Daily driver and predominently home maintenance...
Discussion
No, not a pi$$ take but a serious query. I've fallen for a 2001 Red Rose spec Tuscan but it will have to be used pretty much as daily transport (open roads mainly 
)and I'd like to do as much of the servicing as possible. Anyone else spanner their own?
Any info appreciated, especially on valve train mechanicals... are the clearances simple screw and locknut or bucket and shim (as I would expect)? can't imagine the moptors are really that terrifying to contemplate working on...are they? (Have a fall back y2k Griff 500 lined up if you all tell me I'm bonkers
)
)and I'd like to do as much of the servicing as possible. Anyone else spanner their own? Any info appreciated, especially on valve train mechanicals... are the clearances simple screw and locknut or bucket and shim (as I would expect)? can't imagine the moptors are really that terrifying to contemplate working on...are they? (Have a fall back y2k Griff 500 lined up if you all tell me I'm bonkers
)I would probably argue that if it takes a trained mechanic 8 hours then he's not very well trained (!). the SP6 valves are easier to adjust than the V8 and they only take about 5 hours. the shims are under the dreaded finger follower, most of which slide out of the way against a light spring, the rest you can lever the valves down to release the shim.
there's nothing on the tuscan that you can't do yourself - although many jobs are very awkward rather than actually complicated - for that reason alone it's worth doing stuff yourself since I seem to lose money on every tuscan I work on such is their time-consuming nature. go for it.
there's nothing on the tuscan that you can't do yourself - although many jobs are very awkward rather than actually complicated - for that reason alone it's worth doing stuff yourself since I seem to lose money on every tuscan I work on such is their time-consuming nature. go for it.
Cheers Joolz, that's what I was hoping to hear...any idea where I might find a service schedule on-line?
Also, are there any issues around the motor being dry-sump? Most of my mechanical experience translates from the motorcycle world where dry-sumping is normally shorthand for bad news
Also, are there any issues around the motor being dry-sump? Most of my mechanical experience translates from the motorcycle world where dry-sumping is normally shorthand for bad news
Well, thought I'd try and get the gen from the horse's mouth so to speak, and called TVR Power...quite candid that there have been "problems", not at all offputting about home maintenance although not intending to make available service info to other than TVR franchise holders although quite happy to help with clearances etc. Also confirmewd warranty not affected by home twiddling. Explained engine is largely based on Kawa XZR9 motorcycle lump in terms of layout and valve train etc and only real trickey was in hooking out shims at rear without dropping them in oilways etc...sounds familiar
quote:
Well, thought I'd try and get the gen from the horse's mouth so to speak, and called TVR Power...quite candid that there have been "problems", not at all offputting about home maintenance although not intending to make available service info to other than TVR franchise holders although quite happy to help with clearances etc. Also confirmewd warranty not affected by home twiddling. Explained engine is largely based on Kawa XZR9 motorcycle lump in terms of layout and valve train etc and only real trickey was in hooking out shims at rear without dropping them in oilways etc...sounds familiar
Interesting. I've always thought the Speed Six sounds more a like a big motorcycle engine than a car engine (in a good way) and recently I heard one of the designers at TVR used to work for Norton.
Pupp, are you serious?!
No doubt you're pretty handy with the spanners etc and I wish you the best of luck with it if you decide to buy. You're a brave man.
Thing is, these sorts of cars can't be run on a shoestring – I'd love a Cerbie but the servicing costs frighten me in all honesty. To my mind, if you can't get the servicing done at a dealer on a £40,000 car, you can't afford a £40,000 car.
Maybe, when pinkney makes me a junior partner and gets his Tuscan R, he'll give me his one.
I just wouldn't want to go there ... but the best of British if you get it.
>> Edited by MikeyT on Friday 2nd August 01:29
No doubt you're pretty handy with the spanners etc and I wish you the best of luck with it if you decide to buy. You're a brave man.
Thing is, these sorts of cars can't be run on a shoestring – I'd love a Cerbie but the servicing costs frighten me in all honesty. To my mind, if you can't get the servicing done at a dealer on a £40,000 car, you can't afford a £40,000 car.
Maybe, when pinkney makes me a junior partner and gets his Tuscan R, he'll give me his one.
I just wouldn't want to go there ... but the best of British if you get it.
>> Edited by MikeyT on Friday 2nd August 01:29
It is a serious question, yes. Have I made my mind up? Not yet, and this query is part of that process.
I understand the logic of the "leave it to the dealer" brigade and fair play to those that choose to subscribe to that philosophy, although I do think the "if you can afford to buy, you must afford to service" mantra is a wee bit cliched provided you have a brain and some mechanical aptitude.
I have always preferred to look after my own toys whenever possible and that policy has paid dividends to date...and it's not just a question of cost, but one of getting the maximum enjoyment/satisfaction from owning and understanding performance focused machinery (although I don't deny I also enjoy the savings I can make and the convenience).
There appears to be something of a mythology around the Speed-Six motor and I am curious why. Ok, it's in a fairly high state of tune for a car lump, and in the form of the Tuscan is packaged in an eccentric, even radical overall design, but, to my mind, really uses pretty conventional technology delivered on a familiar platform...why is it such a no-no for the home mechanic assuming any manufacturing defects have been resolved and service limits respected (and thanks to certain PH members, who I won't embarrass by naming, that have taken the trouble to explain the issues here...much appreciated)?
