The road to TVR Tuscan ownership
Discussion
As it was a dry but cold day it was the perfect opportunity to go for a bit of a drive. I have always believed in using cars all year round and the TVRs that seem to give trouble are generally those that are kept unused for months on end.
Cold weather meant getting the oil up to temp took forever but was eventually able to have some fun on some pretty deserted roads, the cold is certainly not helping grip levels but certainly raising a smile
Now sounding much better following the recent issue and faith in it fully restored
https://youtu.be/3juqz5-IYEk
Cold weather meant getting the oil up to temp took forever but was eventually able to have some fun on some pretty deserted roads, the cold is certainly not helping grip levels but certainly raising a smile
Now sounding much better following the recent issue and faith in it fully restored
https://youtu.be/3juqz5-IYEk
With not having anything to fix (tempting fate I know) this weekend saw me with a bit of time to spring clean the Tuscan.
All wheels off and arches / chassis rails cleaned and inspected.
All protection removed and a clay session followed by a machine polish with M&K Mild Cut and layer of cloak sees it ready for a layer of Seal followed by a layer of Lily during the week.
Despite being 20 years old and on totally original paint she comes up pretty well.
All wheels off and arches / chassis rails cleaned and inspected.
All protection removed and a clay session followed by a machine polish with M&K Mild Cut and layer of cloak sees it ready for a layer of Seal followed by a layer of Lily during the week.
Despite being 20 years old and on totally original paint she comes up pretty well.
Mr Tidy said:
Still looking stunning. 
I've always loved TVRs so it's great to see one getting used and cherished - maybe one day...........!
Thanks, the paintwork has stonechips etc but I want to enjoy using it for a couple of years before going down the repaint route, its presentable as it is thoughI've always loved TVRs so it's great to see one getting used and cherished - maybe one day...........!
In an attempt to fight off the post covid vaccination lethargy that hit me this morning I decided to pop the bonnet and do a little cleaning, never going to be the prettiest engine bay but really illustrates how far back the engine sits, the entire thing is behind the front wheel centre line
The chassis is pretty much perfect, its always been garaged and kept well protected.
Paintwork is completely original and therefore not perfect, will get painted in the next few years but want to simply enjoy driving it for a while, I know once repaintedIj Iwill be far more concerned about the miles I put on it
Paintwork is completely original and therefore not perfect, will get painted in the next few years but want to simply enjoy driving it for a while, I know once repaintedIj Iwill be far more concerned about the miles I put on it
Latest audio update. Having one of the Pioneer SPH-10BT units that uses your phone in a cradle to act as the main user interface, its a great, cheap unit but I found the screen size to be too small
Tried an old Acer Iconia tablet that I had in a draw doing nothing this was too big to fit into the retractable cradle, I needed a magnet that could sit in the cradle, it needed to be a very specific depth to allow the mount to still retract into the stereo - lucked out with the first one I tried - happy days
The Acer Iconia was better but that lacked live sat nav due to no LTE facility so it was not going to be ideal but I thought I was now on to something
Just had a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8" tablet delivered and it works perfectly, 256Gb SD card, £3 per month SIM card and the Pioneer Smart Sync App works perfectly
Now got a setup that is easy to read due to a decent screen size - gives me most of the functionality of a £700 Alpine Halo 9 that I had started to look at for about 1/4 of the cost
Tried an old Acer Iconia tablet that I had in a draw doing nothing this was too big to fit into the retractable cradle, I needed a magnet that could sit in the cradle, it needed to be a very specific depth to allow the mount to still retract into the stereo - lucked out with the first one I tried - happy days
The Acer Iconia was better but that lacked live sat nav due to no LTE facility so it was not going to be ideal but I thought I was now on to something
Just had a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8" tablet delivered and it works perfectly, 256Gb SD card, £3 per month SIM card and the Pioneer Smart Sync App works perfectly
Now got a setup that is easy to read due to a decent screen size - gives me most of the functionality of a £700 Alpine Halo 9 that I had started to look at for about 1/4 of the cost
Not permanently fixed, just lifts off, no shake at all, even at speed across country
Potentially the biggest headache was finding magnets of the right depth, obviously needed to be flush with the outer edge of the cradle so it would actually grip the tablet but not too deep that it would stop the cradle from still being able to be retracted into the head unit.
Lucked out with the first magnet I tried, perfect depth magnet was the 2 pack YOSH magnet from Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/YOSH-Magnetic-Universal-r...
Potentially the biggest headache was finding magnets of the right depth, obviously needed to be flush with the outer edge of the cradle so it would actually grip the tablet but not too deep that it would stop the cradle from still being able to be retracted into the head unit.
