My nightmare... errr restoration thread.

[cuneus]

Well done and thanks for taking the time to share it

[grahamw48]

Yes, great pics too.

Looks like the chassis could do with a good sandblasting though.
It looks pretty ropey compared to others I've seen.

[TVRleigh_BBWR]

Depends on how extreme you want to go,
But if you totaly strip the chassis of everthing inc bushes, then you could get the chassis acid striped.
I wish I did this with mine as it took longer than expected to strip it manually.

[blaineuk]

i will post some pictures of mine soon, i am hoping to put the wheels back on soon, every thing new/rebuilt and powder coated or painted, really want it finished now.

[blaineuk]

[Brap_Brap]

Disaster strikes!

I was trying to jack that last f***ing inch and a half that the N/S footwell
was caught on the chassis (see my previous pic-post) when I heard wood crack and
the body decided to go surfing across the garage. There was no stopping it, the body
outweighs me by about a factor of five.


This is how the car is presently sitting.



Luckily the plenum caught and held the front end.


Kiss the O/S outriggers goodbye

Luckily I did not remove the gear shift, but only the knob. It was the gear shift lever
which prevented the body from travelling further to the floor. I may have to replace the
shift linkage now, I'm not sure.

All in all I got EXTREMELY lucky! I've got 8 guys meeting me at the garage tonight to
do some lifting and sort this sh|t3 out.

Edited by Brap_Brap on Sunday 24th May 01:02

[Brap_Brap]

TVRleigh_BBWR said:

Depends on how extreme you want to go,
But if you totaly strip the chassis of everthing inc bushes, then you could get the chassis acid striped.
I wish I did this with mine as it took longer than expected to strip it manually.

I wonder how paint stripper would work? I've been thinking of trying it, along with a wire-wheel attachment
for a grinder to get down to bare steel. I've got lots of time, but little money. If the "hard way" will do as good of a
job, I'm all for it.

[V8TVR1978]

Mike: Sorry about the mishap. Sounds like your not going into the dumps when you have a BooBoo. Hope everybody showed up tonight to lift.Will check back later to see if you have posted anything new. Do you have a TV in the garage to catch Sunday's races???? Alarm set for 4:00 AM and tape machines set. Good luck and talk later.

Wayne/Sherry Leppard.

[blaineuk]

Brap_Brap said:

TVRleigh_BBWR said:

Depends on how extreme you want to go,
But if you totaly strip the chassis of everthing inc bushes, then you could get the chassis acid striped.
I wish I did this with mine as it took longer than expected to strip it manually.

I wonder how paint stripper would work? I've been thinking of trying it, along with a wire-wheel attachment
for a grinder to get down to bare steel. I've got lots of time, but little money. If the "hard way" will do as good of a
job, I'm all for it.

paint stripper will not work on powder coat, you are not having muck luck so far, you need to keep chassis together to make a jig before you cut the old bits out.

[Transmitter Man]

Mike,

Sorry about your mishap.

I used to run a metal refinnishing shop in a past life.

Expensive: Chemical strip then electro-phoretic primer. Make sure you drill plenty of drain holes. Expensive but will clean metal back to new including inside tubes and box sections. You can see this work and watch the vid's here: http://www.surfaceprocessing.co.uk/

Not so expensive: Strip chassis and get it to an iron grit blast facility (superior to sand IMO). This will not only clean the chassis back to bare metal saving you many hours of scraping and wire brushing but will offer a good key to any paint finishing treatment. Most decent shops will have access to powder coating but for superior finish (make that show finish) you should consider a good wet spray paint + oven curing. FYI it's only the second rate wheel refurbers that offer electrostatic powder coating as a finish when the original wheel manufacturers use wet spray which should tell you something!

Just my 2p - Your mileage may vary.

Phil
420 SEAC

[Brap_Brap]

Thanks for the advice.

Well, only 1/2 the people who said they'd show did, but 4 of us did get the body
properly righted again. I've got two engine hoists on loan and a pallet jack. Tomorrow
I'm going to run a couple slings under the wheel arches and lift the body using the engine
hoists, then once it's in the air, roll the chassis out from under it with the pallet jack.

As for the chassis, I've found a local place that rents out a sandblast pit for $50/hr, so given
the cheap cost, I'm not going to take shortcuts.

