1995 Griffith 500 restoration
Discussion
Picture below is my 1995 Griffith in its better times around 2007/8. Not long after the car came off the road. Without going into detail fast forward to 2022 and finally some funds to get this car back on the road.
I decided to give the car to a TVR specialist as I simply would never have the time and equipment to finish this restoration properly.
As it stands budgets have been agreed which will go way beyond once you dig deeper into a restoration. Hopefully not too much.
So it’s body off to restore chassis bringing it back to new again. No fancy colours on this one, just a nice black chassis. Body has a lot of marks and scratches, so new paint all over. I’m keeping it the original colour of tvr starmist blue which I actually like.
Now not for the purists. Headlights will be changed to a twin lamp design under the original covers. I bought the kit in 2008 and it’s been stored ever since. Front orange indicator lense swap to the clear type, and delete the low high beam lamps. The front intake will be subtly re-shaped to form a more oval shape.
The side oval indicators will be fitted a little more flush. To get rid of the hard edge/outline so they blend into the wing as a design rather than a clip on part.
Rear lights are staying inverted Caverlier gsi. Wing mirrors will stay original also but repaired and working correctly. I’m not trying to mimic a late se Griff.
Interior will change colour, the original is magnolia with a navy dash top.
I’ve recently been trying to find different coloured dials to match a different colour interior, no luck so far. Current dials are magnolia. Possibly I might fit black dials with a coloured back light. Again not sure yet.
Seats are another possible change. My originals are comfy, but no real support with spirited driving. Tuscan seats look fab but look fragile and apparently not that comfortable. Haven’t seen any cerbera seats for sale recently and I’m kind of stuck to find a good non tvr seat. Most seam too wide.
Seat cover design I have a few ideas but depends on the seat type and it’s construction.
Also the mass of carpet behind the seats it’s a little too much, so carpet is for the floor and leather panels elsewhere.
The dashboard is also something of a concern. The veneer on the metal isn’t going to last although I like the veneer. If I go with carbon will it look too modern? The aluminium or stainless option is also a bit modern looking too I think.
Well if you have read this far and have genuine ideas and possibly pictures I would be very grateful if you share those.
Any ideas to help make the car easier to maintain in the future once back together will also be gratefully received
I decided to give the car to a TVR specialist as I simply would never have the time and equipment to finish this restoration properly.
As it stands budgets have been agreed which will go way beyond once you dig deeper into a restoration. Hopefully not too much.
So it’s body off to restore chassis bringing it back to new again. No fancy colours on this one, just a nice black chassis. Body has a lot of marks and scratches, so new paint all over. I’m keeping it the original colour of tvr starmist blue which I actually like.
Now not for the purists. Headlights will be changed to a twin lamp design under the original covers. I bought the kit in 2008 and it’s been stored ever since. Front orange indicator lense swap to the clear type, and delete the low high beam lamps. The front intake will be subtly re-shaped to form a more oval shape.
The side oval indicators will be fitted a little more flush. To get rid of the hard edge/outline so they blend into the wing as a design rather than a clip on part.
Rear lights are staying inverted Caverlier gsi. Wing mirrors will stay original also but repaired and working correctly. I’m not trying to mimic a late se Griff.
Interior will change colour, the original is magnolia with a navy dash top.
I’ve recently been trying to find different coloured dials to match a different colour interior, no luck so far. Current dials are magnolia. Possibly I might fit black dials with a coloured back light. Again not sure yet.
Seats are another possible change. My originals are comfy, but no real support with spirited driving. Tuscan seats look fab but look fragile and apparently not that comfortable. Haven’t seen any cerbera seats for sale recently and I’m kind of stuck to find a good non tvr seat. Most seam too wide.
Seat cover design I have a few ideas but depends on the seat type and it’s construction.
Also the mass of carpet behind the seats it’s a little too much, so carpet is for the floor and leather panels elsewhere.
The dashboard is also something of a concern. The veneer on the metal isn’t going to last although I like the veneer. If I go with carbon will it look too modern? The aluminium or stainless option is also a bit modern looking too I think.
Well if you have read this far and have genuine ideas and possibly pictures I would be very grateful if you share those.