Lucked out with the first magnet I tried, perfect depth magnet was the 2 pack YOSH magnet from Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/YOSH-Magnetic-Universal-r...
Edited by Andy665 on Saturday 17th April 10:14
Wonderful few hours out on the great roads of Shropshire, skirting the Welsh border, next to no traffic encountered and some wonderful views. Shropshire is so much better for being off most peoples radar, very unspoiled and some wonderful driving roads.
Never been to The Bog and The Stiperstones before but will certainly be going back. Just under 100 miles and over 40 were on roads with no centre line - who says you can't find driving enjoyment in the UK. Drive topped off when we came across a lovely metallic red Chimera for a few miles before he went his own way
Did have a slight scare when entering a village on a single track road when something metallic seemed to drop off from under the car, re-traced our steps and found a lump of sheared pig iron in the road that I doubt even TVR would fit. First thought was sheared exhaust clamp but all seems well, will double check later when its all cooled down.
Never been to The Bog and The Stiperstones before but will certainly be going back. Just under 100 miles and over 40 were on roads with no centre line - who says you can't find driving enjoyment in the UK. Drive topped off when we came across a lovely metallic red Chimera for a few miles before he went his own way
Did have a slight scare when entering a village on a single track road when something metallic seemed to drop off from under the car, re-traced our steps and found a lump of sheared pig iron in the road that I doubt even TVR would fit. First thought was sheared exhaust clamp but all seems well, will double check later when its all cooled down.
Another job done.
The rear lights are fine apart from the fact that they intrude into the boot space, the internals covered by cones that are always getting knocked off and are just plain inconvenient.
Moving to LED replacements means that they are much shallower and thanks to a fellow Tuscan owner, a kit is now available to cover the rear of the units.
Fitment was pretty straightforward, worst part was removing the old units as being a TVR there was no real mounting system, simply positioned / fixed with silicone sealer so breaking that seal and removing the old units and removing sealant residue was time consuming.
Simply clipped off the old connector blocks, soldered on to the back of the new units and then apply sealant and replace.
Result, less intrusion into the boot space and a freshened up rear end
Cone is how it used to be, cover below is new unit fitted, small but worthwhile difference
The rear lights are fine apart from the fact that they intrude into the boot space, the internals covered by cones that are always getting knocked off and are just plain inconvenient.
Moving to LED replacements means that they are much shallower and thanks to a fellow Tuscan owner, a kit is now available to cover the rear of the units.
Fitment was pretty straightforward, worst part was removing the old units as being a TVR there was no real mounting system, simply positioned / fixed with silicone sealer so breaking that seal and removing the old units and removing sealant residue was time consuming.
Simply clipped off the old connector blocks, soldered on to the back of the new units and then apply sealant and replace.
Result, less intrusion into the boot space and a freshened up rear end
Cone is how it used to be, cover below is new unit fitted, small but worthwhile difference
A difficult couple of weeks for TVR ownership but concluded nicely.
Went back to the specialist (TrackvRoad) for its annual service and MOT but also needed valve clearances checked so wife followed me up to drop it off, journey back to collect it is a real ballache, 4 trains and 4 hours but want to stay loyal (and this has benefits as you can see further down).
Service was done without issue but 11 litres of top quality oil is never cheap and MOT passed with no advisories (all MOTs have been the same)
Journey home was awful, the Friday at the end of half term and M6 is never a happy combo so went across country with seemingly millions of others meaning a 2 hour journey took me nearly 5.
On getting home noticed the passenger side rear silencer was sitting slightly oddly, looking underneath the rear exhaust bracket had split and allowed the rear hanger to fall off.
No problem, new hanger order and fitted with a bit of make do and mend on the exhaust bracket itself and exhaust seemed to be aligned perfectly.
Following week went off to a local meet and all was ok until the last couple of miles home when I noticed an occasional rattle / vibration, a few short drives and I was stumped, was so inconsistent and I could not place it at all, had all four wheels off, checked engine bay (and found two slightly perished oil cooler mounting bushes), .Following week went off to a local meet and all was ok until the last couple of miles home when I noticed an occasional rattle / vibration, a few short drives and I was stumped, was so inconsistent and I could not place it at all, had all four wheels off, checked engine bay (and found two slightly perished oil cooler mounting bushes) - I'm simply not the kind of person who can simply ignore noises that I know are not serious but should not be there.
