The SX Wedges.

[mrzigazaga]

Hi Peeps...After the fun and games on the TVRCC forum i would like to clear something up...I was shot down and accused of talking shyte when i suggested that they were "Crudely" put together..This is my understanding so please enlighten me if I'm incorrect.

The only mods done to the SX was thicker gaskets and an adjustable ECU which in effect means that the Sprintex was just bolted on.

I was aggressively informed that they were specially engineered and a lot of research was done during the design...(Edited out my mistake)

Now as i understand it the Sprintex initially was designed to go into the Vee of the engine and not be laid on its side?...My suggestion to the cause of a possible holed piston was detonation which again as i understand is caused by too much advanced timing or low grade fuel, It is also very difficult to hear "Pinking" with a supercharger fitted, Also bearing in mind that these cars were designed/Built 20+ years ago and were meant to run on leaded fuels.

While attempting the blower fitment on Delilah i purchased a book written by Pat Ganahl which featured information on every known supercharger and the effects on the engine, It also was fully up to date...I read very carefully and it became a very concerning factor as regards to detonation which on a blown engine can be very catastrophic very quickly so i looked into addressing this with a modern ignition system that was sensitive to rapid changes in fuel/Air and temperature, I also had to address the fuelling.

Basically the book suggested that if you are going to run an old car with a blower in modern times then more work would be beneficial to the ignition system, Mechanical systems such as boost vacuums are ok to a point but do not react quick enough to changes.

Unfortunately even though i was trying to be polite and forgiving Delilah again was called a bodge done on a shoe string and thats why she failed..I wouldn't call 4K a shoe string and i wish i had listened to the advice of a good friend as regards to forgetting the idea and buying a V8....(You know who you are... ) But i saw the venture through and it did fail purely because of the FACT that i did not address the cooling initially...The Granada radiator fitted to the 280i barely coped in the Fords with a N/A engine let alone a blown one...Under bonnet temperature rose by 70 degrees with the blower and obviously the engine temperature rise also.

Eventually i spent £750 on a radtech rad and a twin boost kenlowe fan which unfortunately was too late as the damage was already apparent.

So please if I'm talking a load of twaddle please put me right....

Thanks...Ziga

Edited by mrzigazaga on Thursday 7th August 18:12

[mrzigazaga]

Thanks for the replies so far...I hope I'm not coming across as knocking the concept as I'm not..Im just curious to know...Even though i did a lot of research before going ahead with the project on my 280 i was still naive as you say..It was totally unfamiliar territory and to be fair even though it cost me 4K for the installation it was done at cost so in reality it should of been double that...Which i would like to add.."Im glad it wasn't" in hindsight..(A beautiful thing) i would of gone for a 350i with a Griff lump and a mappable ECU...I now think Lb for £ thats the way to go....There are some serious TVR conversions out there and they cost some serious money..Im in awe of them but would be more than chuffed with near 300bhp and 300ftlb of torque...Especially in a Wedge...

[mrzigazaga]

rev-erend said:

I thought it was developed by Haugins the TVR dealer .. not by TVR themselves.

At the time the TVR models were 35oi and 390se.

The 350i was the first to be converted by Haugins..

Yeah sorry i wasn't very clear in my original post....Im interested to know if any engine work was carried out or if it was just a case of thicker gaskets and adjustable ECU...I know there was an article written for Sprint about it but i never saw that..(Would like a copy if i can find it)...When i questioned power engineering about the Sierra Sprintex installations they basically fitted it to a new engine and used a thicker head gasket and a modified FPR..MFI system had no ECU just a spark generator...Thing is i have only ever found 1 out of 30 cars in existence today...Don't worry those who know i have a S102 Sprintex sitting about doing nothing, Im not going to kill my 350i as well...

[mrzigazaga]

Here is a Vid of Martins old SX on youtube...There is another video that i have on Facebook when we were going through Dorking town centre..Sounds fking amazing..I think he scared just about everyone in the high street..The 400SX was also spitting flames..Shame i can't copy and paste it onto here..Maybe Martin can....

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...

[mrzigazaga]

V8 GRF said:

Is that a 'period' article or the one that Jasper wrote for us a few years ago?

I read the Performance car article of 88 and would love a copy of what Jasper wrote, It would seem that it was a case of no internal work to the engine and just a composite head gasket was used to lower compression..Is it correct than 11 were made in total?..Does anyone know how many are left?...

[mrzigazaga]

V8 GRF said:

YHM

Thanks for that mate...Very much appreciated...Although it brought a tear to my eye at the end....

[mrzigazaga]

Thanks Andy..Not too long at all...I enjoy reading all the replies as it helps me to understand more about the history of the cars i love..I hope my wording of "Crudely" didn't offend anyone as its not meant to...It was merely a comparison between then and now...Maybe i should of said.."Less complicated"...And yes although my project failed in a mad way i was glad it did..Mainly because i would still be spending heaps of money on it...

After reading the story of Dave Haughins it actually brought a tear to my eye as it showed that his passion burnt deeper than some people could of ever realised..A very sad end indeed.

I know i have been accused of running my Wedge on a shoe-string budget but lets face it our cars were made from buckets of bits from cars that were..Well not the best in the world and a lot of the time you find yourself saying "WHY" to a lot of factors surrounding them..But thats what i love about them..That quirkiness has kept them alive in the hands and hearts of people who all share the same passion.

