De-rusting

[birchy]

Recently purchased my first TVR, an S1. The chassis is pretty good nick but wants some work in the typical places, mainly the outriggers and trailing arms. I have a quote of £200, to de-rust from Wedge Automotives which includes wire brushing and scrape, spray application of rustconvertor, hand painiting any bare areas of metal and a fianl application of a hot wax oil based underseal to chassis and wish bones, etc. Any one used this service or could comment?

[jmorgan]

Look after the outriggers. Not clear of your situation but they are hidden (on my 350 and 400 they are). The other place I found rusting was just behind the front wheels where they were "shot blasted" by road debris, removing the plastic coating. Do not take my word for it but trailing arms (on my 350 A reg were solid) needed a coat of paint for looks. Edited by jmorgan on Tuesday 14th August 00:24

[johno]

Birchy, I bought my S1.5 (F plate) in February last year and have done a lot of work tidying up the chassis. Stripping the coating where it was corroding underneath it and rust treated it and then hand painted it with Silver Hammerite. I did the front engine bay first and have since done the rear end. I have found that the front section now needs a recoat and treatment. I possibly could have done it better, the areas that go are all listed in and shown in the Bible. You definitely want to go after the outriggers and also the area behind the front wheels. Mine has been blasted off again and needs doing before the winter. The middle portion of the chassis is generally kept A1 by oil spillage etc etc As for trailing arms !! I thought mine were OK. Tested them on the car 2 or 3 times before I took them out as part of the rear end rebuild and then after close inspection and a tap with a hammer found they had corroded through and weren't going to be OK. Make sure you test them thoroughly. I have access to a shot blaster and have just done the front wishbones with it. It really is the best way to get corrosion off the parts. As for the price, I reckon that's pretty good knowuing how long I spent mucking about etc etc Another area that I would check thoroughly is the petrol tank cradle as mine seemed fine until I got it of the car. It had corroded through on the nearside arms. Could have failed a few miles later. Not difficult to get from TVR for about £40. I had one made up locally for £45. I have got some photo's of the work that I have done if you want a look. Email me off the list... Cheers Mark

[Tav]

Having done the same job on my S1 I would say that £200 is quite reasonable assuming they do it all properly. Its a dirty job (but somebody has got to do it) and not made any easier unless you can get the car a reasonable distance off the ground. Otherwise its a case of being virtually trapped under the car with a stream of gunk oil and rust chippings going in your eyes - oh fond memories - I'm definitely going to pay someone to do it next time (assuming it will need redoing!)

[birchy]

quote:Birchy, I bought my S1.5 (F plate) in February last year and have done a lot of work tidying up the chassis. Stripping the coating where it was corroding underneath it and rust treated it and then hand painted it with Silver Hammerite. I did the front engine bay first and have since done the rear end. I have found that the front section now needs a recoat and treatment. I possibly could have done it better, the areas that go are all listed in and shown in the Bible. You definitely want to go after the outriggers and also the area behind the front wheels. Mine has been blasted off again and needs doing before the winter. The middle portion of the chassis is generally kept A1 by oil spillage etc etc As for trailing arms !! I thought mine were OK. Tested them on the car 2 or 3 times before I took them out as part of the rear end rebuild and then after close inspection and a tap with a hammer found they had corroded through and weren't going to be OK. Make sure you test them thoroughly. I have access to a shot blaster and have just done the front wishbones with it. It really is the best way to get corrosion off the parts. As for the price, I reckon that's pretty good knowuing how long I spent mucking about etc etc Another area that I would check thoroughly is the petrol tank cradle as mine seemed fine until I got it of the car. It had corroded through on the nearside arms. Could have failed a few miles later. Not difficult to get from TVR for about £40. I had one made up locally for £45. I have got some photo's of the work that I have done if you want a look. Email me off the list... Cheers Mark

[birchy]

quote:Birchy, How much did new trailing arms costs? I bought my S1.5 (F plate) in February last year and have done a lot of work tidying up the chassis. Stripping the coating where it was corroding underneath it and rust treated it and then hand painted it with Silver Hammerite. I did the front engine bay first and have since done the rear end. I have found that the front section now needs a recoat and treatment. I possibly could have done it better, the areas that go are all listed in and shown in the Bible. You definitely want to go after the outriggers and also the area behind the front wheels. Mine has been blasted off again and needs doing before the winter. The middle portion of the chassis is generally kept A1 by oil spillage etc etc As for trailing arms !! I thought mine were OK. Tested them on the car 2 or 3 times before I took them out as part of the rear end rebuild and then after close inspection and a tap with a hammer found they had corroded through and weren't going to be OK. Make sure you test them thoroughly. I have access to a shot blaster and have just done the front wishbones with it. It really is the best way to get corrosion off the parts. As for the price, I reckon that's pretty good knowuing how long I spent mucking about etc etc Another area that I would check thoroughly is the petrol tank cradle as mine seemed fine until I got it of the car. It had corroded through on the nearside arms. Could have failed a few miles later. Not difficult to get from TVR for about £40. I had one made up locally for £45. I have got some photo's of the work that I have done if you want a look. Email me off the list... Cheers Mark

[johno]

Birchy, I replaced mine with reconned jobbies from Adrian Venn at Coventry. Cost was £300. Best email me off list for my full response regarding these. I wish I had done the chassis modifications necessary and gone for S3 arms which have a lot more adjustability than the S2 arms. S1 arms are no longer available and the factory only make S2 arms when they have a decent sized order apparently. So it can be a long wait. S3 arms are a lot more readily available though. I replaced the suspension bushes and dampers while I was in there aswell. I got the dampers after I had done the other work and can honestly say the poly bushes made a great difference to how weell the rear end felt, much more in tune with the rest of the car. Once I had the new dampers aswell it was/is superb. Cheers Mark

[birchy]

johno - how do I get uour email off the list