So my Dad bought an S3C - Ownership Thread
Discussion
Hi all. As some of you may have noticed I've previously started a few threads asking for info about the S series and the S3C in general. My Dad bought an S3C from Amore Autos which, after some recommissioning, was delivered yesterday. I think its time to start a general ownership thread as we encounter various issues.
Yes I need to get some pictures up.
I'm down from home in Lincolnshire before the car arrives. It's backed off the trailer, a quick drive and it's time to sign some paperwork and let Mark be on his way. Excellent. It's Dads birthday weekend, hence my visit, so time for a trip to the pub for Sunday lunch. On the way we notice that changing the heater outlet from demist to cabin does absolutely nothing to the airflow, or lack thereof, from passenger vents in the dashboard. Hmmm. It also appears to me to be idling a bit high, though a quick google confirms 1000rpm is normal for an S3C. Good.
Back from the pub we're joined by the owner of a Chimaera from a few doors down who provides some helpful tips about leather/vinyl seat care/refurbishment and Renovo roof products. The car has a new rear hood which now makes the removable panels look a bit faded. Anyway, I set to removing the dash to see whats going on with the heater with the help of Mr Heath's book and TVRGit's website whilst Dad makes some wooden ramps so we can get the bonnet open as it doesn't open far enough for the bonnet stay to fit with the car on flat ground.
After much faff (I'd rather remove my Cerb's dash that this one ever again) the centre console, steering column and dash are off. We find that the outer sheath of the heater cable is clamped to the side of the heater box in such a location that the flap never shuts fully to divert air away from the demist vents in the top of the dash. After adjusting the cable, which is easier said than done, we give it a quick test. Even with the lever flush with the bodywork, so at maximum closed position, air still pours around the flap and out where the demist vents would be if the dash was in place I put this down to the usual levels of TVR design and begin to reassemble. When reassembling I note that, on this car at least, the passenger vents in the dash are fed from the demist air which is supposed to travel from the heater box in the centre of the dash, along the channel with all the demist vents, through a hole cut in the ends of the dash and out the vents. Obviously air takes the path of least resistance and pours out of the demist vents which explains why the passenger vent output is so feeble. Output from the footwell vents is improved though so its not all bad.
The dash goes back on a lot quicker than it came off and the steering column is pretty straight forward too. We can't get the centre console to sit right though. It just won't go far enough forward. Eventually we get it kinda close and decide that'll do for the day as darkness has descended. Unfortunately 'kinda close' does mean any of the gears requiring forward movement of the gear lever are unselectable, as Dad finds when trying to get the car in the garage. 2nd will have to do. The front wheels go up the slope to the garage and over a gentle hump before horrible graunching from the exhaust brings proceedings to a stop. Bugger. Unable to select reverse gear as that requires the gear lever to go forwards, we push the car back over the hump and leave it outside for the night. I order some radio removal keys from Amazon in the hope this will make centre console refitting easier.
Whilst driving home I ponder the lack of ground clearance and the bonnet opening issue. I wonder if the bonnet stay is another typical TVRism but I also wonder whether the car is too low. From memory the suspension is original and the ride is pretty hard. I wonder if new coil overs are required. The Suspension Wiki proves helpful. I call Dad and give him some rough ride heights to measure.
Yes I need to get some pictures up.
I'm down from home in Lincolnshire before the car arrives. It's backed off the trailer, a quick drive and it's time to sign some paperwork and let Mark be on his way. Excellent. It's Dads birthday weekend, hence my visit, so time for a trip to the pub for Sunday lunch. On the way we notice that changing the heater outlet from demist to cabin does absolutely nothing to the airflow, or lack thereof, from passenger vents in the dashboard. Hmmm. It also appears to me to be idling a bit high, though a quick google confirms 1000rpm is normal for an S3C. Good.
Back from the pub we're joined by the owner of a Chimaera from a few doors down who provides some helpful tips about leather/vinyl seat care/refurbishment and Renovo roof products. The car has a new rear hood which now makes the removable panels look a bit faded. Anyway, I set to removing the dash to see whats going on with the heater with the help of Mr Heath's book and TVRGit's website whilst Dad makes some wooden ramps so we can get the bonnet open as it doesn't open far enough for the bonnet stay to fit with the car on flat ground.
