My Baby Blue Build
Discussion
Hi,
First post in the Griffith Forum.
About time I asked for some help and advice and shared what I have been doing with car.
Im fully restoring a Griff 500, I purchased the car which was half way through a restoration, mainly everything was out of the chassis apart from diff. the body work was having sections rubbed down. It was abit of a mess. When I first saw the car the tub was loosely sat on a part rolling chassis. I decided to purchase it!
So far chassis is all nut and bolt restored and fresh powder coating done, it is rolling with i'm 99% sure everything on there now (inc a AP Caliper 330mm disc upgrade and a Impreza STI steering rack. So far so good. Engine is in etc. A few pics to wet the appetite.
Body has had a full new coat of paint. and is slowly taking shape, I much prefer the engine section side of restoring a car than interior.
The photos are not doing the paintwork justice.
So im currently at the stage of building back up the inside and body work of the tub, I removed most stuff before it got painted (what was left anyway) and got bits and pieces out to clean which are covered dust. The only thing left in is the wiring loom.
So that's where I am so far.
Now I have gotten to a mind boggling blackpool incarnation of a heater system. So I have left this before refitting, as it looks a BI*CH of a job. Not to mention a few wires are hanging off the two motors
So first things first, Im pretty sure I can see how the wires work based on both motors having the same coloured wires. So thats easy. I have one upgrade in mind!
I WANT YOU OPINIONS!!
The valve which controls (I am presuming here) the flow of water into the matrix, this looks like it could be upgraded to a ford Ka affair, which I would actually mount on the inside of the passenger foot well going into the bulk head.
This Ford Ka >>
instead of this concoction>>
I would cut off the clips from the Ford Ka unit, remove the foam edging and seal this flush against the inside of the passenger foot well with some grommets too fill the whole to the engine bay. Then attach the pipes in the engine bay. My thoughts for doing this is hot water wont be actually finding its way into the footwell when the valve is closed, thus help keep temps down a little more.
Second this looks like a more reliable unit. My only thoughts are what is the wiring like for this unit. I am going to acquire one for free these next few days from a friendly scrap man.
Second issue is what looks to be the drainage pipes... See pic
So as you can see the two holes at the bottom of the unit are missing I believe a (plastic) nipple, I have an additional pipe like the one in the pic which has a snapped end of a nipple inside it. Which matches the bottom left hole. Do I need one for the right hand side hole is my question??
Thanks for looking!
Mike
First post in the Griffith Forum.
About time I asked for some help and advice and shared what I have been doing with car.
Im fully restoring a Griff 500, I purchased the car which was half way through a restoration, mainly everything was out of the chassis apart from diff. the body work was having sections rubbed down. It was abit of a mess. When I first saw the car the tub was loosely sat on a part rolling chassis. I decided to purchase it!
So far chassis is all nut and bolt restored and fresh powder coating done, it is rolling with i'm 99% sure everything on there now (inc a AP Caliper 330mm disc upgrade and a Impreza STI steering rack. So far so good. Engine is in etc. A few pics to wet the appetite.
Body has had a full new coat of paint. and is slowly taking shape, I much prefer the engine section side of restoring a car than interior.
The photos are not doing the paintwork justice.
So im currently at the stage of building back up the inside and body work of the tub, I removed most stuff before it got painted (what was left anyway) and got bits and pieces out to clean which are covered dust. The only thing left in is the wiring loom.
So that's where I am so far.
Now I have gotten to a mind boggling blackpool incarnation of a heater system. So I have left this before refitting, as it looks a BI*CH of a job. Not to mention a few wires are hanging off the two motors
So first things first, Im pretty sure I can see how the wires work based on both motors having the same coloured wires. So thats easy. I have one upgrade in mind!
I WANT YOU OPINIONS!!
The valve which controls (I am presuming here) the flow of water into the matrix, this looks like it could be upgraded to a ford Ka affair, which I would actually mount on the inside of the passenger foot well going into the bulk head.
This Ford Ka >>
instead of this concoction>>
I would cut off the clips from the Ford Ka unit, remove the foam edging and seal this flush against the inside of the passenger foot well with some grommets too fill the whole to the engine bay. Then attach the pipes in the engine bay. My thoughts for doing this is hot water wont be actually finding its way into the footwell when the valve is closed, thus help keep temps down a little more.
Second this looks like a more reliable unit. My only thoughts are what is the wiring like for this unit. I am going to acquire one for free these next few days from a friendly scrap man.
