Crack in wing of T350C
Discussion
I'm looking at getting a T350C which is at a great price from a TVR Dealer. I am yet to see the car in person but I have just been told that there is a "small" crack in the passenger side wing. I don't know how bad or how small this crack is, is this a common occurrence on TVRs? Can these cracks in the fibreglass be easily fixed? Is it something which should be causing me concern?
Do TVRs sometimes suffer from stress fractures? Is this the most likely way it occurred?
I've also been told that there is a slight "flat spot" where the paint is a little dull on the rear of the car. The dealer says this will probably polish out. Is this likely on a Chameleon Green car?
The car is at a way below average price so I am guessing I should expect the odd fault. Or is this a car to avoid no matter how good the price is?
Do TVRs sometimes suffer from stress fractures? Is this the most likely way it occurred?
I've also been told that there is a slight "flat spot" where the paint is a little dull on the rear of the car. The dealer says this will probably polish out. Is this likely on a Chameleon Green car?
The car is at a way below average price so I am guessing I should expect the odd fault. Or is this a car to avoid no matter how good the price is?
I can't see how a crack would occur without some 'persuasion'. Why not get a photo of said crack and post it here for an opinion (ooer missus).
The fact he's mentioning the flat paint must mean it's really noticeable, otherwise he would maybe hope you wouldn't notice it ... being Cameleon paint it is expensive! Why not get a quote to respray the panel and deduct this from the price (mind you, the crack is a bigger issue - GRP is easy to repair so that shouldn't be expensive, but again the cost of the paint and how the crack came to be need to be investigated).
The fact he's mentioning the flat paint must mean it's really noticeable, otherwise he would maybe hope you wouldn't notice it ... being Cameleon paint it is expensive! Why not get a quote to respray the panel and deduct this from the price (mind you, the crack is a bigger issue - GRP is easy to repair so that shouldn't be expensive, but again the cost of the paint and how the crack came to be need to be investigated).
targarama said:
I can't see how a crack would occur without some 'persuasion'. Why not get a photo of said crack and post it here for an opinion (ooer missus).
The fact he's mentioning the flat paint must mean it's really noticeable, otherwise he would maybe hope you wouldn't notice it ... being Cameleon paint it is expensive! Why not get a quote to respray the panel and deduct this from the price (mind you, the crack is a bigger issue - GRP is easy to repair so that shouldn't be expensive, but again the cost of the paint and how the crack came to be need to be investigated).
I am trying to get a photo of the crack and a more detailed description. I will post more details and hopefully a photo once I have them.
What do you mean by "GRP"? Sorry, it is probably blindingly obvious but I cant think what it is!?
The price of the car does already reflect the condition of it, and I don't think they are willing to move on price any more.
Now I have to make a decision, should I accept these few defects on the car and buy it (obviously depending on how bad this crack really is and where it is), or should I go for a Tamora I have been looking at for exactly the same price but with twice as many miles and no air con?
I own a T350c with a hair line crack in the passenger wing. Since buying the car i have seen a Tamora and another T350c with the same problem.
A while back i went on a site called Wrecked exotics,
There was a well and truly wrecked Tamora on there, From the very clean break on both wings of this car, it would seem that there is some sort of a join in this location, perhaps someone who works in the GRP molding dept at TVR will confirm this.
I have been a fibre glass laminator for over 30 years,and its a little known fact that most GRP moldings get most of their crack's being pulled out of the mold, but they are invisible for a very long time, and only become visible after several months,and the molding is starting to age. No amount of 'filling over'... 'scratching out' the crack will cure this problem.
The only way to get rid of the problem is to grind away two thirds of the glass layup under the gelcoat, and replace the layup with new glass fibre matting, as the crack in the surface gelcoat goes right through the layup.
sorry to go into such a long explanation, but at least you won't feel alone with this problem. I know i could repair this crack myself, but i haven't learnt to spray Halcyon Midas Yellow yet!!(check my profile)
Dave
>> Edited by valhalla on Friday 20th May 20:07
A while back i went on a site called Wrecked exotics,
There was a well and truly wrecked Tamora on there, From the very clean break on both wings of this car, it would seem that there is some sort of a join in this location, perhaps someone who works in the GRP molding dept at TVR will confirm this.
I have been a fibre glass laminator for over 30 years,and its a little known fact that most GRP moldings get most of their crack's being pulled out of the mold, but they are invisible for a very long time, and only become visible after several months,and the molding is starting to age. No amount of 'filling over'... 'scratching out' the crack will cure this problem.
