Discussion
Erm, got a bit carried away here, but you get the idea...
So, after possibly the longest week of my life and a certain amount of insomnia I picked up my S3 on Saturday. Mr Livingstone and co were clearly conspiring against this as my train was first delayed by an hour and then, having only travelled a handful of miles, spent the next 15 minutes reversing back towards Kings Cross to clear a broken down train. Finally, five and a half hours after leaving the house I made it to Brough and with glorious sunshine it was far from grim up north. The formalities dispensed with, then a quick explanation on how to work the immobiliser and I was away. Hood down naturally.
The fuel gauge was firmly set on zero, so a couple of miles down the road I pulled into a garage and tentatively filled it up, trying my best to avoid tripping the auto-cut-off on the pump whilst simultaneously attempting to guess the quantity that was left.
I gave up at £40's worth and headed off again. The fuel gauge still read zero, but frankly I didn't care as the sun was out and I was heading down a slip road in a TVR.
Cruising along the M18 I came across an interesting looking mini with flared arches and a roll cage in. I slotted into a gap in the traffic just after him until the road cleared and then (easily up to temperature by now) I dropped down to fourth and gave it some beans. To my surprise the mini was still right behind me, accelerating hard at the sort of speed a standard A-series car would struggle to reach. Accompanying it was a banshee wail, which suggested a bike engine or VTEC lurked within. That's what I'm choosing to tell myself anyway. Discretion kicked in shortly afterwards and we both pulled in to resume a more law abiding rate.
After about an hour on the A1 I was starting to loose feeling in most of my extremities; whilst I still had a broad 'village idiot' grin, on my face, the shivering that was starting to accompany it was less becoming, so I pulled in to the services for my first attempt on the hood. I went for the previous owner's favoured technique of balancing the targa panels in the windscreen and rolling the rear section up to meet it. Despite fears of broken glass and ripped canvas all went smoothly. That was until I came to restart the car atleast. A single relay clicked with no other signs of life and I began to suspect this was where my TVR experience really began. After a quick phone call to the seller who re-iterated his earlier advice on the idiosyncrasies of the immobiliser system, I was (much to my relief) back on the road.
With the hood up the car suddenly became a very civilised proposition. The heater now had some effect, I was regaining feeling in my arms and the wind noise was gone. Fortunately the engine note wasn't and it burbled on along the final stretch of the A1 sounding even better than it did with the hood down. As the Hatfield tunnel approached I couldn't resist winding the window down and listening to the exhaust note echo off the walls. Naturally I went through exactly the same routine in the Enfield and Holmesdale tunnels on the M25 - it would have been rude not to.
Emerging from the final tunnel with aching cheek muscles, I took a diversion up the M11 and onto the A414. This particular stretch is quite twisty in places and is great fun in daylight with a car with that you know. Despite covering over 200 miles in the tiv by that point it had been almost exclusively straight and darkness was now upon us so I had to exercise some restraint in the corners. On the straight stretches however the S proved to have about the best overtaking pace of any car I've owned. The power delivery is so effortless compared to the 4 cylinder screamers I'm used to that it could have been left in top, but instead the schoolboy within demanded 4th if not 3rd and full throttle. The torque of the V6 makes real world progress feel very rapid - I'd lovbe to know what the V8S is like.
As I finally pulled up outside my garage in the outskirts Chelmsford one of my old worries resurfaced. Would it fit in? I edged up very nervously, drove the front in and then got out to check for clearance on the back (the wing mirrors had long since been folded up). The eventual clearance between the rear wheel arches and two particularly vicious looking metal plates that stick out from the door frame was about 2" on either side. No worse than the average London parking space perhaps, but a nerve racking experience when parking the most expensive thing you've ever owned for the first time. Once the car was safely in I began the equally precarious task of getting me out. In the confines of the garage this involved removing the drivers side targa panel and squeezing out over the top.
Safely extracted I got a lift back to the house and that evening I slept far more soundly than I had previously. The grin however, remains.
So, after possibly the longest week of my life and a certain amount of insomnia I picked up my S3 on Saturday. Mr Livingstone and co were clearly conspiring against this as my train was first delayed by an hour and then, having only travelled a handful of miles, spent the next 15 minutes reversing back towards Kings Cross to clear a broken down train. Finally, five and a half hours after leaving the house I made it to Brough and with glorious sunshine it was far from grim up north. The formalities dispensed with, then a quick explanation on how to work the immobiliser and I was away. Hood down naturally.