Being slightly cautious I arranged for the car to be transported up to the specialist - 24 hours later the car is ready, road test confirmed that the front end of the exhaust had rotated slightly and was hitting the chassis side rail and gearbox bellhousing. Re-aligned, damaged exhaust bracket repaired, more substantial rear exhaust hanger fabricated and fitted and new oil cooler bushes sourced and fitted.
Best bit - no bill, goodwill gesture by the specialist as a thank you for me being loyal to them
Nice 105 mile journey home trying to avoid motorways, enjoyed the rattle free experience and made me realise that whilst this is a car which I'm sure will test my patience is slowly worming its way in to my affections and looks to be a long term keeper
Went back to the specialist (TrackvRoad) for its annual service and MOT but also needed valve clearances checked so wife followed me up to drop it off, journey back to collect it is a real ballache, 4 trains and 4 hours but want to stay loyal (and this has benefits as you can see further down).
Service was done without issue but 11 litres of top quality oil is never cheap and MOT passed with no advisories (all MOTs have been the same)
Journey home was awful, the Friday at the end of half term and M6 is never a happy combo so went across country with seemingly millions of others meaning a 2 hour journey took me nearly 5.
On getting home noticed the passenger side rear silencer was sitting slightly oddly, looking underneath the rear exhaust bracket had split and allowed the rear hanger to fall off.
No problem, new hanger order and fitted with a bit of make do and mend on the exhaust bracket itself and exhaust seemed to be aligned perfectly.
Following week went off to a local meet and all was ok until the last couple of miles home when I noticed an occasional rattle / vibration, a few short drives and I was stumped, was so inconsistent and I could not place it at all, had all four wheels off, checked engine bay (and found two slightly perished oil cooler mounting bushes), .Following week went off to a local meet and all was ok until the last couple of miles home when I noticed an occasional rattle / vibration, a few short drives and I was stumped, was so inconsistent and I could not place it at all, had all four wheels off, checked engine bay (and found two slightly perished oil cooler mounting bushes) - I'm simply not the kind of person who can simply ignore noises that I know are not serious but should not be there.
Being slightly cautious I arranged for the car to be transported up to the specialist - 24 hours later the car is ready, road test confirmed that the front end of the exhaust had rotated slightly and was hitting the chassis side rail and gearbox bellhousing. Re-aligned, damaged exhaust bracket repaired, more substantial rear exhaust hanger fabricated and fitted and new oil cooler bushes sourced and fitted.
Best bit - no bill, goodwill gesture by the specialist as a thank you for me being loyal to them
Nice 105 mile journey home trying to avoid motorways, enjoyed the rattle free experience and made me realise that whilst this is a car which I'm sure will test my patience is slowly worming its way in to my affections and looks to be a long term keeper
Edited by Andy665 on Friday 18th June 16:55
Needed to re-bond with the Tuscan after its latest gremlins so took off down to the Elan Valley yesterday.
Took it nice and easy on the way down, enjoying glorious driving roads and only came up to 3 other cars travelling in our direction for the entire 80 miles, just took it nice and easy and discovered it really can do the role of a GT car if needed, roof off, back windows in place and side windows down.
The Elan Valley really is a wonderful place, very quiet and with stunning views, managed to get some half decent pics and then came back another route that saw it being driven a fair bit harder, oil temp never above 85, water temp never above 95, just a rapidly plummeting fuel level to watch.
Picked up yet another handful of stonechips on the first bonnet so touched in and will be wet sanded and polished up this week time permitting
I'm finding the car is exceeding all expectations, I expected it to be quite one dimensional but it can be fairly refined and laid back as much as it can be edgy and flinging itself down the road - the minor electrical glitches are nothing more than a minor irritation and i suppose add to the charm of the thing
Took it nice and easy on the way down, enjoying glorious driving roads and only came up to 3 other cars travelling in our direction for the entire 80 miles, just took it nice and easy and discovered it really can do the role of a GT car if needed, roof off, back windows in place and side windows down.
The Elan Valley really is a wonderful place, very quiet and with stunning views, managed to get some half decent pics and then came back another route that saw it being driven a fair bit harder, oil temp never above 85, water temp never above 95, just a rapidly plummeting fuel level to watch.
Picked up yet another handful of stonechips on the first bonnet so touched in and will be wet sanded and polished up this week time permitting
I'm finding the car is exceeding all expectations, I expected it to be quite one dimensional but it can be fairly refined and laid back as much as it can be edgy and flinging itself down the road - the minor electrical glitches are nothing more than a minor irritation and i suppose add to the charm of the thing
Rob-c33sg said:
Good stuff 
glad the issues were also super minor too so the financial damage is low!
