Re: 1985 TVR 350i - Drag Racing!

[misterbob]

Have put some engine flush in the engine, so that everytime I start it up, it'll be helping to flush out those oil galleries.

I always try and get the engine up to full operating temperature before I switch it off, and today, decided to reward myself with a *little* engine rev. This was taking it to about 3.5K RPM:


;D

Didn't Goose it much as I haven't been through the engine properly yet, oh, and it's bloody loud and didn't want to upset the neighbours too much!

[misterbob]

Today a box arrived:



What could be in this box



Why, there's a pair of BRAND NEW 'Ford' M16 Calipers in there!



And my, that looks rather like a spacer kit to enable the calipers to be fitted to vented discs.



Did someone mention vented discs?



Yep, drilled, slotted and grooved discs! ;D

I just have to check that all of this lot will fit properly now. The spacer kit is intended to be used with 20mm Capri vented discs. They are smaller in diameter and narrower than the 24mm discs (MK2 Granada) I have here, not to mention being four, rather than five stud.

The good news though is that if I have got it right, I've just got a vented disc upgrade, with brand new calipers, delivered for £164! ;D

[misterbob]

E-bay strikes again!





Won these for 80 quid! ;D Hopefully picking them up on Sunday on my way back from a friend's wedding

[BenKH]

Those wheels are lovely! They'll look the dog's danglies on your TVR

[Alpina99]

I had a number of "run-ins" with one of these when I was running a tuned TR6 as daily transport,
I can only assume he ran out of nerve on the bends because he should have eaten mine for breakfast, made me feel good though,
Always liked TVR's, nice car, please keep the updates coming,
:-)

[ChasR]

Lovely car indeed. Great choice on the new wheels .

[jizzy gillespie]

ive never owned one unfortunatly, but i have great memories of one, when i was an apprentice mechanic about twenty years ago, the garage owner stored one of these for a mate. it was bright red and it had a black leather interior. it was my job to take it out once a week to keep it fresh, imagine an eighteen year old kid in a v8 tvr with an hour to kill ;D ;D ;D.
i didnt get paid much , but this perk more than made up for my poverty at the time.

[misterbob]

Sept 14, 2011 23:43:06 GMT Alpina99 said:

I had a number of "run-ins" with one of these when I was running a tuned TR6 as daily transport,
I can only assume he ran out of nerve on the bends because he should have eaten mine for breakfast, made me feel good though,
Always liked TVR's, nice car, please keep the updates coming,
:-)

Well, it should be 'lively' to say the least. I'm sure I'll find out how planted it is once I get to drive it.
Suspension lay-out and geometry looks pretty good, so we'll see.

Very happy to keep the updates coming, especially when people are reading them

[misterbob]

Sept 15, 2011 17:58:38 GMT ChasR said:

Lovely car indeed. Great choice on the new wheels .

Thanks very much! Can't wait to actually get them home. Will see what they're like in the flesh, but am thinking about giving them a really big buffing/polishing with an electric polisher. I want to see those wheels SHINE

[misterbob]

Sept 15, 2011 18:20:59 GMT jizzy gillespie said:

ive never owned one unfortunatly, but I have great memories of one, when I was an apprentice mechanic about twenty years ago, the garage owner stored one of these for a mate. it was bright red and it had a black leather interior. it was my job to take it out once a week to keep it fresh, imagine an eighteen year old kid in a v8 tvr with an hour to kill ;D ;D ;D.
I didnt get paid much , but this perk more than made up for my poverty at the time.

What an amazing story! I'm amazed you're still alive, the recipie of an 18 year old with a car like this sounds frightening! ;D

What were your impressions of it on the road, I've never actually driven one you see!

[misterbob]

okay, so, last weekend I picked up those lovely wheels I won on e-bay.



Turns out they're Italian rims made by MIM, and they're the 'stinnes' design. They've also NEVER BEEN USED!!!

Mmmmmm, tasty! "But Bob!", I hear you cry, "There are only three wheels there! Where's the fourth?"



Here it is, test fitted to the car. Sadly the effect is somewhat underwhelming, but that is due to the wrong tyre size being fitted to the rim.
The tyre fitted to the new rim is a 205 55 15, whereas it should be a 205 60 15, like the one at the rear of the car.

I'd half been toying with trying some non-standard tyre sizes, as there's a limited choice of tyres in 205 60 15, and non of the really tasty tyres like Yokohama Advans or Toyo T1R's are available in this size.

However, after seeing this, it HAS to be the original tyre size. OR if I get lucky something with the same outer radius.
15" V-rated performance tyres seem a rare thing nowadays though. Don't they realise some of us drive old FAST machinery ;D



The rims do look nice on the car though, I'm sure they'll look fab with the right size tyre on.
Out of interest, what's the general concesus on here. Do people prefer the original lattice, cross-spoke style wheels, or these new multi-spokes?

