New S Owner with some question's
Discussion
Hi,
Last week i sold my Healey Sprite and bought a S1.5, an S1 body with a 2.9 engine. My dad owns a wedge so i'm pretty knowledgable about 80's TVR's but obviously 'S's are a little different from Wedges (Curves for one). So I had a few questions about what's considered normal for them.
1. My fuel gauge is at random times all over the place, but it's not always when cornering or accelerating, sometimes it just seems to move up and down as if feels inclined. I'm guessing this isn't normal?
2. How the hell do i get the dash out?
3. Is it possible to replace a single exhaust gasket without removing the whole manifold, cylinder one is blowing.
4. My heater fan is none respondent. I've managed to remove the passenger footwell panel and get to it. I've check the wiring and it's got juice. The problem is if i poke the fan blade it starts, after a few minutes it starts to slow down then stop. i've sprayed WD40 into it to free it up but to no avail. Any idea's? It looks like a pain to remove.
5. and finally my drivers door has dropped, i'm guessing through wear, now i hear rumours that its possible to whip the door out and put a shim in the bracket to make it tight again. True/False? Hard/Easy?
Cheers for your answers
Last week i sold my Healey Sprite and bought a S1.5, an S1 body with a 2.9 engine. My dad owns a wedge so i'm pretty knowledgable about 80's TVR's but obviously 'S's are a little different from Wedges (Curves for one). So I had a few questions about what's considered normal for them.
1. My fuel gauge is at random times all over the place, but it's not always when cornering or accelerating, sometimes it just seems to move up and down as if feels inclined. I'm guessing this isn't normal?
2. How the hell do i get the dash out?
3. Is it possible to replace a single exhaust gasket without removing the whole manifold, cylinder one is blowing.
4. My heater fan is none respondent. I've managed to remove the passenger footwell panel and get to it. I've check the wiring and it's got juice. The problem is if i poke the fan blade it starts, after a few minutes it starts to slow down then stop. i've sprayed WD40 into it to free it up but to no avail. Any idea's? It looks like a pain to remove.
5. and finally my drivers door has dropped, i'm guessing through wear, now i hear rumours that its possible to whip the door out and put a shim in the bracket to make it tight again. True/False? Hard/Easy?
Cheers for your answers
1. Sounds pretty normal to me!
2. With great difficulty and with no skin left on your hands. See here for technical explanation : www.tvrsseries.com
3. No. You might just, if you're really lucky, get away with loosening the manifold enough, so you can slip No 1 gasket out if your gasket is in 3 separate bits (like mine) but not if it's a single gasket (like mine was before I changed it).
4. You're right, it's a pain to remove.
5. I don't think it's as easy as a shim, it's more likely to need new nylon bushes which are now (AFAIK) unobtainable - you'll have to find somebody to make some. Never done this though so I don't know (I need to though, my driver's door is sagging as well).
2. With great difficulty and with no skin left on your hands. See here for technical explanation : www.tvrsseries.com
3. No. You might just, if you're really lucky, get away with loosening the manifold enough, so you can slip No 1 gasket out if your gasket is in 3 separate bits (like mine) but not if it's a single gasket (like mine was before I changed it).
4. You're right, it's a pain to remove.
5. I don't think it's as easy as a shim, it's more likely to need new nylon bushes which are now (AFAIK) unobtainable - you'll have to find somebody to make some. Never done this though so I don't know (I need to though, my driver's door is sagging as well).
Roy C said:
I like to think of it as a "Fuel Presence Indicator". 
Perfect description! I was driving up the M74 on Tuesday and was running low on fuel - so I ended up looking at the gauge on an uphill bit, a downhill bit, a left-hand bend and a right-hand bend, an uphill left-hander then a downhill right-hander etc etc and then averaging all the readings - it took me about 2 miles before I figured out how much fuel was actually (well, probably, no wait make that possibly) in the tank...
Hi Adrian
Welcome to the wonderful world of the S . I bet its a bit quicker than the AH Sprite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dashboard is only held in by two screws and two bolts so easy to remove but you have to disconnect all the the guages, switches and controls. Not so easy, why do you want to remove?