The fuel gauge was firmly set on zero, so a couple of miles down the road I pulled into a garage and tentatively filled it up, trying my best to avoid tripping the auto-cut-off on the pump whilst simultaneously attempting to guess the quantity that was left.
I gave up at £40's worth and headed off again. The fuel gauge still read zero, but frankly I didn't care as the sun was out and I was heading down a slip road in a TVR.
Cruising along the M18 I came across an interesting looking mini with flared arches and a roll cage in. I slotted into a gap in the traffic just after him until the road cleared and then (easily up to temperature by now) I dropped down to fourth and gave it some beans. To my surprise the mini was still right behind me, accelerating hard at the sort of speed a standard A-series car would struggle to reach. Accompanying it was a banshee wail, which suggested a bike engine or VTEC lurked within. That's what I'm choosing to tell myself anyway. Discretion kicked in shortly afterwards and we both pulled in to resume a more law abiding rate.
After about an hour on the A1 I was starting to loose feeling in most of my extremities; whilst I still had a broad 'village idiot' grin, on my face, the shivering that was starting to accompany it was less becoming, so I pulled in to the services for my first attempt on the hood. I went for the previous owner's favoured technique of balancing the targa panels in the windscreen and rolling the rear section up to meet it. Despite fears of broken glass and ripped canvas all went smoothly. That was until I came to restart the car atleast. A single relay clicked with no other signs of life and I began to suspect this was where my TVR experience really began. After a quick phone call to the seller who re-iterated his earlier advice on the idiosyncrasies of the immobiliser system, I was (much to my relief) back on the road.
With the hood up the car suddenly became a very civilised proposition. The heater now had some effect, I was regaining feeling in my arms and the wind noise was gone. Fortunately the engine note wasn't and it burbled on along the final stretch of the A1 sounding even better than it did with the hood down. As the Hatfield tunnel approached I couldn't resist winding the window down and listening to the exhaust note echo off the walls. Naturally I went through exactly the same routine in the Enfield and Holmesdale tunnels on the M25 - it would have been rude not to.
Emerging from the final tunnel with aching cheek muscles, I took a diversion up the M11 and onto the A414. This particular stretch is quite twisty in places and is great fun in daylight with a car with that you know. Despite covering over 200 miles in the tiv by that point it had been almost exclusively straight and darkness was now upon us so I had to exercise some restraint in the corners. On the straight stretches however the S proved to have about the best overtaking pace of any car I've owned. The power delivery is so effortless compared to the 4 cylinder screamers I'm used to that it could have been left in top, but instead the schoolboy within demanded 4th if not 3rd and full throttle. The torque of the V6 makes real world progress feel very rapid - I'd lovbe to know what the V8S is like.
As I finally pulled up outside my garage in the outskirts Chelmsford one of my old worries resurfaced. Would it fit in? I edged up very nervously, drove the front in and then got out to check for clearance on the back (the wing mirrors had long since been folded up). The eventual clearance between the rear wheel arches and two particularly vicious looking metal plates that stick out from the door frame was about 2" on either side. No worse than the average London parking space perhaps, but a nerve racking experience when parking the most expensive thing you've ever owned for the first time. Once the car was safely in I began the equally precarious task of getting me out. In the confines of the garage this involved removing the drivers side targa panel and squeezing out over the top.
Safely extracted I got a lift back to the house and that evening I slept far more soundly than I had previously. The grin however, remains.
Edited by Chris71 on Monday 18th February 13:23
Chris71 said:
The eventual clearance between the rear wheel arches and two particularly vicious looking metal plates that stick out from the door frame was about 2" on either side. No worse than the average London parking space perhaps, but a nerve racking experience when parking the most expensive thing you've ever owned for the first time. Once the car was safely in I began the equally precarious task of getting me out. In the confines of the garage this involved removing the drivers side targa panel and squeezing out over the top.
Chris, congratulations on the purchase. Told you it'd fit!
Get some padding on the drivers side of the garage, so you can open the door without worry. I also found that the best trick was to put the window down as it just gives you a bit more room to "unfold" from the car
Enjoy.
Excellent "first drive" post.
If the fuel guage is broken, it'll probably be the sender. TVR used 3 types in the build life period of which only one is available (from TVR carparts). I have a copy of the
You probably shouldn't risk more than 200/230 miles on a tankfull, and when my guage was in failure mode for 18 months I found it imperative to carry a gallon (and two on Christmas day) of spare in the boot.
