I got to meet 4 fellow Canadian TVR owners Saturday. :)

[brap_brap]

I polished up the wedge and took it too Vancouver
for the annual "All British Field Meet". It was a great
show with roughly 600 cars or more... and me with the only wedge.
There were 3 other canucks there with TVR's.... 2 S's and 1 M series...all red.
The blue beast stood out like a sore thumb. I also met a guy with 2 1st gen
Tuscan's, but the cars weren't there.

It was a rather eventful trip unfortunately. First I made it to as far as
Golden B.C. but the highway was closed due to a mudslide so I had to detour
through Cranbrook B.C. which turned a 600 mile 8 hour journey into a 16 hour
nightmare. On the way there the panel that holds up the ECU and relays came
crashing down ripping wires and connections that took out my power windows,
(the relay rack isn't secured anymore and just sits on the ECU) I drove on
despite that only to realise later that night it also took out my low-beams.

I had to drive on high-beam only but for some unknown reason the two light pods
got out of sync so raising one light closed the other... very frustrating indeed.

If there's a bright side to any of these snafu's it's that I discovered why the
boot release quit working... the relay for it fell out. Easy fix.

If it wasn't for the performance and pleasure of driving the wedge I'd probably
excersized a little anger mismanagement and fixed the wedge with a sledgehammer!

The bloody car almost killed me twice... once taking a corner like I'd take it in
my RX-7.... back end went dancing on a tiny bump, and the other time, simple tire
/tyre spin on wet road. I now realise what I read here about losing traction due
to torque at high speed is no joke... I thought that was embellishing. It's done
a lot to teach me respect for how I drive it.

Coming back home was no better, except the formerly closed highway was now open.
Some clown in his MAZduh 3 wanted a go at the wedge so I dropped into 4th, buried
throttle until 5K and just as I was about to shift back into 5th the back end
started to vibrate like mad. I know it's not the front because the steering wheel
gave no feedback indicating so. I think I might have blown a u-joint or lost a
tyre/tire balancing weight. I tend to think the former because the vibes get
stronger on high-revs deceleration, whereas wheel weights should be dependant on
speed alone, and not accel/decelleration.

What do you guys think? Does that sound like a u-joint?


P.S. My speedo cable gave up the ghost. Does anyone have a part number
and can anyone for the meanwhile, tell me common speeds in 2 gears using
the tach so I can work out what I'm traveling at?

Edited by brap_brap on Sunday 20th May 20:49

[blaineuk]

in4th gear the rev counter and speedo needles are parallel{sp} if you see what i mean.

[brap_brap]

I don't... speedo cable seems bent, or rubbing against the inner sleeve.
The need bounces around like mad... doing an estimated 20 mph, it bounces
all the way up to 100mph sometimes. I really need a part number or replacement
car to yank one out of.

I just figured out what my first wedge mod will be! A SPIGOT in the floor pan.
I just stepped out to get some beer and there was an inch of water at my feet
after a 20 minute hard rain.

It's a good thing it's a head-turning, neck-snapping, grin-getting performer,
or I honestly would have to call it a complete PoS.

Edited by brap_brap on Sunday 20th May 21:20

[streaky]

brap_brap said:

I don't... speedo cable seems bent, or rubbing against the inner sleeve. The need bounces around like mad... doing an estimated 20 mph, it bounces all the way up to 100mph sometimes.

Mine does that (don't they all?) - Streaky

[pwd95]

I can honestly say I've experienced all the things you decsribe except the headlight up and down thing. As for the speedo cable
Rover SD1 or Range Rover?
www.rimmerbros.co.uk/rimmer/rover/sd1_india/index
www.bearmach.com/

This guy breaks Range Rovers also;
Jim Robinson
[phone]
It's a Northen Ireland number

Edited by pwd95 on Sunday 20th May 22:57

[brap_brap]

pwd95 said:

I can honestly say I've experienced all the things you decsribe except the headlight up and down thing. As for the speedo cable
Rover SD1 or Range Rover?
www.rimmerbros.co.uk/rimmer/rover/sd1_india/index
www.bearmach.com/

This guy breaks Range Rovers also;
Jim Robinson
[phone]
It's a Northen Ireland number

Edited by pwd95 on Sunday 20th May 22:57

I think what I'll do is see if the cable is a standard sized diameter, and if so
just grab a good one from the local wreckers for testing. I'll yank the guage and
turn it over with the good cable using a drill to see if it's the gauge at fault. If
it's the gauge, VDO makes a nice gauge set with a white face which would certainly
make the dash look more modern. www.vehiclecontrols.com/shopping/shopdisplayproducts.asp?page=2#
If it's not the gauge at fault and is the cable, I'll order one and worry about cosmetics later.

Tomorrow I'll get the tires rebalanced and rotated and take the beast for a rip and
see if the vibration in the ass end is gone. I hope it's not a u-joint.

[350zwelgje]

Speedo cable: if not too late, greasing can do miracles. Quite a job, but with some perseverance it can be done.
Just remembered I still need to do mine. At the moment it only doesn't keep up when accelerating LOL, and is quite stable and very precise! during the rest of the time.

Rob

[brap_brap]

Thanks, I'll try that.