TriumphTR4

Triumph TR4 Parts

Much of a TR4 was shared with the TRs around it, from the engine family of the TR2 to the centre of the TR6's body. What is still made and what is not, what interchanges, and the clubs that keep the cars' records.

Looking down into the engine bay of a red Triumph: a polished rocker cover and two SU carburettors with chrome air-filter covers.
A polished, finned rocker cover, a dress-up part of later years, on the twin-SU engine of a red car filed as a TR4, at Catton Hall, Derbyshire, in May 2014.SG2012, CC BY 2.0

The TR4's engine is the wet-liner four that every TR had used since the TR2; the same body, altered in detail, clothed the TR4A, the TR5 and the TR250; and its centre survived in the TR6, to which Karmann gave a new nose and tail. In 2009 the German TR Register's guide found almost every part on offer, and cheaper than before now that dealers bought from the Far East, though the quality often left something to be desired: new body panels often needed fettling to fit, it warned, while engines, gearboxes (transmissions) and axles, rebuilt by specialists, were readily available on an exchange basis.⁠1​2​3​4​5

What is still made, and what is not

A few parts had stopped being made altogether when the German guide was written: wheels, steering parts, the horn push that carries the indicator switch, and instruments. An insurer's buying guide of 2024 adds the windscreen (windshield) frame. Supply changes from year to year, so each list records what its author found at the time, and the buying guide says what to check on a car for sale.

Some parts are made to bring earlier TRs up to the TR4's standard: the TR Drivers' Club's magazine mentions kits that give a TR2 or TR3 rack-and-pinion steering like the TR4's. No source read says whether new frames or complete new bodyshells are made for the TR4 or the TR4A.

Two suppliers are among this site's sources. Rimmer Bros of Lincoln publishes a parts catalogue for the TR2 to the TR250; Revington TR, in Somerset, lists the running changes to the TR4 and the TR4A by commission number.⁠5​6​7​8​9​10

A red Triumph TR4 with its hood down and pale steel disc wheels with small chrome hubcaps, at a village show on dry grass.
Steel disc wheels on a red TR4 at Earls Colne, Essex, in August 2025: wheels were among the parts the German guide of 2009 found no longer made.kitmasterbloke, CC BY 4.0

What interchanges

Parts cross the family in both directions, older cars taking later parts and later cars keeping earlier ones. The table gives what the sources document; where a part is not listed, no source read says either way.⁠5​3​4​11​7​12​1​13

PartShared withWho says
Body shellThe TR4A, TR5 and TR250, whose shells differ only in their lamps and, on the six-cylinder cars, their inner wings (fenders)The German TR Register
Centre of the bodyThe TR6, under Karmann's new front and rear; Revington TR lists the doors, windscreen frame, floors, sills (rocker panels) and bulkheadRevington TR; the TR Register
Frame and suspension partsWith few exceptions, the TR4A's are those of the TR5, TR250 and TR6The Vintage Triumph Register
Steering-column switchesThe TR4A's are essentially those of the first TR6s, which have black trim instead of chromeThe Vintage Triumph Register
Lower wishbone bracketThe TR6's two-stud bracket, which replaced the TR4A's, fits the TR4AThe Vintage Triumph Register
Radiator shroudA TR6 shroud bolts onto a TR4AThe Vintage Triumph Register
Gaiters (boots) for the inner universal jointsThe TR250's fit the TR4A with independent rear suspensionThe Vintage Triumph Register
Gearbox and differentialInterchangeable among the TR4A, TR5, TR250 and TR6; a TR3A gearbox cannot be made into the TR4's, whose case is differentThe Vintage Triumph Register; the TR Drivers' Club
EngineThe wet-liner four from the TR2 to the TR4A: changing the liners changes the size, for the 2-litre engine or the TR4's larger oneCar and Driver, 1961; the Vintage Triumph Register
Carburettors and manifoldsA pair of SUs or of Zenith-Strombergs, with their manifolds, either of which can be fitted to a TR4's engineThe TR Drivers' Club
Front brakesThe TR4's Girling 16P calipers, used again on later TRs until the TR6 changed to another caliperThe TR Drivers' Club; the Vintage Triumph Register
A blue Triumph TR6 parked beside a red Triumph TR4, both seen head-on in a car park, showing how the nose changed.
A red TR4 with its hood (soft top) up beside a blue TR6, both facing the camera, at a breakfast meeting at the Haynes Motor Museum, Sparkford, in September 2017.Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0

Clubs and registers

The clubs keep the cars' records and much of the knowledge of how to run them. Those whose guides and archives the pages draw on are named here.

  • The TR Register, in Britain: a registrar for each model, the magazine TR Action, a technical archive for its members, and a guide for buyers of either car.

  • The TR Drivers' Club, in Britain: its "Early Cars" pages on the TR4 and the TR4A, and articles from its magazine on the TR4 and the Dové.

  • TR-Register Deutschland, in Germany: Bruno Dwinger's history and buying guide of 2009 for the TR4, the TR5 and the TR250.

  • The Vintage Triumph Register, in the United States: pages on the TR4 and the TR4A, Arthur Kelly's checklists for buyers, and archives of the American importer's owners' newsletter and of Standard-Triumph's American service bulletins.

  • The British Motor Museum, at Gaydon: Heritage Certificates from the factory's build records, which date a car's building and give its colour and market.

