My 1973 TVR 2500M : Renew and Restomod

In reply to USERNAMETAKEN :

you got mail

RossD said:

In reply to USERNAMETAKEN :

you got mail

So it would seem!  This community cracks me up!  In a good way!

Thanks, Ross, for the spreadsheet.

If I wondered out loud if there was an NC 5 spd on my front porch, what would happen?

Sent the seller a care package just now.  For some reason he insisted the truck driver take a tow strap along.  The trucker seemed to know his way around tie-downs, but nonetheless this one made the trip anyway.  Then he asked that I send it back.

I also found a cool button stuck in the headliner and thought he might like:

Baby shoes that were dangling from the rear-view.  Coincidentally, the rear-view is also dangling from the roof...

When my daughter was helping me clean out the car, she was admiring the tape player.  She asked if there was anything in it, so we had to find out.  There was.  WORLD PARTY!!

The seat slider looks like a standard Triumph part, so you can probably source usable ones from someone with a TR hoard rather than trying to refurbish that rusty hulk. 

All British cars leak water into the interior. I'm convinced of this. Even the hardtop examples.

Took some time off from the car to rewire my CNC plasma cutter.  The old panel was kind of a rat's nest, and I added a module to control torch height.  I'm anticipating needing this critter up and running - motor mounts and such will be much easier!

I still have to mount the plate to the machine and hook up the e-stop and torch tip-sensor, but the major work is done.  I did verify that the panel fires up and gives no errors in Mach3, so that's a good thing.

Anyone know the difference between the Ecoboost in the Focus ST vs that found in the Fusion and other cars?

I know the harness is a little different, and the ST is rated at a little higher horsepower. Torque looks the same.

I can readily get a Fusion engine locally, but the ST mil would have to come from out of state.

I'm trying to get a better idea of engine fit, so I put together a quick 3d model of the TVR frame today.  Just the basics in the front end so far.  I'll add to it as I have time and better access to the rest.  Fun measuring it!  Everything is like perfect inch fractional increments.

I mocked in my "scaled" pdf from Ford Racing.  Here's a version with the motor straight vertical.  It's not bad.  This is shown an inch lower than the TR6 engine.  Based on pictures I've seen of the N/S orientation kit, I'm making the assumption that the included oil pan is significantly shallower.  This may or may not be a smart assumption.

Here's a different version with the motor tilted 9 deg.  My understanding is that with the NC Miata trans vertical I should expect this tilt.  Some advantages here.  The hood clearance is better, since the high pressure pump drops.  Probably better clearance for alternator, etc.

Turbo outlet piping is the big X-Factor.  It'll either slot real nicely between the frame tubes and fit a little 90 just perfectly up to the intercooler, or it'll clash badly.  I'll probably need to bite the bullet and buy an engine before I'll know for sure...

Ditching the plastic cover will help and the engine seems to be designed to be tilted, so that's how I would plan on installing it.

I bet the major difference between the different cars' power and torque is based on tuning. Just a guess though. Are you going for the Ford control pack?

In reply to Stefan :

Yup, the cover can go.  And the high point is the HP fuel pump at the back.  I've got more hood clearance there.

In reply to RossD :

I'm definitely leaning toward the control pack on a 2.0.  I've seen on other boards that people have used Escape and Fusion engines for swaps, but you do have to order a Focus ST engine harness.  Something is different there.

Ian F said:

The seat slider looks like a standard Triumph part, so you can probably source usable ones from someone with a TR hoard rather than trying to refurbish that rusty hulk. 

All British cars leak water into the interior. I'm convinced of this. Even the hardtop examples.

I bought a TR7 seat slider a while back. I sold the car that it was supposed to go into, so if you need it, you can have it for what I paid for it. I can get you a photo if you're interested.

I think I ended up with a pair of the same seats with my Europa.  They both were in decent shape, but unfortunately one was dissected to see if I could salvage any of the foam for the Europa seat shells, turns out it wasn't.  I'd gladly donate what's left if you wanted them, downside is I'm north of the 49th and I'm certain shipping would be a bit steep. 