All the individual stories i hear of peoples fond memories and experiences of TVR fascinate me, I was honoured to meet Oliver Winterbottom who is a proper character who mesmerises us all with his stories from his days at TVR and Lotus, Although it does take a few applications of G&T to jog his memory..A small price to pay for such an entertaining dude...Hopefully he will be at the next BBWF.

I have an idea for next years BBWF but will post up a separate post regarding it as there are other factors i would like to discuss.

One of them may be to recreate some of the sales promotion pictures...Probably to the disgust of certain individuals.....Nevertheless its still a big part in TVR's history...

I wonder who the lucky devil is who owns this 400SE...



Cheers...Ziga

[mrzigazaga]

ElvisWedgely said:

I bet your other idea is that you've traced the two birds in the picture and they'll be attending the BBWF 2015. Only I'm a bit worried about what they look like now. More mature I guess. Just how you like them Zig

Tony. TCB.

Well I'm not ageist ..(How that ever became a word i don't know)..But their pensions are pittance so i will be offering my support for the four of them...Errr..I mean both of em...However i will have some shall we say younger models to replicate these pictures as accurately as possible as all the excitement might prove a little too much for the more mature ladies...Although it might prove too might for me with the younger ones...

[mrzigazaga]

superwedge said:

I have chat with this friend zig,she doing pic;s off them with car;s,

We could always put one in each seat and draw a little face on them...Ziga

[mrzigazaga]

Mr WST said:

I saw this one looking round Zigas wedge at the fest.

...Thats "Sexy Sandra" from South Mimms..Or was it Mams....

Mr WST said:

Then Rob took her for a spin haha

This is why Rob doesn't want to remember the flower picking....

[mrzigazaga]

JVaughan said:

Zig, TVR's werent precisionly engineered .. FACT

"WHAT"................I know..However there is someone out there who needs to wake up and smell the welding..They are convinced that they were...They are rough..Loud and drink a lot..How much more British can one be....(In a rough pirate voice).."We don't need no peg-leg captain or be a ships wheel..We're all scurfy dogs sailing the same voyage with rum in our bellies..Hoist the jolly roger"..(A massive gaggle of pirate cheers).."Hooray"

[mrzigazaga]

Englishman said:

Back to topic, thought you might like these models too:

Cheers for the info mate..Is that an original sales brochure?...Ziga

[mrzigazaga]

Englishman said:

Yes, given to me by David himself. Not too many around - may be worth more than the cars ;o)

Awesome..Well kept as well...Good man.

Englishman said:

One thing people wouldn't know unless they'd visted his garage, was that he had a parrot. He let it fly around the garage too. You didn't want to leave your car there too long if you were worried about the paintwork! Was certainly a personality.

He certainly sounded like a proper character..I read that bit about the parrot..Having a nibble on a 390SE roof.....Classic...Its such a massive shame that the story has such an unhappy ending...

[mrzigazaga]

I have no problem with them being made from buckets of bits, as said thats why i love em.....Just wish i could find a few buckets with the bits still in...Just trying to find something like the demister vents or the original ashtrays recently was a total head funk ...Mind you it was a trip down memory lane to see some of the cars that were around then...Theres not one bit of my Wedge that i don't like..Or would want to change for something else..When i eventually change the suspension as its a bit tired now i want to replace with the same set up as originally fitted..I don't mind the firm ride..If i want to drive a sponge i would buy a citroen.. I only changed the switches in the 280 because i couldn't find any decent originals..Apart from the headlight switch...

[mrzigazaga]

Wedg1e said:

TA14 said:

mrzigazaga said:

When i eventually change the suspension as its a bit tired now i want to replace with the same set up as originally fitted..I don't mind the firm ride..If i want to drive a sponge i would buy a citroen.

I wouldn't bother looking; the Armstrongs will be very difficult to find and they weren't that good - they were almost a service item. The Koni's that the factory fitted later were much better.

ISTR a pair of new old stock Armstrong front dampers being up on Ebay a couple of years ago: some mug paid over £100 for them

My rear suspension is going back together with a pair of used Konis that someone GAVE me a few years back: they're actually in better shape than the ones I took off the car
No leaks, damper rod pitting etc., but the paint and bushes are rough, the replacements are far tidier. They were, however, set to two different damping settings so I wonder if the previous owner hadn't twigged and thought one or other was faulty.

Errr...Sorry i didn't actually mean the same dampers..I meant the ride/handling...

[mrzigazaga]

Very true Smash..Thats what makes this forum better than any other...Whenever we have a mass debate things always get heated....A bit of light relief is always good in-between...()

It used to really annoy me when people would call my Wedge a kit car but no car is carved from a solid piece of metal..My joy is telling people "Its a hand built British sports car"..Mine have changed my life for the better..And a big plus is that i have inherited with it a load of new friends who are all carve from the same block of carbon..Diamond...

Its nice also to see the ex-missus..Thanks for posting a pic....

[mrzigazaga]

RCK974X said:

calling a TVR a kit car doesn't annoy me nearly as much as calling it a TR7

You have a point there mate..Although Delilah was called a Lotus once..Which is more pleasing to the ear..

[mrzigazaga]

Looks like an inlet manifold mount jobbie...Thats where the pennies start adding up...Nice unit though...