Its been a busy time.
Its been a busy time.
Author
Discussion

Mr Tank

Original Poster:

5,799 posts

305 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
Hi

Its a while since I did a post on what I have been up to. (Sept)

I have post a lot of this on the TVRCC forum, so if you have read this before sorry.

First I moved into my new workshop/garage (Still am.)



The first vehicle to be worked on was my 280i S3. It had a few problems, it had a suspected water leak which had to be sorted as I was going to fill it with Evans fluid. The rear fog lights were not working, and the rear screen was in a poor condition.
This meant work on the water system, the centre dash would have to be removed so I could get to the switch panel, which meant I could also sort out the heater and the roof would also have to be removed.



The first thing we did was to pressurize the system and at only 7 psi it p_ _ _ _ d out of the swan neck cap. Also the bottom of the rad was a bit wet. So I decided to strip out the whole water system, (Apart from the heater rad) so I could find the leak.



A couple of hoses were also a bit suspect and after we removed them we realised we had just got to them in time.



The thermostat seal was also a bit past its sell by date, and how it had not leaked was a mystery!





I was expecting to have the usual problem with the thermostat housing, but they were OK and the threads are also OK. I was also pleased to see that the housings were not the same as the early cars and it appears the later cars 2.8 engine was more like a Capri unit, unlike the early cars.

The rad will be refurbished by Kempston Rads and all the hoses will be sent to ACT so Tim can source them as they are completly different to the kits he does.
At some time in the past all the metal tubes has been replaced with stainless, one has even been modified so it can be kept a way from the oil cooler and PAS pipes.



This work also gave me the opportunity to sort out the heater as it was more than usless. Now this car was the first car to have the wrap around dash board, so I was expecting that the heater would be a TVR special, and yes it is and what a mess it was in. At some time a new operating cable had been fitted and instead of it going into the correct holes they had by-passed it causing the heater box to be open so the heat or fresh air was going no were.



I will rebuild all of this after Christmas.

I have also removed the hood on the car as the rear screen was damaged. I was lucky to find a replacment hood on an auction site which was in very good condition.



The new roof is the correct colour and as soon as the new stainless bolts arrive I will fit it!

When all this work is completed, I will then bring my 280iFHC home to finish of its refurbishment. This requires the black wiring sorted out and then the interior replaced.

The list of jobs I want to do on the rest of my collection will keep this part of the workshop busy. In the other half I hope to start the total rebuild of my Trident in the new year.

If anybody's interested I will do a regular update on the work done on the cars.

Andy

Edited by Mr Tank on Monday 16th December 23:00

400SE Dave

1,305 posts

201 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
Nice workshop!!!

Would be interested to see a Trident thread, good luck with the build. Way beyond my skills and Bob the Builder tool kit smile

ElvisWedgely

2,715 posts

195 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
Andy, congratulations on your new garage/workshop. That lift looks a neat bit of kit. I bet it makes life much easier, especially with so many Wedges to look after. Keep the posts coming as it's interesting to know about these things. You never know when one of us may need to do the same work on our own car. Well done Andy. Keep up the good work. All the best.

Tony. TCB.

superwedge

1,286 posts

178 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
quotequote all
keep it coming andy,we want to know everything, as per how many cups off tea is drank as well,(only joking) well done ,superwedge,

adam quantrill

11,679 posts

272 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
quotequote all
Look great! When can I book mine in for a service then ;^)

Oz2

962 posts

218 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
quotequote all
Hi mate,
Glad your back & keep the updates coming.
Great workshop, bit clean though, does any actual work go on in there????lol
All work ALL you guys do on your TVR's must be posted on ph it's interesting, informative, inspiring & sometimes hilarious, keep it coming everyone, good on ya guys!
Adam

jon haines

960 posts

276 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
quotequote all
Good to see you back on the forum Andy. That looks like a garage we all dream of nevr mind your collection of cars. Keep us up to date with progress.

JMF894

6,612 posts

185 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
quotequote all
That's a fantastic looking garage Andy. Are you all moved into the new house now to? I take it you are now mobile enough to get some bloody work done....! lol

Keep it coming please.

Jimbo

Mr Tank

Original Poster:

5,799 posts

305 months

Wednesday 18th December 2013
quotequote all
Hi Jimbo

Yes we have moved into the new house (A year ago) but the new garage/workshop was not finished till the end of Aug, since then I have been kitting it out, and still am.
You design it but untill you get vehcles into it you can't be 100% certain the work area will work. Well after a slight change of layout it will now work.

The main problem was its 2 meter shorter than I wanted (Due to planning regs) so its like the old saying getting a quart into a pint pot, but in my case more like a gallon into a pint pot.
But its far better than anything I have had before. I have room for three cars and I can work on two of them if needed. I also have space for various pices of equipment to help with my restorations.