I live near worcester and might be able to help, send me a PM.
Welcome to the wonderful world of the S . I bet its a bit quicker than the AH Sprite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dashboard is only held in by two screws and two bolts so easy to remove but you have to disconnect all the the guages, switches and controls. Not so easy, why do you want to remove?
I live near worcester and might be able to help, send me a PM.
Edited by Gerald-TVR on Thursday 23 October 16:52
and
That's some going 
It's "only" 5 for me and I'm er....um....not 21 
Nice on centurian, nice one.Thanks guys,
Yeah it's a little quicker than the sprite, plus it's got wind up windows and a heater so i truly am in luxury lol.
I don't really want to take the dash out but the internal heater really needs sorting, can't see anything on a cold morning through the mist. I live in Redditch, so if you see a red S doing 15mph that's me getting used to something with power. I'll get some pics up on my profile but at the minute it needs a bit of tidying. My list of odd jobs so far includes :
Exhaust gasket
Clean leather
Back to black wing mirrors
Fix heater fan
Clean engine bay
Sort door droop
New speakers (not that i'll use them with that exhaust note)
Gearstick gaiter
Refurb alloys
Headlight surrounds (the adjuster ring has rusted)
And thats it so far, though its a TVR so no doubt that list will forever continue to increase and decrease in size but thats the fun of a TVR isn't it?
Cheers for the offer Gerald
Regards Adrian
Yeah it's a little quicker than the sprite, plus it's got wind up windows and a heater so i truly am in luxury lol.
I don't really want to take the dash out but the internal heater really needs sorting, can't see anything on a cold morning through the mist. I live in Redditch, so if you see a red S doing 15mph that's me getting used to something with power. I'll get some pics up on my profile but at the minute it needs a bit of tidying. My list of odd jobs so far includes :
Exhaust gasket
Clean leather
Back to black wing mirrors
Fix heater fan
Clean engine bay
Sort door droop
New speakers (not that i'll use them with that exhaust note)
Gearstick gaiter
Refurb alloys
Headlight surrounds (the adjuster ring has rusted)
And thats it so far, though its a TVR so no doubt that list will forever continue to increase and decrease in size but thats the fun of a TVR isn't it?
Cheers for the offer Gerald
Regards Adrian
M3CHA-MONK3Y said:
Exhaust gasket
Clean leather
Back to black wing mirrors
Fix heater fan
Clean engine bay
Sort door droop
New speakers (not that i'll use them with that exhaust note)
Gearstick gaiter
Refurb alloys
Headlight surrounds (the adjuster ring has rusted)
If it helps I got a new gearstick & handbrake gaiter from "mr gaiter" on ebay - good value and a smart finish.
Cheers, Longers
Hi Adrian, welcome from me as well. Having worked on Sprites/Midgets you have definitely moved the right way! Mine is an S1 (still with the 2.8). Good to see that a couple of the guys who were of so much help to me when I restored mine have already come in to help you.
On your notes, the door drop issue is the one that stood out for me. You definitely need to sort this, if the problem hasnt been left too long it may be easy to sort but if left then the bushes in the body come loose and it is a MUCH more difficult job. There are adjusters on the mountings inside the doors and it may just be a case of getting to these (if you are lucky you may be able to get to them and free them off via the speaker apertures) but if there is any sign of the pivot pins seizing or the bushes in the body coming loose then those problem must be tackled. If you want to email me we can then get in telephone contact and I will share with you what I learnt on mine.
On your notes, the door drop issue is the one that stood out for me. You definitely need to sort this, if the problem hasnt been left too long it may be easy to sort but if left then the bushes in the body come loose and it is a MUCH more difficult job. There are adjusters on the mountings inside the doors and it may just be a case of getting to these (if you are lucky you may be able to get to them and free them off via the speaker apertures) but if there is any sign of the pivot pins seizing or the bushes in the body coming loose then those problem must be tackled. If you want to email me we can then get in telephone contact and I will share with you what I learnt on mine.
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