SEAC in the US
Discussion
It looks absolutely stunning to me; I suspect it's in far better condition than any SEAC ever was straight out of blackpool. The panel fit is amazing, I've never seen any wedge with a bonnet that fits as well as that one appears to! The ad talks about a strengthened chassis and additional body mounts, that will obviously help. The lack of visible body cracks suggests the body has been strengthened too; the Kelvar on my car is quite flexible, more flexible than the paint...
- *nerd alert*** The seats are the originals, MG Montego retrimmed in leather. There's a couple of interesting things on the engine too; there seems to be an additional auxiliary air throttle by-pass valve (electric - did it once have air con?), and the cooling system appears to have been modified with an additional high up expansion tank and pressure cap (makes sense to me, additional volume for expansion should stop it pushing out air/coolant when it heats and cools; similar to what I've achieved with a Mercedes expansion tank and re-routed pipes). It's got a Jag AFM as well so 300 HP is possible with head mods - which may or may not have been done by the factory...
mrzigazaga said:
chj said:
my `rebuilt` 420SEAC made just 172bhp at wheels, even after some fettling ...
Blimey my 350i is 184bhp....Tony. TCB.
pjac67 said:
Lets not go SEAC bashing too much as they are great iconic TVR's and will always be the ultimate Wedge.
+1pjac67 said:
The 420SEAC was suffering from low compression despite being run in properly and for whatever reason needed another rebuild.
Hi mate...Did this sort it?Ooopps i nearly forgot to say in the beginning...Watching the vid I'm sure i could hear stone cold Steve Austin shout out in the background.."Hell yeah"...And i thought "Aren't American classic car shows noisy"...Over here people just walking about smiling at each other and whispering among themselves....The American shows probably have a "Shoot jumble" where if you can knock it off the shelf its yours...No 50 Cals allowed though....
That SEAC is a real stunner.....
Edited by mrzigazaga on Wednesday 25th November 12:13
TA14 said:
So that's about 200bhp at the fly or the same as a cooking 4l from a Chim. That's low.
I had a Chim 4.0HC after the SEAC - the Chim was much faster and 1/3rd of the price, but I'd choose the SEAC over the Chim anyday.ElvisWedgely said:
There has to be something wrong with this information. There is no way a properly rebuilt 420 SEAC is only going to make 172BHP, unless there is something drastically wrong somewhere. My brother in law owned a 420 SEAC many years ago and I drove it on many occasions and that thing was a beast. Though I never measured its output, I can tell you just from experience, that the output on that thing was around the 300 BHP mark without a doubt.
Tony. TCB.
No. 172bhp at wheels it was - I probably still have the dyno print somewhere. I'm guessing a good 420 on standard set-up would be around 250bhp max at fly.Tony. TCB.
pjac67 said:
Lets not go SEAC bashing too much as they are great iconic TVR's and will always be the ultimate Wedge.
The 420SEAC was suffering from low compression despite being run in properly and for whatever reason needed another rebuild.
+1The 420SEAC was suffering from low compression despite being run in properly and for whatever reason needed another rebuild.
Iirc the engine had a V8D 234 cam, which may have been giving low compression. I'm sure with the standard ignition system and Jag AFM it would have been much better on a slightly milder cam.
Either way, it was a fantastic sounding car and I still have a picture of it on my office wall
400SE vary from 220-250 BHP there has been the odd one or two that have been over 260, I've also seen over 300 from race 3.9's so 300 from a 420 is not impossible, I've seen 450 SEAC's at over 300 BHP also.
You should get a lot more from a wedge SE or SEAC than a standard 4.0 chim engine, the wedge NCK engines had a lot of work done on them. the later cars was a standard LR engine with just a camshaft change and sight mods to the ECU.
I've rebuild 420SE, 400SE chim 4.0, and LR engines, plus converted a standard LR engine with just a camshaft change, and got 230 BHP.
You should get a lot more from a wedge SE or SEAC than a standard 4.0 chim engine, the wedge NCK engines had a lot of work done on them. the later cars was a standard LR engine with just a camshaft change and sight mods to the ECU.
I've rebuild 420SE, 400SE chim 4.0, and LR engines, plus converted a standard LR engine with just a camshaft change, and got 230 BHP.
pjac67 said:
The 420SEAC was suffering from low compression despite being run in properly and for whatever reason needed another rebuild.
Hi mate...Did this sort it?I ran it for 6/7 months sorting out alot of issues but not the engine - enjoyed the 'show' element and had my Griff lurking in the wings for the 'go' element.
My god what did you guys do to my SEAC
It made 202 bhp at 4400 rpm on a proper hub dyno, that run was aborted because of fueling and it was then discovered that Dulford had fitted a standard FPR
Mark Adams suggested a Weber Alpha which was fitted
(on the same day:
Chim 4.6 with Big vales, Typhoon cam, Induction kit and remap made 225bhp at 5100rpm
Chim 4.0 de-catted, induction kit, trumpets 199bhp at 5300 rpm)
It made 202 bhp at 4400 rpm on a proper hub dyno, that run was aborted because of fueling and it was then discovered that Dulford had fitted a standard FPR
Mark Adams suggested a Weber Alpha which was fitted
(on the same day:
Chim 4.6 with Big vales, Typhoon cam, Induction kit and remap made 225bhp at 5100rpm
Chim 4.0 de-catted, induction kit, trumpets 199bhp at 5300 rpm)
dmsims said:
My god what did you guys do to my SEAC
It made 202 bhp at 4400 rpm on a proper hub dyno, that run was aborted because of fueling and it was then discovered that Dulford had fitted a standard FPR
Mark Adams suggested a Weber Alpha which was fitted
(on the same day:
Chim 4.6 with Big vales, Typhoon cam, Induction kit and remap made 225bhp at 5100rpm
Chim 4.0 de-catted, induction kit, trumpets 199bhp at 5300 rpm)
Hi David, good to hear from you. It made 202 bhp at 4400 rpm on a proper hub dyno, that run was aborted because of fueling and it was then discovered that Dulford had fitted a standard FPR
Mark Adams suggested a Weber Alpha which was fitted
(on the same day:
Chim 4.6 with Big vales, Typhoon cam, Induction kit and remap made 225bhp at 5100rpm
Chim 4.0 de-catted, induction kit, trumpets 199bhp at 5300 rpm)
It compares well with those other figures (all seem a bit low unless all at the wheels (?) ) although I guess it lost a few ponies since..
Your full resto was second to none and I still view it as 'your' car for all the work you put in to it even though it's passed through a few 'custodians' since (currently sitting amongst a TVR/muscle car collection in Holland and being very well looked after and driven). If my numbers came up I would buy it back in an instant....
KKson said:
Glens 420SE with Jag AFM and injectors made 285bhp at the engine. My standard 350i had 185.5 Bhopal. I've not had the 390SE on a RR yet but it certainly feels way faster than the 350i.
Thanks for the reminder Keith..........bit of noise to cheer us all up on a wet ThursdayStill the best sounding TVR I've ever owned..........FACT!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hJKOl7xvVM
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