Discussion
Hi
Got the Vixen back to Reading last week and have been working on it virtually every night since. We love the car, even though it's in bad condition it still has so much presence sat there when we pull it out of the garage!
Took the body off today, easier than we thought.... The chassis is in reasonable condition but has a few holes here and there where the dreaded rust has crept in- i suppose it's to be expected as it hasn't been driven since 1981 and has been sat in a barn!
Is there any way i can post some pictures on here?
Just wanted to post an update but also to ask how much a new chassis would be if it's beyond repair. I think Neil (Heightswitch) has ordered a new one for his dads, Tuscan V8? If you're around Neil i would be interested to know costs etc etc.
Thanks
James
Got the Vixen back to Reading last week and have been working on it virtually every night since. We love the car, even though it's in bad condition it still has so much presence sat there when we pull it out of the garage!
Took the body off today, easier than we thought.... The chassis is in reasonable condition but has a few holes here and there where the dreaded rust has crept in- i suppose it's to be expected as it hasn't been driven since 1981 and has been sat in a barn!
Is there any way i can post some pictures on here?
Just wanted to post an update but also to ask how much a new chassis would be if it's beyond repair. I think Neil (Heightswitch) has ordered a new one for his dads, Tuscan V8? If you're around Neil i would be interested to know costs etc etc.
Thanks
James
to post up pictures they need to be hosted somewhere on the internet. if you go to www.photobucket.com and create a basic free account there you can do it.
once you have uploaded the pics copy the url below the pic and put it between these:
[pic] [/pic] (but without the space in between)
hope that helps
once you have uploaded the pics copy the url below the pic and put it between these:
[pic] [/pic] (but without the space in between)
hope that helps
James,
Reminds me of my find. You've got your work cut out there. I'm curious to know whats happened to the hoop over the transmission tunnel?
have you also come across anyone doing the Vixen badges?
A piece of advice, you're obviously going down the route of getting a new chassis, get it galvanised! Inspite of the scaremongerers - use someone competent, they guys who did my chassis even collected and delivered it back. At least you wont be limited to dry use only.
I'm currently in the middle of doing the bodywork. The chassis is finished and rolling again.
Good luck,
Keep the updates,
Darren
Reminds me of my find. You've got your work cut out there. I'm curious to know whats happened to the hoop over the transmission tunnel?
have you also come across anyone doing the Vixen badges?
A piece of advice, you're obviously going down the route of getting a new chassis, get it galvanised! Inspite of the scaremongerers - use someone competent, they guys who did my chassis even collected and delivered it back. At least you wont be limited to dry use only.
I'm currently in the middle of doing the bodywork. The chassis is finished and rolling again.
Good luck,
Keep the updates,
Darren
Hi Darren,
the hoop over the transmission was taken off because the guy who owned it wanted to put a v6 or v8 in it. I dont think a new chassis would be necesary since only the two side bars (running the lenthg of the car) have 1-2 holes each. We are thinking with James to replacing those with new ones. The rest of the chassis is veyr solid with only surface rust. By the way how much did your new chassis cost?
Thanks
the hoop over the transmission was taken off because the guy who owned it wanted to put a v6 or v8 in it. I dont think a new chassis would be necesary since only the two side bars (running the lenthg of the car) have 1-2 holes each. We are thinking with James to replacing those with new ones. The rest of the chassis is veyr solid with only surface rust. By the way how much did your new chassis cost?
Thanks
Guys,
This may be something worth bearing in mind.
When I purchased my car, it was also a barn find. The sill tubes were also so badly rotted, they were cut out and replaced. I even replaced the tube that joins them both at the back. The repaired chassis was zinc oxide primed, coated and hammerited. I got about 6 years everyday use and the chassis fractured in the diff mount area. The chassis looks like it had rusted from the inside out or fateagued. It goes without saying, the current engine is only 175-185BHP, but at the end of the day, do you want to rebuild the car and have the confidence in using it. Unless your one hundred percent happy that there is little or no pitting to the tubing, Your looking at either a lot of work, or only being able to use the car for poodling around in dry weather. Bite the bullet on the new chassis now, the old one is already about 30 years old and fateagued as well as rusting. (by the way,, its only my opinion, from my experience)
This may be something worth bearing in mind.
When I purchased my car, it was also a barn find. The sill tubes were also so badly rotted, they were cut out and replaced. I even replaced the tube that joins them both at the back. The repaired chassis was zinc oxide primed, coated and hammerited. I got about 6 years everyday use and the chassis fractured in the diff mount area. The chassis looks like it had rusted from the inside out or fateagued. It goes without saying, the current engine is only 175-185BHP, but at the end of the day, do you want to rebuild the car and have the confidence in using it. Unless your one hundred percent happy that there is little or no pitting to the tubing, Your looking at either a lot of work, or only being able to use the car for poodling around in dry weather. Bite the bullet on the new chassis now, the old one is already about 30 years old and fateagued as well as rusting. (by the way,, its only my opinion, from my experience)
James,
I assume that you are going to get the chassis shot / sand blasted before you make your final decision. When I had mine done I was very lucky in that the process didn't leave me with a selection of holes connected together by some metal lace. Obviously the blasting process is fairly aggressive but if the chassis can't take it then it's better to find out now.
Also, have you checked to make sure it's not twisted?
Good luck,
Phil.
I assume that you are going to get the chassis shot / sand blasted before you make your final decision. When I had mine done I was very lucky in that the process didn't leave me with a selection of holes connected together by some metal lace. Obviously the blasting process is fairly aggressive but if the chassis can't take it then it's better to find out now.
