Another 350i project
Another 350i project
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Discussion

pentane

Original Poster:

5 posts

126 months

Thursday 10th September 2015
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Evening. 1st post and all that.
About to commence work on another barn find, last driven 2003.
It's a 50 footer, if you know what I mean.
Pics to follow shortly
Cheers
Tim

pentane

Original Poster:

5 posts

126 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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Tasmin200

1,364 posts

210 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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Lovely colour and interior. What are your plans, rolling resto or body off?

Edited by Tasmin200 on Saturday 12th September 11:20

mrzigazaga

18,757 posts

188 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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Hi Tim....Are you the guy i spoke to in Greenwich park earlier?....Mine was the gun metal grey 350i..As said if you need any info then you have come to the right place..Cheers...Ziga

pentane

Original Poster:

5 posts

126 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
quotequote all
Yeah - thanks. I think the colour combo is awesome, though it needs a repaint for sure. Hence the '50 footer...'

Up until this morning, the plan was to get a ticket on it, so at least I can establish condition of engine/box/diff, before body off resto.
Then whilst replacing the clutch slave seal I noticed nasty chassis rot, where it almost touches the exhaust. Obviously the heat bakes off the powdercoat 10mls from the showroom. Looks impossible to weld without body off which sort off scuppers me plans somewhat.

Needless to say the clutch pedal was non-existent, as is the brake. The former now sorted (I think).
Brakes will be more of an issue - callipers look well and truly shagged. Fronts relatively easy, rears not so of course.
Oh and the handbrake seems to be connected to fresh-air.

And it runs on 4 cylinders but someone has had the foresight to replace the high pressure section of fuel hose,neatly touching the exhaust it was too. Which was nice. But not the bits that link the injection rail wink

No doubt injectors are clogged from when it was fired up after 12 years. Not by me I hasten to add.
Tried filling the rail with Redex and re-pressuring overnight for a fingers-crossed bodge. No luck as yet.
Oil pressure is good (even with fresh stuff) and no smoke or rattles from the working cylinders.

Will keep the updates coming, if you can stand the boredom!
Tim

pentane

Original Poster:

5 posts

126 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
quotequote all
Hi Ziga.
No, twasn't me.
Cheers

KKson

3,467 posts

148 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
quotequote all
pentane said:
Yeah - thanks. I think the colour combo is awesome, though it needs a repaint for sure. Hence the '50 footer...'

Up until this morning, the plan was to get a ticket on it, so at least I can establish condition of engine/box/diff, before body off resto.
Then whilst replacing the clutch slave seal I noticed nasty chassis rot, where it almost touches the exhaust. Obviously the heat bakes off the powdercoat 10mls from the showroom. Looks impossible to weld without body off which sort off scuppers me plans somewhat.

Needless to say the clutch pedal was non-existent, as is the brake. The former now sorted (I think).
Brakes will be more of an issue - callipers look well and truly shagged. Fronts relatively easy, rears not so of course.
Oh and the handbrake seems to be connected to fresh-air.

And it runs on 4 cylinders but someone has had the foresight to replace the high pressure section of fuel hose,neatly touching the exhaust it was too. Which was nice. But not the bits that link the injection rail wink

No doubt injectors are clogged from when it was fired up after 12 years. Not by me I hasten to add.
Tried filling the rail with Redex and re-pressuring overnight for a fingers-crossed bodge. No luck as yet.
Oil pressure is good (even with fresh stuff) and no smoke or rattles from the working cylinders.

Will keep the updates coming, if you can stand the boredom!
Tim
Sounds just like a normal day of Wedge ownership!

mrzigazaga

18,757 posts

188 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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Hi mate...Just a mad coincidence then ..Nice looking Wedge...Firstly i would not of started it until any old fuel was drained and then check for any rust... The tanks could be rusty and cause major problems later on...If you do decide to have a body off then you can address those as well...I would of changed the post filter and probably fitted a pre-filter and then filled with some fresh fuel and a bottle of injector cleaner..Probably only say 5 gallon to a whole bottle and then fitted new plugs..Leads..Including the king lead...Rotor arm, Leave the coil unless it gives signs of kaputten..Ideally i would of had the condition of the oil checked and changed with a new filter....These engines are almost bullet proof but you might be causing unnecessary problems...I know it so tempting to just turn a car over that has sat for years but i had a 280i that someone did that to and i couldn't drive it for a year..I nearly sacrificed it at my first Wedgefest but i learnt to love her and soon we became friends..The rest is history albeit unfinished...Anyway welcome to the loony bin ...wobble

pentane

Original Poster:

5 posts

126 months

Sunday 13th September 2015
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Absolutely, totally 100% agree!
Perhaps I was being a bit too subtle in my post - somebody else had gotten to it before me.....
Anyway, looks like they did put fresh oil and a/f in in it so credit must be given there.
Cheers

mrzigazaga

18,757 posts

188 months

Sunday 13th September 2015
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If you have the time, Space, Knowledge and money then go for gold..I would certainly do it if i had more than one out of the three...smile
Cost will always outweigh worth but it goes beyond that...These cars are rare and we are lucky that they are cheap to buy..Fix up and maintain...Okay some may say that 10K is a lot to spend on restoration...Pah if it was metal bodied then double that figure and add it again...I can't think of anything else right now that would please me more to drive then a restored TVR Wedge...

At the BNG 2012 i had the keys to a pristine white 350i with just over 20,000 miles on the clock and was given permission to move it for a calendar photo shoot with some sexy girls that i had arranged with the organiser...As i was reversing it towards the hangar my foot slipped and it ended up.....hehe...Not really Tim...No actually i was that concerned that something like that could happen i decided to push it back slowly..Everything just felt so nice....

Trying to keep it "Original"...(Whatever that is) is not realistically possible as that would mean the original distributor...Ignition amp..Coil..Leads..Plugs..Air & Oil filter...Even fuses so that blows that out...(Pardon the pun)..Some may disagree but the way i see it is that if these cars are to still be here in 30 years time then some things definitely need "Upgrading"..Modern fuels..Roads..Driving styles..Or rather lack of it by other road users...So anything that can be done to enhance the steering, Braking and ride would certainly be beneficial...TVR definitely got it all right but that was nearly 30 years ago..Change is not always good but change will always happen...

Good luck with whatever you decide..We will be watching....beer