Simon Kotsailidis 1970 TR6 Rest-Mod

Let me introduce myself. My name is Simon Kotsailidis and my wife Marie and I moved to the valley from New York in 2001. We live in Southeast Chandler. She is a CPA and I work for Woodside homes as a back-end Superintendent. We both dabble in the real estate market for kicks. When we need money, we buy a house and resell it!!! We’ve met some great people here and call it our home. I’ve always had my heart on the TR6 since I could remember….And I’m only 37 years old! My wife knew that if given a choice, I would rather have a beat up TR6 over a new Corvette. With that in mind, she gave me the green light to go and find a TR to restore. It is still a dream to me today that I own this car.

Yes, It is true…My 1970 TR6 has been in the process of a rest-Mod since last May of ’06. The details of this resurrection are as follows. I bought the car from a young man in California through a non paying Ebay bidder. The car needed drastic mechanical work as well as body work. There was not an inch of straight metal on it! There was a blown differential and the car could not be driven more than 3 MPH. The car sat on the side of my house until I could evaluate which way and extent I should go with the restoration. Well, Luck would have it as we cashed out of an investment property when my wife Marie, decided to get this poor car back on the fast track to its former glory.

Soon thereafter, I was on the phone talking to Tony Vigliotti of Ratco (Ratco.com) ordering the best of upgrades on my new frame. It took about three months to get but worth every moment and penny. The frame arrived late in January of ’07.  I sent the motor out to Gruelichs engines (Gruelichsengines.com) for a rebuild along with polished and ported heads, Roller rockers and balancing. Greg Gruelich did a wonderful job. The bumpers were restored and rechromed by Papago Plating in Phoenix. Next up was the reliability and strength of a Toyota 5spd from Herman Van Den Akker. (HVDA.com) Herman was awesome to work with as he had great patience with me deciding which clutch and hydraulic bearing would work with my setup. New Laycock pressure plates were sourced out of England, so I bought two of them!

I am one who believes these cars are to be driven and enjoyed and to be shown to the world on our everyday streets. My restoration was to make this car bulletproof yet look absolutely original from the outside. Richard Good (Goodparts.com) was a great help in communicating his upcoming new products. Aside from purchasing his Diff conversion, I waited two months for the release of his Nissan Axles which I received in great excitement! Richard has been amazing at calling me with status reports.

The bodywork started off great until I received the tub from the shop (name withheld for now) after three months to find it had been painted in a wind storm! I was soooooo disappointed that it affected my life for days until I mustered up the courage to complain. They took the tub back and after another $1500 and two months, I received it only 40% better. I ordered new sheetmetal and assembled the car. After searching high and low for a restoration shop willing to take on my project, I had finally found Liquid creations (Liquidcreations.net) and met Spencer the owner. He is a dedicated car buff and places attention to details. His beliefs are to make it look gorgeous since his reputation stands behind the work. It is finally going to be painted in the next week or so after intense re-bodywork to clarify the wrongdoings of the last shop. 

In conclusion, This car will be repainted a slight darker shade of french blue, have a supercharger, alloy radiator, alloy sump and rocker cover, Toyota trans, Nissan diff and axles, Ratco powdercoated frame with coil over shocks. A new driveshaft made by Mesa Driveshaft will replace the old unit, NOS Tail lights and sidelights, Leather seats, NOS BL 8 track radio, New wiring  powerblock harness (Britishmcce.com) , electric cooling fan, Stainless headers and exhaust, Mallory Unilite Distributor with tach drive and Hyfire IV ignition, and more goodies!

Most important of all, is my loving wife. She has been the rock through all this. It is through her support that is making this possible…..Our spare bedrooms are now parts bins! I hope to have the car ready by September and look forward to meeting everyone!