Tuscan Challenge Road Car (at the moment) build project

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teamHOLDENracing said:

Front hubs are handed, you should be able to tell if you have a pair by inspecting the thread to see if one is left handed and one right.

The front uprights are interchangeable, it is the hub flanges that are handed.

The hubs have been known to shear off. Not a nice failure as you lose your steering quickly followed by your brakes - and this type of failure caused the death of a spectator at Castle Combe some years ago when an errant wheel flew off and hit him in the chest. I had a similar failure in 2003 - but fortunately my wheel did not depart and I stopped without hitting anything.

If you don't know the history of the hubs (i.e. how many hours they have done since new or since last tested) then you should replace them or have them magnaflux crack tested. Which I'm afraid means stripping them and putting in new bearings when done. Sorry

Hey not a problem...don't want to have an issue that wouldn't be good, I will be taking y son George in th car, so safety is first end of....just finding this a bit frustrating ...still no diff mounts or spacers for the rose joints ....I can't justify having a set made as costs would be silly....

Even though they appear to have had v.little / no use I will get the hubs apart and get them crack tested, a pita but couldn't live with myself if I didn't and something went wrong.


I will check "handedness" tonight I am sure the hub nuts shouldn't be the same colour...hope I havent got two from the same side...


Thanks for posting advice and thanks for the emails with info too, appreciated

Edited by schimg on Wednesday 14th November 06:24

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wadsapple said:

Hi Steve

I use TIS in Bristol to test my hubs Technical inspection services on 01275 871130 see this thread earlier in year..

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...


please change the bearings anyhow they are about £20 not worth taking the risk ,i will send you the part number i just got reminded by this post

Hi Perry....thanks mate...looks like bearings will be ditched and the hubs tested...once I know I have a pair and not two of the same...hope things are good with you ...

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This is what I am referring to...

Both hubs and bearings...









Started to clean them up...but will hold fire now dependent on the outcome of the last few posts..

Top ball joints arrived today ...QH parts

Edited by schimg on Wednesday 14th November 21:18

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Managed to get one of the hub nuts undone yesterday...as expected definatly "handed", with the thread running in the opposite direction...so as I have a pair with yellow inserts in the nut.....I have two for the same side of the car...I reckon they are both nearside...I am sure my chimaera one's were yellow and green..

We weren't so successful with the second hub...we snapped a snap-on 1/2ins drive extension bar on it!

I left it with the garage...snap-on man was calling yesterday pm...won't get chance to pick it up until monday now as on the tvrcc stand all weekend...we have a real racing theme there...sat in graham's car yesterdat trying to figure how I can make it work...looks like I need a drivers side flange...

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Right...think I have a pair of granada rear hubs sorted...now need the splines...found a pair of front end splines off a scorpio 4x4, are they interchangeable with the rears?

thanks in advance...

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Well been buying some stuff....but not the right stuff!

Going on the parts list I sourced some granada rear hubs of an "f" granada...drove to St Neots today collected them...took them off the suspension that came with the purchase....

cleaned one of the sets up...took a couple of hours...



the drive flange up against the driveshaft that I have with the bits I purchased....bu**er...the bolt holes didn't match.




....what a shame I didn't swear....honest...hoping I had got my thinking wrong I took a photo on my mobile and sent it to graham...he replied...you have the small ones...or similar..oh joy!

The bearing housing meets up with the upright nicely...




Question is is the bearing the correct size?

If so I can salvage the bearing housing....or chuck it all back on ebay and start again!

I will need a pair of drive flanges ...lesson I should have sourced Cosworth rear hubs and flanges...

Still need a set of rose joint spacers and adjusters and 12/9 bolts...

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schimg said:

Well been buying some stuff....but not the right stuff!




....what a shame I didn't swear....honest...hoping I had got my thinking wrong I took a photo on my mobile and sent it to graham...he replied...you have the small ones...or similar..oh joy!

The bearing housing meets up with the upright nicely...




Question is is the bearing the correct size?

Hi there,

Not had a response to this post...be really grateful if some one can confirm if the ubs bearing carriers and bearings are the same as those that take the "Larger" Cosworth type spline?

Am I just best going for a griff chimaera rear wheel bearing carrier and output splines?

Thanks in advance

If so I can salvage the bearing housing....or chuck it all back on ebay and start again!

I will need a pair of drive flanges ...lesson I should have sourced Cosworth rear hubs and flanges...

Still need a set of rose joint spacers and adjusters and 12/9 bolts...

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Geoff38 said:

Those uprights are the same blue as mine....

Are the thing is they are actually purple...just crap camera flash!

But thanks....see you have two "helmet hoops " on your cage was thinking of cutting mine single one off to smooth the lines, but that will make it look like my Chimaera..

So want to weld another one on on the passenger side and cut out the "diagonal cross bar so the the passengers head doesn't hit it if there is a drama....how did you get the shape the same?

What do you think about those bearring housings...will they work?

