Discussion
Hypothetically speaking, can you give me an idea what is involved (both physically and financially!) in doing the following jobs on an S:
Respray (would have to be done by someone else!)
Rehang the doors (too fiddly to do personally?)
Replace the hood lining
Replace the hood seals
Replacing the footwell mats/carpets
Changing the cam cover gasket (presume this is very striaghtforward)
Restore leather seats and dashboard (£5 bottle of woolies restorer and some elbow grease?
)
The engine appears to be sound (no significant oil or water usage, no smoke, mechanically quiet), but down on a few bhp. I presume there's nothing to stop you taking a 2.8 to Austec (like Podie did with his S3C) and getting the same sort of percentage gains?
Respray (would have to be done by someone else!)
Rehang the doors (too fiddly to do personally?)
Replace the hood lining
Replace the hood seals
Replacing the footwell mats/carpets
Changing the cam cover gasket (presume this is very striaghtforward)
Restore leather seats and dashboard (£5 bottle of woolies restorer and some elbow grease?
)The engine appears to be sound (no significant oil or water usage, no smoke, mechanically quiet), but down on a few bhp. I presume there's nothing to stop you taking a 2.8 to Austec (like Podie did with his S3C) and getting the same sort of percentage gains?
Chris71 said:
Changing the cam cover gasket (presume this is very striaghtforward)
Er do you mean rocker cover gaskets? I assume the cam is buried deep in the Vee. To get at it the water pump and and timing stuff would need to come off. The rocker covers are relativly ease - although you might might need to take off the alternator (and bracket) as well.Chris71 said:
Hypothetically speaking, can you give me an idea what is involved (both physically and financially!) in doing the following jobs on an S:
Respray (would have to be done by someone else!)
Rehang the doors (too fiddly to do personally?)
Replace the hood lining
Replace the hood seals
Replacing the footwell mats/carpets
Changing the cam cover gasket (presume this is very striaghtforward)
Restore leather seats and dashboard (£5 bottle of woolies restorer and some elbow grease?)
The engine appears to be sound (no significant oil or water usage, no smoke, mechanically quiet), but down on a few bhp. I presume there's nothing to stop you taking a 2.8 to Austec (like Podie did with his S3C) and getting the same sort of percentage gains?
Doubt a respray comes cheap. Try phoning a coachworks for a quick quoteRespray (would have to be done by someone else!)
Rehang the doors (too fiddly to do personally?)
Replace the hood lining
Replace the hood seals
Replacing the footwell mats/carpets
Changing the cam cover gasket (presume this is very striaghtforward)
Restore leather seats and dashboard (£5 bottle of woolies restorer and some elbow grease?
)The engine appears to be sound (no significant oil or water usage, no smoke, mechanically quiet), but down on a few bhp. I presume there's nothing to stop you taking a 2.8 to Austec (like Podie did with his S3C) and getting the same sort of percentage gains?
Doors are fiddly but doable DIY pretty cheaply
By hood lining do you mean the inside of the targa panels? Doubt it would be that hard but colour matching might be tricky.
Seals are easy and pennies.
I did my footwell carpets myslef for a few quid. Someone like A&R Pound in Baldock will do the whole interior for you if you like but it isn't cheap.
Rocker covers? Easy but you have to take of some other bits to get them off cleanly.
Leather = elbow grease.
Chris71 said:
True, but it seems they all have something wrong. In the end I suppose it coems down to what constitutes a big job to fix.
what you seem to be forgetting is that they aren't new cars - 15yrs plus. They're all going to have some wear and tear on them at the end of the day..........unless of course you spend a fortune and buy one that has been fully rebuilt / resprayed / unholstered etc, but then you will looking at a car well out of your price bracket.Chris71 said:
Respray (would have to be done by someone else!)
£2,000+ for a pukka job. GRP takes a lot more prep work.Chris71 said:
Replacing the footwell mats/carpets
£40 + delivery http://www.carmats4u.com/TVR/TVR-Black-Luxury-Car-... or try e-bay Hey Chris, sounds like you got back from test driving Coolcatmaz's S3 yesterday! Do you still have that grin on your face from seeing the speedo needle bending (slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean) down the M40.
From what I hear I sounds like you can drive it better than me but then I am a fly-by-wire kinda person where as you appear to be someone that likes a car with a bit more character.
Hope you were pleased with what your saw and whatever you decide on doesn't prove too much of a challenge to your mechanical expertise! Happy hunting...
From what I hear I sounds like you can drive it better than me but then I am a fly-by-wire kinda person where as you appear to be someone that likes a car with a bit more character.
Hope you were pleased with what your saw and whatever you decide on doesn't prove too much of a challenge to your mechanical expertise! Happy hunting...
bigburd said:
Hey Chris, sounds like you got back from test driving Coolcatmaz's S3 yesterday! Do you still have that grin on your face from seeing the speedo needle bending (slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean) down the M40.
From what I hear I sounds like you can drive it better than me but then I am a fly-by-wire kinda person where as you appear to be someone that likes a car with a bit more character.
Hope you were pleased with what your saw and whatever you decide on doesn't prove too much of a challenge to your mechanical expertise! Happy hunting...
Yep... character is good. Did think you did fy-by-wire with style though - rather liked your R32!From what I hear I sounds like you can drive it better than me but then I am a fly-by-wire kinda person where as you appear to be someone that likes a car with a bit more character.
Hope you were pleased with what your saw and whatever you decide on doesn't prove too much of a challenge to your mechanical expertise! Happy hunting...
Like Maz said no car of that age is going to be mint, it's a case of ascertaining what you can live with (or rather afford not to have to)
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