Running total for expenditure in my 19 months of ownership is £9,080.27 (never forget the pence) but £6,700 of that was rebuild costs I had prepared for and then there are two services and most other costs are upgrades / preventative maintenance, hopefully the costs will start levelling out glad the issues were also super minor too so the financial damage is low!Car is getting a fair amount of use, done more miles than my daily driver has in 2021. Certainly driving better and supports the theory that mechanical objects benefit from regular use.
Feel like the car has had its minor gremlins sorted, I fully expect the odd electrical glitch but hopefully the rate of spending can subside to more comfortable levels, £34,000.79 since it was registered and £9,080.79 since I took ownership in Dec 2019
Sunday TVR Owners Club trip planned to North Wales with about 50 cars on Sunday so decided to strip the wax off and start from bare paint again. Now a real fan of Mitchell & King products so used their Bavaria twins sealant followed by a layer of Heritage glaze and a top coat of their #3 Prototype wax I was sent, pretty pleased with the results considering this is a car that that has not been painted since it left the factory 20 years ago
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/Jw5Ug84Z[/url
Feel like the car has had its minor gremlins sorted, I fully expect the odd electrical glitch but hopefully the rate of spending can subside to more comfortable levels, £34,000.79 since it was registered and £9,080.79 since I took ownership in Dec 2019
Sunday TVR Owners Club trip planned to North Wales with about 50 cars on Sunday so decided to strip the wax off and start from bare paint again. Now a real fan of Mitchell & King products so used their Bavaria twins sealant followed by a layer of Heritage glaze and a top coat of their #3 Prototype wax I was sent, pretty pleased with the results considering this is a car that that has not been painted since it left the factory 20 years ago
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/Jw5Ug84Z[/urlToday saw the Rebels on the Seafront TVR Car Club run from Nantwich in Cheshire to the Ponderosa, then over to Betws y Coed, onto the A55 for a bit of tunnel running and finishing parked in two huge circles on the promenade in Rhyl.
Must have been more than 80 TVRs in many guises making the run, good driving roads, glorious weather and lots of friendly TVR owners and fans, really great day and since dropping the tyre pressures to 22 / 24 the car felt a lot better planted
Home, couple of stonechips touched in and ready to be wetsanded tomorrow but car clean and ran absolutely superbly all day long, just nursing sunburn and the realisation that 240 across country in a day is not quite as easy as it used to be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXqu6ERs3M
Must have been more than 80 TVRs in many guises making the run, good driving roads, glorious weather and lots of friendly TVR owners and fans, really great day and since dropping the tyre pressures to 22 / 24 the car felt a lot better planted
Home, couple of stonechips touched in and ready to be wetsanded tomorrow but car clean and ran absolutely superbly all day long, just nursing sunburn and the realisation that 240 across country in a day is not quite as easy as it used to be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXqu6ERs3M
Edited by Andy665 on Sunday 25th July 21:18
First proper drive out of the year yesterday after a quick post winter hibernation shakedown run.
I belong to a small group called Mach Run who run drives out, mainly around Wales but sometimes over to the Peak District, all done on a social footing rather than "for profit" basis and yesterday was a run from the base in Machynlleth down through the Elan Valley and then over to the coast and Aberystwyth.
Nice selection of cars including a very well driven RX8 R3, Yaris GR, R8 V10, GTR and TT RS
Spirited but not anti-social or inconsiderate driving, a good number of photo stops and a genuinely nice group of people plus professional photography and drone footage made it a really great day.
The Tuscan performed perfectly and had to be worked hard, the absence of any form of driving aid was felt on ore than a handful of occasions, combination of lots of water running across the roads in many areas and low temperatures saw the back end step out quite regularly.
The driver of the TT RS which had been remapped to 440bhp followed me on the longest and most demanding leg, when we stopped I apologised for probably slowing him down and he told me that he was actually struggling to keep up with me and that looked like I was working hard / having a lot of fun. On chatting at the end stop it was pretty clear that the drivers who had the most fun were those driving the more "analogue" stuff (RX8, GT86 and myself), more effort, probably less speed but more of a challenge and bigger grins at the end
Picked up a few stone chips but one advantage of deciding not to to opt for a repaint for a couple of years is that I'm reasonably relaxed about them and can instead concentrate on enjoying driving the thing
I belong to a small group called Mach Run who run drives out, mainly around Wales but sometimes over to the Peak District, all done on a social footing rather than "for profit" basis and yesterday was a run from the base in Machynlleth down through the Elan Valley and then over to the coast and Aberystwyth.
