Auction: 2002 TVR T350C
Discussion
Hi Daniel, I came back from a long drive on a very hot day and the car was sounding noisier than usual I drove it very gently home on the motorway rather than some twisty roads keeping the RPM as low as i could it didn't sound too bad as TVR engines can be quite tappy especially when cold, but it was sounding a bit tappy even though it was fully warm. Once i got back i parked it up in the garage and left it to cool off. I will mention as well the temperatures had been fine on the drive, the coolant was in the high 90's but stable and the oil temp beeper is set at 110C on my car which isn't overly high for a big engine like this. I tend to back off when it gets to around 105C anyway and this day it was 30C outside.
The next time i started it up cold it did not sound right at all and was tapping like crazy, it did not sounds smooth as before, so i turned it off and contacted Steve who said it was hopefully just a shim required. I had not had the shims done on the previous service as i had been advised not to as i had done very few miles since they were last checked. I decided to have the car transported to Steve at SD Autotec in case it was something else. I was fairly confident it would be ok as it had been rebuilt before. Unfortunately when Steve rang me it was bad new and some of the finger followers had worn excessively. I couldn't just replace the finger followers as i wanted to make sure the rest of the engine was ok, so Steve recommended to make sure it was 100% he would take the engine out and take it to powers while he was away on holiday and they could give it a full inspection.
As you can see from the paperwork They ended up replacing finger followers, cam shafts and main bearings to be on the safe side. When the engine came back Steve had flushed the oil tank and fitted all new oil pipes to make sure there wasn't any metal partials left in a line.
Since then the car has only done just over 1000 miles and for the first few hundred miles after the head rebuild i just drove it around normally and didn't go on any spirited drives or WOT. My work has really picked up over 2023, so i didn't get to drive it as much as i'd have liked to after such a big bill!
I hope that answers your question Daniel, i have tried to include as much detail as i can.
The next time i started it up cold it did not sound right at all and was tapping like crazy, it did not sounds smooth as before, so i turned it off and contacted Steve who said it was hopefully just a shim required. I had not had the shims done on the previous service as i had been advised not to as i had done very few miles since they were last checked. I decided to have the car transported to Steve at SD Autotec in case it was something else. I was fairly confident it would be ok as it had been rebuilt before. Unfortunately when Steve rang me it was bad new and some of the finger followers had worn excessively. I couldn't just replace the finger followers as i wanted to make sure the rest of the engine was ok, so Steve recommended to make sure it was 100% he would take the engine out and take it to powers while he was away on holiday and they could give it a full inspection.
As you can see from the paperwork They ended up replacing finger followers, cam shafts and main bearings to be on the safe side. When the engine came back Steve had flushed the oil tank and fitted all new oil pipes to make sure there wasn't any metal partials left in a line.
Since then the car has only done just over 1000 miles and for the first few hundred miles after the head rebuild i just drove it around normally and didn't go on any spirited drives or WOT. My work has really picked up over 2023, so i didn't get to drive it as much as i'd have liked to after such a big bill!
I hope that answers your question Daniel, i have tried to include as much detail as i can.
Yes, i thought i was quite unlucky, but being a TVR i have always kept some extra cash aside in case something went wrong. Since its been rebuilt I've only had the oil changed. Not had the shims checked yet. I have only taken it out twice this year and once was after it had been in storage over winter to get the oil changed.
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