New Owner

[GRC85]

After many months of deliberating and viewing cars I am the chuffed new owner of this 450 purchased from Mark at Amore. The week after collection I set off on an 8 week tour of France and the Swiss Alps. Not a single problem even with weeks of 35 degrees +. Upon arriving home….. a nice 3700 miles on the clock.



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Before I left, i restored the roof which was a bit faded, 3 coats and very pleased;





|https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/335417/202408257267084[/url]

Ready to go



Managed to squeeze in the first car show at thruxton on route!

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3700 miles later! 😃

[citizen smith]

Cracking looking motor and it's always good to hear someone that is enjoying the TVR experience.

[Andy70]

Lovely pictures, and car looks great, probably in as perfect condition as it could be coming from there, hope you enjoy it mate, I only bought mine a few week ago, but mine is at the bottom end of the market as a project, I'm slowly correcting issues largely with help from the great guys on here ( I have owned one years ago, so I do know what I'm getting into, sort of)

[Lincsls1]

Well jealous!
Nice one OP

[GRC85]

Thanks all, I was advised by many on here to stretch myself and buy the best I could. This example was in the the exact exterior / interior colour combo and the engine I wanted. The rough spec is;

Body off new chassis at RT
Engine rebuild at Powers
Clive F GT manifolds
MBE conversion
AP brakes
Interior by Dave the trimmer
Full Respray by option one

Rolling roaded at 285hp at the wheels, which has been a nice adjustment from my 1.4 Ford Fiesta I’ve been driving to work this year!

[steviegtr]

Very nice. Enjoy.
Steve.

[sixor8]

Looks smashing. The faired in lamps always just look so like they should be there. Love the engine manifolds, still running a cat maybe? Not seen those type before with the lambda sensors in.

It was one I'd noticed, but I didn't like the fact DVLA still have it recorded as a 400. Is it an error (always possible), or an engine swap when rebuilt? With that power output, it's not just badges!

[Alex10391]

Looks brilliant, has it got the 16” wheels on the front? Bet the road trip was a perfect way to get acquainted.

Do you mind me asking what you paid for it? I’m in the market for one and have been in touch with Mark at Amore.

[BritishTvr450]

That’s a very impressive car.
Given the upgrades which includes the new MBE Ecu ( ignition and fuelling ) upgrade which is one of the best reliability changes you can buy and including those rather fabulous exhaust manifolds i’m guessing 25k.

[PaulH69]

GRC85 said:

Thanks all, I was advised by many on here to stretch myself and buy the best I could. This example was in the the exact exterior / interior colour combo and the engine I wanted. The rough spec is;

Body off new chassis at RT
Engine rebuild at Powers
Clive F GT manifolds
MBE conversion
AP brakes
Interior by Dave the trimmer
Full Respray by option one

Rolling roaded at 285hp at the wheels, which has been a nice adjustment from my 1.4 Ford Fiesta I’ve been driving to work this year!

You made a lovely job of the roof. So much so it's inspired me to do the same. Just bought some of the stuff you used (not the big tin though).

Any tips for the application of would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

[_Cosmos_]

Alex10391 said:

Looks brilliant, has it got the 16” wheels on the front?

+1 for this - I'd be really interested to hear if these are 16s all round, and also what size tyres are on front and back, it just looks so nice!

[citizen smith]

_Cosmos_ said:

+1 for this - I'd be really interested to hear if these are 16s all round, and also what size tyres are on front and back, it just looks so nice!

I've got 16" all round on mine. Fronts - 225/45 x16, Rears - 245/45 x 16

[GRC85]

sixor8 said:

Looks smashing. The faired in lamps always just look so like they should be there. Love the engine manifolds, still running a cat maybe? Not seen those type before with the lambda sensors in.

It was one I'd noticed, but I didn't like the fact DVLA still have it recorded as a 400. Is it an error (always possible), or an engine swap when rebuilt? With that power output, it's not just badges!

