1984 280i Tasmin FHC, help required

[Mr Supercharged]

Hi, I'm better known in the past for being on the Chimaera pages where I finished building my long owned supercharged chimaera from the ground up, nut and bolt rebuild.

I have always wanted a 280i FHC and bought one that I couldn't take on a test drive because it was SORNed. Driven it home and it has a few issues. Any advice on the following would be gratefully received.

1) driver's door handle stopped opening door after I got it home. How do I get the door card off to investigate? I don't want to pull it off to the point that something breaks.

2) rear axle is noisy above 50mph, I see in the receipts that the half shafts were rebalanced a long time ago with new UJs fitted and someone else added an additive to the diff to quieten it down. What normally makes the noise? What is the diff off? A jag? What is it?

3) What are the front and rear brakes off on the car? Ford M16 calipers front? What size discs? What off front and back?

4) Engine seems to misfire. I think it is overfueling and I have my doubts on the ignition side. Looks like mine is fitted with the Bosch orange clip on cap distributor? Seems to be fitted with ceramic lead extenders on the cap? Noise surpression or what? The ignition coil resistance measures 1.5 ohms which suggests this is for a ballast type ignition but I can't see any ballast resistors???? Was a 1984 car fitted with resistors?

I'm making the car sound bad, it actually got me home ok, 150miles, the paint and interior are really nice. My plan is to get it running right and then do a full body off and add to my YouTube channel. Comments/advice please, thanks....

[adam quantrill]

Hi Super!

I'm normally a V8 guy but I can help with the common stuff.

Door card is easy to remove, check under the bottom of the door first for any screws (sometimes there are extras to stop it flapping around) and then you might have to remove the inside door handle and armrest, depending on the model.

Pull the card away from the door (it has those plastic "tree" things holding it tight) and once it's free, you can work it upwards to get the folded over bit away from the glass.

Putting back is a slight faff to line up the button.

Inside there are rods which have plastic clips on them, the most common fault being the clips are now old and brittle and they snap. I've been selling replacements quite cheap, I get new ones from my mate in China.

For the diff, yes it's a Jag, it might be LSD or not LSD (usually not in the V6). only use LSD oil in the LSD.

Rear end noise could be a number of things, the diff, diff output bearings, driveshafts, but most likely the read wheel bearings. I had a noise once I couldn't track down, only over 35mph, with weight on the wheels, even changed the diff, it was still present (!) and I ended up attaching a contact microphone. It was a rear wheel bearing! So I would recommend getting a contact mic and connecting it to a little amplifier to narrow it down.

Brakes are Ford front and Jag rear. But the fronts vary a lot, depending. Post up some photos.

- Adam

P.S. I also have a supercharged wedge, a 400SX. :-)

[Mr Supercharged]

Adam, thanks for the reply, I like the idea of a contact microphone! I did have a look at the door card, there are no obvious screws on it, there is a little metal cap though, perhaps there is a screw under there....does the walnut handle just pull off to reveal a screw underneath? Do you have some of these plastic clips for sale that you mention? I have access to a 3D printer, if that turns out to be my issue and the clips are right for my car I could do a batch run in carbon fibre mixed with nylon which would be very strong.

I was doing some checks yesterday, the coil measures 1.5ohms which makes it a ballast compatible coil, I can't see a ballast restor though, when I measured between +ve coil terminal and earth and fitted a jumper from the -ve coil to chassis earth with the ignition on that measured 6v which tells me there is a ballast resistor somewhere in the loom so the coil is right type just might be old.

I wonder if many on here have bought a Bosch k-jet tester kit and tried to work out the overfueling themselves? Would need a stand alone wideband sensor as well. I think the system can be built to tolerate E10 fuel with new seals, hoses etc.

I'll post some pictures up later, it was the car recently for sale on eBay that didn't meet the reserve. The seller was a nice chap, I just don't think he drove it very much or at all in the short time he owned. To be fair, the door handle did work until I got it home....🤣🤣

[phillpot]

I think the ballast resistor is the wire itself, not a stand alone resistor like this . . . . . .

[Mr Supercharged]

[Mr Supercharged]

There she is....lol I think you're right the ballast restor isn't obvious, maybe in the loom somewhere. On the racing green website it suggests a large one as pictured above is fitted but I haven't found it.

My car is fitted with noise suppressors on the distributor cap, does everyone else have these?

[phillpot]

Mr Supercharged said:

My car is fitted with noise suppressors on the distributor cap, does everyone else have these?

Bin them, just something else to give issues!

TVR used the ballast resistor as I pictured and on the Racing Green Parts website to dim the instrument lights.

[LLantrisant]

the ballast is a blue wire which can be found somewhere near the ECU (front left of enginebay usually).

first of all, check the valve clearances than check for the big induction hose connecting the plenum with the fuel distributor.

install new plugs, just to be on the safe side and a set of new ignition leads.

[adam quantrill]

Have emailed regarding the clips.

as for the contact mic I used a cheap guitar one plus a coax cable back to the cabin where I plugged it into a little battery guitar amp.

However I have been working on a wireless model, which can give you both the sound, and a spectrum display, on your (android) phone.
THe beauty of this puppy is that you can strap it to a moving part too (e.g. a driveshaft) with tie wraps, and measure the noise there too.

[KelvinatorNZ]

Ballast wire is blue, and is usually behind the airbox area on the LH inner guard.

Mine looked like this


and these are the wires it plugs into. I bypassed with with a length of standard wire and used a non-ballast coil



Lots of information on my site from when I had a Tasmin, https://tasteslikepetrol.net/category/tvr/

[Penelope Stopit]

Mr Supercharged said:

I was doing some checks yesterday, the coil measures 1.5ohms which makes it a ballast compatible coil, I can't see a ballast restor though, when I measured between +ve coil terminal and earth and fitted a jumper from the -ve coil to chassis earth with the ignition on that measured 6v which tells me there is a ballast resistor somewhere in the loom so the coil is right type just might be old.

One final check if you haven't already done so is to measure the voltage @ coil + ive during cranking, very likely ok though as the engine would struggle to start if there was a problem

[Mr Supercharged]

Thank you for all the replies. I've ordered some new parts to fit, coil, leads, rotor arm, distributor cap, the car starts really easily, just seems to be very very rich and intoxicating if you stand near the back of the car even outside! I have it booked in at a place in south wales that advertises Bosch k-jet diagnosis, I did think about buying a kit as found on eBay and having a go myself. Although I'm a little short of time, I have a boat to play with that I bought a week ago that needs some safety scheme stuff resolving. Also I have just lost operation of the inner door handle on the passenger side on the car. So, I can only open the passenger door from the outside and the driver's door from the inside. Im in danger of not being able to open a door if something else breaks so that's my priority. Here is a link to the place in Wales.

https://www.gotboost.co.uk/k-jet-specialists-south...