New owner has interesting drive home

[TMRnoV]

Hi All, well I gave into my impulse and bought a TVR S2 2.9, did it all wrong as usual, bought the first one I looked at and collected it tonight.

Driving home from Exeter to Plymouth along the A38 was "interesting" if any of you remember Cozy Powell and wonder what happened to him, well he appears to be living under my S2.

Good points are a sound chassis (prev owner had body off and repaired all) new clutch, new mot, good brakes, heater works well, electrics all ok inc new window winder motors and she seems to handle really well.

Bad points are, missing on one or more cylinders, couldn't rev past 2.5 thou (even buses overtook me) bad vibration (think rampant rabbit) but could just need wheels balancing and a bloody awful rattle (Cozy Powell) from somewhere underneath (suspect the exhaust on that one)

Engine runs and revs fine under no load, oil pressure is good too and water temp is stable, body needs some attention (respray) and I'm not keen on the interior colour (dark blue) other than she's mint, look forward to getting some suggestions on the poor running but will check the obvious first, plugs, leads, points (do they have points?) dizzy cap etc

Am I disappointed ? NO of course not, I love a challenge.

Tim

[Sandgrounder]

Hi Tim, welcome.

Had my S3 now since April, and also had a minor issue with a misfire recently. Turned out to be a HT lead had worked loose!!! So you are correct, check the obvious stuff first.

Admittedly, I had changed the leads and must have got distracted!!!!! ;-)

[Mr Clifford]

TMRnoV said:

Hi All, well I gave into my impulse and bought a TVR S2 2.9, did it all wrong as usual, bought the first one I looked at and collected it tonight.

Driving home from Exeter to Plymouth along the A38 was "interesting" if any of you remember Cozy Powell and wonder what happened to him, well he appears to be living under my S2.

Good points are a sound chassis (prev owner had body off and repaired all) new clutch, new mot, good brakes, heater works well, electrics all ok inc new window winder motors and she seems to handle really well.

Bad points are, missing on one or more cylinders, couldn't rev past 2.5 thou (even buses overtook me) bad vibration (think rampant rabbit) but could just need wheels balancing and a bloody awful rattle (Cozy Powell) from somewhere underneath (suspect the exhaust on that one)

Engine runs and revs fine under no load, oil pressure is good too and water temp is stable, body needs some attention (respray) and I'm not keen on the interior colour (dark blue) other than she's mint, look forward to getting some suggestions on the poor running but will check the obvious first, plugs, leads, points (do they have points?) dizzy cap etc

Am I disappointed ? NO of course not, I love a challenge.

Tim

Cozy Powell = Dance with the devil
Saw him play with Ritchie Blackmores rainbow in about 1978

Cool guy but died at 50 :-(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozy_Powell

[fozzy280472]

Hi Tim , as above , when i got my S3 i had a small misfire , changed plugs/leads/dizzy cap/rotor arm , sorted it out , it certainly pays to go for the easy stuff first !!
In my opinion its those little niggles that keep you interested in your car !!
Welcome to the forum and have fun with your S.
regards Paul

[Julesprivate]

yep - agree with all of the above. HT Leads, Plugs, Rotor Arm and Dizzy Cap.
It's also worth just checking that the distributor body is actually fixed in place, it's not unheard of that the bolt slackens off and the timing will go adrift..

[oldgeebee]

Welcome to S-series ownership Tim - and welcome to Devon!
Agree with the above advice but if all else fails there's plenty of local help including Mark and his very useful website.
Good luck!
GB

[TMRnoV]

Thanks for the welcome guys and for the update on Cozy,

Making a start this morning on the car (I work for myself so I can take time off whenever I want) laughed out loud when I removed the dizzy cap, one of the screws holding it in place was (is?) an inch and a half wood screw, suspect a previous owner / bodged knackered the thread in the distributor itself and used whatever was to hand.

Took the plugs out and (don't know the firing order) the front plug on the nearside bank of three very black, doesn't look as if it's been firing at all, middle one on the offside bank looks a bit suspect as well.

So where in Devon (or the internet) is the best place to source new parts, cap, leads, rotor arm etc: I have gone to Vospers and they can get them but seem a bit dear.

Tim

[clive f]

I`m sure big Colin will be able to give lots of valuable advice and help with spares.

http://www.tvrssw.com/

[TMRnoV]

Thanks Clive, have bookmarked the link page and will give him a call later.

Tim

[S2Mike]

Welcome to S Club, I did exactly the same, bought the first one I saw, went down to London, drove back with all boxes of bits as owner had stripped it out for lightness. Exhaust manifold blowing, water leak from water pump housing, etc etc, but bit by bit its going back together, main thing seems to be earthing the electrics, a common fault if something does not work.
One year on , its all good, enjoy the roar.! ( mine in for its first MOT in my ownership, )

[phillpot]

TMRnoV said:

the front plug on the nearside bank of three very black, doesn't look as if it's been firing at all

If not firing would it not be washed clean by unburnt petrol?

Black 'n sooty too much fuel ? Duff injector maybe?

[TMRnoV]

Thanks Phillpot, hadn't occured to me, and thanks for the link to the HT leads, just ordered them.

Tim

[mep12345]

Tim,

If you are in or near plymouth I have lots of spares you can borrow to do fault diagnosis. email me a contact number at [e-mail] and I'll text you my number.

Mark