Discussion
quote:I would expect the bushes to cost a few quid each, the wishbones to cost under a couple of hundred pounds each (do they *all* need replacing?), couple of hours labour to fit. Doesn't sound to me like a £3k5 bill. But this sounds a bit like the bloke who complained that he was charged £3k for a service and then admitted he had the engine rebuilt while they were at it. Exactly what is he getting for that price? Cheers, Peter Humphries (temporarily without green V8S)
My Dads been told by Hawthorns that he needs to replace the wishbones and all the brushes on his Chimp and they''re trying to charge him £3500 for the job. Is this a fair price?
I suggest he gets the car to an independent - I had all my wishbones bushes replaced for around £250 including labour at Thames Valley Racetech. I suspect not all the wishbones will need replacing, but it appears fronts can corrode excessively and ought to be replaced at this stage, shouldn't be that much money though.
I don't want to point fingers but unless the car has been sitting in salt water and is an early model it shouldn't need this much wishbone work.
Edited by trefor on Tuesday 7th August 13:57
I'm busy replacing my front wishbones, after bending them on one side. They were corroded (5 yrs/25k miles) but mostly surface rust. I am replacing the bushes with powerflex at the same time.
The left side top & bottom wishbones were about £100 the pair I think - look on TVR Gear (www.tvrgear.co.uk) for a decent price list. Bushes about £4 each, 8 needed at front, same at back. Haven't looked at the rear (yet) but fronts should be do-able in about 2 hours with the proper equipment. Can't see why a reputable dealer couldn't get the job done for say £200 a corner, tops. £3.5k is taking the p*ss. Bring it to me, I'll do it for half that!!
The new wishbones I got actually appear better finished (though far from perfect). When stripped of paint the metal finish looks like its been grit blasted to give a key for the powder coating. The coating itself was still way too patchy for my liking though.
The original when stripped were just shiny smooth steel (except where rusty of course 
), not surprising the paint falls off.
I am looking for someone to polyester coat them now, in the Midlands preferably. I used to have my motorcycle frames coated this way and it is an excellent tough finish, but that was from a local firm up in the North East - bit far for me to go now.
Edited by philshort on Tuesday 7th August 23:14
), not surprising the paint falls off.
I am looking for someone to polyester coat them now, in the Midlands preferably. I used to have my motorcycle frames coated this way and it is an excellent tough finish, but that was from a local firm up in the North East - bit far for me to go now.
Edited by philshort on Tuesday 7th August 23:14 At my MOT recently, I was told that I should think about doing some preventative work on the wish bones as they are a very common failure on TVRs.
My Chimp is 4yrs and 30k now and the wishbones have surface rust only at this stage.
I was recommended to just wire brush them down to metal and then Hamerite them.
Any body got any views on this as a sensible step to take.
I doubt that I will be able to do as full a job with the wishbones in place bit it sounds like a resonably easy (apart from actually getting under the car) way to add some life to the wish bones.
Why couldn't TVR just coat them properly in the first place if it is such a known problem. I'm sure we'd all pay another £50 on the purchase price to have had them right from day one.
Hammerite is good stuff cos it sticks well to rusty surfaces and is pretty resistant to chipping. I'm suprised to hear Waxoyl mentioned in this context. In my experience Waxoyl is for inside box sections, tubing etc but would quickly wash off an exposed area like a wishbone. Or is there a waxoyl product I'm unaware of?
Edited by bob clenton on Wednesday 8th August 16:50
Judt had my top wishbones replaced on a 1998 Chimp....
Wishbones were £38.94 each + vat.
Suspension Brushes £16.34 + vat for 4.
Genuine TVR Parts - work completed at Exactly-TVR.
Not sure on Labour as I had alot of other work done and its not broken down to that degree, whole lot only cost £280.00 + vat though.
I'm considering changing the front suspension bushes on my Griff 500. I thought I'd have the wishbones shot blasted and painted at the same time.
Can anyone give a recomendation for someone to do a comprehensive 4 wheel alignment (toe, camber, caster, etc) after I put it back together?
I could try to put it back the way it is, but even if I manage that I have no guarantee that it was perfect in the first place!
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