Hmm.  Makes me wonder if the seats came from Lotus.  I've not found any good source for seat upholstery, or really much of any info about the seats.  Please take a few pictures of what you have.

There was another version in some of the M-Cars - a two-piece reclining seat with head-rests.  I've seen seat covers for those.  So maybe the bucket seats were a rare option.

Woody said:

Ian F said:

The seat slider looks like a standard Triumph part, so you can probably source usable ones from someone with a TR hoard rather than trying to refurbish that rusty hulk. 

All British cars leak water into the interior. I'm convinced of this. Even the hardtop examples.

I bought a TR7 seat slider a while back. I sold the car that it was supposed to go into, so if you need it, you can have it for what I paid for it. I can get you a photo if you're interested.

I'd be interested in your TR7 sliders.  The TVR cross-reference finds nothing on my seat sliders, so I'm probably going to have to roll my own on that one.  Maybe - as Ian says - they are just Triumph units.  Throw up some pics and let me know what it might cost me.

According to the Moss catalog, they're definitely not TR6 sliders.  Doesn't look even close.

I thought the pictures you posted of the seat sliders looked VERY similar to the Spitfire sliders. No pictures, since I have gotten rid of nearly everything except body panels on my Spitfire project.

In reply to stafford1500 :

Maybe.  They look a bit like TR3 rails too.  You search for "Spitfire seat rails" and everything relates to swapping in Miata seats.  Modifying some Miata rails would certainly do the job.

Did a bit of work on the hood yesterday.  The undercoating comes off easily blasting with fine walnut shell.  Some actually just comes off with compressed air!  Considering that, I might try a pressure washer instead - I could see that being a lot less messy than the grit-blasting.  The walnut shells work fine on the old white top coat too, though I'll need to be careful at the corners - looks like there's a bit of filler there making the corners sharp.

There's  a sub-frame in the front bumper that holds the mounting structure.  It's wrapped into the fiberglass structure.  It's pretty rough and will need replacement.  It was reinforced with these galvanized angles.

Passenger's side is only part there.

Here's the center with the angles removed.  Looks like probably the glass used to wrap around the tube.

I thought maybe I could just repair this frame, but after uncovering it I think total replacement will be necessary.  I'm thinking some 304 stainless steel will be appropriate, since once I glass it back in I won't be able to access it any longer.

Picked up the new 2.0 EcoBoost this morning!  Surprisingly compact.

Wow this is moving quick! 

Nice work on the engine mock up in CAD

Does your walnut shell blast media do any  damage to gel coat on the fiberglass?

Does it also make a mess? I need to do a few small areas on my mini shell outside on my drive, but wonder, will it upset my neighbors, my wife and passers by? 

USERNAMETAKEN said:

Picked up the new 2.0 EcoBoost this morning!  Surprisingly compact.

Chappers said:

Wow this is moving quick! 

Nice work on the engine mock up in CAD

Does your walnut shell blast media do any  damage to gel coat on the fiberglass?

Does it also make a mess? I need to do a few small areas on my mini shell outside on my drive, but wonder, will it upset my neighbors, my wife and passers by? 

The walnut shell seems to be pretty good at removing paint.  Can't quite tell on the gel-coat, though I've done a lot of composite repair on rowing shells.  Some of those had gel-coats and some were just painted.  I found it wasn't really a factor in getting a good finished surface.  That said, I may do the outside with a DA instead.

The blasting makes a giant mess!  Without any containment it rains abrasive down in probably a 15 ft circle.  I'm thinking up how to make a blasting tent using a 10 x 10 "craft-show" canopy.  Should just be a matter of a heavy plastic floor and some plastic curtains.  The other factor is that if you don't collect and reuse the abrasive then you can run out pretty fast.

New best friends:

Will you somehow use the upper mount on the top side of the engine’s front  cover, or would that not be needed for this type of installation?