More chassis refurbishment porn at Willow sports cars
Discussion
Well after much deliberation of doing some work on my beloved Chimaera, I have decided to take the plunge and do the fully body of chassis repair. I would have loved to do it all on my own, but thought it wise to take her to willow sports Cars in Newark for the job. There has been quite afew body off topics with some fantastic results, so I thought I will document mine on PH’s, as all good work should be shown and praised. Nick Day at willow takes great pride in his work and to say he is a perfectionist does not do his work justice. I will keep the pictures coming on the topic as we all like looking at chassis pictures and seeing the different solutions to solving the same chimaera problems. I acquired my Chimaera from Paul Forest at X works service, who is a friend of my family back home in sunny Blackpool 3 years ago. Since then apart from a new clutch and battery, I have had trouble free motoring so thanks to Paul forest for looking after me. Living in the Lincolnshire area, travelling back to X-works at Kirkham was no practical and i was lucky enough to be put into contact with Willow sports cars, through a contact within East mids TVR car club. Nick is extremely busy, as Jason at Str8six sends chassis repairs to Willow for refurbishment, obviously he must think his is good also. As I am in no rush to get the car back over the winter months I have told nick to fit the work in on my car when he can.
With the body off I was able to take so detailed photos of my chassis and how the repairs are carried out. Nick inserts a metal sleeve inside the tube and leaves a intensional gap between mating surfaces to ensure weld penetration and a strong joint. With everything jigged and clamped up, distortion from the heat effected zone is minimised
When I saw the outriggers I was very pleased as there was only surface rust on the tubing and Nick explained that they were in reasonable condition and this pays testament to the former keepers and talked my through the whole chassis the good points and the bad points which are coming up.
The bad bits that could not be seen clearly without a body lift.
some of these areas of rust were very thin and holes had appeared compromising the strength and letting in water in my chassis. I will update the topic as I progress, and finally have a new coat of paint on the car to boot.
With the body off I was able to take so detailed photos of my chassis and how the repairs are carried out. Nick inserts a metal sleeve inside the tube and leaves a intensional gap between mating surfaces to ensure weld penetration and a strong joint. With everything jigged and clamped up, distortion from the heat effected zone is minimised
When I saw the outriggers I was very pleased as there was only surface rust on the tubing and Nick explained that they were in reasonable condition and this pays testament to the former keepers and talked my through the whole chassis the good points and the bad points which are coming up.
The bad bits that could not be seen clearly without a body lift.
some of these areas of rust were very thin and holes had appeared compromising the strength and letting in water in my chassis. I will update the topic as I progress, and finally have a new coat of paint on the car to boot.
Edited by portzi on Wednesday 21st December 19:27
Edited by portzi on Wednesday 21st December 22:02
Yes he is a top bloke ,went to the East mids meet and the open day ,patience of a saint ..Anyone else would of told me to f
k off .he worked on caterhams and worked for one of the TVR main specialists at one point!
Got to say what a Gent to put up with me
k off .he worked on caterhams and worked for one of the TVR main specialists at one point!Got to say what a Gent to put up with me
Edited by SILICONEKID340HP on Monday 19th December 21:21
He`s not the average million dollar TVR specialist! ,I even filled my pockets with cakes and sandwiches on the open day and not a whisper ,must be a top bloke
You should see his S3 project with the 24 valve V6 Cosworth conversion.
You should see his S3 project with the 24 valve V6 Cosworth conversion.
Edited by SILICONEKID340HP on Monday 19th December 23:33
Glad to see Nick/Willow getting the good publicity he deserves, and really great to hear that he's busy. Nick did the body-off refurb on mine too, and I can echo the comments about his work, and his patience!
He also did the following mod to provide decent chassis mounting for the seats. Might be worth asking Nick about this while you're at it. I think this was the first one he'd done, so he may have refined the idea further...
He also did the following mod to provide decent chassis mounting for the seats. Might be worth asking Nick about this while you're at it. I think this was the first one he'd done, so he may have refined the idea further...
M@H said:
Well on the list of things to have securely fitted down I'd have it top of my list 
If nothing else you could add a strip of steel across the underneath of the GRP between the two bolts to spread the load even without it being a part of the chassis.
he has asked me about the battery move and has suggested putting it behind the passenger seat in the cubby hole there but it have to be an odessey type of battery as there is limited space. a good suggestion none the less thanks If nothing else you could add a strip of steel across the underneath of the GRP between the two bolts to spread the load even without it being a part of the chassis.portzi said:
M@H said:
Well on the list of things to have securely fitted down I'd have it top of my list If nothing else you could add a strip of steel across the underneath of the GRP between the two bolts to spread the load even without it being a part of the chassis.
he has asked me about the battery move and has suggested putting it behind the passenger seat in the cubby hole there but it have to be an odessey type of battery as there is limited space. a good suggestion none the less thanks If nothing else you could add a strip of steel across the underneath of the GRP between the two bolts to spread the load even without it being a part of the chassis.
M@H said:
My friends MG V8 had two smallish betteries either side of the rear of the car under the back seat, both connected up in parallel - might be an option to use both cubby holes? Saying that, do you not fancy the boot, its quite popular for the battery.
Yes I did think about the boot, as it seems a very popular choice for the Chimaera. After seeing the size of the oddesey battery I will hope it could fit in snuggly with abit of fettling of the cubby hole behind the seat, as I believe the battery cabling will need very little lengthening to achieve this. If it works I will be very happy. 
VOILA, the finished battery housing behind the passenger seat. The corners were originally rounded on my cubby hole. They have been squared out and fibre glassed smooth.
nicks idea for the battery mod is cool. leaving more space in the boot for tvr goodies and pies and beer
Edited by portzi on Wednesday 21st December 21:59
Edited by portzi on Friday 23 December 11:13
Edited by portzi on Tuesday 27th December 22:09
carsy said:
That is what i intend doing. What size Odyssey have you gone for.
hi carsy . i an popping into willow this evening on my way home i will ask. l thing a similar size one to the one i saw in jasons tuscan from straight six that nick is working on. very compact:the battery is a 40 oddessey
Edited by portzi on Friday 23 December 11:38
Twistygit said:
Hi, if you don't mind me asking approx. how much would it cost for a body off outrigger replace? Also what will they do with the thin and holed bits of chassis at the shocker mounts?
Hi Graeme.I think the going rate for outrigger replacement is about £1500 all in, and I have seen people doing 2-3 inch lifts just to do the outriggers. Ring around afew places for quotes, and its defo giving them a good inspection before getting them done. But once you have the body off you may aswell get all the other jobs done for piece of mind, if you have the cash of course.
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