No source read covers TR clubs outside Britain, Germany and the United States.⁠14​15​16​17​5​13​18​19​20​21

The front of a red Triumph TR4A seen almost head-on, showing its horizontal-bar grille, twin headlamps and wing-top lamps.
A red TR4A with the badge of TR-Register Deutschland's Hannover group on its grille, photographed in June 2008.Lothar Spurzem, CC BY-SA 2.0 de

Sources

Every source the site cites is on the sources page.

  • Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  1. Dennis May, "Technical Report" on the TR-4 (cover story), Car and Driver, Oct 1961, pp. 19–23, pp. 19–21: the wet-liner engine, its liners and the 2-litre size; pp. 19–21: the liners and the two sizes. Primary
  2. Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 1: TR4 and TR4A", Ate Up With Motor, 22 Oct 2012, the TR2 to TR4A engine; the TR4A and TR5 bodies. ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/triumph-tr4-tr4a/view-all Reference
  3. Revington TR, "Technical Specification Change Points" (TR6), the TR6's retained centre section; what the TR6 kept: doors, windscreen frame, floors, sills, bulkhead. revingtontr.com/the-tr-series/tr6/technical-specification-change-points Reference
  4. TR Register, "Triumph TR6 Buyers Guide" (facts sheet), the TR6 body: Karmann's new ends; the TR6's centre section and substructure. tr-register.co.uk/resources/buyers-guide/triumph-tr6 Reference
  5. Bruno Dwinger, "Geschichte, Typenkunde und Kaufberatung: Standard-Triumph TR4, TR5/TR250 – 'die Michelotti Autos'", TR-Register Deutschland, 2009, 13 pp. (PDF), p. 13: parts supply, the Far East, exchange units, panels that need fettling; p. 13: parts not remade in 2009; p. 6: the TR4 to TR250 bodies; lamps and inner wings; Bruno Dwinger, 2009. tr-register.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Kaufberatung-TR4-und-TR5-und-TR250.pdf Reference
  6. Goodwood Classic Solutions, "Buyer's guide: Triumph TR4", 1 Nov 2024, the windscreen frame. insurance.goodwood.com/buyers-guide/triumph-tr4-2 Reference
  7. TR Drivers Club, "Triumph TR4", rack-and-pinion kits for the TR2 and TR3; the gearbox case; the SU and Stromberg sets; the 16P calipers. trdrivers.com/articles21/triumphtr4.html Reference
  8. Graham Robson (essay "15 Years of Evolution"), Triumph TR2 – TR3/3A, TR4/4A – TR5, TR250 1953–1968 Parts & Accessories Catalogue, Rimmer Bros, edn 2.1 (source code TR2512), Part 1, p. 1: Rimmer Bros of Lincoln and its catalogue. rimmerbros.com/images/PDFs/TR2-5_Part1.pdf Reference
  9. Revington TR, "TR4: Technical Specification Change Points", the change points by commission number. revingtontr.com/the-tr-series/tr4/technical-specification-change-points Reference
  10. Revington TR, "TR4A: Technical Specification Change Points", the change points by commission number. revingtontr.com/the-tr-series/tr4a/technical-specification-change-points Reference
  11. Vintage Triumph Register, "TR4A" (history, change points and yearly output, buyer's and spotter's guides, numbering), "Availability of spares": frame and suspension, switchgear, gearboxes and differentials, the lower wishbone bracket, the radiator shroud, the TR250 gaiters. vintagetriumphregister.org/tr4a Reference
  12. Vintage Triumph Register, "TR6" (history, year-by-year changes, US production table, buyer's guide), the TR6's front calipers. vintagetriumphregister.org/tr6 Reference
  13. Arthur Kelly (the VTR's TR4 consultant), "TR4": "A Historical Overview of the TR4" and the TR4 commission-number page, Vintage Triumph Register, the engine family and its liners; the TR4 consultant's pages. vintagetriumphregister.org/tr4 Reference
  14. TR Register, TR Register (UK club), home page, home page: TR Action, the model registrars, the technical archive. tr-register.co.uk Reference
  15. TR Register, "Triumph TR4 / TR4A Buyers Guide", the club's TR4 and TR4A guide. tr-register.co.uk/resources/buyers-guide/triumph-tr4-4a Reference
  16. TR Drivers Club, "Early Cars: The TR4", the club's "Early Cars" pages. trdrivers.com/earlycars/tr4.html Reference
  17. Steve Dival, "The Dove GTR4", TR Drivers Club, a club magazine article. trdrivers.com/articles21/thedovegtr4.html Reference
  18. Arthur Kelly, "Triumph Buyer's Guides" (general checklists), Vintage Triumph Register, Arthur Kelly's checklists. vintagetriumphregister.org/buyers-guides Reference
  19. Vintage Triumph Register, "Triumph Service Bulletins" (group): the US technical service bulletins from T-60-1 (Dec 1960), the US service bulletins in the Register's archive. vintagetriumphregister.org/triumph-service-bulletins Primary
  20. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September 1961 (TR-4 special issue), Sep 1961 (vol. VII no. 9), the importer's owners' newsletter, in the Register's archive. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOASep61.pdf Primary
  21. British Motor Museum (BMIHT), "Heritage Certificates", build records: date, colour and market. britishmotormuseum.co.uk/archive/heritage-certificates Primary