Dissassembly of Tuscan is complete... what now????

[MPETT]

Throttle bodies cleaned (6 hours of work with a dremel!) and fitted with the new green (high flow) injectors. Throttle cable installed and ignition leads fitted.

[MPETT]

I've now booked her in for her respray on the 1st of March!

I've decided to go with Ian at Sportmotive. Going for a full respray, (inc engine bay) in Reb Bull Racing Blue. This is the colour:
Also going to ask Ian to paint the alloys in gunmetal grey and reassemble the lights/bodywork/doors etc post painting. That should leave just the first run aof the 4.3 engine Powers Performance to make sure they are happy with the installation and then it down to me to reconnect all of the interal wiring.

If anyone has wiring diagrams for the cabin electrics that would be great. The radio pod and door opening switches were missing from the car when I bought it, so I need to do something to enable door opening! (I always have the eergency cable pull)

Got some busy weekends ahead of me! Rads and heater matrix installation, pedal box and steering column. Perfectly feasible and most of the bits have been cleaned up and test fitted, so hopefuly there will be no surprises!

Hopefully, I'm still on for Chatsworth, but it will be minus the new dials and interior elctronic mods I was hoping for

Martin

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Hi there PH.

Having a bit of a problem getting the rad to fit. I bought an Ali rad from rad tech and attached the fans and hoses, all seemed fine, but when fitting it the hose and the 90degree ali rad's hose tube is touching the bulkhead where the hose goes through to the oil cooler. Has anyone upgraded their radiator and had a similar fitting problem?

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Nudge...Does anyone have photos of the hoses going to their radiator for reference, or has an upgraded Ali rad on an early Tuscan? Cheers

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And she's off to paint today. In circa a month I'll have her back and the interior can go back in. Just the electrics to go and she can be started up for the first time!
At the start:


Last night:

[MPETT]

Well its been a little over a month now,......well its closer to 2 months and it will be a while longer. Ian, from Sportmotive, highlighted a number of issues with the alignment of the light pods and how I had intended to mount the lights. Long story short, Ian has remodelled the rear using the latest in CAD CAM technologies..... I lie, he's used the good old faithful spirit level and some tubing and some angle iron to hold it in place for the glassing process and the results look great! Much better finish than I achieved. Its now onto the front which needs some re-alignment and then onto primer!! Getting very excited. Went to Chatsworth today. What a turn out and very inspirational!!

Edited by MPETT on Sunday 28th April 22:25

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Edited by MPETT on Saturday 4th May 12:04

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Should be all done by the end of the week/ early next week!

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Not the fastest re-design paint job in the world (a number of issues were identified), but the look of the front and rear end is exactly what I wanted and.....that Red Bull Blue!!!!! Picking her up on Friday from Ian at Sportmotive!! Very excited!

[MPETT]

Picked her up from Sportmotive yesterday and to say I'm happy with the results is an understatement. I'm a very happy man.




The blue rags are not a styling feature, simply they are there to prevent any rubbing until the new seals are fitted and the apertures fitted so that they don't rub when opened.

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natben said:

Your car looks fantastic, You have a cracking car there.

Can I ask, how was your 3 series coupe for towing the Tuscan on the trailor, I was thinking of towing my Cerbera with my 3 series estate but thought it was a bit close to the weight limits and I would have had to have a towbar fitted electrics etc but it is something I am thinking about doing. Was it ok?.

George

Thanks for the compliments. Re towing, the limit is 1700kgs for the e46. The trailer (a-max from Brian James) is 560kgs so plus the kerb weight of 1100kgs for a tvr it comes in just below. As long as your tow car is unloaded you shouldn't go over the train weight limits. As for towing it was ok at 50mph. You can feel the trailer bumping up and down but it's manageable. I took it very gently as the BMW is my daily commute and she has 150k miles already, but the journey was good (except for the rain!). Cheers, Martin

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Jhonno said:

What was the trailer rated to though..? I might be getting confused with how they work it for licences, but if the trailer is rated to 1500kg say, you would be over in the eyes of the law.

Don't quote me, but I have been told by someone that tows for a living that its the weight that you are towing that is relevant, not the amount you could be towing. My trailer is a 2.6t trailer, so take off the 560kg weight of the trailer gives the trailer a max load of just over 2t. Obviously I'd need a bigger towing vehicle for that.

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Words can't express how happy I am right now. Im grinning from ear to ear! The electrics scare me and I'm sure there will be niggles in the future, but...... I turned on the ignition this evening and the immobiliser still works (could be turned off using the key and fob) and the fuel pump primed itself! So in theory all is go for the first engine start on Friday. I'm going back to Powers Performance to see Dom so he can check everything over, set everything up, fill with fluids and turn her over. I'd love to try it myself but I had to ensure i would preserve that amazing warrantee.

See you Friday Dom

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Got the car to Powers Performance on time this morning. Unloaded that car, and to my horror one of the chaps said, "there's a scratch here. It looks like a vandal has done this with a knife".


I couldn't believe it. I live in a quiet village and I've never had or seen any issues with vandalism.

He then walked backward and said, "look there's another one" This one is definitley a key" My heart sank.



OMG that is huge! I was that close to tears.....then I suddenly noticed......where's the f**king roof?????

Turns out I forgot to use the latches that secure the rear of the targa panel to the car and it had flown off en route, hitting the rear wing and door on the way down to hitting the road.

I decided to retrace my steps, and can you believe it.....I found it.



Its looked better, I have to say! But, the structure is undammaged and it can be put right. Looking on the bright side, a lorry could have driven over it, a car could have hit it and damaged the car or worse, someone could have been injured! Thank god, its just my pocket that is going to hurt and everyone is OK.

Lesson to everyone else... check you roof locks!!

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tvrboy55 said:

i'm amazed, how could you not notice the roof flying off whilst driving. at first, the sun shines on your head, then you get the fresh air comeing in. or is it, am i missing somthing hear?

It was on a trailer. Couldn't see the roof of he car in my rear view mirror, so had no idea!!

[MPETT]

m4tti said:

Is this still in red bull blue Martin.

Yup, red bull blue, mostly..... Except for the white glass fibre highlights on the roof

[MPETT]

This made the day a little bit better. The 4.3 with rear boxes removed and no cats, it sounds good!

http://youtu.be/oq-D9TdLNRA

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Managed to get the front lights working, but some of the connectors are badly corroded so i'll be changing them for new ones. On to the side repeaters tomorrow then the rear lights on Thursday.



Led side light bulbs

Full and dipped beam. I think I'll go for halogen upgrades instead of xenons.

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LOL....

You buggers

[MPETT]

Have had a chat with Paul chance of cl braking and he has confirmed that I have the cerebral 6 bolt caliper s and therefore can fit up to 330mm brake discs up front. Has anyone else fitted this mod to their tuscan? I was wondering if I'd need to upgrade the rear to counter the massive increase in braking power up front?