TVR S1 - Restoration Project Help

[Newarth]

Ok, so bought myself an S1, in need of a lot of attention, chassis, engine, interior, exterior all in a bit of a state and its been sat outside for a while and has a fair bit of corrosion. Im on a budget, so will be doing a lot of the donkey work myself to keep costs down. The outriggers are rusted through, so it needs a body off restoration, so whilst this is done it any upgrades will be done too. The car is for pleasure only

Questions
1. Has anyone got a chassis drawing, in particular for the outriggers so I know what the correct dims should be if measuring the old one not possible due to corrosion.
2. Upgrade the rear drums to disk, is it worth it or an unnecessary expense?
3. Upgrade the diff to a limited slip one, or again is this unnecessary (and takes away the fun?)
4. Increase the size of the front disks, worth it or not?
5. Most probably the clutch will be renewed, is standard OK or a upgrade recommended.?
6. Bushes, springs, dampers etc - stay with standard or upgrade recommended.?
7. Anything else i should consider whilst the body is off.
8. I need a windscreen - been quoted £500 fitted. Is it possible to remove one from a breakers yard and re-fit (I appreciate the black edging may need re-inking before re-fitting).
9. Is it possible to get a new wiring loom, lots of corrosion on the car so this may also be rotten.
10. is it worth lightening the flywheel to get a little more ooomf out of the engine as the S1 2.8 isnt the quickest of the bunch.


Any other advice more than welcom

Lee

Edited by Newarth on Friday 29th March 11:56

[phillpot]

Newarth said:

Any other advice more than welcome

break that one for spares and buy a half decent one, lot cheaper in the long run


But if you're insistant, keep standard, you'll have enough expense without brake upgrades, limited slip diffs etc.

Unless the chassis is total dust there should be enough left to get some measurements from before you chop out all the rust


Cut a screen out of a scrap body? Good luck with that!

[Newarth]

phillpot said:

break that one for spares and buy a half decent one, lot cheaper in the long run


But if you're insistant, keep standard, you'll have enough expense without brake upgrades, limited slip diffs etc.

Unless the chassis is total dust there should be enough left to get some measurements from before you chop out all the rust


Cut a screen out of a scrap body? Good luck with that!

Wheres the fun in that, nothing like biting off more than you can chew and regretting it. Its a slow burner project, pay as you go.

[s3dave]

I currently have the body off my S3 doing the same. See my comments below:

Questions
1. Has anyone got a chassis drawing, in particular for the outriggers so I know what the correct dims should be if measuring the old one not possible due to corrosion. I sent mine off to be repaired. Any good fabricator should be able to do it
2. Upgrade the rear drums to disc, is it worth it or an unnecessary expense? I boiled my brake fluid on a track day, so I would say yes. There are many S Series Pistonheads threads on this.
3. Upgrade the diff to a limited slip one, or again is this unnecessary (and takes away the fun?) While I am fitting an LSD (because I have one) I think this is an luxury that you can do without
4. Increase the size of the front disks, worth it or not? If you do the rear, I think you should also upgrade the front. I have used a Wilwood conversion kit
5. Most probably the clutch will be renewed, is standard OK or a upgrade recommended.?
6. Bushes, springs, dampers etc - stay with standard or upgrade recommended.? Only Poly is now available – get from TVR-Parts (they give TVRCC discount) don’t use ebay
7. Anything else i should consider whilst the body is off. Inspect fuel tank and change the fuel line
8. I need a windscreen - been quoted £500 fitted. Is it possible to remove one from a breakers yard and re-fit (I appreciate the black edging may need re-inking before re-fitting).
9. Is it possible to get a new wiring loom, lots of corrosion on the car so this may also be rotten.
10. is it worth lightening the flywheel to get a little more ooomf out of the engine as the S1 2.8 isnt the quickest of the bunch. Look up on various Ford V6 tuning sites if you really want more power


Good Luck. Remember it will take twice as long as you expect and cost 4 time as much.

[Houghy]

Ive just finished my s1 chassis rebuild so if you are near or passing knutsford in cheshire feel free t measure up. My outriggers are original as the chassis was very solid so dimensions should be close. Body is still off as i tore my quads 2 months back but it should be going back on in a weeks time.

[GreenV8S]

The brakes on my S2 were fine despite being driven very hard on track days, and there are many other standard V6 S being driven hard on standard brakes without any problem. It's no easier to do them now versus later so I suggest you leave them as they are until you are back on the road and find whether it is actually a problem.

The open diff is not perceptible most of the time but becomes irritating in hard driving. I suggest you think about changing to an LSD if/when it needs work.

[Newarth]

Houghy said:

Ive just finished my s1 chassis rebuild so if you are near or passing knutsford in cheshire feel free t measure up. My outriggers are original as the chassis was very solid so dimensions should be close. Body is still off as i tore my quads 2 months back but it should be going back on in a weeks time.

Im only in Lymm, would appreciate the opportunity to have a look and ask a few questions. I will PM you.

