Bagged myself a marvelous M!

[DAKOTAstorm]

Picked her up today! first drive went smooth, only hiccups came from the tool behind the wheel! some of you may recognise her, the red and black M from the classifieds, it's in great condition chassis and interior wise, about 40% of the electrics work and another 30% work when they feel like it! odd jobs here and there but thoroughly pleased! I will post some pictures next weekend, a few of things I need help figuring out what the hell they are.

[pridaux]

Well Done i Thaught She looked a real catch cant see why someone did not snap her up soonerHappy Garaging and HappyKeep us posted
Andrew

[DAKOTAstorm]

The plan is to collect the original engine, have this refurbished and refitted. As for the electrics I briefly looked at autosparks and they sold a wiring pack for around £250, any one know what this includes? The brake and clutch are very stiff, very very stiff and the throttle pedal seems to travel a long distance, is this normal? there is a dial furthest to the left, other side of the battery voltage, it is a multicoloured dial with readings such as drive, idle, brake, I have no idea what this is? any help would be appreciated!

[english2]

Hi there
I had a brief look at autosparks and the price looked more like £273+VAT for the loom. What makes you think it needs changing completely? Is it not easier to fault find the things that are not working one by one using a wiring diagram?
I was interested in this car, and although I couldn't get over to the UK in time to see it, I was given to understand that the car had been SORNed for quite a while, so I would guess that the clutch and brake mechanisms just need freeing up (using plusgas, grease, brake cleaner or whatever bit you are looking at). I would work my way along the mechanisms from pedal to master/slave cylinders for the clutch, plus discs/pads for the brakes and clean/adjust as necessary.
If you can supply a pic of the dial I'm sure someone will identify it.
Hope you have fun with the car, I so nearly bought it myself but was put off by the modifications which could have caused me trouble re-registering in France. I'm still looking for a Taimar or 3000M...
Cheers
Robin

[dryden]

Welcome to M ownership! To make the whole thing feel lighter,.......go down the jym! The cluch is cable operated so no hydraulic assistance, This gets tedious in traffic, and the older they get.. or the newer "new" cars get, it seems to make "old school feel" well, heavy! To loosen thing up, it will need regular use, and at least twice a year grease up all around, and there are many grease nipples to do, including the cluch cable. A well oiled machine, well used soon loosens up!

[dryden]

Oh, and the multi coloured dial is a (non standard) vacuum guage.......ignore it!

[DAKOTAstorm]

Thanks english2, I am a complete novice at this stuff and solely relying on others experience and advice to get me through, thank god for the internet! I think a lot of the items not working come from this engine as it seems only the bare necessaries have been connected to make the car drive. Others I am going to blame on connections or fuses, one because stuff works, just not on the correct setting and two, because I haven't yet found the fuse box which is obviously a problem!

Yeah strangely enough the dial actually does say that, but now I can't ignore it, what should it do and why has it been added?

[anonymous-user]

Isn't fusebox on bulkhead centre, bonnet slam panel? Like an old mini?
Rewiring sounds a good idea to me, allows you to install modern relays and fuse banks and get everything working as it should with traceable colour coding! New bulb holders, new earth returns, braze on a new threaded otter switch, fit a new reverse sensor that's probably ground off, petrol tank sensor, dial lights that all work, new switches that contact properly!!!! New wiper motor connector! For me I couldn't enjoy an old TVR without everything working as it should, especially with the electrics being relatively simple. Looks a gem though that car!

[english2]

I remember my Dad fitting the same multi-coloured vaccuum gauge to his Austin Maxi which I learnt to drive in; the idea was to keep the needle in part of the range (one of the coloured bits) in order to minimise fuel consumption. The more you put your foot down over and above what you needed to keep cruising at the same speed the more the needle went into the (probably red) zone showing that you were wasting fuel. I don't know how much use they really were... therefore as others have said... just ignore it!

[GAjon]

Hope you enjoy your new M. They are a very good car and easy to sort out.
They all have thier little differences and can actually feel different to drive, it's called character!

[Warwick67]

The only problem I've found with M ownership (2500M) is that I cant find anything else I like driving as much, I've gone through about 8 cars in the last 15 months. If you fancy some real fun with it get yourself registered for the TVR Speed Championship for next year - great fun..

Mine has a multi-coloured gauge which supposedly tells you the health of the charging circuit - not sure what the value of it is....

Have fun with it.....

[GTRene]

Warwick67 said:

The only problem I've found with M ownership (2500M) is that I cant find anything else I like driving as much, I've gone through about 8 cars in the last 15 months.

You've also had a Chimaera, how is the M compared to that car when driving it and or get your driving pleasure. (I not mean engine wise (V8 vs V6) but just the feeling of the car driving it and or talks to you.

[DAKOTAstorm]

Well she is booked in to Hexham Horseless Carriages tomorrow for a quick look over and to hopefully give me a quick lesson in what I am looking at/for. Also picking up the original engine tomorrow. I will get some pictures up as soon as I can!

[MnS]

excellent news Scott, good to see you got yourself into one eventually. Nice to have another M in the area.

Ian

[DAKOTAstorm]

Over all it was sound, mechanically and chassis was very good and they were pleased which gave me more confidence, the few niggles they picked up were wheel bearings, knuckles and bushes. We also had a laugh at all the non standard parts that have been fitted over the years! one question did come up though, I have a rear fog light where the rear right bumper is eventually going to go, this is a requirement for an MOT, so where are they usually or where can it be moved?

[Adrian@]

Remove ONE of the reverse light bulb wiring connections and fit in a 21w Red LED bulb, connect up to your current unit wiring to it...job done. My version is headlamp switched etc. and I made a new switch panel that holds the new identical switch and used the dimmer switch (not used on my car) aperture to mount an identical yellow bulb.
Adrian@

See the later posts re MOT

Edited by Adrian@ on Friday 19th October 17:03

[ATE399J]

DAKOTAstorm said:

this is a requirement for an MOT

Are you sure? I have 1970 and 1978 cars, neither have rear fogs, both have MoT's. I thought if it was fitted when new it must work otherwise not required. ???

[TVR_owner]

ATE399J said:

Are you sure? I have 1970 and 1978 cars, neither have rear fogs, both have MoT's. I thought if it was fitted when new it must work otherwise not required. ???

Near perfect interpretation of the regs - not required on a 1978 3000M .....but a wise addition

Edited by TVR_owner on Friday 19th October 12:58

[pridaux]

Mine has no fog light at all still passed MOT maybe Adrian can explain.
As not planning to drive in fog not really worried.
Good luck with the car I thought she looked good
Andrew

[Adrian@]

Valid point re the MOT...MY understanding is that (mine is a 79 car) 79 cars on require them, BUT on pre 79, if it is there it MUST work.
Adrian@
See the later posts re MOT

Edited by Adrian@ on Friday 19th October 17:04