Member Profile: Bill Berg

The Bill Berg Story – In His Words
By Terry Young

Bill Berg’s love affair with British cars began at an early age, with a 1961 Austin-Healey 3000 – a car he wishes he still owned! He later developed a taste for German, and most recently, Japanese cars. Before retiring as a USAF Master Sergeant in 1975, Bill traveled the world, experiencing many fine automobiles, and purchasing quite a few of them. After the Healey, he bought a year-old 1964 Mini Cooper, followed by a 1963 Porsche Carrera acquired in 1966, then a 1971 Porsche 911 purchased new in Germany. Returning to his British roots, he bought a 1962 MGA in 1996, followed by a 1998 Jaguar XK8 in 2008. Bill drove the XK8 while working on his recent project car – a 1960 Triumph TR3A. He sold the Jaguar, replacing it with a Lexus SC300, then finally the Lexus SC430 he drives today.

I got to know Bill and Barbara, his wife of 41 years, when I joined the British Motoring Club of Montgomery. That’s when I found Bill was restoring a TR3A, and documenting his progress with pictures. When I finally got to examine the car up close it was a sight to see. The restored chassis had already been mated to its 2.1 liter four-cylinder engine with its SU carbs and four-speed transmission.  It was the coolest thing you ever saw sitting there next to his Lexus, beautifully painted and just waiting to come to life. The rest of the car was in the garage next door. Upon entering you couldn’t help but notice the walls were appropriately decorated with a lifetime of British car memorabilia and Playboy’s first centerfold, Marilyn Monroe. I was delighted to find the dolly-mounted TR3A’s body partially restored. Now, the TR3A’s body was on its frame and the restoration was heading toward the finish line.

I hadn’t been to Bill’s in a while but I could see the tremendous amount of work he had accomplished. Over the last few months, Bill had methodically run wires, mounted relays, installed interior panels, carpeting, and countless other items. As I walked in, Bill greeted me with a hearty handshake and big smile. I marveled at the car as if seeing it for the first time. I’ve been visiting Bill from time to time, keeping up with the progress of his automotive handiwork and attempting to learn as much as possible while not wasting his time.  Bill has been very generous providing me with care packages of restoration material which have saved the day throughout my MGB’s restoration.

Today’s visit to Bill’s workshop would be special. Tom Miro, Russell Whigham and I were asked to help hang the silver lady’s apron, an unwieldy assembly of sheet metal, chrome trim and aluminum grill, containing her unique headlights and the word TRIUMPH prominently mounted under the famous TR book logo. It would take all four of us to hold the apron in proper alignment while bolting it into place.   Just prior to beginning this adventure, Bill had been puzzling how the control head assembly, which housed the horn and the directional signal switch, was supposed to connect mechanically.  The steering wheel is supposed to turn while the coaxially-mounted control head remains stationary. Unfortunately, both were moving together. We finally figured she was missing a stator tube, which fits inside the steering column, serving both as a conduit for the wiring harness and the mechanical connection for the control head. Due to its length, the stator would have to be installed prior to the apron. As the part was available only in the UK, the apron would have to wait.

As there was a lull in the action, I thought this would be an opportune time to ask Bill a few questions about this restoration.

Q: “Bill, when did you acquire the TR3A and what condition was it in when it finally arrived at your garage?”

A: First of all, the garage wasn’t built until I was sure I was going to restore a project car. I didn’t know which one yet, but in 2003 I had the additional 12’ X 24’ garage built anyway.  Soon after, I found a 1960 TR3A in Wedowee, AL. Here is the bill of sale, (pointing to the framed document by the rear door) but I didn’t get started until the following January. I bought it from a Mr. Charlie Norton. I rented a U-Haul truck and borrowed a trailer from Steve Griffin. Ron Pardo and T. F. Burrage helped load it all up and bring it to Montgomery.

Q. Was it originally silver?

A. No, the original color was Primrose Yellow with a black interior. It was black with red interior when I got it. Now it’s silver with a burgundy interior.

Q. What was the first thing you did?

A. First thing, I took the body off the frame and put it on a dolly so I could move it around the garage. Then I started sand-blasting everything. First the chassis, then I took apart the body and sand-blasted those parts. On the chassis, I used truck bed liner after epoxy  coating the metal, which worked out well.

Q. Did the engine run when you bought it?

A. The engine hardly ran. It had three kinds of pistons! I sent the engine to the machine shop, and when it returned, I replaced the stock 83mm bore liners with the 87mm size, which increased the engine’s displacement to 2.1 liters.  The machine shop refurbished the rods and balanced and reworked the crank. The transmission and rear end – which are original – haven’t been looked at yet, but should be okay.

Q. Were you able to get the parts you needed?

A. Yes, I was able to get the parts I needed from Victoria British or Moss Motors stateside, and some from the U.K. Like today, for example, I ordered the stator from TR Revington, Somerset, U.K.

Q. When you got the car did you punch a clock every day you worked on it?

A. No, but I did work at it every day for the first five years until about 2008. About then, I slowed down a bit. I was ready to take a break.  Then in about 2010, I started working on the body approaching refinement stages. With the chassis painted and the engine mounted I started the bodywork to get it ready to start painting – at least learning how to do body work and then
painting. Once I was satisfied with the bodywork, I made my garage into a paint booth.  First, I primed it in gray. Then, I finally painted the car with the finish color (silver) four times– stripping and repainting until I was satisfied. The finishing was done by wet sanding, with progressively finer paper, ending at 2000 grit. I used three stages of compounding and polishing liquids to get the
fine finish you see here (pointing to the car).  Persistence is the key to get the car to glow!

Q. I see you are down to the finishing touches – like wiring, finishing and installing the dash, getting the steering sorted, and of course hanging the nose.

A. Yes, I’m very close and hope to have it finished for the car show in October. I have to thank Tom for coming over and giving me a hand with a lot of small things that have added
up. His energy is contagious and is more that I have! We’re almost ready to get the engine started but I have some wiring to finish up first.  (Bill is additionally installing relays to help
reduce the load on the car’s electrical components. Ed.)

Q. So Bill, when its finished what are you going to do with it?

A. Drive the crap out of it!

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