Anyway, time to introduce the 'Project Director' of the restoration. The man I turn to for advice and direction with what I should be doing and what I should be spending my money on! ;D



My old man!

If you ever hear me refer to a 'we' you'll now know the other party involved.

Dad's looking particularly happy here for two reasons. Firstly he's next to a runnning Rover V8, and a 3.5 which is his favourite of the lot. And seccondly because it's now a thoroughly de-gunked, clean Rover V8.
How did we get to this stage? Allow me to illustrate:



Jack up the front of the car and place on axle stands. Using a spray pump *drench* the engine, and also the chassis etc. in Jizer and leave to soak for a minute or two.



Then, add 'Dad' with a power washer. Should I have been concerned when Dad said 'let's see if we can blow any holes in the chassis'?



Ever Watch Knight Rider as a kid? Now you know how they did the 'Turbo Boost' scenes! ;D



More jet-washing.

We repeated the procedure for the rear of the car, with the result that I now have a clean, gunk-free chassis and engine bay. Ready to start some serious spannering!

[misterbob]

Had a scrappy hunt on Saturday, one of my favourite pastimes ;D

Called into Podders on the outskirts of Nottingham. Not been in some years, but it's ALWAYS a great yard, with dozens of cars you're free to wander around and pick parts off at will. A proper scrappy

Anyhow, the very first thing I see, which was parked prominently outside the yard was this very sorry looking Jag XJS.



This got me excited, as I'm on the lookout for a 3.54 ratio Salisbury diff. The diff in the TVR is almost certainly coming out for various reasons. It's a pig of a job to do, and seeing how I'm largely certain mine isn't a Powrlok (LSD), it seems a good time to do an upgrade.

All XJS's, to my knowledge, were fitted with LSDs, and the early XJS's had the salisbury 4HA like my TVR.

Sadly all the drivetrain was already sold. Thankfully to a jag collector and not someone building a gaudy cobra replica!

Anyhow, peering inside I spotted some very nice leather seats. Even more amazing is they were in the same shade of blue my interior is in!

My seats are in a pretty awful way. The velour is 'bald' in places, and not having leather seats in that car, I think, really spoils the interior to an extent.

So, tonight I headed back over to the yard with some measurements, and to take a second look.





They will be a *very* tight fit, if I can get them to fit, but the real clincher was the price. £80 for the pair! I couldn't leave them in the yard for that price.

So, left a deposit, and I'm going back there tomorrow evening after work to pick them up

[sumpcracker]

I love your car.
A friend if my mum is selling one he has had for many years, to my knowledge its very tidy.

Thanks to this thread I'm going to have a look with a veiw to buying it.

[misterbob]

Sept 27, 2011 22:31:22 GMT sumpcracker said:

I love your car.
A friend if my mum is selling one he has had for many years, to my knowledge its very tidy.

Thanks to this thread I'm going to have a look with a veiw to buying it.

Wow thanks man, that's very kind of you. Your 944 is beautiful too, was half considering one myself as it happens.

Possibly THE most important thing to check on these wedges, or any TVR really, is the state of the chassis. The outriggers in particular are prone to corrosion.
The good news is the mechcanicals are strong and simple, and fairly easily sourced. Switch gear can be a headache though, but far from impossible.

Please let us know how you got on, if I can help you with any tips to look for, just drop me a line. I'm by no means an expert on these cars but am learning so much about them it's unreal

[misterbob]

My good friend Charlie popped over yesterday in his stunning V8 X-pack Capri



It's one of the few times I've been at home when the neighbours are likely to be out. So, once the engine was fuly warmed, we decided to see what she sounds like given some 'toe'



Now what makes you think that engine's been running massively rich for a LONG time ;D I dread to think what the tops of the pistons looked like before I did that. Not to mention there probably being a huge collection of sooty deposits around the valves and manifolds!

Good news though that there wasn't a hint of any blue smoke. Engine seems to be healthy mechanically at least. Should be sweeeeeet when I've stripped all the FI off and cleaned and serviced it.

Of course, Charlie had to have a go too. This is what a mapped 4.2 sounds like!



;D ;D

[mk2polobloke]

[quote author=misterbob board=readersrides thread=110402 post=Out of interest, what's the general concesus on here. Do people prefer the original lattice, cross-spoke style wheels, or these new multi-spokes?

[/quote]

Personally I think the original X spokes suit it better.
However, if I was gonna change the wheels I think I'd go or some 16" rims and fit slightly lower profile 50 or 55 series tyres to keep the rolling radius the same.

That really is a lovely TVR you have there, certainly appears to be very clean and sound example. Good to see you're fixing it up properly and cleaning and tidying it up as you go.