Also, have you checked to make sure it's not twisted?
Good luck,
Phil.
James.
trust me (did you get my e-mail) if you are going to lavish 6-7k on restoring your Vixen then the last thing you want to do is restore it onto a 30 odd year old chassis. if you do then believe me you will be restoring the car again within 3 years.
The tube shop at TVR was in a damp brick kiln. the tubes internally were red rusty when the car was built. You have then had the slow chewing action internally.
Your biggest difficulty will be finding a new chassis, getting D gerald to make you one for reasonable money or finding someone else who is gearing up and making a chassis jig with which to do their own.
I for what its worth also disagree with Daza re galvanizing, hot zinc spraying is ok but to hot dip Galv is asking for trouble with warpage and also more importantly weight.
The std chassis with sod all in the way of rust proofing lasted 30 plus years, a good de-grease, etch prime and powder coat will better that on a new chassis made with much better quality steel than the cheap tube it was made with 30 year ago.
Daza. have you got any pics of yours with the zetec in showing the mounts? did you buy or fabricate?
Neil.
trust me (did you get my e-mail) if you are going to lavish 6-7k on restoring your Vixen then the last thing you want to do is restore it onto a 30 odd year old chassis. if you do then believe me you will be restoring the car again within 3 years.
The tube shop at TVR was in a damp brick kiln. the tubes internally were red rusty when the car was built. You have then had the slow chewing action internally.
Your biggest difficulty will be finding a new chassis, getting D gerald to make you one for reasonable money or finding someone else who is gearing up and making a chassis jig with which to do their own.
I for what its worth also disagree with Daza re galvanizing, hot zinc spraying is ok but to hot dip Galv is asking for trouble with warpage and also more importantly weight.
The std chassis with sod all in the way of rust proofing lasted 30 plus years, a good de-grease, etch prime and powder coat will better that on a new chassis made with much better quality steel than the cheap tube it was made with 30 year ago.
Daza. have you got any pics of yours with the zetec in showing the mounts? did you buy or fabricate?
Neil.
Hi Neil,
Neil, absolutly agree about restoring on an old chassis. However, I disagree about the galving, the weight difference between galving and painting is negligible. Paint also chips, and then what. One other thing, the new chassis seems a dam sight heavier that the old one. I did state a competent galvanizer is important. I know that the guys who did my chassis have done a few TVR chassis, as well as spitfife shells and other more flimsy body panels. The problem lies when you take your project to someone who only does gates and roadside furnature. It may seem a bit belt and braces, but you can bet I wont be going under that chassis to clean and grease it. The car will also be on the road all year long. I believe the cars should be used.... thats my opinion. Anyway galving is another story and has been discussed enough in the past.
I fabricated the mounts myself. I originally took the old Vixens mounts, choped the ends off and welded a plate on the drivers side and a piece of angle onto the mount on the other side. The gearbox mount was a piece of plate cut to size for the T9. This time I'm removing the rubber off the metal for the engine mounts (which are vulcanised and replacing with bolt on heavy duty items from Rally Design).
Pics, got plenty of those, how do you stick them on here? copy and paste doesnt work.
Neil, absolutly agree about restoring on an old chassis. However, I disagree about the galving, the weight difference between galving and painting is negligible. Paint also chips, and then what. One other thing, the new chassis seems a dam sight heavier that the old one. I did state a competent galvanizer is important. I know that the guys who did my chassis have done a few TVR chassis, as well as spitfife shells and other more flimsy body panels. The problem lies when you take your project to someone who only does gates and roadside furnature. It may seem a bit belt and braces, but you can bet I wont be going under that chassis to clean and grease it. The car will also be on the road all year long. I believe the cars should be used.... thats my opinion. Anyway galving is another story and has been discussed enough in the past.
I fabricated the mounts myself. I originally took the old Vixens mounts, choped the ends off and welded a plate on the drivers side and a piece of angle onto the mount on the other side. The gearbox mount was a piece of plate cut to size for the T9. This time I'm removing the rubber off the metal for the engine mounts (which are vulcanised and replacing with bolt on heavy duty items from Rally Design).
Pics, got plenty of those, how do you stick them on here? copy and paste doesnt work.
When I replaced the outriggers on my chassis I was a bit concerned about internal rusting of chassis tubes. All of the other chassis tubes seemed intact with no perforation, so as a precaution, I machined up some tapped countersunk inserts (about 20+ if I remember!), drilled a 5mm hole in every tube and silver-soldered these all over the chassis (1 per tube). Then mixed up some old engine oil laced with a splash of diesel (just to get the oil to creep uphill) and slowly filled every tube. I then rotated the chassis for a couple of days, drained it out and fitted countersunk screws into the inserts, after sealing the threads with liberal amounts of liquid gasket. Hey presto, a "wet" chassis!
Daza,
If you find a free image hosting site, eg Photobucket etc, upload your pics onto there, then cut and paste the URL. That'll do it.
Darren.
The company who did my chassis was Medway Galvanising, down in Kent.
Justin Forwood told me he had used them,,,, you 've seen Justin's Taimar? (need I say anymore).
I have a contact name and number somewhere, if anyone is interested.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
Neil, what no pics?
Darren
Justin Forwood told me he had used them,,,, you 've seen Justin's Taimar? (need I say anymore).
I have a contact name and number somewhere, if anyone is interested.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n5
Neil, what no pics?
Darren
Edited by daza on Saturday 22 July 09:38
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