Holes in floor
Holes in floor
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Discussion

Technoholic

Original Poster:

490 posts

88 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
So going through the new car to find any other obvious issues, I've found some holes in the floor. I'm sure these are the bolt holes for the original seats seeing as the car has been fitted with Intatrim seats. It looks like rust coming through but I'm guessing it's just dirty fibreglass, but I'm concerned about having open holes on the floor. What is the best way to deal with these? I'd like to swap my seats back to originals (still looking for a swap) but is there anything I can or should do?

Thanks

TwinKam

3,452 posts

117 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
The rust will just be staining from the original mild steel bolts.
Short term, to seal the factory holes until you re-use them, I'd use tapered silicone bungs, readily available on the net or from a powdercoating firm.
When you refit the OE seats, the silicone bungs are easily removable; you will then need to fill the currently used bolt holes with a fibreglass mulch such as P40.

Belle427

11,188 posts

255 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
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Duck tape on the top and squeeze some silicone in underneath, easy to remove afterwards.

phillpot

17,439 posts

205 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
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Unless you're heading out in torrential rain four little holes shouldn't be an issue but if they do concern you a dollop of silicone sealant would be a quick 'n cheap fix and should peel out easy enough when you find yourself some original seats.

And, as already suggested, some P40 for a more permanent fix once you're sure which holes you do and don't want

Technoholic

Original Poster:

490 posts

88 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
Ok, great, sounds simple enough.

Question about the seat mounts, I understand they used the fibreglass to secure the seats, but how do the bolts (the originals at leat) actually get mechanically fixed? Is there some sort of captive nut on the underside of the car or some other means of holding the bolts?

Classic Chim

12,424 posts

171 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
Am a I right in thinking the fibreglass for the original holes is slightly stronger or has some washers fibreglassed into the floor to spread the load.
Check your seats have wide washers where the seat goes through the floor to spread that load or the fibreglass may split!

phillpot

17,439 posts

205 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
Technoholic said:
Is there some sort of captive nut on the underside of the car or some other means of holding the bolts?
bolt through hole, smidge of sealant, big "penny" washer then a nut, simple as that!


(I would use "Nylock"self locking nuts)


Some (all?) Chimaeras had blocks under the front mountings...............




Edited by phillpot on Wednesday 31st October 10:05

phazed

22,434 posts

226 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
The fixing to the floor is pretty ridiculous! Some have had steel straps fitted across the outrigger rails when they have had chassis work done.

As said, just bolted through the floor with big penny washers often cut down where they fit in the recess.

The floor is probably the thinnest area of fibreglass on the car! Best be on a diet if you are a big lad.........

Technoholic

Original Poster:

490 posts

88 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
I've just had a quick look underneath, there's actually steel plates under the new bolts which is good


Technoholic

Original Poster:

490 posts

88 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
phazed said:
The fixing to the floor is pretty ridiculous! Some have had steel straps fitted across the outrigger rails when they have had chassis work done.

As said, just bolted through the floor with big penny washers often cut down where they fit in the recess.

The floor is probably the thinnest area of fibreglass on the car! Best be on a diet if you are a big lad.........
I am! I've said to the wife I'm on a diet now to make it easier to get in and out! Forget living longer, it's all about the car!

Technoholic

Original Poster:

490 posts

88 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
Couple other pics I snapped while reaching under there. Let's hope Peter that it's good news under all that





[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/UsS106Qx[/url
]

phazed

22,434 posts

226 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
Certainly rusty but lets reserve judgement till Saturday!

I'll make sure that I have a sharp pokey stick handy!

indigochim

2,067 posts

152 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
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Good luck with the brown stuff.


You say you're looking at swapping the Intatrim seats seats you have. I want to retain my originals but I may be interested in your seats. Do you have a pic?

Technoholic

Original Poster:

490 posts

88 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
Here's one of the sale picture is think, I don't have a better one right now but will take one. I actually find the seats quite comfortable but being a fat git they're not quite for me.

Ideally I'd like a swap with some good condition originals or Tuscan seats but would consider a sale if the price was right and allowed me to buy some. I have the receipt for them and they weren't cheap, and as far as I can see, they've hardly been used since new as the leather is almost mint.


LLantrisant

1,003 posts

181 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
those pics from underneath are a walk-away, unless the car is really, really cheap....you can instantly consder a body-off chassis repair / change...

ianwayne

7,636 posts

290 months

Wednesday 31st October 2018
quotequote all
I'm not sure you can be that definite from just those photos.

Much of it is curled up underseal and powdercoat / paint. Those corner and halfway pieces are fairly thick gauge steel. My last Chimaera looked a bit like that on the outriggers but after scraping all the loose off, treatment and paint was sufficient.

And wishbones should really be considered a service item, albeit after a few years. They last longer than the equivalent on other makes of car. Lower suspension arms with bushes and balljoints on them get changed on all sorts of cars every few years, I've had to change them on Fiats, Peugeots and Vauxhalls I've owned that were half the age of my TVRs.



Edited by ianwayne on Wednesday 31st October 22:18

indigochim

2,067 posts

152 months

Thursday 1st November 2018
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Technoholic said:
Here's one of the sale picture ....
Thanks for that they look good and I think that's the model I was hoping to try and the colour is right too.

I defiantly want to keep mine so I can go back to original and they need the foam addressing which is hopefully a job for this winter.

I'm sure someone will be willing to swap you but keep me in mind if you chose to sell. If you look to buy just be aware the ones forsale in Coppull are fire damaged if you read the description it's not shown in the first pic.

Technoholic

Original Poster:

490 posts

88 months

Thursday 1st November 2018
quotequote all
LLantrisant said:
those pics from underneath are a walk-away, unless the car is really, really cheap....you can instantly consder a body-off chassis repair / change...
I've bought the car, and I am getting it inspected by Phazed this weekend, so I can't walk away but if it turns out they are worse than the dealer described then I have a lot of information about how I go about rejecting the car within the 30 day period, thanks to many others on here.

However my hope is that it's a lot of surface corrosion. There is a lot of undersea peeling which I think makes it look worse but I need to obviously check the tops of the outriggers with the help of Phazed

Technoholic

Original Poster:

490 posts

88 months

Thursday 1st November 2018
quotequote all
indigochim said:
Thanks for that they look good and I think that's the model I was hoping to try and the colour is right too.

I defiantly want to keep mine so I can go back to original and they need the foam addressing which is hopefully a job for this winter.

I'm sure someone will be willing to swap you but keep me in mind if you chose to sell. If you look to buy just be aware the ones forsale in Coppull are fire damaged if you read the description it's not shown in the first pic.
I'm not against selling if I can find a good set elsewhere, so I'll keep you in mind and if I find a good set I will let you know.

LLantrisant

1,003 posts

181 months

Friday 2nd November 2018
quotequote all
inspection? the real "inspection" would began when you would start lifting the body.....this car is a typical representative of its class:

nice and shiy on top...a complete flop underneath.

in the area of ~ 7-9k sales price you coud expect a perfect & clean chassis, incl. its suspension parts.
frankly speaking, this means that the chassis & suspension has profited already from beeing replaced