Any ideas to help make the car easier to maintain in the future once back together will also be gratefully received
NicBowman said:
Nice intentions. Applause! A minor point, in my view chassis best in original colour, silver I guess in this case. Black hides a lot of issues, which can be good, but for me originality always good. I would never buy a car with the wrong colour chassis. Call me weird….
Nic
Weird Nic
Aussie John said:
Hi Rob, was your car Split-rim Bob's car? I have the same Image wheels as the pic. on your first post.
Yes and it still is , been a long time since I’ve been a tvrcc member I bought those image wheels back in 2004, straight after I purchased the Griff. Not a lover of the estoril design. The image rm2 design seemed to be a good compromise for the 18” tvr spider wheels but keeping the original 4 stud fitment.
Picture below is September 2013. I had just moved to South Wales.
Any pictures of your Griff on the image wheels?
e42 said:
Peter Wiggins (petegriff on here) does a very high quality veneered dash which looks original but is a different laminated construction to get around the issues with a curved veneer on metal dash cracking after a few years. I have one on my pre cat and very happy with it. Just a thought if you want the original veneer look but a better design
Brilliant! Thank you TR4man said:
Looking forward to your updates - if this is half as good as your XJ Coupe thread, it will be awesome.
Thank you for the kind words . I’ll do my best but I don’t think so many parts will be as knackered and rusty as the xjc. Well I hope not lol. Possibly a few cheaply made parts I can modify and machine as the strip down shows them, who knows. I don’t have access to an industrial toolroom anymore though. So I’m limited to what I can repair/restore this time. The machines I have access to are for students just starting out in engineering. Also materials I have access to are limited in type and size, well the freebie stuff
.Let’s just see where this goes.
Aussie John said:
Hi Rob, my wheels are the same spec. as the estorils, 15/16s I always liked them after seeing your Griff at Chatsworth over 10 years ago. 
Very nice! . They are a timeless design I think. If you look at the rolling chassis pictures above mine still have the original tyres on from way back
Picture below just shows a nice fit of the front wheel within the arch. Width and offset totally standard TVR. Wheel diameter is 17” with a 215 40 tyre fitted.
Not the best picture but shows the stuck on side indicator and you might just notice the aluminium brake disc bell inside the wheel. They were fitted by the previous owner using wilwood calipers on a 300mm disc so the original 15” wheels could still be used. I found the brake pedal had a little too much travel for my liking, they worked fine but just not quite right using the original Ford mk3 Fiesta master cylinder. I had replaced the seals in that myself a while back and was specific for a 1.8 diesel mk3 fiesta.
I’ll be replacing the front brakes to a more simple single pot sliding type as per the original but use a 300mm solid front disc from a mk1 Ford Focus st170. The caliper is mk3 Ford Mondeo or Jaguar x-type. Exactly the same. Reading through older threads this combo needs a 15mm spacer between the caliper and mounting face. Also to drill out the mounting face clearance hole to suit a m12 bolt . Originally it uses a m10 bolt clearance.
My first bit of machining is making a screw in spacer m12 one end and m10 within so I can keep the hubs standard.
I’ve already made these. Also already had a pair of rebuilt brake calipers. These I did in the last days I still worked as a Ford employee toolmaker before being made redundant.
Not the best picture but shows the stuck on side indicator and you might just notice the aluminium brake disc bell inside the wheel. They were fitted by the previous owner using wilwood calipers on a 300mm disc so the original 15” wheels could still be used. I found the brake pedal had a little too much travel for my liking, they worked fine but just not quite right using the original Ford mk3 Fiesta master cylinder. I had replaced the seals in that myself a while back and was specific for a 1.8 diesel mk3 fiesta.
I’ll be replacing the front brakes to a more simple single pot sliding type as per the original but use a 300mm solid front disc from a mk1 Ford Focus st170. The caliper is mk3 Ford Mondeo or Jaguar x-type. Exactly the same. Reading through older threads this combo needs a 15mm spacer between the caliper and mounting face. Also to drill out the mounting face clearance hole to suit a m12 bolt . Originally it uses a m10 bolt clearance.
My first bit of machining is making a screw in spacer m12 one end and m10 within so I can keep the hubs standard.
I’ve already made these. Also already had a pair of rebuilt brake calipers. These I did in the last days I still worked as a Ford employee toolmaker before being made redundant.