Second issue is what looks to be the drainage pipes... See pic
So as you can see the two holes at the bottom of the unit are missing I believe a (plastic) nipple, I have an additional pipe like the one in the pic which has a snapped end of a nipple inside it. Which matches the bottom left hole. Do I need one for the right hand side hole is my question??
Thanks for looking!
Mike
Edited by Mike8448 on Friday 13th January 09:17
As yet the interior is all black on black. I haven't gotten that far in terms of decision. It will be black carpet for sure.
I have a some thoughts on dash etc but won't be able to confirm till I get into fitting it all.
I'm aiming to get a full set of nitrons this month or next. Then tub can go on chassis.
I have a some thoughts on dash etc but won't be able to confirm till I get into fitting it all.
I'm aiming to get a full set of nitrons this month or next. Then tub can go on chassis.
I will most likely offend a few when I say this but I am not a fan of blue carpet. I'm trying to get my hands on some cerb sports seats.
That way I can get them trimmed appropriately. I had thought of a grey with orange stitch. I am still yet to decide.
Plenty of time to get it sorted. I'm having a week off starting Tuesday. Hopefully there will be some good progress.
That way I can get them trimmed appropriately. I had thought of a grey with orange stitch. I am still yet to decide.
Plenty of time to get it sorted. I'm having a week off starting Tuesday. Hopefully there will be some good progress.
Well it has been a while since I last updated this,
I didn't put up any pics of how the engine looked prior to its clean etc.
As you can tell the engine is in a sorry state of affairs.
So a damn good steam clean later
(Yes thats my other baby in the background)
Now for the heat resistant paint (Thanks to POR15!) the engine and gearbox, diff and prop all received the same treatment and look awesome.
Prop before!
Here is the prop getting a few coats of the POR15.
I made a load of progress on the engine since my last post! (Sorry for the angles, these were taken by my brother)
You will notice in this shot, that I have replace the original copper fuel lines for plastic hose. I also because of using the plastic, rerouted to the top of the chassis. I dont see why it needs to run underneath. This wont break or split it is design to carry hydraulic fluid under huge PSI.
All rubber hoses replaced for nice new silicone. I was thinking of going BLUE, the trouble is getting the right shade and I think nice clean stock colour but obviously shiney silicone black will look great. I think it has paid off. You can also see the nice chrome water pipes from ACT.
These have caused a slight headache. It appears the tabs that come on the water pipes were 3/4mm to thick either side of the tab bolt hole (6/8mm over all) per tab. So I had to break out the dremmel in order to get these to fit my cam covers. (This is a limited issue and Tim at ACT remembered someone previous mentioning the same thing)
While finishing up on the engine, you may have noticed the wiring has all been rapped up in blue. Now this was a easy but tedious process. Also extremely sticky and dirty one! I dont have any pics of this sorry. I found some interesting wiring and lengths of wire wrapped up in the loom. The biggest one being the Distributor to coil pack cable 
(You know the looping forward and back cables attached to the flame trap pipework). This is nearly 1.5M in length, I have no idea why TVR didn't just shorten this its crazy 
. I aired on the cautious side myself and thought about chopping out the excess then thought, this is a TVR, they are not renowned for good electricals. So I instead looped the exces int a T shape, Excess went down the length of the T and the coil and dizzy go across the T. Again sorry don't have any pics. I rerouted a lot of the cable and it fits alot nicer in my eyes.
Fitted the new leather surround around the windscreen. #NIGHTMAREJOB especially when your on your own.
Now for some interesting bits and upgrades.
Fully sound deadened the interior.
Completed the tunnel heat protection, ow this is alot of fun as I am sure many who have done this before. A true pain trying to align it all and then rivot while the glue is going off!
So ordered some nice new shiney bits.
You can just make out in this pic the numberplate recess. I have wrapped the whole recess in a tin foil type tape. Then wrapped in a led light system to back light the number plate properly.
"ah, what about the original wholes" I hear you say. Well what better way to seal them then stick with the good old fashioned method...
Yeah you guessed it. silicone mastic. I used some very strong duck tape on the inside. then filled the gap with mastic then smoothed this into the corners and edges. I have tested this by attaching half a numberplate. Then pouring water in behind it to see if there were any leaks. I left it for 5 days to be sure, and im happy to report not a single leak!
Well that is it for now. I am pretty close to getting the body back on the chassis. Hopefully before February raises its ugly head.
My current checklist is long!
Fit spot lamps
Fit headlamps
Fit sidelights
fit blue conduit to cabling under body
Lower tub onto chassis
Bolt tub to chassis
Connect break and clutch lines to alloy boss
connect break master cylinder to engine breather
connect under body cables.
