Winters Work ...............Almost Done ....................

[Jim Green]

Well, after having the Tuscan for over six months I decided to take advantage of the bad weather and put her up on axle stands for a few weeks (Err....Maybe a little longer) to sort out a few niggling problems I'd had. The rear end vibration was sorted out, which turned out to be due to the shonky bolts securing the propshaft flange to the diff flange. The bolts originally fitted had insufficient length on the shank to go through both flanges correctly, so the diff flange was located on the threaded part of the bolt. After her 19,000 miles, the flanges had started to cause wear on the threads (Where the shank should have been if it had been long enough) and the two flanges has started to move, throwing the prop shaft off dead center and causing vibration at high speeds. In the process of finding the fault, I replace both complete drive shafts, including all four CV Joints, two brand new rear wheels and a pair of rear tyres. I also changed that "Cheap and Nasty" fuel hose that comes from the tank to the fuel pump, which was placed so close to the exhausts that it starts to perish in an amazingly short time, and has resulted in a few lost Tuscans (Lost = Caught Fire) "Definately worth checking !!!!!! Re-routed alot of the electrics to prevent them chaffing against other components, and changed a few of the connectors for something much better than was originally fitted.

Coming from the Concourse Scene, (Even though I promised I would just drive this car) I couldn't resist cleaning up the chassis, which had been one of the reasons I purchased this particular tuscan, the previous owner had made it very clear that the car had never intentionally been taken out in the wet, and after inspecting the chassis I tended to believe him. So I've spent the last two weeks cleaning up the chassis and getting rid of all the waxoil, which had started to collect dirt. Now its all cleaned, i'll give it a light spay with waxoil to keep it in it's present condition.

Took a few pics just after I'd dropped it down off the axle stands............Yea, I know I should have taken them before I took it off the axle stands but I was rushing.......LOL. Got a few nuts and bolts to change next week, and and abit more cleaning on some of the awkward to get at places, and that's about it for this winter, now it's time to drive it again. Not quite up to the standard of my previous few cars, but give me time.

Thought I'd take the opportunity to put in a couple of pics of my previous show cars.















And a couple of my old Concourse Winning Cosworth (458bhp) Which i owned for 15 years.
























And a couple of the old M5

Edited by Jim Green on Tuesday 10th March 21:44

Edited by Jim Green on Wednesday 11th March 07:30

[Mark A S]

Nice car Jim, looks like mine, on top, and underneath
I had a Sapphire Cossie as well, huge fun but not as much fun as the Tuscan.

[Daston]

Lovley collection, your garage dosnt look much wider than mine. Do you find it a bit of a pain at times? The thing that puts me off working on the car in the evening is the lack of room. Maybe I am just a fat bugger lol

[RM75]

Umm, well this is my chassis..



Having said that, I was surprised at how good mine looks (considering it's done nearly 60,000 miles), but yours is much better. I find a fair amount of the fun in having nice cars like ours is looking after them!

Did you get around to doing anything with the Dynamat you were ordering?

[Jim Green]

Dynamat is still in the spare bedroom.........LOL, but I will get around to fitting it before the summers here.

Garage : I'm luckier than most, once through the standard garage door, it opens up quite abit wider and is longer than a standard garage, and I can manage to get around ok. Maybe i'm used to it......

I'm still trying to find out what colour mine is............Yea, I know it's silver, but which one. The first two pics are accurate as regards the colour/shade. Anyone any Ideas..........(registered Nov 2002, if that helps) ?????

Edited by Jim Green on Wednesday 11th March 09:14

[Mark A S]

Hi Jim

As i said, it looks like mine, which is "Brilliant silver" a mercedes colour.
Really nice depth to it, my first silver car. Your find the Flies love to crap on silver too [ when its parked of course!! ]

[Jim Green]

Flies....... No change there then...... I'm used to getting st on.....LOL (Only Joking).

Thanks Mark, Appreciated.

Just looked at your in your profile and they do indeed look the same colour

Edited by Jim Green on Friday 13th March 10:26

[m3coupe]

Cracking looking Tuscan you have there Jim, actually all 3 are great looking.

uick question, and I may very well be slagged off for this by some but was your Cossie in a copy of Max Power years ago? Looks similar to one at least.

Oh, and I was young at the time I was reading Max Power, stopped buying it a long time ago, lol.

[Jim Green]

LOL......... Not, but it was in "Fast Ford"........ That's where some of those pics were taken from.

Jim

[onny]

Jim Green said:

I'm still trying to find out what colour mine is............Yea, I know it's silver, but which one. The first two pics are accurate as regards the colour/shade. Anyone any Ideas..........(registered Nov 2002, if that helps) ?????

Edited by Jim Green on Wednesday 11th March 09:14

You can find the paint code for your car either in your log book or the chassis/engine plate which is located inside your boot just under the boot locking mechanism. You can use the paint code to find the colour. Hope that helps.

[MarkoTVR]

m3coupe said:

Oh, and I was young at the time I was reading Max Power, stopped buying it a long time ago, lol.

Are you thinking of the one that had almost everything in the engine bay and most of chassis suspension chrome plated? Seem to remember a skinny chap with a ponytail in the article.

Kudos for the cleanliness, by the way Jim. All looking very tidy, especially that M5. Lovely motor.

Edited by MarkoTVR on Thursday 12th March 23:05

[eburacum]

What did you use to clean up the chassy ?

[Jim Green]

As i took my time over it, I just used about three large cans of WD40 and lots of T-Shirts. Works well and does leave a slight protection at the same time, but I will give it a light waxoil.

[kevin63]

You have done a great job with the Tuscan Jim, hopefully it is dry for you when you come to Chatsworth, however I do like the Cosworth, I had one for over 7 years and loved it, thanks for the memories, it brought some good ones back.