I'm also ready to order a complete set of new bushes, but given the choices between urethane, poly
and graphite, which is best? The graphite set says it's self lubricating. Has anyone tried them?


The body is nice and safe again. Luckily other than a couple scratches on the bottom, there's no damage at all.

[Brap_Brap]

V8TVR1978 said:

Mike: Sorry about the mishap. Sounds like your not going into the dumps when you have a BooBoo. Do you have a TV in the garage to catch Sunday's races????

Wayne/Sherry Leppard.

No TV, and I haven't owned one for over 10 years. Which races? TVR races? Tuscans?

As for booboo's, I was prepared for pitfalls when I bought the car, just not of my own making.

[blaineuk]

be careful lifting the car the way you intend to, pack all the door edges to help stop the body flexing and cracking, would it not be easier to put the wheels back on the chassis and roll it that way.

[Brap_Brap]

I had thought of that (wheels on) but I'm not sure I've got the clearance from the top of the windscreen to the garage door roller rail,
nearby also is the motor of the garage door opener and it hangs about 14 inches from the ceiling. I don't even have 8' ceilings,
they are only 7'9".

I've also got one more problem with rolling the car straight out. There's 2 broken down Datsun 260z's in the way which
at the present time cannot be moved. I've got no keys to unlock the steering on them, hence the sideways pallet jack plan.

As for wedging the doors, I was thinking of using a few carpet scraps in the cracks. I'd seen it done that way in a body
off thread I read here.

[edit] As for the side-crush force of using slings, I figured a 2x4 on top the car between the slings will stop that force.
Of course I'll have to wrap them up in cloth to avoid scratches.

Edited by Brap_Brap on Monday 25th May 15:44

[blaineuk]

sounds like you have it under control, i used carpet scrps on mine.

[TVRleigh_BBWR]

Brap_Brap said:

TVRleigh_BBWR said:

Depends on how extreme you want to go,
But if you totaly strip the chassis of everthing inc bushes, then you could get the chassis acid striped.
I wish I did this with mine as it took longer than expected to strip it manually.

I wonder how paint stripper would work? I've been thinking of trying it, along with a wire-wheel attachment
for a grinder to get down to bare steel. I've got lots of time, but little money. If the "hard way" will do as good of a
job, I'm all for it.

That's how I did the Racer Chassis, got threw about 4 drill brushes. did not use any paint stripper, would be best to completly degress the chassis 1st.

[adam quantrill]

Looks like you're getting on with it! Go over the chassis with a small hammer and tap each tube, to see how it rings. While you have it off you might consider replacing any that sound dull, but weld in a bracer bar parallel before you cut any out - saves using a jig.

Make loads of measurements too - I'm sure some of us can measure up relevant dimensions over this side to help you corroborate your dimensions.

[blaineuk]

here is the jig i made for my car

[Brap_Brap]

blaineuk said:

here is the jig i made for my car

That's brilliant. Thanks for sharing that. I might try and save a few bucks
and re-do my outriggers and sills piece by piece that way.


The body came off today without a hitch.



Lifting the front like this with the engine crane seemed to work out very nicely using a nice snug fitting 2 by 6 for added strength.


There seems to be some sort of subframe (for lack of better term) for the rear suspension that bolts onto the chassis. I've got some really nasty cracks in this vicinity.




These are only two of DOZENS of examples of why whoever welded my car should have been offered a blindfold, the customary cigarette, then shot!

My car is inundated with that crappy workmanship. I could teach a jonesing crack-head with a "need a fix shakey hand" to weld better than that after 20 minutes of practice!

Why TVR didn't fire that idiot on the spot I'll never know. It's a pity they didn't.

I've got more horror stories and pictures I could share but I'd just be upsetting myself.

To be continued...

Edited by Brap_Brap on Tuesday 26th May 10:09

[Brap_Brap]

adam quantrill said:

Looks like you're getting on with it! Go over the chassis with a small hammer and tap each tube, to see how it rings. While you have it off you might consider replacing any that sound dull, but weld in a bracer bar parallel before you cut any out - saves using a jig.

Make loads of measurements too - I'm sure some of us can measure up relevant dimensions over this side to help you corroborate your dimensions.

I'm taking it to a frame an alignment shop for my suspension and geometry problems.
I might do the outriggers if time permits, but there's no way in heck I'm trying to
fix this chassis myself. I'll leave it to the pros.