In 3 or 4 years, these cars will inevitably be more commonly owned, enjoyed and spannered by enthusistic people like myself as they become ever-more affordable. Without wanting to be discourteous to anyone who has replied, I am sorry to say I do detect more than a hint of snobbery and arrogant elitism behind the dogmatic perpetuation of a "dealer only" culture.
I understand the logic of the "leave it to the dealer" brigade and fair play to those that choose to subscribe to that philosophy, although I do think the "if you can afford to buy, you must afford to service" mantra is a wee bit cliched provided you have a brain and some mechanical aptitude.
I have always preferred to look after my own toys whenever possible and that policy has paid dividends to date...and it's not just a question of cost, but one of getting the maximum enjoyment/satisfaction from owning and understanding performance focused machinery (although I don't deny I also enjoy the savings I can make and the convenience).
There appears to be something of a mythology around the Speed-Six motor and I am curious why. Ok, it's in a fairly high state of tune for a car lump, and in the form of the Tuscan is packaged in an eccentric, even radical overall design, but, to my mind, really uses pretty conventional technology delivered on a familiar platform...why is it such a no-no for the home mechanic assuming any manufacturing defects have been resolved and service limits respected (and thanks to certain PH members, who I won't embarrass by naming, that have taken the trouble to explain the issues here...much appreciated)?
In 3 or 4 years, these cars will inevitably be more commonly owned, enjoyed and spannered by enthusistic people like myself as they become ever-more affordable. Without wanting to be discourteous to anyone who has replied, I am sorry to say I do detect more than a hint of snobbery and arrogant elitism behind the dogmatic perpetuation of a "dealer only" culture.
I don't know about arrogance but time certainly comes in to it. The reason the servicing is so expensice is because of the number of hours it takes. I would suspect you're average 6k service is going to take someone best part of a weekend to complete and that time is too precious for me, I'd rather pay a premium and be without the car during the week.
quote:
I am sorry to say I do detect more than a hint of snobbery and arrogant elitism behind the dogmatic perpetuation of a "dealer only" culture.
No snobbery in it just common sense.You come to buy your TVR with your hard earned cash, you are presented with two cars,bearing in mind you have asked what pitfalls to lookout for, one has a full dealer history the other has been serviced by the vendor .Which are you going to buy? If you speak to anyone regarding buying a Ferrari,Porsche, TVR or the like they will tell you if it has no service history walk away.It is not snobbery but good finacial sense to budget for the servicing.I went to look at a ferrari and was told it had no service history but its last owner was a mechanic with an F1 team and he had done all his own maintenace!Needless to say I walked.
Hmm well for me it's a multi faceted question of whether to do the servicing yourself or not.
1) Enjoyment. Some people enjoy doing the servicing on their cars, and even go to the extent of building them (Ultima crew step up). This can be a fascinating point of ownership but...
2) Trade in value. This will undoubtedly suffer if the dreaded "dealer stamp" isn't there. Yes, I know many dealers don't do a wonderful job, but many do. If anything does go wrong with your Tiv and you end up in discussions with TVR (I and many others have) then TVR will want to see the FSH before giving out any cash.
I had a Scimitar 5a for years and loved playing with the engine (although not replacing the cylinder head gaskets at 2 am). I was very aware that the whole car was worth about a grand and the Ford V6 dated back to the Ark which my limited brain could handle quite nicely. Would I want to risk damaging a modern AJP/S6 Tiv with my tinkerings.. errm no. (Although I appreciate TVRs have one of the most simple engines on modern cars) I just wouldn't risk the financial loss if I fcuked it up.
Anyway, good luck to any owner who decides to go their own way, just do it with your eyes open. I think the whole TVR community will help you, as this was the foundation of TreVoRs, except when you come to part with it.
1) Enjoyment. Some people enjoy doing the servicing on their cars, and even go to the extent of building them (Ultima crew step up). This can be a fascinating point of ownership but...
2) Trade in value. This will undoubtedly suffer if the dreaded "dealer stamp" isn't there. Yes, I know many dealers don't do a wonderful job, but many do. If anything does go wrong with your Tiv and you end up in discussions with TVR (I and many others have) then TVR will want to see the FSH before giving out any cash.
I had a Scimitar 5a for years and loved playing with the engine (although not replacing the cylinder head gaskets at 2 am). I was very aware that the whole car was worth about a grand and the Ford V6 dated back to the Ark which my limited brain could handle quite nicely. Would I want to risk damaging a modern AJP/S6 Tiv with my tinkerings.. errm no. (Although I appreciate TVRs have one of the most simple engines on modern cars) I just wouldn't risk the financial loss if I fcuked it up.
Anyway, good luck to any owner who decides to go their own way, just do it with your eyes open. I think the whole TVR community will help you, as this was the foundation of TreVoRs, except when you come to part with it.
quote:
I have always preferred to look after my own toys whenever possible and that policy has paid dividends to date...
I agree. I'm seriously considering doing the spanner work on my Tuscan too. When doing the work myself I know exactly what I've done and how well I've done it. My experience with previous vehicles shows that I cannot always trust a dealer to do a good job so I prefer to eliminate the unknowns by doing it myself.
The only concern I have is the lack of detailed servicing information.
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