A few questions

[Chris71]

Hi,

Couple of teething issues have come to light.

1) I think the steering column might be slightly loose at the dashboard end - there's a bit of clunk going over potholes and the like. Is it just two bolts clamping it in place like on the S? Anything else to check?

2) The car is missing its chin spoiler. What's involved in fitting one?

3) The roof panel doesn't seal properly with the side window on one side. It meets okay at the ends, but in the middle there's a gap between the glass and the targa section. It looks like the sealing material has warped or compressed, but it doesn't want to spring back. Has anyone else had this problem? And do you reckon it'll settle over time - it's the first time the targa panel has been out the boot since I bought it - or do I need to think about replacing the strip?

Oh, and not really a question, but an observation. I remembered to zero the trip and fill it to the brim, and it seems my fuel gauge unfortunately isn't wrong. It had consumed 40 litres of its 57 by the time the gauge was down to the last quarter or so and it had covered 139 miles in the process. That equates to 15mpg. That was mostly in the very cold weather imediately before the snow came last month and does include some town driving, admittedly, but nonetheless it was a bit of a shock for a one ton sports car. I wasn't driving it that hard at all (although I wonder if letter it rumble along in the dodgy fuelling part of the map around 2000rpm could be a contributing factor).

[spend]

1, check for play in the UJs behind the o/s wheel

2. screw it on underneath.. or fit bolts from top, lock with nuts and fill gap so you can fit/refit spoiler (just use big washers + rubbers).

3. small bore pipe stuffed up the seal is one variation. Experiment with locating the roof first - there is normally a fair bit of leeway to jiggle about, I made a couple of marks on the windscreen rubber to help get mine in the perfect position (my location slot might be a lot more worn than others though )

[Chris71]

spend said:

1. check for play in the UJs behind the o/s wheel

I don't think the play is at that end. There's no rotational slack in the steering, it's just vertical movement; plus the UJ itself has been checked when I mentioned the steering weight to the TVR Centre.

There's not a lot of movement and it's only over the worst B-road bumps - it may just be scuttle shake - but the noise sounds like something metallic clonking, as if the column was loose in its clamp.

[SILICONE KID]

Remove the top UJ and pull the spline down,it does move up and down in the column.I had the same problem..

[spend]

Steering they likely just checked rotational play, sounds more like play along the axis.

.. still probably clunky dampers/springs/arb stuff though

[S3DaveP]

Your fuel consuption sounds a bit excessive, my 500 (griff) does around 26mpg on a run cruising at 80ish, and mixed driving returns 22mpg, giving its some beans results in about 18mpg.

Sounds like the fueling needs to be checked, does it run Ok?

[Chris71]

S3DaveP said:

Your fuel consuption sounds a bit excessive, my 500 (griff) does around 26mpg on a run cruising at 80ish, and mixed driving returns 22mpg, giving its some beans results in about 18mpg.

Sounds like the fueling needs to be checked, does it run Ok?

Yep. Usual lumpiness at low engine speeds and on warm up, but broadly runs as it's supposed to. At least it does on casual acquaintance - I haven't tried measuring the lambda or air flow sensor readings yet.

It does sound excessive I agree, but people have suggested that fully de-catting the engine causes them to use more fuel, and most of that tank was consumed on short-ish runs in the very cold temperatures last month. I do plan to investigate though - even if that was normal under the conditions there'd have to be things which could be done. I've got no great objection to using fuel at that sort of rate on the track, but it is a bit silly if you're just stuck behind an Octagenrian doing 39.5mph down a country lane...

[S3DaveP]

Is you motor standard or modified in any way?

Mine has the pre-cats removed and a sleeved exhaust, ACT induction kit and trumpets, larger airflow meter, mark adams chip in the ECU. The engine was rebuilt by V8 developments about 10,000 miles ago, and hp72 stealth cam was fitted at the rebuild.
V8D say it should push out 310-315bhp, but its going on the rollers soon.

[Chris71]

As far as I'm aware it's standard. It's a good question though.

I plan to get it on a rolling road at some point (maybe after it's had a health check as I do agree the consumption looks excessive). If nothing else I quite fancy doing a few TVRCC Speed Championship rounds and you need a dyno plot for the handicap system.

[pwd95]

With the window glass. There's an adjuster in the door you can turn to adjust the glass up or down. If you look down the inside of the door, you should be able to see it between the glass & the door card. You might have to put the window down to get at it.

[Chris71]

pwd95 said:

With the window glass. There's an adjuster in the door you can turn to adjust the glass up or down. If you look down the inside of the door, you should be able to see it between the glass & the door card. You might have to put the window down to get at it.

Will check, but I think the problem lies with the seal rather than the window. The glass appears to be going up to the right sort of level (visually) and it does seal at the front and back tips, it's just a gap of a millimetre or two in the middle. Whistles like a bd when you get some speed up.

I presume you just twiddle the adjuster one way to raise the window stop and the other way to lower it?

[pwd95]

Chris71 said:

I presume you just twiddle the adjuster one way to raise the window stop and the other way to lower it?