Thanks

[Newarth]

s3dave said:

I currently have the body off my S3 doing the same. See my comments below:

Questions
1. Has anyone got a chassis drawing, in particular for the outriggers so I know what the correct dims should be if measuring the old one not possible due to corrosion. I sent mine off to be repaired. Any good fabricator should be able to do it
2. Upgrade the rear drums to disc, is it worth it or an unnecessary expense? I boiled my brake fluid on a track day, so I would say yes. There are many S Series Pistonheads threads on this.
3. Upgrade the diff to a limited slip one, or again is this unnecessary (and takes away the fun?) While I am fitting an LSD (because I have one) I think this is an luxury that you can do without
4. Increase the size of the front disks, worth it or not? If you do the rear, I think you should also upgrade the front. I have used a Wilwood conversion kit
5. Most probably the clutch will be renewed, is standard OK or a upgrade recommended.?
6. Bushes, springs, dampers etc - stay with standard or upgrade recommended.? Only Poly is now available – get from TVR-Parts (they give TVRCC discount) don’t use ebay
7. Anything else i should consider whilst the body is off. Inspect fuel tank and change the fuel line
8. I need a windscreen - been quoted £500 fitted. Is it possible to remove one from a breakers yard and re-fit (I appreciate the black edging may need re-inking before re-fitting).
9. Is it possible to get a new wiring loom, lots of corrosion on the car so this may also be rotten.
10. is it worth lightening the flywheel to get a little more ooomf out of the engine as the S1 2.8 isnt the quickest of the bunch. Look up on various Ford V6 tuning sites if you really want more power


Good Luck. Remember it will take twice as long as you expect and cost 4 time as much.

Sound advice, thanks.

[Newarth]

[quote=GreenV8S]The brakes on my S2 were fine despite being driven very hard


Ok that seems sensible. It’s going to be a bit of a money pit as it is, so keen not to waste money on items that are not needed

[Newarth]

[quote=GreenV8S]The brakes on my S2 were fine despite being driven very hard


Ok that seems sensible. It’s going to be a bit of a money pit as it is, so keen not to waste money on items that are not needed

[TVRees]

6. Bushes, springs, dampers etc - stay with standard or upgrade recommended.? Only Poly is now available – get from TVR-Parts (they give TVRCC discount) don’t use ebay
..... I can help you, as I made my own PU bushes for the front. PM me.
7. Anything else i should consider whilst the body is off. Inspect fuel tank and change the fuel line
.....and add an in line fuel filter, before the pump


Other things (I did during my body-off...)
Installed the cross member mod
Relocated the washer bottle
Fitted the in-line fuel filter before the pump
Replaced all fuel lines and flexible brake hoses
Replaced ARB drop links, with eye bolts version
Replaced the shock absorbers

[GreenV8S]

TVRees said:

.....and add an in line fuel filter, before the pump

Be cautious about that. If you fit a filter upstream of the pump you need to make sure it is low restriction i.e. a strainer not a fine filter. These injection pumps are great at producing positive pressure but have very limited ability to suck.

[magpies]

GreenV8S said:

Be cautious about that. If you fit a filter upstream of the pump you need to make sure it is low restriction i.e. a strainer not a fine filter. These injection pumps are great at producing positive pressure but have very limited ability to suck.

Most motorsport outlets (Demon Tweeks, Merlin etc) sell correct prefilters including ones that can be cleaned.

[Newarth]

TVRees said:

Other things (I did during my body-off...)
Installed the cross member mod
Relocated the washer bottle
Fitted the in-line fuel filter before the pump
Replaced all fuel lines and flexible brake hoses
Replaced ARB drop links, with eye bolts version
Replaced the shock absorbers

Thanks. All seem simple upgrades. What is the cross member mod for, to stiffen up the chassis?. And if I clean the tank and fit new hoses is a fuel pre-filter really required?

[Newarth]

TVRees said:

Other things (I did during my body-off...)
Installed the cross member mod
Relocated the washer bottle
Fitted the in-line fuel filter before the pump
Replaced all fuel lines and flexible brake hoses
Replaced ARB drop links, with eye bolts version
Replaced the shock absorbers

Thanks. All seem simple upgrades. What is the cross member mod for, to stiffen up the chassis?. And if I clean the tank and fit new hoses is a fuel pre-filter really required?

[WotnoV8]

Crossmember under sump mod is to make it removable so that sump can be dropped with the engine in place.
Filter/strainer is I believe highly recommended.

[Newarth]

WotnoV8 said:

Crossmember under sump mod is to make it removable so that sump can be dropped with the engine in place.
Filter/strainer is I believe highly recommended.

Ok. The Cross member mid sounds like a good idea.
Regards the Strainer, there’s one in the tank itself at the bottom, just been to see a chassis ready for the body to be installed back and was very kindly given a replacement strainer.

[Penelope Stopit]

Newarth said:

Questions

9. Is it possible to get a new wiring loom, lots of corrosion on the car so this may also be rotten.

Make a wiring loom, the job's easier than it looks and very enjoyable to do, there will be some odd connectors that you will need to re-use, the fusebox and relay plate can be replaced with more suitable ones

[Newarth]

Has anyone got a drawing to manufacture the outriggers on an S1.

Also, they look to be slightly raised at the outer edge, 20mm or so compared to the connection to the main chassis. Is this correct?

[Newarth]

Make a wiring loom, the job's easier than it looks and very enjoyable to do.

[/quote]

Thanks. Will have a look when I get the body off and see what’s involved.