Newbie TVR Madness

[donutsina911]

So, I've gone and done it and bought my first TVR.

Despite having little mechanical know how, not being an expert on the marque and never having driven one, I've bought a neglected Tuscan S from Racing Green via a trade sale. Must be off my head.

She's cosmetically a bit of a shambles and there are some 'must do' jobs mechanically, but it passed an MOT today, so the journey begins now whether I like it or not.

Hoping to keep the thread updated with my progress as a newbie and I'll probably be asking a zillion questions, so bear with me! Pics and first update to follow soon...

[so called]

Congratulations and welcome to the club.
Plenty of free advice available here, good and sometimes not so.

As its your first, I'll offer the general advice of being very careful with the load peddle when its a bit damp and slippy. I wrote my first one off for that very reason.

[ph1l5]

Is it a black Tuscan from RG ?

[donutsina911]

ph1l5 said:

Is it a black Tuscan from RG ?

Yep, that's the one...

[matt-man]

Congratulations! I saw that...interesting history on that car with the top gear speed camera run!!

Enjoy!

[GALLARDOGUY]

180 something wasn't it?

[donutsina911]

matt-man said:

Congratulations! I saw that...interesting history on that car with the top gear speed camera run!!

Enjoy!

Thanks think I'll be becoming close friends with the guys at racing green before too long! And I'll be squirrelling money away for the rebuild fund pronto...just need to keep the receipts away from the OH!

Collecting in a fortnight so super excited..

[matt-man]

Good stuff! I know how exciting the wait is!

Im not a million miles away from you so hopefully see the car at a meet soon

[donutsina911]

matt-man said:

Good stuff! I know how exciting the wait is!

Im not a million miles away from you so hopefully see the car at a meet soon

Sounds good - when /where are the meets? Is this a PH thing or a TVR owners club?

[matt-man]

donutsina911 said:

Sounds good - when /where are the meets? Is this a PH thing or a TVR owners club?

We had a get together a few weeks back (organised on here) and might try and squeeze another in within a few weeks but weather is turning!

[donutsina911]

matt-man said:

We had a get together a few weeks back (organised on here) and might try and squeeze another in within a few weeks but weather is turning!

Cool. If one's on the cards, I'd love to pop along...if only to see what a finished Tuscan looks like!

[grand-one]

Congrats on the new purchase. I too rang Racing Green the day the advert went live and was told that someone had already expressed interest. Happy its another PHer. I think they realise that they advertised it too cheaply with all the interest it generated on day 1 of the advert going live. Hope it serves you well and doesn't cost too much to put right. Just watched the Top Gear clip on Youtube, and that car was a Black Tuscan S with Black interior, but the car at Racing Green has a grey interior so not sure if it is the same car?

[donutsina911]

grand-one said:

Congrats on the new purchase. I too rang Racing Green the day the advert went live and was told that someone had already expressed interest. Happy its another PHer. I think they realise that they advertised it too cheaply with all the interest it generated on day 1 of the advert going live. Hope it serves you well and doesn't cost too much to put right. Just watched the Top Gear clip on Youtube, and that car was a Black Tuscan S with Black interior, but the car at Racing Green has a grey interior so not sure if it is the same car?

Thank you So, the pictures on the RG website weren't of the actual car and the one for sale had the black interior...at least I think it does, underneath the dust/leaves/grime! I'm not sure if it was too cheap (yet) - I guess it depends on what you want the car for and your aspirations. Potentially, it could be a cheap entry into Tuscan S ownership if you were prepared to live with the cosmetic issues and had some good luck under the bonnet...but for me, I'm factoring in an engine rebuild, an interior re-trim and some other bits and bobs so it's really just been a cash flow issue. if I'd had the funds, I would have gone for a low mileage minter, but that just wasn't possible without sacrificing other stuff or selling a bike.

Anyway, day one and bills are coming in - tappets, timing chain,new battery, battery charger, two front tyres, aircon re-gas, seat bolster repair...fun and games

[stevieeg]

donutsina911 said:

Despite having little mechanical know how, not being an expert on the marque and never having driven one, I've bought a neglected Tuscan S from Racing Green via a trade sale.

I like your style!

[Niftynoo]

Donuts, seeing as though you are in Sussex I had a complete re-trim done by Trim Deluxe in Littlehampton - excellent job.

[donutsina911]

Niftynoo said:

Donuts, seeing as though you are in Sussex I had a complete re-trim done by Trim Deluxe in Littlehampton - excellent job.

Thank you - I'll give them a shout in the next week or so as Littlehampton is only 20min away. What did the re-trim consist of? Carpets/Seats/Door Cards/Gaitor etc? What kind of cost was involved? (pm would be great if you prefer)...

[Niftynoo]

donutsina911 said:

Thank you - I'll give them a shout in the next week or so as Littlehampton is only 20min away. What did the re-trim consist of? Carpets/Seats/Door Cards/Gaitor etc? What kind of cost was involved? (pm would be great if you prefer)...

Donut, tried to PM you but it didn't let me. Maybe you could PM me and I'll try and reply.

[donutsina911]

Well I now own a TVR.

24 hours and £120 of super unleaded and these are my thoughts...

1) Nothing works properly. The speedo, the door opening buttons, the fuel gauge, aircon, boot release, bonnet catch, rear screen seal, seat bolsters, stereo and the dash are all buggered.

2.) It leaks and rattles like a badly built go kart.

3.) It makes men stare, women smile and small children point and clap.

4.) Going through the Hindhead tunnel makes you giggle, turn around and do it again. And again.

5.) Lift off the loud pedal and it pops, bangs and crackles like nothing else on the overrun. The straight six may be made of chocolate, but it sounds epic - I wouldn't have used the stereo even if it had worked.

6.) Above the speed limit on private roads it feels like it may take off. Things start to rattle and squeak and bits appear to fall off.

7.) It goes round corners like its on rails. And yet has the turning circle of a bus. Waitrose car park is not its natural habitat.

8.) Everyone lets you out of junctions and old people in Aston martins wave at you.

9.) The front end is a little twitchy and it definitely doesn't appreciate our crappy potholed country lanes.

10.) The accelerator pedal has a shed load of travel - took me half an hour to realise I was probably only using half of it.

Love it. Even though I know it's going to ruin me...

[m4tti]

What was the outcome of RG's engine inspection you mentioned on your other thread.

[donutsina911]

I've got a little bit of time to play with, but probably not much.

The knocking was slack in the timing chain and is now sorted, but RG said the tappets don't have much life left in them (the conversation was a bit more detailed than that, but I've not got the notes I made with me), so I'll have her back in for a couple of the RG mods before the year is out - either just the uprated cylinder head or the FFF, with the simplex chain & uprated roller bearings either way. I'm having the chassis and suspension looked at somewhere a little closer to home, so depending on how much cash is left after this, will determine which route I go down...