12 replies to this topic

[IainStallard]

RIght, here goes, first project thread ever, and an interesting car too!

 

Having been involved with racing for much of my life (My dad and I compete in hillclimbs and sprints), I've been trying desperately to insure one of our cars for the road (a TVR Vixen). However, due to my age, I found this to be impossible due to age, modifications and probably other factors.

 

So out of interest, I decided to look at other cars and insurance prices (sad I know!) and somehow ended up getting a quote on a TVR 350i, and for a reasonable price too! Insurance doesn't make sense does it?!

 

So the search for a Wedge began.

 

After a bit of searching, I'd found several Wedges on Car and Classic and Pistonheads, even Autotrader! After organising a viewing for a 400SE, the owner called me up on the day I was due to visit telling me that it had been sold, blast!

 

So the search continued...

 

Next one to view was a tidy looking 350i, which, also sold! Blast again!

 

My final viewing to see was another 400SE only down the road from me. On the surface, it looked good. But underneath, it looked more like a budget restoration, good from a distance but up close, needed far too much work. So walked away and continued the search...

 

Just when I was about to give up, I found another 400SE hidden away on a dealers website, so organised a viewing...

 

And here it is!

It was a tight squeeze into the trailer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

More to Follow!

 

 

[jagman.2003]

Tidy TVR, I've seen quite a few of them over the years at a friends garage & hillclimbing.

Don't forget it's a TVR & will try to kill you at some point....

[IainStallard]

Tidy TVR, I've seen quite a few of them over the years at a friends garage & hillclimbing.

Don't forget it's a TVR & will try to kill you at some point.... >

Tidy on the surface, however might be having to take the body off to repair a few sections of the chassis  All will be shown shortly...

 

And do come and say hello if you're ever out, I've regularly out with my dad at various venues over the country in our blue TVR Vixen (100 VXN) which you may have seen before

 

EDIT: And I fully understand that already, I've already had a big off at Harewood hillclimb last year when racing our Red Vixen!

Edited by IainStallard, 14 August 2015 - 02:01 PM.

[IainStallard]

Update alert!

 

And its bad news 

 

I was hoping to take it in for an MOT this weekend, well that plan has changed big time...

 

When I bought it, the rear lights needed attention as there were some odd issues to contend with. Turns out, it was an earth cable that had become disconnected, meaning everything was earthing through the hazards...oops...

 

One problem sorted! Onto the next...

 

Before the MOT, I decided to check everything over in case there was anything I'd missed, and there was 

 

A hole!!

 

 

 

This hole in the outrigger would be an MOT failure so that scraps the MOT this weekend! After a full look over the chassis, it turns out that there are a number of areas that need attention; the current plan now......

 

 

................chassis change! Ohh nooooooo, was hoping this wasn't turn into a big job, how wrong was I 

 

So body off, send chassis away to RT Racing to get it refurbed, and hopefully all is well!

 

Until another issue...

 

 

*******! Turns out this isn't the original engine either...and with no engine number, I can't track down this engines spec 

It also has a misfire and a chuffing noise somewhere that isn't the exhaust gaskets...looks like Investing in an engine refurb too...

 

For now, over and out...

[ace01]

Keep at it.  I bought my wife a TVR Chimaera in 2000 and she has only done a few thousand miles since.  The last three years it has been in a barn.  So I thought I would dig it out.  It misfired badly and despite the garage it went to insisting it was injector related, a new set of plugs and cables sorted it.  I had also been advised that the chassis was shot a few years ago by an MOT man.  The main reason it hasn't been driven.  It turns out that it was just a small hole in one outrigger, all the others are ok.  So I'm now about to get it taxed.

 

So keep going it looks great.

[jagman.2003]

Unfortunately chassis problems seem to be common on TVR's or any fibreglass bodied car.

I suppose there are no signs of corrosion until you climb underneath.

 

Good luck with the work.

[IainStallard]

Update time! Along with good and bad news!

 

I'll start with the good news...

