Fractures in wheel arches?

[rick.e]

After 7 years of S ownership I have just upgraded to a Griff 500. The car is an 8000 mile year 2000 from one of the "blue chip" TVR dealers who have known the car since new. I thought I had been over the car with a fine tooth comb at the dealer, but on getting it home I found a fracture round the rear near side wheel arch, about half an inch inboard of the body skin, and about a foot long, ie running round the wheel arch. This is not something I ever came across on S's, where the wheel arch appeared to be an integral part of the body. Is this normal on a Griff?

The only other blemish on the car is a very fine quarter inch long stress fracture running from the top corner of the rear light up towards the boot aperture.

[GreenV8S]

I wonder if somebody's had a small knock that needed a new lip on the wheel arch?

Could also be somebody has re-shaped the arch to clear the wheel, remember these cars are hand built and do vary, could be this particular car has the body slightly offset or something that required a slight adjustment?

Don't know whether you think the wheel arch crack is enough to require a repair (now or in future), if it's only slight crazing I wouldn't worry about it but if it's deep or got noticeably worse since you inspected the car you may want them to give you a refund towards the cost of the repair the car will need eventually. If its a big problem, you might even want them to fix it for you immediately.

[Paceracing]

I would be inclined to get it looked at by the TVR dealer in question. Try for a free repair if you haven't had it that long. At worst they will refuse but you may find a compromise where you pay 50% or something. If the crack isn't too bad and you are happy to live with it then it's not a problem, but remember that if you sell the car, any potential buyer may notice it.

Jas.

[rick.e]

To put this into context, I only took delivery yesterday, and drove it 100 miles home, from one of the country's longest established dealers. The skin is actually fractured, as pressure applied to the inboard side causes it to move independently of the skin outboard.

I've also looked at the other side (offside) and it seems to have minor crazing following the same line which looks as if it could go the same way. This is what made me think it may be a generic Griff thing, possibly a cosmetic fillet to fill a gap or something.

[angusfaldo]

Sounds a bit sinister to me. Somthing like this wouldn't pass a PDI so I would not expect it to be like this from the factory. That would suggest it came about as a result of something that happened on the road.

Suggest you get the supplier to check it out and satisfy you there's nothing more to be concerned about.

[simpo one]

Got me foxed here. My Griff's inner wheel arches just disappear smoothly off into the depths with no joins at all.

Re the crack at the rear, could this be a poor paint join from a resprayed section?