Any views on this please......

[zytec]

While my mates new Cerb is immobile waiting for me to source a door lock control unit, I'm doing some other little jobs to it, (like making the handbrake more than a decorative palm rest for instance :P )..

Anyway up on the Bradbury today the car looks good underneath, other than a minor leak from the dif only other thing of note I saw was this...





Will clean it up tomorrow and see if it's cracked, no obvious signs of any damaged past or present, is cracking here a known problem or anything else to look for.

Also while I was in the doors tracing the wiring for the windows so I could remotely power them down from the boot plug I noticed the door switch connectors were badly corroded, the window motor ones were ok though but are there any others I should clean up while in there ideally want this system as reliable as it can be for him when I fixed it...

[jesfirth]

Hi,

Dunno about the chassis-best to check with a good indie.

Those window connectors rot cos they sit in a pool of water in the bottom of the door. To protect them properly wrap in a polythene bag and tape the bag to the door skin to stop it falling into the "pond" at the bottom

[cossiemetro]

DRILL A COUPLE OF LITTLE HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE DOOR(opps caps lock)
must be a better solution ???

[headcase]

Most metal car doors have weep holes in the bottom of the doors, I dont see why not on a GRP car, also normally cars have rubber boots on the connectors in water prone areas like inside doors under bonnet etc. I take it that with TVR being british with our inclamate weather then they dont expect the cars to ever get wet so dont bother with waterproofing the electrics.

[mad mark]

Is there any news on those cracks? How serious are they and have you had them checked out yet?
Whats the age/mileage of the car?
I'm just curious in case its something we should all be looking out for.

[carl_w]

Sorry, I don't spend much time under my car. In the first photo, where are we looking (obviously it's one of the sprung corners...)?

[Ireland]

jesfirth said:

To protect them properly wrap in a polythene bag and tape the bag to the door skin to stop it falling into the "pond" at the bottom

Be careful if you do put the connectors in a bag to make sure water can't get near them and the bag is secured well away from the wet.

Remember, if water does get into the bag it will probably stay in it and may cause other problems.

I've always found it best to get connectors away from the line-of-fire of water and keep them open so if water does get onto them at least it can run off again.

[zytec]

Sorry forgot to update , I cleaned area up and noticed it was worse especially when viewed from above. Have now welded it and will monitor it / check it when ever it's on the Bradbury in future.

Wasn't as bad as it looked like it would be to weld.. used some thin alloy sheet bent in areas to protect the fibreglass form the heat / splatter.

Talking to someone that used to work on Cerebra's he said it's pretty common and is caused by the anti-roll bar forces, and to much power

I'd recommend everyone checks it as that doesn't cost anything, OSR to the right of the top coil over mount some images...

Edited by zytec on Thursday 3rd August 22:20

[zytec]

Oh and thanks for the connector tips all, was mainly asking what if anything else connector / wiring wise was likely to be similarly corroded was buried in the door that I'd need to look at, but the plug in my image I cleaned up and reassembled with a liberal amount of petroleum jelly (Vaseline), couldn't find my Dielectric Grease

[mad mark]

Thanks for the update zytec

[ridds]

Will be having a looky at mine and removing that anti roll bar too.

[zytec]

Sorry you also asked about the car, it's a 2001 lightweight, don't know the mileage off hand but will look when it's next in

[jensena]

It's a bit scary isnt it, thinking about what's lurking under our nice rustproof, shiny, fiberglass 180mph Cars !!

[spartacus]

zytec said:

Sorry forgot to update , I cleaned area up and noticed it was worse especially when viewed from above. Have now welded it and will monitor it / check it when ever it's on the Bradbury in future.

Wasn't as bad as it looked like it would be to weld.. used some thin alloy sheet bent in areas to protect the fibreglass form the heat / splatter.

Talking to someone that used to work on Cerebra's he said it's pretty common and is caused by the anti-roll bar forces, and to much power

I'd recommend everyone checks it as that doesn't cost anything, OSR to the right of the top coil over mount some images...

Edited by zytec on Thursday 3rd August 22:20

So they were actual stress fractures in the steel, not just powder coat split?

[zytec]

Yes stress fractures or metal fatigue due to bending, those of enough years will know it was the root cause of the initially unexplained DH Comets crashes. A background in motorsport means it's something I look for straight away, because I used to always be chasing chassis cracking on Formula fords and older, (pre carbon), formula Renaults..

Anyway it's the anti roll bar mount / support so it's not likely a wheel will come off at high speed, however it could suddenly change the balance of the car if you were leaning on it round a bend and it broke, so still IMHO a safety issue which is why I did it as soon as I spotted it.

Really any car with this performance & a tubular / box section welded chassis should be visually checked underneath at least twice a year, and if it's a daily driver once a quarter would be prudent. You should all be able to find someone close to you, (a mate of a mates brothers uncle second cousin twice removed etc etc), that has a Bradbury or similar that will do get it in the air for a drink. Anyone with a Cerbie is welcome to have a visual if they are near enough to me in Chesterfield Derbyshire.

It was cracked in the pink marked areas so wasn't that much metal holding it on

[zytec]

A few images of a more interesting angle of this Cerbera, a 2001 lightweight,(it's not mine... unfortunately)