The only way to get rid of the problem is to grind away two thirds of the glass layup under the gelcoat, and replace the layup with new glass fibre matting, as the crack in the surface gelcoat goes right through the layup.
sorry to go into such a long explanation, but at least you won't feel alone with this problem. I know i could repair this crack myself, but i haven't learnt to spray Halcyon Midas Yellow yet!!(check my profile)
Dave
>> Edited by valhalla on Friday 20th May 20:07
valhalla said:
I own a T350c with a hair line crack in the passenger wing. Since buying the car i have seen a Tamora and another T350c with the same problem....
Very interesting valhalla! Cheers for the responce.
Can I ask how bad this hair line crack is? Were these other cars cracked in the same place? It is very noticable? I have a feeling that this car may have the same thing. Do you have any photos?
NickT said:
The price they are asking for the car is £26k with a decent 12 month warranty. Do people think this is a good deal for an average mileage early 2003 T350C with air con and chameleon green paint even with these faults?
I would ask them to fix these cosmetic faults before delivery. Even if you have to pay a little more for it, this way you can still turn up and reject the car if it is not to your liking. Better than buying it and finding it needs £3k of bodywork or something.
Nick
If you haven't bought it (as per my earlier post in this thread), then you might want to check this out....
www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=40397&s=267
This has appeared MASSIVLY reduced withing the last hour! It's sad i know but for my quest of a right T350T, I check PH clas nearly every hour of the day for updates!
Its lower milage, gorgous colour and much better than the Cham green one at Fernhurst IMO.
HTH
If you haven't bought it (as per my earlier post in this thread), then you might want to check this out....
www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=40397&s=267
This has appeared MASSIVLY reduced withing the last hour! It's sad i know but for my quest of a right T350T, I check PH clas nearly every hour of the day for updates!
Its lower milage, gorgous colour and much better than the Cham green one at Fernhurst IMO.
HTH
Hi NickT
Sorry i don't have any pics of the crack, all it looks like is a line drawn by a pencil.
Don't worry the wing won't fall apart,
There is another place that you might like to look for hair line cracks, on the rear defuser there is a wings each end, mine also has crack's in the corners both sides of this. they show up on mine because of the colour being Midas yellow.I personally think i might have done these, as these wings are the first part of the body to come into contact with bloody sleeping policemen and such like.
Dave
Sorry i don't have any pics of the crack, all it looks like is a line drawn by a pencil.
Don't worry the wing won't fall apart,
There is another place that you might like to look for hair line cracks, on the rear defuser there is a wings each end, mine also has crack's in the corners both sides of this. they show up on mine because of the colour being Midas yellow.I personally think i might have done these, as these wings are the first part of the body to come into contact with bloody sleeping policemen and such like.
Dave
The garage has agreed to fix the crack for me as well as the few other faults with the car so I have agreed to buy it now.
Here is a photo of the crack which they have now agreed to sort out:
How bad is that? As they have agreed to sort it out for me I am hoping that it will never cause a problem!
>> Edited by NickT on Saturday 21st May 13:15
Here is a photo of the crack which they have now agreed to sort out:
How bad is that? As they have agreed to sort it out for me I am hoping that it will never cause a problem!
>> Edited by NickT on Saturday 21st May 13:15
The crack is most likely to be where the complete nose section joins the rear section of the front wings. You can just see the join line covered in filler in the shots below 
Mine had to go back to the factory because the join could be seen beneath the paint and it took ages for them to fix as each time it went back into the oven the panels expanded and the joint "popped open".
Mine had to go back to the factory because the join could be seen beneath the paint and it took ages for them to fix as each time it went back into the oven the panels expanded and the joint "popped open".
Snakes said:Thats one bad crack, it's a lot worse than mine, as yours seems to have opened up.
The crack is most likely to be where the complete nose section joins the rear section of the front wings. You can just see the join line covered in filler in the shots below
Mine had to go back to the factory because the join could be seen beneath the paint and it took ages for them to fix as each time it went back into the oven the panels expanded and the joint "popped open".
like i said in my earlier post, "its no good just filling the crack" as it would seem that was done in the picture, The trouble is that(some)of these body shops have no idea how to make a long term repair to GRP,(IMHO)
As there is no strength body filler, as its purely made up of French chalk(Talc)and Polyester Resin. so it will crack if no glass is used!!
Don't buy it unless they agree to repair it using new Fibre Glass, (Quote what i said so if you like).
Dave
Bad crack. Check under the front of the nose for signs of a heavy ground contact - this may be the cause. Like others have said mould lines can be seen on some colours on both front and back wings, but this looks more likely to have been caused by speed bump or the likes as it is jagged and not straight along mould line itself. Agree that this requires a proper GRP layup repair which won't be cheap because of the paint - the whole front (ex bonnet) will need spraying as there no joins line to work to.
Hope it works out.
Hope it works out.
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