[misterbob]

Oct 1, 2011 14:13:19 GMT mk2polobloke said:

misterbob said:

Out of interest, what's the general concesus on here. Do people prefer the original lattice, cross-spoke style wheels, or these new multi-spokes?

Personally I think the original X spokes suit it better.
However, if I was gonna change the wheels I think I'd go or some 16" rims and fit slightly lower profile 50 or 55 series tyres to keep the rolling radius the same.

That really is a lovely TVR you have there, certainly appears to be very clean and sound example. Good to see you're fixing it up properly and cleaning and tidying it up as you go.

You know, I was somewhat underwhelmed by them when I had them on the car, but I'm fairly certain that's because the tyres were so damn small!

Going to 16" rims would open up a world of options. Finding 'performance' rubber in this tyre size is a sturggle.
The trouble is finding some 16" rims, with the right PCD, and which suit the car, is not easy. Added to which, they're usually very expensive.

Thanks for your kind words on the car. Tempting though it is to do a quick job and slam it through an MOT, I know it'll only cause me grief in terms of unreliability.
I want a car I can take out and be proud of showing to people. It's quite a way from that yet. I suppose in that regard RR is a place to air your 'dirty linen'

[misterbob]

Had a bit of a general fettle this weekend, of some of the parts I've accumulated.



These are the filthy old XJS seats I got from a local breaker. First job was plenty of hot soapy water and a good scrub!



Thankfully dad had some Hide Food about he uses on the seats of his e-type. This is what one of them looks like after an application. Not bad eh? Plenty of regular feeding should see those stiff old hides softening up



One half of the pair of TR7 headlight units I picked up from e-bay. The 'wedge' TVRs used this basic setup (with bespoke fibreglass headlight pods) for their pop-up headlights.



Headlight pod unbolted to leave just the motor, mechanism and bracketry.



Headlight pods minus the H4 headlights which I will be using on the TVR. One of mine has a HUGE crack in it, so these spares made the price of the headlight units worth it alone



Another view of the removed TR7 pods. These are now surplus to requirements, so if anyone wants them, let me know. No reasonable offer refused



Was REALLY chuffed to pick these up. These are CIBIE Airport 35 driving lamps. These are the original driving lamps the car had when new. The front air dam is even moulded to accept them perfectly.
As you can see from the early pictures of the car, it had some very ratty Lucas replacements, which are not in great shape, and don't suit the car IMHO. They're up for grabs too if anyone wants a pair of retro spot lights?



As you can see, these old CIBIE's are in quite a bad way cosmetically. So I've stripped them down for some paint. You might ask why it's worth bothering. Well, a new pair of Airport 35's, IF you can find them are about £180!!!



Lens and reflector separated from casing.



As you can see, the reflectors are in really good shape, which is the most important thing
I now have the bezels and the light casings separated and rubbed down ready to re-spray in black. Interestingly, I have a picture of the car when it was only a couple of years old showing that the original driving lamps had black bezels. Makes me feel better about not having them re-chromed ;D

[MiataMark]

Oct 4, 2011 19:36:19 GMT misterbob said:

I now have the bezels and the light casings separated and rubbed down ready to re-spray in black. Interestingly, I have a picture of the car when it was only a couple of years old showing that the original driving lamps had black bezels. Makes me feel better about not having them re-chromed ;D

I have a pair of these spotlights, IIRC the black bezels were on factory fitted lamps, e.g. Marinas, Jags etc. I'm pretty sure my pair came from Pressed Steel (in Swindon)

Mine are currently part dismantled for "restoring" and maybe fitting to the Discovery. Although one of my reflectors is damaged. Also got a single Cibie Oscar, not much use only having one though.

Mark

[misterbob]

Oct 4, 2011 20:45:05 GMT MiataMark said:

Oct 4, 2011 19:36:19 GMT misterbob said:

I now have the bezels and the light casings separated and rubbed down ready to re-spray in black. Interestingly, I have a picture of the car when it was only a couple of years old showing that the original driving lamps had black bezels. Makes me feel better about not having them re-chromed ;D

I have a pair of these spotlights, IIRC the black bezels were on factory fitted lamps, e.g. Marinas, Jags etc. I'm pretty sure my pair came from Pressed Steel (in Swindon)

Mine are currently part dismantled for "restoring" and maybe fitting to the Discovery. Although one of my reflectors is damaged. Also got a single Cibie Oscar, not much use only having one though.

Mark

Hey mark. Interesting info that
If I was you, I'd get them back together in some sort of reasonable shape, and advertise them as TVR wedge lights. You might just get enough from them to buy yourself a new pair of lights for the Discovery. They seem to be pretty rare lights.



This was the car sometime in 1986/1987. You can clearly see the black bezels!