Thanks in advance ...

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Geoff38 said:

Hi , the second hoop was already on the roll cage when I brought it , there are some small modifications in the seating area of the chassis as well which I assume are to accomodate the passenger seat.
as to the hub bearings , you will have to speak to someone more expert than me , someone like Mat Smith may be able to help you. but I do have a selection of different ford hubs and carriers as I have a griffith which has the standard 4 stud hubs , I brought a set of granada 5 stud hubs and carriers from ebay to possibly convert the griff to 5 stud but have not tried them to see if they are compatable.
I also have a complete drive train from a scorpio cosworth which we dismantled but that is four stud .
My tuscan rear hubs are original racer ones which came with the chassis. I also have a set of unknown quality front uprights which Plasticman very kindly gave me , one had a seized bearing which I have managed to get apart by destroying the hub nut.( well my brother did it )

I need a set of upper front wishbones and some rose joints etc to complete my rolling chassis.
oh and a bodyshell , I have a bonnet and hopefully a lead on a useable engine sometime in the future.


Cheers
Geoff.

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for your reply appreciate you asking for me re my 4x4 bearing housing and splines...

Sounds like the granada cosworth drivetrain would have the size of rear splines that would do the trick?

Perhaps the five stud rear granada hubs I have might suit a griff for a five tsud conversion?

I have a couple of spare sete of the upper front wishbones, so can help you out there...

I live in Nuneaton Warwickshire...


Be good to talk

Edited by schimg on Wednesday 12th December 06:44

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Geoff38 said:

Steve , I just noticed that You came to st neots to get the hub's , shame we had not been in touch earlier as our project barn is about 3 miles from there.

Always the way Geoff!

Would have been good to see what you have there...so am I correct in thinking you only have one set of rear hubs / splines?

cheers

Steve

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Graham said:

Iirc its the drive flanges that bolt to the cv joint that are the problem not the hub that bolts to the wheel. The none cossy drive flanges are smaller.

I dont know if the bearing housing and bearings are the same. Not been able to find a spare set to measure

Thanks G

I am hoping that I only need the Griff - chim output splines and can make use of the bearing housing and granada rear hubs that I have....probably being a little hopeful tho...

on the bright side I have just won a gear knob!
Priorities right there then!

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My Cerbera Rear Calipers and rear discs arrived today...

At this stage I am going for Cerbera 450 brake set up.....AP rears and "6-bolts" fronts...

These are the one's on my cerbera rears...



and the fronts...



O.K.not massive but good enough for an 185 - 190 mph road car..I will fit a balance too..

This is a starting point...

And has common parts to the cerbera...and are desirable if I want to move them on...plus have another pair of fronts for spares...

The excess paint was cleaned off before fitting too....

Edited by schimg on Thursday 13th December 21:33

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Staying out of the garage today...

Quick update on ...Brakes...I have now recieved the cerbera rear calipers and discs...more importantly they are in good excellant condition..



never the less .I sprayed the bleed nipples with penetrating fluid left them three days and undid them ...no problems...

I now have an engine... a 500 RV8 out of a Chimaera, I went in the car prior to the engine being removed it pulled v.well had good oil pressure and appeared honest , and ticked all the boxes


The engine came with ecu, wiring air flow meter all ancillaries including the aircon unit!.. (which I possibly try on my cerbera as the one on that appears to be playing games), the wiring loom which thoughtfully had been labelled up when the engine was removed.


The clutch worked well with decent feel and the engine came with a T5 box...changed gear fine...no nasty noises...



I will change the friction plate....study the rest


Dropped the pullies off the front of the engine to generally clean and check..plus dropped the plenum off (might fit a thermal plate, if one comes along) won't mess with trumpets or enlarge the throttle inlet (at this stage...more important priorities)however the valley gasket is starting to loose the coating .doean't appear to be a massive issue but will change it ..so will remove the inlet manifold and replace this.

But the engine is starting to look a lot cleaner....



polishing plenum and stripping off paint...



Right better get back to the turkey leftovers

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davetripletvr said:

Like what you have done so far Steve, seems to be coming together, any more updates and pictures would be good. Think you should update on a weekly basis. Wouldn't mind coming and having a look in the flesh.

Cheers Dave...kettle always here here matey...things will move on even more this week...as I am off to give Graham a hand bringing the Speed 12 down to the NEC in the morning...

Jonny (who maintains the SP12) has put together a set of the spacers (44)..and 8 adjusters all of the .12/8 high tensile bolts..nuts and washers (even the one's I neeed for the shocks) ...he is gonna show me how they go and has labelled them all up....even he is a nice man!
Now I will get the 22 rose joints...might try and get a deal at the Autosport show (I am there setting the tvrcc stand and working on the stand fr the whole event, oh Joy, thats four days work I could throw at this!)

I am picking up my front calipers from Brummiewedge and a set of carbon lorraine pads to go with the brakes..on Thursday off Paul as he is aat the show.

