SEAC in the US

SEAC in the US

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Discussion

jeff m2

Original Poster:

2,060 posts

150 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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I just put my 280 on US flea bay and saw a LHD 420 Seac up for 50 big ones. no takers yetsmile

adam quantrill

11,535 posts

241 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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Item number 141832332139

Looks quite tidy - I like the way the blurb promulgates the same old factory fibs - 300bhp my arse!


Grady

1,221 posts

259 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
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Go for it. I seriously regret passing on Tony's 450 when it was at Wire Wheels. Grady

gmw9666

2,734 posts

199 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
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The Hatter

988 posts

169 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
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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...

chj

763 posts

212 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
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adam quantrill said:
300bhp my arse!
Yep, sadly agree. Tested on calibrated RR my `rebuilt` 420SEAC made just 172bhp at wheels, even after some fettling ...

Glorious sound though.

TA14

12,722 posts

257 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
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chj said:
Tested on calibrated RR my `rebuilt` 420SEAC made just 172bhp at wheels, even after some fettling ...
So that's about 200bhp at the fly or the same as a cooking 4l from a Chim. That's low.

mrzigazaga

18,534 posts

164 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
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chj said:
my `rebuilt` 420SEAC made just 172bhp at wheels, even after some fettling ...
Blimey my 350i is 184bhp....

ElvisWedgely

2,714 posts

164 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
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mrzigazaga said:
chj said:
my `rebuilt` 420SEAC made just 172bhp at wheels, even after some fettling ...
Blimey my 350i is 184bhp....
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.

pjac67

2,040 posts

251 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
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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.

mike various

234 posts

120 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
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Just looked flea bay and it has been withdrawn as it's no longer available.

I wonder who bought it and how much they paid for it ?

It is stunning though !!

Mike

mrzigazaga

18,534 posts

164 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
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pjac67 said:
Lets not go SEAC bashing too much as they are great iconic TVR's and will always be the ultimate Wedge.
+1
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?



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....hehe

That SEAC is a real stunner.....

Edited by mrzigazaga on Wednesday 25th November 12:13

chj

763 posts

212 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
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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.

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.
+1

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 biggrin



TVRleigh_BBWR

6,552 posts

212 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
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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.

SLB

255 posts

240 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
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My old 420seac was allegedly a "good one" and had 298 ( I think ) at the flywheel and was in standard form. Way way faster than a friends 4 litre chim I drove at the same time and also my current 350i. Would love to get it back again really.

pjac67

2,040 posts

251 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
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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.


dmsims

6,451 posts

266 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
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My god what did you guys do to my SEAC smile

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)

KKson

3,395 posts

124 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
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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.

pjac67

2,040 posts

251 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
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dmsims said:
My god what did you guys do to my SEAC smile

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 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....

gmw9666

2,734 posts

199 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
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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 Thursday

Still the best sounding TVR I've ever owned..........FACT!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hJKOl7xvVM