Inherited TVR- Advise needed!!
Discussion
Hi all,
I recently inherited my dads 1990 S3 TVR and with myself being fairly new into the TVR world I am looking for some advise/ help. The car has been sitting in the garage since 2008, never being driven due to my dads work commitments. Prior to this he/we used to go out at every given opportunity, including going to many of the car shows etc. I started showing interest a couple of years back as I was determined to get it back on the road, however it was then when I discovered the dreaded rotting outriggers!! After this I soon lost interest due to the costs of the replacements
Anyway now, as said, my dad has decided to hand over the keys to my good self leaving me with even more determination to get it sorted, especially now as I am also in a good position funding wise. Yesterday, after playing around with a few bits for half hour or so, I managed to get it running but soon found the clutch also to be 'knackered'. The pedal feels really light, and I can also easily put it into any gear whilst the engine is running and without pushing the clutch down (hope that makes sense?), so I can only assume that this is a whole new clutch system?
So my questions, I am now thinking I will need a good, reliable garage to complete the outriggers task and sourcing/ fixing the clutch... so the first question is the best place for this? I am situated in the midlands (Staffordshire) so the nearer the better, although the quality of the work must come first
Second question is just a quick one, my dad said that the car was overheating leaving me to question the fan.. is there a known fault with this? such as a fan switch or something around that area?
I apologize in advance for my descriptions/ 'car lingo' not being the best. As I said, this is a complete new game to me. Although I am fairly practical, I have only completed minor tasks on the mechanical side of a car!
Thanks,
Joe.
I recently inherited my dads 1990 S3 TVR and with myself being fairly new into the TVR world I am looking for some advise/ help. The car has been sitting in the garage since 2008, never being driven due to my dads work commitments. Prior to this he/we used to go out at every given opportunity, including going to many of the car shows etc. I started showing interest a couple of years back as I was determined to get it back on the road, however it was then when I discovered the dreaded rotting outriggers!! After this I soon lost interest due to the costs of the replacements
Anyway now, as said, my dad has decided to hand over the keys to my good self leaving me with even more determination to get it sorted, especially now as I am also in a good position funding wise. Yesterday, after playing around with a few bits for half hour or so, I managed to get it running but soon found the clutch also to be 'knackered'. The pedal feels really light, and I can also easily put it into any gear whilst the engine is running and without pushing the clutch down (hope that makes sense?), so I can only assume that this is a whole new clutch system?
So my questions, I am now thinking I will need a good, reliable garage to complete the outriggers task and sourcing/ fixing the clutch... so the first question is the best place for this? I am situated in the midlands (Staffordshire) so the nearer the better, although the quality of the work must come first
Second question is just a quick one, my dad said that the car was overheating leaving me to question the fan.. is there a known fault with this? such as a fan switch or something around that area?
I apologize in advance for my descriptions/ 'car lingo' not being the best. As I said, this is a complete new game to me. Although I am fairly practical, I have only completed minor tasks on the mechanical side of a car!
Thanks,
Joe.
Any car that been laid up for that amount of time will need work..
What's the plan a get on road then rolling type restoration or tackle it head on..?
By rights a partial body lift is the minimum required for outriggers.. If they look bad from what you see there will be much worse hidden.. Was she indoors for the 8'years? That said these little cars are great, rare and well worth saving.
Brakes will need a full overhaul, certainly a clean and check of all rubber hoses. Check the rubber fuel lines too for cracks.
Replace tyres as they will be over 5 years old could even be 10 check the date on the sidewall.
Clutch is hydraulic and I actually had your symptoms from a MC failure.. See if the lever one the side of gearbox is moving / jammed / broken etc, I was driving at the time and following a lay up would have suspected it would be jammed on not off ?
Cooling issues could be many things but yes if it's full of water run up to temp or short the otter switch to see if fan comes on.. Or is seised, with power off can you turn it, smooth as silk or grinding? If it s free but doesn't come on then check fuses and wiring to fan it's pretty vulnerable just under the front crossmember.
First thing IMHO would be to check the chassis condition, I got my s3 1992 for free as the chassis was totally goosed and needed a full body off to repair. If you need this RT in Sheffield have a good reputation or others have gone DIY the parts (steel tube) are cheep if you can weld and it doesn't need the chassis jigs (mine did)
Clutch could be the unit itself, slave and or master cylinder issues.
Do you have any pictures of the car / outriggers..?
Cheers, good luck
Damian S3
What's the plan a get on road then rolling type restoration or tackle it head on..?
By rights a partial body lift is the minimum required for outriggers.. If they look bad from what you see there will be much worse hidden.. Was she indoors for the 8'years? That said these little cars are great, rare and well worth saving.
Brakes will need a full overhaul, certainly a clean and check of all rubber hoses. Check the rubber fuel lines too for cracks.
Replace tyres as they will be over 5 years old could even be 10 check the date on the sidewall.
Clutch is hydraulic and I actually had your symptoms from a MC failure.. See if the lever one the side of gearbox is moving / jammed / broken etc, I was driving at the time and following a lay up would have suspected it would be jammed on not off ?
Cooling issues could be many things but yes if it's full of water run up to temp or short the otter switch to see if fan comes on.. Or is seised, with power off can you turn it, smooth as silk or grinding? If it s free but doesn't come on then check fuses and wiring to fan it's pretty vulnerable just under the front crossmember.