Then Graham Walden is bringing me a pair of the elusive headlight covers to the show ...he is going there to have a drink with his racing buddies evidently!!!

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Erijaso said:

Steve, have you decided what your interior is going to look like?

I always wanted to convert one of these and wanted to try and emulate the original 1988 prototype road version.

G

Hi Graham,

Well I was going to go for a similar dash to the one that I saw in Peter Wheelers challenge car, but then I came accross this body which had already been trimmed...and a fair bit of work already done on the dash side of things....

Ginny hoovered and cleaned all of the carpets (which have now been removed and stored away...


as (at the moment I intend to do the car in a cabury purple...it would be good to carry the purple theme through to the interior...now this might mean I just re-trim the edges of the carpet that came with the car or make new carpets and get them trimmed with purple piping...I still have half a hide from when I did the interior of my cerbera...

But the dash even had some TVR dials in there plus a loom which I will go through replace joints with solder and heat shrink and put wiring in protective casing...



However I have won a set of white dials off ebay speedo rev counter temp and a clock! Need a white oil pressure gauge next..

I also need some seats not sure which way to go ...TVR Tuscan seats was one consideration the other is one's out of an elise similar, or something like omp.ssparco...again not sure which will fit...

Be interested to see what they came up with on the interior of the show car though...might be the way to go...got any images?


I have been cleaning and prepping the engine ..






Gonna get the plenum engraved too!

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Well still haven't given up on this project (yet!), my Dad passed away a couple of weeks back so been busy sorting that side of things but here's a quick update..

Took the valley gasket off....and sump and rockers...
The inlets look like they have had some work...



The cam lobes look fine...and the inside of the engine is very clean with no gunge / bad deposits



Been buying stuff...24 rose joints...the spacers and headlight covers and some stainless fixings...





Then set George to work!



He's done a cracking job...

Fronts...




Rears...









Now it's diff and driveshaft prep time..


Plus I have stripped the front hubs bare...and sent them off to be crack tested...


Now I am awaiting the results....if they are cracked I am in the poo...and out of pocket for the testing

Need diff mounts...Graham Walden has lent me a set which fit my diff...so need another pair...or get some made....

I will take it all apart agaain once I know I have all the bits...then I will sort the chassis and cage out

As I am no mechanic I would appreciate any comments - pointers on stuff that I have done that is wrong...and needs altering...

Thanks in advance...

Edited by schimg on Wednesday 13th March 20:48

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Well got the results of the crack testing.....one good one cracked....probably the best money I have spent on this whole project even though I am wee'd off about it!

Imagine what would have happened if I had cut that corner.....especially as I intend to take my son George in the car...mind he willbe probably old enough to drive it by the time I have finished it lol!

Looks like I need a nearside hub...

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Griffithy said:

Hi Steve,

I am very sorry to hear about the passing of your dad.

Thank you very much for sharing your project with us.
Sadly I can not be of much help,
but I am following it with big interest.

All the best!

Thanks for the kind thoughts dad was an ex para dropped on d-day...taking some his ashes back to the chateua in Ranville where he dug with his bren gun..appreciated.

Pleased that you find this interesting...sometimes feels like I am just tryinmg to blow my own trumpet on here..concious that it's a racing forum not a rebuild forum!

Thanks Steve

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Question

Been advised that the rear uprights for the cars have a couple of variants...

I assume ( and we know what does)that these changed when the race cars moved from 16ins rims to 18ins rims...

As I have a set of 18ins OZ split rims ...I need to establish that I have the correct rear uprights...

Are these the correct ones?



tia

as ever appreciate responses

Edited by schimg on Sunday 24th March 17:07

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Here we go then..genuine Tuscan rear brakes...ex Colin Blower..the covering is protective wax...note how one piston sticks out more than the other...these are solid grooved ...I have been the challenge cars were considered to be over braked at the back so they went for lighter discs...these calipers have never seen fluid..not been used...I need rota's tho...




See the packaging...addressed to Mr Blower...

the front discs and rota's are again genuine unused...340mm



The cerbera 450 "6-bolt" calipers fit...





These have Carbon Lorraine pads...

I have cleaned up the diff...had the end cover off...couldn't see any visible damage...





After painting and cleaning up all of the brackets and such like I have sealed it back up ready for oil now...






I have managed to get brand new rear splines ...supplied to TVR




Now I will get the rear wheel bearings and assemble the rear hub assembly...

I will also fit the rear arb ..I will decide later if I will connect it though...cleaned it up though





I have also acquired another header...requiring a bit of love ...



Started to clean up though...


Plus turns out to be stainless...matching the one I already had...

Plus Les (TVR Chimaera) kindly engraved the plenum for me

and Ginny painted it...it will be lacquered after a couple of more coats of paint...

Engine looking more complete now valley gasket fitted


Need to do fuel rail next...might get it zinced ar just paint it...then will fit the plenum etc

Thanks for looking