Triumph TR6 Door Pulls
The door top pull (waist rail) finisher assemblies originally planned for the TR model were coloured to match the interior trim colour of the car. This was not incorporated in the production TR. The foam filled and shaped door top pulls were only fitted to models up to CR/CR12501. After this the door pull was incorporated as a pocket in the face of the door liner panel, and the door top finisher was reduced to being a simple black vacuum formed vinyl covering.
The original method of production for the waist rail trim, dashtop and crash rail padding is called foam box moulding. It isn’t really suitable for mass production, especially as it involved 3 separate operations. The first is the metal press tool to produce the mounting metalwork (as in the crash padding). The second is the vacuum forming tool, which puts the shape and grain into the vinyl. Finally, these two components are assembled into a box which aligns the skin correctly relative to its metal work and expanding foam is injected between the two. Open the box and out pops the finished article, though this may need light trimming. Regrettably, though this trim is nice when new, both skin and foam are easily damaged. The foam also seems to succumb to the ravages of sunlight, not that too much ravaging by sunlight occurs in the UK. The actual crash protection offered is negligible and the hardness of the foam varies considerably.