Above are the spacers, m12 male thread to screw into the caliper carrier
Below screwed into the carrier. These have been zinc plated using a home kit. When fitted properly a dab of loctite will stop them unscrewing and they will be painted together with the calipers in the finish colour. Not sure what colour as yet.
These calipers are just in a satin black finish. The paint I had at the time.
They will be given a more durable paint nearer the time
Edited by RobXjcoupe on Thursday 14th July 15:02
So another project to complete now is the addition of new seats. In my garage I have a pair of Jaguar xjs recaro type front seats. Originally bought for a 2 door Range Rover but found originals for that so the Jag xjs seats have just been something else to shift around from time to time.
A little search online found an old thread fitting said seats into a chimera. Style wise they look spot on and guaranteed comfort being from an old Jag cruiser. Makes a change I have a bit of luck
Having a quick look at condition, diaphragm on the seat base is good, seat cushion foam is still sponge like. Probably need new webbing in the back rest but thats usual and I have the Jag runners if needed or remove and make a subframe to suit the original tvr runners.
I’ll delete the seat piping when I make the new covers and either top or French stitch those seams to be more tvr in style. Headrest is fixed but is actually behind your head when sitting in the seat. The bolster sides are solid with no give which makes fitting new covers a bit easier. Yeah reckon these will be good once recovered and fitted
A little search online found an old thread fitting said seats into a chimera. Style wise they look spot on and guaranteed comfort being from an old Jag cruiser. Makes a change I have a bit of luck
Having a quick look at condition, diaphragm on the seat base is good, seat cushion foam is still sponge like. Probably need new webbing in the back rest but thats usual and I have the Jag runners if needed or remove and make a subframe to suit the original tvr runners.
I’ll delete the seat piping when I make the new covers and either top or French stitch those seams to be more tvr in style. Headrest is fixed but is actually behind your head when sitting in the seat. The bolster sides are solid with no give which makes fitting new covers a bit easier. Yeah reckon these will be good once recovered and fitted
Edited by RobXjcoupe on Wednesday 20th July 13:24
LucyP said:
Surely you are not going to put lights from 2008 into a 2022 project? Technology has moved on. Find something current and much better, if you want to upgrade.
And surely you are not going to put 1970/80s XJS seats in either. Are they the TWR ones or just the standard Jaguar ones that were once as flat as a snooker table and then in the late 80s got the big bolsters where the piping wore down to the plastic core from the seatbelt rubbing (my dad had a XJS V12 from new that did just that)? The XJS seats are enormous, heavy and tall. The headrests almost touched the XJS's headlining. They were heated too. Surely you want something modern, light and simple.
Unfortunately 2022 lights in a 1995 car isn’t legal until the car is 40 years old and lets face it original TVR seats are 70’s British leyland based. 80’s xjs Seats would be an upgrade. And surely you are not going to put 1970/80s XJS seats in either. Are they the TWR ones or just the standard Jaguar ones that were once as flat as a snooker table and then in the late 80s got the big bolsters where the piping wore down to the plastic core from the seatbelt rubbing (my dad had a XJS V12 from new that did just that)? The XJS seats are enormous, heavy and tall. The headrests almost touched the XJS's headlining. They were heated too. Surely you want something modern, light and simple.
All the lightweight modern sports seats are not very appealing to the eye or look particularly comfortable fitted into a classic styled interior like the Griffith. By all means I’m open to suggestions if you give examples, but I’m not building an Asian turbo car with every bit of current technology thrown at it. I’m restoring a classic styled British sports car with a few upgrades of which parts are more readily available. One thing I agree with is simplicity. The recaro styled xjs seats are a simple design, easy to fix and new foams are readily available if needed once I start to template the cover.
Also having heated seats is a must with a bad back. Too much heavy lifting in my younger years has taken its toll. So the compromise is sports car ride but comfy seat! Lol
So reading the other seat thread there are position issues with the button to flip the seat forward and the back rest angle adjust lever.
