SEAC Rescue

[The Hatter]

Oops, nearly a year and I've not done anything to the car! Other than drive it of course... The heater fan started generating burning smells so the dashboard had to come out again last weekend to change the fan.



I took the oportunity to put a gaiter around the gearlever; originally the car had two sheets of rubber optimistically placed over the gearlever and they were never going to seal, so I butchered a mk2 MX5 gaiter and made it fit with the help of some high temp silicon sealer.







It fits and works very well with no restriction to the gear lever movement. I reckon it would work on the 350i too.

I'm planning to tidy up the interior a little (not a lot!) and prepare the wiring for Megasquirt.

[mrzigazaga]

The Hatter said:

Hi mate

Thats interesting as regards to the transmission insert....First time I've seen that....

Good call on the gaiter too...Do you still have the cup over the lever?...

Thanks


Ziga

[billynobrakes]

You should have asked as I have a spare original gaiter mind you it would cost a fortune for me to part with it

[mk1fan]

mrzigazaga said:

Hi mate

Thats interesting as regards to the transmission insert....First time I've seen that....

Good call on the gaiter too...Do you still have the cup over the lever?...

Thanks


Ziga

Have you forgotten my version using the LR item? Must be reaching that age Mr Z. You'll be thinking you have a 350i next! Delilah will be so hurt.

[mrzigazaga]

mk1fan said:

mrzigazaga said:

Hi mate

Thats interesting as regards to the transmission insert....First time I've seen that....

Good call on the gaiter too...Do you still have the cup over the lever?...

Thanks


Ziga

Have you forgotten my version using the LR item? Must be reaching that age Mr Z. You'll be thinking you have a 350i next! Delilah will be so hurt.

...I thought I had a 280SE???...Or was it a 350 SEAC...Bugger I think you're right...

[The Hatter]

Gary, the 350i gaiter wouldn't fit, even if I could find one... the SEAC is completely different in the transmission tunnel area because of the narrow central chassis, that's why the handbrake is under the dash, and probably why there's a removable panel. I'm not sure if other SEACs had that panel, I think TVR were making it up as they went along. Also not sure what you mean by a cup, Mark, but the gear lever mechanism is the same as the 350i.

[mrzigazaga]

The Hatter said:

Also not sure what you mean by a cup, Mark, but the gear lever mechanism is the same as the 350i.

Hi mate

I actually meant the rubber gear gaiter...

The original Sierra one had that and the base in one so I was wondering if you used the old gaiter on top of the new base...

[Mr Tank]

The Hatter said:

Gary, the 350i gaiter wouldn't fit, even if I could find one... the SEAC is completely different in the transmission tunnel area because of the narrow central chassis, that's why the handbrake is under the dash, and probably why there's a removable panel. I'm not sure if other SEACs had that panel, I think TVR were making it up as they went along. Also not sure what you mean by a cup, Mark, but the gear lever mechanism is the same as the 350i.

Hi Martin

My SEAC has a similar panel.

Andy

[Campbell]

This is the relay board in my SEAC, not the best picture but its help on the with screws and clips to hold it in place.

[The Hatter]

New boot release switch...



I was quite amused to find that I could get a new switch exactly the same as the original, 30 years on.



Also amused that the housing appears to be something like a discarded piece of aerosol can lid, and it was held in with black goo...



so keeping it original!

[The Hatter]

Finally got around to refitting the original oil pressure gauge after substituting a known working one when working on the engine, so I now have matching gauges again albeit with some 'patina'



The heater control cables have been hanging out of the dash for ages; I got around to connecting them up to the dash sliders not thinking that they would work but amazingly they do... there's no doubting that this is a hand built car when you look at the heater controls!

[Mr Tank]

Hi Martin

Your heater controls are the same hand made ones I have on my 280i S3 which had the first of the those dash panels, but two years later the factory had gone to the standard heater control as found on the 350 S1 for my 450SEAC.

Andy

[Mr Tank]

Hi

Ref the boot solenoid switch and housing. The factory mainly used a switch which you can get from RS the housing comes in two shapes the round one (Usually in red) and a square one which is a modified metal table leg bung (In black.)

The housing and switch.


The bottom of a square metal table leg, as used by the factory, and obtainable of f-bay.


The back off the switch (Wires broken.)


The switch removed from the housing.




Andy

[billynobrakes]

The Hatter said:

Gary, the 350i gaiter wouldn't fit, even if I could find one... the SEAC is completely different in the transmission tunnel area because of the narrow central chassis, that's why the handbrake is under the dash, and probably why there's a removable panel. I'm not sure if other SEACs had that panel, I think TVR were making it up as they went along. Also not sure what you mean by a cup, Mark, but the gear lever mechanism is the same as the 350i.

Don't know what you mean "Cup" and TVR making it up as they went along never

[The Hatter]

I love the table leg thing, thay clearly ran out of old table legs for my car! Though on a more serious note, cutting a hole in Kevlar is bl**dy hard and making a square hole would be a right pain in the wotsit. If you try and drill Kevlar it resists the drill and tears, if you need a neat hole you need to grind it out. This is probably yet another reason that TVR dropped the kevlar body idea.

[Transmitter Man]

Maybe Q-Max would cut you a square hole?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Q-Max-Square-Sheet-Metal-...

Phil
420 SEAC

[The Hatter]

Hi Phil, I'm quite happy with the WD40 can lid for now, that's how it was built!

Centre console looking good now...

[The Hatter]

I suspect there's differences between cars but this is my relay board layout. I haven't checked the fuse layout but the pic shows the laout shown on a decal on the glove box lid. I'm still amazed how many relays TVR used for the headlights, no wonder they can be problematic!

[The Hatter]

Fun and games with oil pressure senders for the gauge.



Top one is the one for the later 'TVR' branded gauges (fitted as a known working set), bottom one is for the 1986 ish VDO type. Top is a 1/2" UNF thread, bottom is 1/8" NPT. The thread in the engine is 1/2"UNF, but you can't get a VDO sensor with that thread, so you need an adaptor. This is what was on the SEAC...



Somewhat bespoke! There's also an oil temperature sender in there but there was no gauge for that, plus two oil pressure switches. Something to do with the dry sump system I guess; there's two seperate oil pressure lights on the dash.

The VDO sensor is toast so I've ordered another, fortunately they are freely available from the likes of Merlin. I also found a 1/2"UNF to 1/8"NPT adaptor to suit the surrogate engine, so when I fit the original engine I'll be able to swap everything over... It'll be interesting to see what pressure the dry sump system works at!

[The Hatter]

All gauges working as intended.. woo hoo!



Fuse box next. It's screwed to the back of the glove box using the same weak lugs as the relay board. I've attempted to glue the lugs back on using araldite, fingers crossed...