triumph. Sure, it looks ugly - but look carefully at what's here. This bike has matching numbers, a title, and all the hard-to-find bits are here. The sheet metal is all pretty good, once you get past the gnarly paint. Good nacelle, good fenders, the oil tank and tool box are good as well. The gas tank is reasonably solid and has very little interior rust - although does have a dent on the left side and I don't know for sure it's without bondo. Has the chronometric, which works if I recall correctly. Engine turns over. The title has been signed over to me and notarized, so will take a little additional DMV paperwork to get it moved along to a new buyer but that shouldn't be a big deal, I'll do what's needed. Also, oddly the title has it listed as a '60 - but it's pretty clearly a '56 so I don't know the story on that. I kept peeling away layers of paint on the tool box to see if there was any original down there - the orangish-red is the factory "aztec red" which was introduced to US market TBirds in '56. You'll see I'm including a few extra bits picked up along the way to help the restorer - the tank trim and badges, nacelle flash, a good brake drum/sprocket. Also a spare Tbird primary cover. That is a "new" repro seat cover - the foam might be usable, but the seat pan is in pretty bad shape. This has been sitting in my basement since 1992. I guess it's just not a priority for me to restore, so I'd like to move it along to somebody who'll do something with it. Please email with any questions (except asking what the reserve is). Thanks for looking! On Apr-26-10 at 09:47:30 PDT, seller added the following information: By the way, in case it isn't obvious from the pictures anything that was chrome is not in the lovliest of condition. The chrome on the wheels is particuarly nasty. But, if you're planning a proper show quality restore (and I think this bike deserves it...) I wouldn't count on any of it being usable as is. Ditto with the plating on the fasteners etc. IIRC the Monobloc carb has the proper stamping for this year and model (376/42, I think) according to the Bacon Twin Restoration book. If you can't tell from the picture, the ammeter is pretty hammered - glass gone, face messed up, and I can't attest to it's functionality. I'll probably add more details as I think of them... On Apr-26-10 at 15:14:57 PDT, seller added the following information: Includes a 1/2 tank of genuine vintage oil!!! On Apr-27-10 at 19:46:31 PDT, seller added the following information: I found a reprint of the parts manual for the bike which will go with it. After flipping through it - I'm compelled to point out I'm not advertising this bike as 100% complete. It's not. If you don't see a part in any of the pix, there's a real good chance I don't have it and never did as it's pretty much in the same state I bought it in. A couple things I noticed - don't think I ever had the chainguard for it. Also, some of the front end bits - steering damper hardware, fork tube caps - I doubt are around. I have some boxes of bits laying around and if I can find anything else I think goes with it, I'll post more revisions... On Apr-28-10 at 17:28:39 PDT, seller added the following information: Still looking for stuff - I actually did find a steering damper knob/shaft/lower nut in a box. Might not have been from this, I've had a few of these old PU projects over the years but it'll go with the bike. Also a nice unused knob for the nacelle electrical switch and some NOS Lucas points - no idea if they'll fit a 6T distributor or not. Continuing to rummage through my boxes of crap...