Nice selection of cars including a very well driven RX8 R3, Yaris GR, R8 V10, GTR and TT RS
Spirited but not anti-social or inconsiderate driving, a good number of photo stops and a genuinely nice group of people plus professional photography and drone footage made it a really great day.
The Tuscan performed perfectly and had to be worked hard, the absence of any form of driving aid was felt on ore than a handful of occasions, combination of lots of water running across the roads in many areas and low temperatures saw the back end step out quite regularly.
The driver of the TT RS which had been remapped to 440bhp followed me on the longest and most demanding leg, when we stopped I apologised for probably slowing him down and he told me that he was actually struggling to keep up with me and that looked like I was working hard / having a lot of fun. On chatting at the end stop it was pretty clear that the drivers who had the most fun were those driving the more "analogue" stuff (RX8, GT86 and myself), more effort, probably less speed but more of a challenge and bigger grins at the end
Picked up a few stone chips but one advantage of deciding not to to opt for a repaint for a couple of years is that I'm reasonably relaxed about them and can instead concentrate on enjoying driving the thing
Now that car meet / show season is here again I decided to look for someone to create something for me. Usually the car detailing stuff I take with me to shows / meets is in an old Swissvax bag that does the job but I wanted something a little more unique.
Seeing how many old jerry cans are converted into picnic hampers and mini bars got me thinking. Managed to track someone down locally who I was able to share my (simple) idea with and the end result is a colour matched detailing jerry can, plenty of space for my needs and ticks the box for being a bit different to the norm
Seeing how many old jerry cans are converted into picnic hampers and mini bars got me thinking. Managed to track someone down locally who I was able to share my (simple) idea with and the end result is a colour matched detailing jerry can, plenty of space for my needs and ticks the box for being a bit different to the norm
Original front indicators were looking a bit tired and were becoming loose so decided to invest in a new kit that allows fitment of new indicators that can also be wired to act as DRLs
Great kit with only issues being the removal of the original indicators, pushing them back into the inner wing was easy, getting them out was something else, eventually managed by splitting them into their 3 main parts making them small enough to feed in and around the dipped beam unit and out of the access panel.
Was also a good opportunity to clean up all the electrical connectors in the access panels with a little electrical contact cleaner and wire brush
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTA6xDX5ZLg
Great kit with only issues being the removal of the original indicators, pushing them back into the inner wing was easy, getting them out was something else, eventually managed by splitting them into their 3 main parts making them small enough to feed in and around the dipped beam unit and out of the access panel.
Was also a good opportunity to clean up all the electrical connectors in the access panels with a little electrical contact cleaner and wire brush
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTA6xDX5ZLg
Rob-c33sg said:
I have a set ready for when the time is right - look great!
I ended up not using the backing plates, would need a lot of filing - no fault with the kit, more the moulding. The light units were such a snug fit in the recess that I simply ran a bead of Tiger Seal and they are rock solid.Removing the original indicators was a nightmare, dead easy if you have 2 hands each with10 inch long fingers, literally got to prise them apart in to their 3 sections but this can only be done inside the inner wing and therefore can only really be done by "feel" alone
I did the 2nd one a lot quicker than the first but still got the scrapes on my hands
Managed to get a cancelled booking from my local wheel refurbishers who really are excellent to get all 4 wheels done.
All had minor marks on them when I bought the car but none were kerbed until I managed to do two of them when leaving Donington the previous weekend. What had irritated me since day one was that the two new wheels (replaced due to originals cracking in 2018) was that two had inner barrels in silver while the other 2 were black so this was an opportunity to sort out that as well.
I was not sure whether to go a shade darker than original but on advice of the refurbishers I went with OE silver on the fronts with a metallic black on the inners.
Finish is excellent and the inners being in metallic black really makes a difference when on the car, it allows the spokes to stand out a bit more.
Much work yesterday getting the wheel stickers on them and properly positioned (spoke opposite the valve cap), some ceramic wheel protection on them all and cleaning of inner arches, chassis rails etc
All had minor marks on them when I bought the car but none were kerbed until I managed to do two of them when leaving Donington the previous weekend. What had irritated me since day one was that the two new wheels (replaced due to originals cracking in 2018) was that two had inner barrels in silver while the other 2 were black so this was an opportunity to sort out that as well.
I was not sure whether to go a shade darker than original but on advice of the refurbishers I went with OE silver on the fronts with a metallic black on the inners.
Finish is excellent and the inners being in metallic black really makes a difference when on the car, it allows the spokes to stand out a bit more.
Much work yesterday getting the wheel stickers on them and properly positioned (spoke opposite the valve cap), some ceramic wheel protection on them all and cleaning of inner arches, chassis rails etc
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