After much faff (I'd rather remove my Cerb's dash that this one ever again) the centre console, steering column and dash are off. We find that the outer sheath of the heater cable is clamped to the side of the heater box in such a location that the flap never shuts fully to divert air away from the demist vents in the top of the dash. After adjusting the cable, which is easier said than done, we give it a quick test. Even with the lever flush with the bodywork, so at maximum closed position, air still pours around the flap and out where the demist vents would be if the dash was in place I put this down to the usual levels of TVR design and begin to reassemble. When reassembling I note that, on this car at least, the passenger vents in the dash are fed from the demist air which is supposed to travel from the heater box in the centre of the dash, along the channel with all the demist vents, through a hole cut in the ends of the dash and out the vents. Obviously air takes the path of least resistance and pours out of the demist vents which explains why the passenger vent output is so feeble. Output from the footwell vents is improved though so its not all bad.
The dash goes back on a lot quicker than it came off and the steering column is pretty straight forward too. We can't get the centre console to sit right though. It just won't go far enough forward. Eventually we get it kinda close and decide that'll do for the day as darkness has descended. Unfortunately 'kinda close' does mean any of the gears requiring forward movement of the gear lever are unselectable, as Dad finds when trying to get the car in the garage. 2nd will have to do. The front wheels go up the slope to the garage and over a gentle hump before horrible graunching from the exhaust brings proceedings to a stop. Bugger. Unable to select reverse gear as that requires the gear lever to go forwards, we push the car back over the hump and leave it outside for the night. I order some radio removal keys from Amazon in the hope this will make centre console refitting easier.
Whilst driving home I ponder the lack of ground clearance and the bonnet opening issue. I wonder if the bonnet stay is another typical TVRism but I also wonder whether the car is too low. From memory the suspension is original and the ride is pretty hard. I wonder if new coil overs are required. The Suspension Wiki proves helpful. I call Dad and give him some rough ride heights to measure.
CerbWill said:
I wonder if the bonnet stay is another typical TVRism but I also wonder whether the car is too low. From memory the suspension is original and the ride is pretty hard.
Mine does the same - did it with the old setup, does it with the new coilovers I fitted a while back.I bought a pair of caravan levelling ramps which enable me to get the bonnet catch in place.
Welcome to your Dad, by the way
GreenV8S said:
If the dampers are original they must be long overdue for replacement, but it's probably collapsed mounting bushes rather than the dampers and springs which are messing up the ride height.
Thanks. I'll see what the ride height turns out to be. Are you referring to just damper mounting bushes or all the suspension bushes?It seems the ride height is normal. A bit of chiseling concrete away and it fits in the garage. For now the centre console is back in place, or a lot closer to in place, so at least all gears are selectable again. Included in the purchase price Amore sorted out a wing mirror with badly flaking paint, and painted a repair just behind the front offside wheel where the previous owner, many years ago, had hit 1 of a line of rocks edging their driveway. Unfortunately there's some marks around the bootlid, presumably from roof stowage, and some small spots of lacquer peel on the bonnet. Its booked in to get them sorted around the end of the month.
Welcome and enjoy the ride 
this is a great site for finding out about the intricacies of TVR 'design' and ergonomics and how to fix them
The 'heater' being one of them where even a 10 year old can see the problems with the design. The S1 / 2 is even worse where it is impossible to send the air away from the screen.
The centre of the exhaust is prone to grounding at any sudden change of slope.
this is a great site for finding out about the intricacies of TVR 'design' and ergonomics and how to fix them
The 'heater' being one of them where even a 10 year old can see the problems with the design. The S1 / 2 is even worse where it is impossible to send the air away from the screen.
The centre of the exhaust is prone to grounding at any sudden change of slope.
Regards the heater I'm shocked how good mine is (S1) now its fixed.
Far batter than that in my 1972 MG Midget but then that may as well not have had one anyway.
Might be worth checking/changing that matrix, and the valve in the engine bay - and the heater controls on the dash which seem to part company from the cable outer with great ease, oh, and the wiring to the fan, and the fan.
And the dash switch :-) So not much was wrong with mine then.
Fuse, I forgot the fuse was corroded.
Far batter than that in my 1972 MG Midget but then that may as well not have had one anyway.
Might be worth checking/changing that matrix, and the valve in the engine bay - and the heater controls on the dash which seem to part company from the cable outer with great ease, oh, and the wiring to the fan, and the fan.
And the dash switch :-) So not much was wrong with mine then.
Fuse, I forgot the fuse was corroded.
Bercilac said:
Regards the heater I'm shocked how good mine is (S1) now its fixed.
Far batter than that in my 1972 MG Midget but then that may as well not have had one anyway.
Might be worth checking/changing that matrix, and the valve in the engine bay - and the heater controls on the dash which seem to part company from the cable outer with great ease, oh, and the wiring to the fan, and the fan.
And the dash switch :-) So not much was wrong with mine then.
Fuse, I forgot the fuse was corroded.
