1961 Grantura on Ebay. The barn find to end them all ...

[GTRene]

wow, Nice work Ron

[Astacus]

I am very impressed. Makes me think I should pick up mine again. Hmmmm

[Ron L]

Been a while since I gave an update on the TVR progress, I'm behind schedule, family care duties have intruded and whilst it should have been in paint by now I'm still relatively happy with progress. The body has been structurally repaired, (thanks to Gavin Percival for the loan of a body spit), I have managed to repair all of the previous accident damage, replace the lumps of missing external bodywork, strengthen all of the internal joints,and manufacture and fit a new floor that will allow the body to be fitted with bolts for easy removal in the future. The body has then been skimmed with fibreglass tissue as there were just too many cracks to vee out, and it currently has a skim of filler which I am gradually blocking back. The bonnet was beyond repair but managed to get a cheap bonnet mould so that has been layed up and loosely fitted but still in need of internal bracing (I know its a mk3 bonnet and not original but so much of the original fittings for the car are lost that I'm just too old to wait for all of them to eventually surface to make this standard). To that end, steering rack has been fitted in place of the ford box, seats wont be original, colour wont be either and a few other bits too. But drivetrain, suspension etc will be pretty much standard. Paint will probably now be next spring which means the winter will be given over to building up the chassis, suspension, drivetrain etc. Fingers crossed, 2026 will see completion. Apologies for mess in the garage pictures, current blocking/flatting is just so dusty its just easier to leave it in a mess and clean out once the filler work is finished

[porterpainter]

You’re getting there Ron!! Thanks for the update.

[Astacus]

amazing work Ron. What a difference

[indigochim]

Great work it looks well one the way.

[Ron L]

Been a while since I last did an update but today I finally got the chassis up to the "rolling" stage. Body just needs undersealing before bolting on to the chassis and then I can focus on preparing the topside for paint (it has been repaired, strenghened, covered in tissue and knocked into approx shape in prep for primer filler and flatting). Time scales have slipped a little but looking about next summer to finish, even more so as since my last post I have acquired a Vixen that is looking at me longingly for attention!

[Moto]

Good to know your Grantura is progressing. Any chance of some photo's.

Would like to see photo's of your Vixen also with any details on your plans for it.

Moto

[Ron L]

Had attached photos 1st time, here they are again, hope they show up this time

[Ron L]

And the vixen:-
No plans yet, trying not to allow it to distract from the Grantura build.

[GTRene]

How does that work? It looks like the chassis is integrated into the bodywork. Will you be doing that again, or will you make it detachable?

I have no idea which is better, although I think gluing it to the bodywork with a standard frame (without reinforcements) would be more torsion-resistant.

And why are the door panels removed? Did you have to grind them off because, for example, the metal incorporated in them was also rusty/rotten?

A lot of work, but nice to see.

[Ron L]

The original chassis on these cars were bonded into the body. It makes removing the body very difficult with maximum damage to the floors and also hides the chassis so any future rust damage is hidden. I have modified the body so that the chassis will be bolted in place and can be easily removed in the future, just like all later TVR's. The door skins have been removed as the metal bracing around the hinge panels was rotten and its the only easy way to access and replace. The door skin can then just be rebonded in place after.

[GTRene]

I can imagine something like that, respect for the job, from what I read you're doing it well, which will give you a lot of convenience/pleasure later on.

[Moto]

That's the first time I remember seeing a Grantura rolling chassis. It's fascinating to see so many differences between that and my Vixen rolling chassis. I always presumed they'd be virtually the same - how wrong I was.

Are they both keepers once finished ?

Moto

[Ron L]

yep, the grantura chassis is very different to the vixen chassis, much simpler which is good as I had to make it from scratch, dont think I will be doing that with the vixen resto and have already invested in a 2nd hand chassis for that project. As to keeping them both, I will certainly hold on to the grantura until the vixen is finished and then see how flush I am. It was never my intention to have 2 oldtimers, I really wanted a vixen originally as always regretted selling my 1st one 45 years ago but thought they were just too expensive and the grantura came along at the right price and with a big enough restoration challenge. But its a nice quandry to find myself in.

[Granturadriver]

Looks great. You did a lot of work!

And yes, very rare to see the complete Trevor Wilkinson chassis type on wheels and with drive train.

Please post more pictures!

What size of wheels and tyres do you use? Never seen those Vredesteins so far. They look good!

[Ron L]

Standard rims are 4J, Ive gone 4.5J. Didnt want to go too mad on tyres, The car will not be pushed hard in my ownership or ever see wet conditions so seemed pointless investing £800 on top range tyres and these mid range Vredsteins suited my needs.

[porterpainter]

Great work Ron...coming together now.

Looks like a great Vixen project you've picked up there too!