A year in the life
A year in the life
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TVRMadPaul

Original Poster:

101 posts

227 months

Monday 26th January 2009
quotequote all
Thought I'd start this thread to tell you all about my S.
My car is a 1989 S2. It is in reasonably good shape for its age. The engine is still strong and through the raft of documentation I got with the car it's been well serviced. The frame is as you'd expect with flaking powder coating and rust but on the whole around 2/3 of the powder coating on the frame remains intact.

The cars been off the road since September last year. The last day it was used was for a trip to the Goodwood Revival meeting. I'm afraid it got very little use last year because I had back problems. I'm 6'4" tall so it's a bit of a squeeze to fit in. I'll be looking into ways of making it more comfortably. I maybe able to modify the door card to allow a bit more room for my right leg, replace the seats with possibly ones from a Lotus Elise, replace the steering wheel. On the whole though it's not too bad I even drove it all the way down to Bergerac, France last year to see my folks. It didn't miss a beat the whole trip. Wow those French roads are fantastic the only problem with that trip was it rained the whole week at one point I was driving through a flash flood with a few inches of water on the ground. Found out the roof leaks much to my Sisters dismay as it only seemed to leak on the passenger side hehe

The car currently has no MOT so I am working toward getting the jobs done so I can get it through. Currently the job list is
1. Replace hydraulic pipe on clutch
2. Buy rear tyres
3. Replace the front indicator lenses. I have bought some BMW indicator lenses that fit kind of.
4. The handbrake does not engage. Well it pulls the rear brakes on but not sufficiently to hold the car.
5. Refit my exhaust now I've got it repaired. Check out my add for a brand new exhaust from ACT on ebay.
6. Do a full service.

I hope to get it on the road as soon as possible and then use it as an everyday car for a while as I need to do some serious work on my other mean machine a Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo.

OK that's it for now hope this isn't too dull like to hear from anyone what their doing with their S.

Edited by TVRMadPaul on Monday 26th January 18:24

Orophin

2,773 posts

224 months

Monday 26th January 2009
quotequote all
Nice to hear from another S owner. Nice to meet you Paul, I really enjoy seeing how people live with their cars and what problems they have (no S is the same...) and how the owners get around them. The S in my opinion is possibly my favourite car of all time, even though I am leaning to sell her for a Chimaera or Griffith within a few weeks/months. But no doubt my views on the S will haunt me forever and I will own one again when the time is right.

Good stuff and hope you get her on the road again soon! Keep the S's going! Best cars on the road by far! Are you going to S Club Heaven?

Jed-S

660 posts

246 months

Monday 26th January 2009
quotequote all
TVRMadPaul said:
replace the seats with possibly ones from a Lotus Elise
I have some Elise seats that I will try fitting into my S3 soon. It should be back on the road in Feb and once running the seats need sorting. I'm almost 6'2" and need more headroom because I want a roll bar and need my head (and helmet) to be under it. I'll post bits on my website and let you know how I get on.

Jed


TVRMadPaul

Original Poster:

101 posts

227 months

Monday 26th January 2009
quotequote all
Thanks for that. The S2 is my 3rd TVR I've had an S1, a Griffith 500, and now back to the S2. I've also owned several 205 Gti's. A 260bhp BMW Mini Cooper S Works with loads of mods from GT Tuning (Blandford), and I now have a 220 bhp Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo soon to be 250bhp with a little tweaking. I'm as you maybe able to tell a bit of a petrolhead.

I too have done trackdays and would be interested in knowing how much the roll cage is and how you get on with those seats. Haven't done one in this car but previous cars I've owned have hurtled around Castle Combe, Thuxton, Goodwood, Brands, Oulton Park. Love to do Donnington before it changes.


Dave_M

5,486 posts

254 months

Monday 26th January 2009
quotequote all
Hi Paul, I'm no mechanic, but a good friend, Barkychoc, has fitted Jag seats to his V8S. I think he's 6 ft 2-3 ish so you may want to chat with him.

Hope you get it sorted quickly ready for the spring/summer events smile

TVRMadPaul

Original Poster:

101 posts

227 months

Monday 26th January 2009
quotequote all
Oh it'll all get sorted hopefully by the end of Feb in will be back on the road. The seats will have to wait. Jag seats sound a bit big for my needs. I mention the Elise seats as they are thin backed which means I'll sit a little further away from the steering wheel.

Barkychoc

7,848 posts

234 months

Monday 26th January 2009
quotequote all
Jag XJS coupe / convertible seats.

There's no question they do take up a bit more room than the standard seats - but the standard seats give me crippling backache with that kink in the backrest. I am 6 foot 3.

I've done more than one post now on the seats, this is the one I found first on the :spit: Chimaera forum

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

TVRMadPaul

Original Poster:

101 posts

227 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
So just spent some hard earned (well actually rather lazily earned) cash on some new rubber. Bought some Firestone TZ200's from BlackCircles.com. They should arrive on Friday.