If the fuel guage is broken, it'll probably be the sender. TVR used 3 types in the build life period of which only one is available (from TVR carparts). I have a copy of the
You probably shouldn't risk more than 200/230 miles on a tankfull, and when my guage was in failure mode for 18 months I found it imperative to carry a gallon (and two on Christmas day) of spare in the boot.
Podie said:
Get some padding on the drivers side of the garage, so you can open the door without worry.
I screwed wood battons to my 1930's garage walls and hung carpet from them, so you hit the carpet not the walls.Podie said:
I also found that the best trick was to put the window down as it just gives you a bit more room to "unfold" from the car
I leave the roof off, so it's always ready for a sunny day. 
Gerald-TVR said:
Good init, you'll get used to the convolutions in the garage - but whats this THE HOOD UP thats only there for show!!!
Normally I'd agree - and that's exaclty what I did for the first 120 miles or so, but I was doing a steady 0.85-0.9 leptons and it was about 5 degrees outside. I tried using gloves, but even in a straight line the lack of feel through my thick ski-gloves was off putting to say the least.Something will have to be arranged for the garage (I have a gumtree ad for carpet offcuts as we speak!) but the difficult point is going to be hanging them as it's a rented garage and there are strict clauses about not modifying it! That said, it didn't stop me eyeing up the 'forementioned metal plates with notions of a hacksaw until it occured to me that they were the endstops for the door! Opening the door doesn't worry me as much as simply slotting the car in though. Bit of a girl I know, but I'm not the most co-ordinated of people and a nice big scratch on the side of that would probably result in the second biggest payment I've ever made, only after that of the car itself.
The fuel gauge flicks up intermittently - I'm not sure if it bounces up to the correct reading or just bounces, dunno if it could be wiring (a bad earth or something, as opposed to the sender or gauge themselves).
Edited by Chris71 on Monday 18th February 15:01
Chris - my fuel gauge did the same thing. Have a look in the passenger side rear wheel arch for the wiring attached to the side of the tank. You might have to take the wheel off to make life easier. Clean it up and if neccessary, put some new connectors on it. Mine was full of crap as its in a perfect position to retain anything thrown at it from the wheel.
Chris71 said:
Something will have to be arranged for the garage (I have a gumtree ad for carpet offcuts as we speak!) but the difficult point is going to be hanging them as it's a rented garage and there are strict clauses about not modifying it!
Nip down to the market and get some foam and some spray glue / no more nails / sticks like shit / etcWhen I stopped using the garage, I just pulled it off the wall.
Edited by Chris71 on Monday 18th February 14:50
Chris71 said:
Something will have to be arranged for the garage (I have a gumtree ad for carpet offcuts as we speak!) but the difficult point is going to be hanging them as it's a rented garage and there are strict clauses about not modifying it!
String from the ceiling? 
Chris71 said:
The fuel gauge flicks up intermittently - I'm not sure if it bounces up to the correct reading or just bounces, dunno if it could be wiring (a bad earth or something, as opposed to the sender or gauge themselves).
The fuel gauge on the S is not noted for it's accuracy and, of course, it moves around depending on which way you turn the wheel (it's just a float in an unbaffled tank). 
Roy C said:
The fuel gauge on the S is not noted for it's accuracy and, of course, it moves around depending on which way you turn the wheel (it's just a float in an unbaffled tank).
I'm afraid this one spent the overwhelming amount of time in the 'empty' position - there were a couple of bumps in the trip where I noticed it spring up, but this was definitely more than dodgy gauge calibration. Not to worry - one item isn't a bad to-do list after a 300 mile shake down. Bubble wrap taped to the wall works for me 
To get a small improvement in clearance at garage door why not remove just one of the metal strips (or even both) and fix a length of timber, which will need to be short enough to fit between the wheels, on the garage floor to stop the door in the correct place? You could easily remove the timber and replace metal strips when you no longer needed the garage.
To get a small improvement in clearance at garage door why not remove just one of the metal strips (or even both) and fix a length of timber, which will need to be short enough to fit between the wheels, on the garage floor to stop the door in the correct place? You could easily remove the timber and replace metal strips when you no longer needed the garage.
Nice one, Chris! 
I enjoyed reading your story, it reminded me a lot of my first trip home in the S a couple of years ago. I still remember half of me thinking 'this is amazing' and the other half thinking 'what have I done??' but I've never regretted it for a moment.
Have fun!
I enjoyed reading your story, it reminded me a lot of my first trip home in the S a couple of years ago. I still remember half of me thinking 'this is amazing' and the other half thinking 'what have I done??' but I've never regretted it for a moment.
Have fun!
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