Yes it's an error, got the original bill of sale and also confirmed by Mark from chassis number. The manifolds are Clive F GT with sports cat, sounds really nice with them.

[GRC85]

_Cosmos_ said:

+1 for this - I'd be really interested to hear if these are 16s all round, and also what size tyres are on front and back, it just looks so nice!

Yes this has 16" on the front to clear the AP callipers. Will need to check tyre sizes. Appreciate the kind words.

[GRC85]

PaulH69 said:

You made a lovely job of the roof. So much so it's inspired me to do the same. Just bought some of the stuff you used (not the big tin though).

Any tips for the application of would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

For the roof, I spent a long time cleaning it with a medium bristle brush in various directions washing and re cleaning two to three times. To be honest at this point the roof looked really good and I was in too minds whether to do it. Since I had bought all the stuff I just cracked on. Here's what I did;

Prep
- Masked all the door shuts, this proved valuable when I looked where the dye had run down to the sill after.
- Masked all the rear with plastic sheeting, just pushing it under the roof edge where the roof meets the car body.
- Masked the seals of the targa panel which I did separately not on the car.
- Masked the rear screen inside and out. I noticed the dye bleeding through onto the inside so masking inside is also important.
- Covered all interior with plastic sheet and had the seats tilted to the dash.

Application
- I used a 3" brush for long straight edges and used a 1" for smaller. I found that having a brush that didn't over saturate was better.
- The dye is extremely watery so religiously squeeze a bit from the brush into your tray before going onto the roof.
- I just worked from one side to the middle and then the same on the other side of the car.
- I did 2 coats of the dye and 1 of the sealer. On the second coat of the dye, I used a small dish sponge and did a cross hatch pattern on the roof 2-3 times to really blend it all in. You could see all the dye coming to the surface allowing you to push it around. I think this was what made such a uniform finish, it really did look factory and brand new, with no patches or lines.
- Between coats of the dye I left around 2 hour as it was 25degrees. I left the second coat overnight before doing the sealer mid morning. I also did two coats of the sealer and used the sponge method on the last coat again. Then left another 24 hours before taking it outside.
- I did peel the masking whilst it was still wet and had no issues doing so.

Hope this helps.

[Bowks]

Great car and great trip. I took mine around Europe this year. Also agree on modern ECUs and 16" wheels all round.

Mark is a great guy isn't he?

One negative, that exhaust detracts from the original nature of the car. At a push I can swap it with my standard one

[BritishTvr450]

That’s what you call a desirable motor.

Keep that well maintained and it will go on for decades.

Thanks for the roof covering info.
I’ve wanted to do mine for some time but keep putting it off for fear of making a mess of it.

I also have an engine rebuilt by Powers and there MBE install.
The engine rebuild was something like 13-14 years ago and around 25k later still sweet as a nut and the MBE just adds icing on the cake and helps keep it running at its optimum reducing overfuelling and just runs smooth like a new car.

For a number of years now I’d been driving Modern supercars as part of my job and honestly I’m hard pressed to find any that behave with such good manners and effortless smooth power delivery since the ECU install.
The best money you can ever spend in the TVR world if your car is already in such fine condition as the car in this thread.

[mjlloyd500]

Nothing wrong with the original lucas set up if run all the time. I've done 70000 miles with no issues just regular servicing and new plugs etc still on original everything.

[miniman]

Lovely car and thanks for the hood write-up, I need to do mine.

[PabloGee]

mjlloyd500 said:

Nothing wrong with the original lucas set up if run all the time. I've done 70000 miles with no issues just regular servicing and new plugs etc still on original everything.

I agree.
I keep thinking about going for an ECU update, but weighing up between a DIY MegaSquirt for £1k, or an Emerald for £2-3k (because they are apparently more advanced and learn etc).
But since I keep my car moving, the 14CUX is doing just fine, so I keep telling myself to stop mentally spending my money!
I think that's my main challenge with the car now...