Andy

Edited by Mr Tank on Wednesday 18th December 14:43

Mr Tank

Original Poster:

5,799 posts

305 months

Saturday 28th December 2013
quotequote all
Hi

With Christmas over I managed to at least sort out the hoses of the 280i so I can send them to Tim at ACT.



Because the rad is in the nose of the car none of ACT's hose sets for the 280i fit, so Tim needs the hoses so he can try and match what I have with his stock of pipes.

Fortunately most of the pipes are strait so just normal strait silcone hoses will do, its the angled/special pipes which will be the problem!

Whilst the pipes are being sorted I will have to sort out the heater box and operating cables. At some time in the past a new cable to operate the heater valve has been replaced. Unfortunately it was ether fitted incorrectly, or they used the wrong cable.



The cable (Bottom arrow.) should go through the hole (Top arrow) then out the front of the heater box into the engine compartment to operate the heater valve.



But it wasn't done like that, so the back cover of the heater box had been removed and the cable jammed into the side of cover and sealed up with a lot of black silcone. The cover then never sealed or fitted correctly plus the cable never operated correctly.
So that will have to be corrected, another thing which is incorrect is there is no means to channel the air from the heater box to the central panel vents. I think there should be some flexable (Foam) pieces which fit over the back of the dash vents which should then squash up to the heater box holes thus channeling the air into the car!

Any suggestions for a material to do this with?

Andy




superwedge

1,286 posts

178 months

Saturday 28th December 2013
quotequote all
cannot see why they put air con these;s car;s mr tank,

Mr Tank

Original Poster:

5,799 posts

305 months

Sunday 29th December 2013
quotequote all
superwedge said:
cannot see why they put air con these;s car;s mr tank,
Hi Dave

Air con what's that?

Andy



keatsie

326 posts

194 months

Sunday 29th December 2013
quotequote all
Aircon.... At least it would remove the moisture from the air and stop my 400 misting up all the time...

prideaux

4,974 posts

179 months

Sunday 29th December 2013
quotequote all
Mr Tank said:
Hi

With Christmas over I managed to at least sort out the hoses of the 280i so I can send them to Tim at ACT.



Because the rad is in the nose of the car none of ACT's hose sets for the 280i fit, so Tim needs the hoses so he can try and match what I have with his stock of pipes.

Fortunately most of the pipes are strait so just normal strait silcone hoses will do, its the angled/special pipes which will be the problem!

Whilst the pipes are being sorted I will have to sort out the heater box and operating cables. At some time in the past a new cable to operate the heater valve has been replaced. Unfortunately it was ether fitted incorrectly, or they used the wrong cable.



The cable (Bottom arrow.) should go through the hole (Top arrow) then out the front of the heater box into the engine compartment to operate the heater valve.



But it wasn't done like that, so the back cover of the heater box had been removed and the cable jammed into the side of cover and sealed up with a lot of black silcone. The cover then never sealed or fitted correctly plus the cable never operated correctly.
So that will have to be corrected, another thing which is incorrect is there is no means to channel the air from the heater box to the central panel vents. I think there should be some flexable (Foam) pieces which fit over the back of the dash vents which should then squash up to the heater box holes thus channeling the air into the car!

Any suggestions for a material to do this with?

Andy
Try Pipe lagging and cut into strips works on the M series heater box fine where it pushes up against the bulkhead
A

Mr Tank

Original Poster:

5,799 posts

305 months

Sunday 29th December 2013
quotequote all
prideaux said:
Mr Tank said:
Hi

With Christmas over I managed to at least sort out the hoses of the 280i so I can send them to Tim at ACT.



Because the rad is in the nose of the car none of ACT's hose sets for the 280i fit, so Tim needs the hoses so he can try and match what I have with his stock of pipes.

Fortunately most of the pipes are strait so just normal strait silcone hoses will do, its the angled/special pipes which will be the problem!

Whilst the pipes are being sorted I will have to sort out the heater box and operating cables. At some time in the past a new cable to operate the heater valve has been replaced. Unfortunately it was ether fitted incorrectly, or they used the wrong cable.



The cable (Bottom arrow.) should go through the hole (Top arrow) then out the front of the heater box into the engine compartment to operate the heater valve.



But it wasn't done like that, so the back cover of the heater box had been removed and the cable jammed into the side of cover and sealed up with a lot of black silcone. The cover then never sealed or fitted correctly plus the cable never operated correctly.
So that will have to be corrected, another thing which is incorrect is there is no means to channel the air from the heater box to the central panel vents. I think there should be some flexable (Foam) pieces which fit over the back of the dash vents which should then squash up to the heater box holes thus channeling the air into the car!

Any suggestions for a material to do this with?

Andy
Try Pipe lagging and cut into strips works on the M series heater box fine where it pushes up against the bulkhead
A
Hi Andrew

Thanks for that idea!

Andy