Ordered the hydraulic clutch pipe from Automec

Got some work to get through over the weekend assuming everything turns up. Worried about the handbrake as when on it doesn't hold the car. This I think maybe due to worn brake shoes. I'll look at those when I remove the wheels to fit the tyres.

Like to post a picture of the car on here. I've seen pictures posted on the forum but how do you do it?

mep12345

2,061 posts

231 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
This in the general FAQ section but basically get the pic hosted somewhere then use the code below

[img]type in the URL here[/img]

Mark

TVRMadPaul

Original Poster:

101 posts

227 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
Thanks for that. Here's some photos



This was taken in 2007 on the top of Portland Bill overlooking Chesil Beach and the new Olympic 2012 sailing venue.
I had bought the car the day before and this was its first trip out.

Note the V8 style exhaust. This is rather loud and really doesn't have a silencer more a small resonator box. Probably will have difficulties taking it on track because of this.



This was take in the Autumn 2007 in the New Forest the next day to the one above.



This was taken outside my folks place in Southern France. This was May last year and after we had tried to get across the channel from Poole only to be thwarted by the French fishermen blocking Cherbourg and spending 9 hours aboard the Barfleur Ferry going nowhere I made a mad dash down to Dover the only port still with sailings to France and then drove all the way down to Bergerac well in excess of 400 miles. This was very bery very knackering but exceedingly enjoyable what a ride. On the way back we stayed on the motorway for longer than we should and by the time we'd realised the mistake we had no time to correct and missed the ferry. So in the end never sailed in or out of Poole / Cherbourg as planned as we went back home via Portsmouth.
For all I put the car through that weekend she never missed a beat and I took her through some pretty awful weather including a flash flood.



Last photo for now. This is my everyday car. It's a Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo. Its 220bhp and a fantastic car. I've owned it for a year and now it requires abit of TLC to keep it going. The front brakes are 4 pot brembo claipers and I basically need to remove these and do an overhaul on them as one of the pistons on the offside calier is sticking and after 5 miles you start getting a constant squeaking noise. Very annoying. Once I get the TVR on the road I'll be able to tackle these jobs. Cars hey they always keep nagging at you and taking your money. Must be something like being married.
biglaugh


Edited by TVRMadPaul on Tuesday 27th January 20:40

Orophin

2,773 posts

224 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
My oh my what a BEAUTIFUL S! WOW!

Here's mine


TVRMadPaul

Original Poster:

101 posts

227 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
Great looking S and may I say what a fine colour it is.

Well I have just received the clutch pipe from Automec 2 day delivery which is excellent and cost £14.89. 20 minutes later and it's fitted. Dead easy job. I love it when a pipe comes together.

I have a working clutch pedal again. Yeee Haaa
Jobs done jobs a goodin. Propaa Joooab bounce



Edited by TVRMadPaul on Wednesday 28th January 11:49

neil240970

184 posts

225 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
Hi Paul, greetings from Dorzet. Check out my profile pic..........another Monza red S down at Sandbanks on one of the two Sunny days we had last year.

Good luck with the winter jobs and welcome to the S forum - easily the friendliest spot on PH!

TVRMadPaul

Original Poster:

101 posts

227 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
Hi there fine looking beasty. Must say they look good in Red.
I quite oftem blast down through Sandbanks like using the ferry to get across to the Purbecks where there's some excellent roads. I live just down the coast a bit in Christchurch. Aren't the Dorset roads simple the best.

neil240970

184 posts

225 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
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Aye, great for popping out for a carton of milk and ending up in Dorchester, Cranborne or Weymouth etc. a couple of hours later..................

jim2607

85 posts

221 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
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I also have a monza red S1 and quite often head to Poole/Sandbanks as my folks are down there. Maybe we should all meet for a blast sometime over the summer, nip over on the ferry and have a pint in Corfe area! 3 red S's on a Dorset blast!

TVRMadPaul

Original Poster:

101 posts

227 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
Excellent idea we'll have to arrange something perhaps on weekend during the spring

jim2607

85 posts

221 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
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Sounds good to me! My MOT is up end of march.... hoping it will get through without too much fuss!

TVRMadPaul

Original Poster:

101 posts

227 months

Thursday 29th January 2009
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Put these on the car today. One step closer to the MOT.
These are BMW E30 Smoked Indicator Lenses. Easy to fit I used black electrical tape to secure them to the indicator pod after I had chiselled away the old orange indicator lens from it. Whether the tape last I'm not sure so may have to figure away of glueing them on but for now its good enough.





Bought the lenses off of Ebay

TVRMadPaul

Original Poster:

101 posts

227 months

Saturday 31st January 2009
quotequote all
Well I've had a good day today getting the S ready for its MOT next Friday.

I've fixed the handbrake so for the first time I have a handbrake that actually works.
There are two brand new tyres on the rear
And I've put the exhaust back on. So apart from a complete check of lights I think she's ready.

Here's the picture of my exhaust as you can see it has no real silencer to it just what I assume to be a resonator box. It makes it very loud but then TVR should be loud. Oh fired the engine up without the exhaust on wow now there's a sound.





Edited by TVRMadPaul on Saturday 31st January 16:56