Outriggers replacement

[Loubaruch]

I have lifted the body from the chassis on my 1996 Griffith with the intension of replacing the outriggers.

After a wire brushing and hitting all over with a welding hammer there is only one place,the front OS where the metal has failed and is holed.

Pleasantly surprised as that is a relatively easy weld

Edited by Loubaruch on Saturday 30th December 17:15

[Loubaruch]

[Loubaruch]

[Loubaruch]

[Loubaruch]

[Loubaruch]

As the rest seems very sound I will just cut back from the hole and weld in a part circular section.
I have yet to grind all the surface rust away then treat the bad sections with Hydrate 80, then the whole chassis with a few coats of red lead primer followed by a few coats of chassis paint. This will then outlast me !

[Loubaruch]

Thanks for the interest and advice.

Yes Belle I am considering removing the triangular fillet as it would make welding easier although Oxy/acetylene is a lot more tolerant of dirty metal. Not being not keen on "Snap crackle and pop " welding although it is much better and quicker for many things.

Alun, A 1996 car and done 67,000 miles, mine for 21 years but having the 4 post lift I have over the years been able to clear most of the mud etc. from the chassis and have pumped in paint and waxoyl etc. as well, it does seem to have helped.

All the best to all for 2024.

Edited by Loubaruch on Sunday 31st December 12:31

[Loubaruch]

keynsham said:

I had a crack found at the MOT in my chassis. It was small enough to get welded up but the garage that did the welding said that there was rust inside the chassis and ultimately the tube would need replacing. He said he had see a lot of TVR's which had this issue. The tubes were never protected internally and so start rusting from day one, meaning ultimately however good your chassis looks from the outside, it has a shelf life and will eventually fail. Scary thought if you have just spend £80k on a Sagaris!!!

Fair comment but bashing the entire length of the riggers with a hammer produced a nice metallic ring apart from where the hole is so the thickness of steel has to be decent otherwise it would produce a dull thud if it was rusted through. I do intend squirting Ziebart throughout the tube inners. At my age with this intended treatment I am sure the riggers will outlast me!
That is quite long enough!

[Loubaruch]

keynsham said:

Yes, sorry, it wasn't meant to be a criticism. But it did make me reflect on the logic of paying a lot of money for a TVR. I have an old 350i wedge so not a huge investment, and everything seems OK so far. I expect there is a massive amount of redundancy in terms of tube thickness anyway, and as you say, I am pretty sure mine will outlast me!

I did not take it taken as a critisism, the more people post with their experiences of TVRs the better for everyone. As Chim says if there any holes in the riggers then they will rust inside, I wil have a good look with a camera to see how mine with a hole has faired.