No complaints about total airflow, so the fan appears fine. Its just the distribution of it that is crap which seems to be a design issue. We adjusted the mechanism to shut off demist flow as much as possible before the flap lever hits bodywork and air still gets round the flap. Doesn't look like any seals are missing either. The other issue is that the passenger vents in the dash take their feed from the channel under the dash top that feeds the demist vents, presumably why TVR actually designed it so the demist still has air when the selection lever is all the way over to 'cabin'. Unfortunately 90% of the air fired into the top of the dash escapes out the demist holes instead of making in to the passenger face vents. The matrix looked in good condition when we had the dashboard off to mess with the heater flap position. The cable to the heater valve worked but was a bit stiff so we freed that up with some WD40.Far batter than that in my 1972 MG Midget but then that may as well not have had one anyway.
Might be worth checking/changing that matrix, and the valve in the engine bay - and the heater controls on the dash which seem to part company from the cable outer with great ease, oh, and the wiring to the fan, and the fan.
And the dash switch :-) So not much was wrong with mine then.
Fuse, I forgot the fuse was corroded.
On the temperature front I'll have to see what he says when its been for a good run.
Mine had some very rotten yellow foam as a seal to the dash top which I replaced using some offcuts of underbonnet heat blanket type sound deadening. Nice tight seal to the screen vents now.
I also threw away the two long flexi pipes in the engine bay and made blanks to fill the holes.
I then connected the two cabin eyeball vents to the two white plastic pipes on the heater.
I have yet to discover how much it has helped or hindered the system but I figured it couldnt be much worse than stock configuration.
I also taped and sealed all the gaps where the heater box had split apart.
Heat comes out of the vents nicely now but the bad weather is just arriving here in sunny Cheshire so I can report back as the autumn drags on.
I also threw away the two long flexi pipes in the engine bay and made blanks to fill the holes.
I then connected the two cabin eyeball vents to the two white plastic pipes on the heater.
I have yet to discover how much it has helped or hindered the system but I figured it couldnt be much worse than stock configuration.
I also taped and sealed all the gaps where the heater box had split apart.
Heat comes out of the vents nicely now but the bad weather is just arriving here in sunny Cheshire so I can report back as the autumn drags on.
i think the flap was designed (I use the word loosely) to always allow a bit of air to the screen but it's such a poor fit 99% of the air takes the path of least resistance and still comes out the screen vents rather than go along a metre or so of wiggley vacuum cleaner pipe to the eyeballs in the footwells
I jigged around with mine and got it to fit a lot better and can now actually get air to the footwells
Old post on the subject
phillpot said:
i think the flap was designed (I use the word loosely) to always allow a bit of air to the screen but it's such a poor fit 99% of the air takes the path of least resistance and still comes out the screen vents rather than go along a metre or so of wiggley vacuum cleaner pipe to the eyeballs in the footwells [/url]
Footwell airflow is fine. Its the rectanular dash vents that have next to no airflow. [/url]phillpot said:
I jigged around with mine and got it to fit a lot better and can now actually get air to the footwells
Old post on the subject
Done that. Airflow to the footwell vents is fine.Old post on the subject
I've found a few thread on plumbing routes, the engine cooling system and temperatures of both the engine and heater. That might need further investigation too as Dad reports the heater temp isnt great even after a few miles so I suspect its slow to warm up and probably isnt that great ever. I wonder what themostat is fitted. Standard was 82 but I wonder if a 74 degree stat is fitted.
CerbWill said:
heater temp isnt great even after a few miles
I'm amazed how quickly modern engines warm up, but these older cars take much longer than just a 'few miles'. It could need several minutes to get noticeably warm air from the heater and ten minutes or more before it's fully up to temperature. A car with a leaking stat or too much flow past it might never get up to temperature in cold weather.Has it been this long? I did say I'd get some pics and after getting it back from a local paint shop we nipped out on Christmas Day (How did we get permission from the SWMBOs to do that??) for a few photos.
Dad is convinced it's idling a tad high as the tacho reports 1100rpm. I wonder if it is or if the gauge i slightly off. Standard RPM for an S3C I thought was around 1000rpm? If it is it might be worth making use of the warranty and getting it checked out before it expires.
Dad is convinced it's idling a tad high as the tacho reports 1100rpm. I wonder if it is or if the gauge i slightly off. Standard RPM for an S3C I thought was around 1000rpm? If it is it might be worth making use of the warranty and getting it checked out before it expires.
CerbWill said:
it might be worth making use of the warranty and getting it checked out before it expires.
Warranty? they'll fob you off with "they all do that Sir" Get it into Matt Smith for a "tune up"
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