 

I've been checking over the whole car, mostly focusing on wiring and news is good; not many additions have been made! I've removed a few scotch blocks and tidied up wiring in the engine bay. I've also discovered this:

 

 

The now defunct alarm and central locking system! Since I bought the car without any alarm fobs, I decided that the best direction to take was to remove it! It didn't work anyway so no great loss, I'm looking into reinstating it anyway with possibly a Cobra central locking system and immobiliser...

 

The clump of wiring I removed. Much tidier now and less to go wrong!

 

Tidied up the coil wiring in the engine bay

 

 

Also traced a few wires back to a switch behind the dash veneer for the front fog lights supposedly, didn't work so that got removed aswell! Will be re-wiring them shortly too.

 

Just a few more photos of the monster in its glory...

 

 

 

Now the bad news!

 

As previously mentioned, I'd been investigating an engine misfire. So I decided to carry out a compression test.

 

The results:

Every cylinder on the offside bank was between 180psi and 190psi which is perfect..

 

The nearside bank was a different story  lower compression on each cylinder (but not massively so) however cylinder 3 has no compression at all...not good news. With any luck, its a valve not sealing so a more simple fix, worst case is a piston with a hole in it 

 

More news as it comes!

[jagman.2003]

Good luck it's something simple.

[IainStallard]

Update time!!

 

Well it's a big update after this one!

 

The main thing is getting ready to take the body shell off the chassis. Have disconnected all of the body bolts, few rusty ones and sheared off one bolt but overall, things came off relatively easily! Aiming to remove the body shell this Saturday, fingers crossed!

 

Other news: I've managed to source a company that re-make the underbody spoiler which was missing on my car, and I've done a spot of painting   . I also discovered that the wiring to the front driving lights has been bodged with screw connectors and random wires due to a burnt out earth wire, so reinstated the original wiring and a new earth so hopefully won't have any issues when it comes to testing 

 

Some pictures of the impending body removal...

 

 

 

 

Enormous radiator (which also needs a re-core  ) and all other bits after removal

 

 

More photos once the body has been separated!

[IainStallard]

 

The body is off! Wish I'd left it on now though....

 

I was expecting there to be holes but not colossal ones in all 4 corners!

I'll let the photos do the talking:

 

 

 

Through the help of 10 people, we lifted the body off, 4 people along each side, and two to pull the chassis and engine out from underneath. Fibreglass is surprisingly heavy as it turns out!

 

Once the chassis was revealed, this is what we discovered:

 

 

 

 

 

Both outriggers had holes in at each end, with one of them covered up presumably to pass an MOT, what a bodge up...

 

 

We also discovered a hole on the other side of the tube next to the exhaust, not good either 

 

Fortunately, the engine and gearbox are now out and the rest can be dismantled!

 

 

 

Rear suspension removed:

 

 

Along with the diff; what a heavy lump that is!

 

 

With only 5 bolts seized throughout the whole day, I'd say we had a pretty good day!

 

 

More to follow...

Edited by IainStallard, 21 October 2015 - 02:07 PM.

[IainStallard]

Next, we decided to have a look at the cause of the chuffing noise coming from the engine. Good news and bad news!

 

The good news is, it's not block related! The bad news is, the head gasket had blown. The cause of which, was most likely a loose head bolt which wasn't torqued up correctly which I discovered when removing the heads.

 

 

 

Some more good news though: it seems like this is the original engine!

 

I have come to this conclusion as the heads have been heavily ported along with the inlet manifold, and that the pistons have been pocketed to allow for higher lift cams. This would have been standard as the car would have had an NCK modified engine from the factory.

 

So the next step, send the chassis to be basted, repaired and powdercoated at RT Racing in Sheffield, and work out a plan of action for the engine.

 

Full rebuild? Or change the gaskets and hope that it's all ok?

 

That's all for now folks...

Edited by IainStallard, 21 October 2015 - 02:16 PM.

[GraemeC]

Can you not get a new chassis for these - they sometimes work out cheaper than chasing the rot (and obviously quicker)?

[IainStallard]

Can you not get a new chassis for these - they sometimes work out cheaper than chasing the rot (and obviously quicker)?

 

Did look into that option however they no longer make the chassis for wedges unfortunately :/