So I removed the back of one seat to see quickly if I can re-position the button to flip the seat forward and it seems yes. A simple bracket to remove and either shorten the pushrod or make a longer one accordingly. Picture below with my finger on the pushrod
Also found hidden and tucked away inside, a motorised pump for the lumber support together with the inflatable pillow. Obviously an optional extra connected if paid for. Picture below trying to point that out together with a picture showing the lumber pillow fitment and wiring from the motor. The motor is wrapped in the black leather pouch to the right hand side. I’ll check the inflatable pillow another time and if it’s sound I’ll incorporate that as a working part of the seat. The handle that adjusts the rake of the backrest also shows promise to modify to make it narrower to fit into the space within the Griff. The other seat thread said to fit the xjs seats as driver to tvr passenger and vice versa because of the placement of the adjustment handles. I reckon with a bit more ingenuity I can get the seats the correct way round to operate the lever and buttons.
The webbing on the backrest definitely needs replacing as it’s loose and lost it’s elasticity. Kinda new that anyway.
So cover design. If I just make as original they will still look like a Jaguar seat in a different colour. So perhaps this is a time to stitch the Bentley double stitch diamonds which if I’m honest uses less leather than tuck and roll and also makes a good insert design within the door trim that used a piece of carpet originally.
So I removed the back of one seat to see quickly if I can re-position the button to flip the seat forward and it seems yes. A simple bracket to remove and either shorten the pushrod or make a longer one accordingly. Picture below with my finger on the pushrod
Also found hidden and tucked away inside, a motorised pump for the lumber support together with the inflatable pillow. Obviously an optional extra connected if paid for. Picture below trying to point that out together with a picture showing the lumber pillow fitment and wiring from the motor. The motor is wrapped in the black leather pouch to the right hand side. I’ll check the inflatable pillow another time and if it’s sound I’ll incorporate that as a working part of the seat. The handle that adjusts the rake of the backrest also shows promise to modify to make it narrower to fit into the space within the Griff. The other seat thread said to fit the xjs seats as driver to tvr passenger and vice versa because of the placement of the adjustment handles. I reckon with a bit more ingenuity I can get the seats the correct way round to operate the lever and buttons.
The webbing on the backrest definitely needs replacing as it’s loose and lost it’s elasticity. Kinda new that anyway.
So cover design. If I just make as original they will still look like a Jaguar seat in a different colour. So perhaps this is a time to stitch the Bentley double stitch diamonds which if I’m honest uses less leather than tuck and roll and also makes a good insert design within the door trim that used a piece of carpet originally.
NiaLaurie said:
We had Tuscan seats fitted by TVR Central as part of a full internal upgrade about 5 years ago. They are wearing well and a massive improvement on the originals. 
Yeah nice looking seats . Unfortunately my budget being mostly mechanical and body I can’t justify the current price of Tuscan seats. Genuine tvr factory parts are expensive now. I’m still in talking through a set of different coloured face dials and they are not cheap. New dash built to last isn’t cheap. Trying to put the little extra on regular details is difficult. I won’t explain now until those parts are complete, just in case it changes again.
I’m sticking with the Jaguar seats for the time being unless a pair of Tuscan or cerbera seats can be had for £300 lol
Picture below I found in the folder of receipts.
I think the Griffith looks just as good with the roof on
Belle427 said:
Does make me wonder how cable ties were ever allowed to secure fuel and brake lines.
No doubt they do last but just seems odd to me.
If I had the time and space, I would use a more traditional method to attach the fuel and brake lines. Unfortunately budgets as they are cable ties as per original factory is fine with me. No doubt they do last but just seems odd to me.
Like most things, unlimited budget would be awesome lol
Polly Grigora said:
RobXjcoupe said:
OP, the work looks top class, you'll have a stunner when it's finished, can you not reconsider doing something better with the brake pipes?TwinKam said:
Weak points? Stress risers? Crumple zones? ...does your chassis not already have a number of 3mm holes in the bottom tubes for the heat shield screws? And there are those who have galvanised their chassis who have drilled two 6mm(?) holes in every tube! A few more 3 or even 4mm holes for 'P' clips would make no structural difference whatsoever. The only reason that tywraps were/are used is because they're cheap and quick. But they are not best practice; in proper grown-up car construction the pipes will touch nothing between clips.
Hot dipped galvanised does create additional stresses. Random holes in tubes will create weak points. I don’t think TVRs were ever crash tested so there will be no specific evidence to show how the body and chassis perform in an impact.Cable ties are a compromise as is the whole car to be fair but it looks very pretty. When it’s in one piece.
I think there is more to life than worry about cable ties holding a tvr together
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