Connect earth to chassis from body (engine)
Connect and seal engine wiring to tub wiring sealing in bulkhead.
fit dashboard and instruments
connect all engine hosing and fill with coolant
connect air con pipes
fit fuel tank
connect to fuel pump
fit male type breather to fuel expansion line
connect fuel return pipe.
clean and paint (possibly wrap) exhaust manifolds
clean and paint (possibly wrap) exhaust y pipe
fit exhaust manifolds and y pipe
fit exhaust system and under neath bracket.
fit additional carpet and trim
fit seats
This is just what I can think of at the moment!
I didn't put up any pics of how the engine looked prior to its clean etc.
As you can tell the engine is in a sorry state of affairs.
So a damn good steam clean later
(Yes thats my other baby in the background)
Now for the heat resistant paint (Thanks to POR15!) the engine and gearbox, diff and prop all received the same treatment and look awesome.
Prop before!
Here is the prop getting a few coats of the POR15.
I made a load of progress on the engine since my last post! (Sorry for the angles, these were taken by my brother)
You will notice in this shot, that I have replace the original copper fuel lines for plastic hose. I also because of using the plastic, rerouted to the top of the chassis. I dont see why it needs to run underneath. This wont break or split it is design to carry hydraulic fluid under huge PSI.
All rubber hoses replaced for nice new silicone. I was thinking of going BLUE, the trouble is getting the right shade and I think nice clean stock colour but obviously shiney silicone black will look great. I think it has paid off. You can also see the nice chrome water pipes from ACT.
These have caused a slight headache. It appears the tabs that come on the water pipes were 3/4mm to thick either side of the tab bolt hole (6/8mm over all) per tab. So I had to break out the dremmel in order to get these to fit my cam covers. (This is a limited issue and Tim at ACT remembered someone previous mentioning the same thing)
While finishing up on the engine, you may have noticed the wiring has all been rapped up in blue. Now this was a easy but tedious process. Also extremely sticky and dirty one! I dont have any pics of this sorry. I found some interesting wiring and lengths of wire wrapped up in the loom. The biggest one being the Distributor to coil pack cable (You know the looping forward and back cables attached to the flame trap pipework). This is nearly 1.5M in length, I have no idea why TVR didn't just shorten this its crazy . I aired on the cautious side myself and thought about chopping out the excess then thought, this is a TVR, they are not renowned for good electricals. So I instead looped the exces int a T shape, Excess went down the length of the T and the coil and dizzy go across the T. Again sorry don't have any pics. I rerouted a lot of the cable and it fits alot nicer in my eyes.Fitted the new leather surround around the windscreen. #NIGHTMAREJOB especially when your on your own.
Now for some interesting bits and upgrades.
Fully sound deadened the interior.
Completed the tunnel heat protection, ow this is alot of fun as I am sure many who have done this before. A true pain trying to align it all and then rivot while the glue is going off!
So ordered some nice new shiney bits.
You can just make out in this pic the numberplate recess. I have wrapped the whole recess in a tin foil type tape. Then wrapped in a led light system to back light the number plate properly.
"ah, what about the original wholes" I hear you say. Well what better way to seal them then stick with the good old fashioned method...
Yeah you guessed it. silicone mastic. I used some very strong duck tape on the inside. then filled the gap with mastic then smoothed this into the corners and edges. I have tested this by attaching half a numberplate. Then pouring water in behind it to see if there were any leaks. I left it for 5 days to be sure, and im happy to report not a single leak!
Well that is it for now. I am pretty close to getting the body back on the chassis. Hopefully before February raises its ugly head.
My current checklist is long!
Fit spot lamps
Fit headlamps
Fit sidelights
fit blue conduit to cabling under body
Lower tub onto chassis
Bolt tub to chassis
Connect break and clutch lines to alloy boss
connect break master cylinder to engine breather
connect under body cables.
Connect earth to chassis from body (engine)
Connect and seal engine wiring to tub wiring sealing in bulkhead.
fit dashboard and instruments
connect all engine hosing and fill with coolant
connect air con pipes
fit fuel tank
connect to fuel pump
fit male type breather to fuel expansion line
connect fuel return pipe.
clean and paint (possibly wrap) exhaust manifolds
clean and paint (possibly wrap) exhaust y pipe
fit exhaust manifolds and y pipe
fit exhaust system and under neath bracket.
fit additional carpet and trim
fit seats
This is just what I can think of at the moment!
Edited by Mike8448 on Friday 13th January 09:42
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