First thing IMHO would be to check the chassis condition, I got my s3 1992 for free as the chassis was totally goosed and needed a full body off to repair. If you need this RT in Sheffield have a good reputation or others have gone DIY the parts (steel tube) are cheep if you can weld and it doesn't need the chassis jigs (mine did)
Clutch could be the unit itself, slave and or master cylinder issues.
Do you have any pictures of the car / outriggers..?
Cheers, good luck
Damian S3
Lucky bugger 
...
Welcome to the friendly world of S ownership. Lots of people on here who have lots of knowledge and experience and willingness to help. I wouldnt have been able to do mine without them.
First of all I would suggest you get to know what information is already archived here, have a look at the 'wiki's' at the top of this page. Many a time you will find the answer there.
The search function on PH doesnt work well for us, (the letter S confuses it!), but if you do a google search by TVR S then add your subject you are likely to see a list of PH threads displayed which leads to even more info.
It would be great if one of your local owners decided they could give you a visit, might not be that many on PH over the bank holiday but lets see if someone offers within the week. I am in Lancashire, just a bit far for an easy visit.
... Welcome to the friendly world of S ownership. Lots of people on here who have lots of knowledge and experience and willingness to help. I wouldnt have been able to do mine without them.
First of all I would suggest you get to know what information is already archived here, have a look at the 'wiki's' at the top of this page. Many a time you will find the answer there.
The search function on PH doesnt work well for us, (the letter S confuses it!), but if you do a google search by TVR S then add your subject you are likely to see a list of PH threads displayed which leads to even more info.
It would be great if one of your local owners decided they could give you a visit, might not be that many on PH over the bank holiday but lets see if someone offers within the week. I am in Lancashire, just a bit far for an easy visit.
If you are in Staffs you share the county with Stoke on Trent. And Sportmotive, TVR specialists. Who are in Stoke.
Unless you are a skilled, well equipped, mechanic, I would talk to them and see if they will collect the car and make you a priced up "to do" list, ideally in stages marked
" getting it through the MOT"
" getting it waterproof"
" cosmetic tidying"
(Other headings are available)
They have the knowledge and facilities to do this for you if they are willing.
They design and build chassis for TVRs, so the outriggers will be well within their skill set, but other jobs can be more easily done while you have the body off, so some planning is a good idea. And a good friend of mine drives his car all the way there from Norwich for paintwork jobs.
Unless you are a skilled, well equipped, mechanic, I would talk to them and see if they will collect the car and make you a priced up "to do" list, ideally in stages marked
" getting it through the MOT"
" getting it waterproof"
" cosmetic tidying"
(Other headings are available)
They have the knowledge and facilities to do this for you if they are willing.
They design and build chassis for TVRs, so the outriggers will be well within their skill set, but other jobs can be more easily done while you have the body off, so some planning is a good idea. And a good friend of mine drives his car all the way there from Norwich for paintwork jobs.
Thank you all for the replies!!
As an update, after Damians reply I decided to have a closer look into the clutch issue and managed to rob my partners dad, who is a mechanic. After having a play and look around, we found that the clutch appears to have seized whilst disengaged (I think he called it the back plate???). From this we also found that the clutch fluid had 'done a runner'. So I will therefore get some fluid tomorrow and top it up, in hope that this may help in freeing up the clutch. Again sorry if this makes no sense!! But I have already learned something today so there is hope
The initial plan is to get the car up and running, get it through an MOT and making it road worthy. I am fairly confident that, once the mentioned problems are addressed it will not need to much more doing on it for the time being. The inside and body work is very tidy in my eyes.. apart from the drivers door has dropped which I believe is another common fault? The engine also doesn't sound or look in too bad a shape, thats why its a shame about the outriggers!
As a reply to Shauns message, I am based in Rugeley.... any advise or help would be much appreciated!!
I will also look at the TVR specialist in Stoke thank you.
Thanks,
Joe.
As an update, after Damians reply I decided to have a closer look into the clutch issue and managed to rob my partners dad, who is a mechanic. After having a play and look around, we found that the clutch appears to have seized whilst disengaged (I think he called it the back plate???). From this we also found that the clutch fluid had 'done a runner'. So I will therefore get some fluid tomorrow and top it up, in hope that this may help in freeing up the clutch. Again sorry if this makes no sense!! But I have already learned something today so there is hope
The initial plan is to get the car up and running, get it through an MOT and making it road worthy. I am fairly confident that, once the mentioned problems are addressed it will not need to much more doing on it for the time being. The inside and body work is very tidy in my eyes.. apart from the drivers door has dropped which I believe is another common fault? The engine also doesn't sound or look in too bad a shape, thats why its a shame about the outriggers!
As a reply to Shauns message, I am based in Rugeley.... any advise or help would be much appreciated!!
I will also look at the TVR specialist in Stoke thank you.
Thanks,
Joe.
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Greetings Joe,
Im around the midlands too (Birmingham) & came across countless issues restoring my S1, ended up taking it to just any mechanic at first & wasted £££ as the problems didn't really go away. Just to throw another name in the hat i can highly recommend Tony at TJ auto's in Coventry, his carried out all the work on my 'S' including a full body restoration (check the post here)
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Steve
Im around the midlands too (Birmingham) & came across countless issues restoring my S1, ended up taking it to just any mechanic at first & wasted £££ as the problems didn't really go away. Just to throw another name in the hat i can highly recommend Tony at TJ auto's in Coventry, his carried out all the work on my 'S' including a full body restoration (check the post here)
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Steve
QBee said:
Central TVR are another option. They are to the northwest of Birmingham, to the west of the M5.
Loving the cryptic location, just tell him the address!Gassing Station | S Series | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff