My 1973 TVR 2500M : Renew and Restomod

Mezzanine said:

My cheap second hand Craigslist engine hoist leaked as well. I spent a few bucks at Harbor Freight and got the air-over-hydraulic cylinder replacement. Use the coupon. Mine has worked great for at least 6 years now, and the air-over part saves a lot of time pumping. 8 ton long ram

Yeah, I've thought about just replacing the ram.  I'd sort of like to try repairing it first.  The air-powered version would be nice.

I think I'll pull out the locking screw (with a cup underneath) and see what I can see.  If it's an easy fix, then that'd be nice.

Ian F said:

In reply to TVR Scott :

Too bad you aren't near Philly as I have an extra ram I don't really need.

I appreciate the offer!

If it's just leaking out of the screw, you might try some teflon tape or pipe dope. A thread insert would probably solve it, but I don't know if they sell those in the right size and thread for that application.

dculberson said:

If it's just leaking out of the screw, you might try some teflon tape or pipe dope. A thread insert would probably solve it, but I don't know if they sell those in the right size and thread for that application.

I pulled the screw out and a matching big rubber seal.  It was a bit chewed up, but not terrible.  The screw and ball bearing looked fine.

I think I'll take your suggestion and try some Teflon-tape on both inside and outside of the seal, and see how it goes.

Taped, reassembled, refilled.  Seems a bit better.  Still drips some, but doesn't seem to be slowly dropping it's load anymore.

Good enough for now, I think.  Probably I'll think about updating the the Air/Oil ram sometime in the future.

I'm getting ready to order a bunch of SS exhaust tubing and fittings, and want a quick gut-check.  Please tell me if I'm correct here:

1. The outlet on the turbo measures 3.78", so that's a 3" fitting.
2. It's got a little lip to the inside, so that makes it a female, and I need to order the matching male flange (Biology 101...)
3. M18 x 1.5 O2 sensor bung is correct for Ford sensor.

I guess that's it for now!

Back out in the garage today.  First off, I tacked in the frame mounting plates.  I zapped them in with my wire-feed unit.  I like the flux-core for this kind of thing - dirty old steel and weird angles.

Then my daughter and I stripped out some of the old wiring harness that was getting in the way.  After that it was time to install the engine again.  Everything fit great!  Here's the passenger's side from the front:

And the driver's side:

Something so satisfying about lowering the engine hoist and watching the suspension sag as the chassis takes the weight!

We then crawled under the car and took transmission mount measurements until Lucy got grouchy about the uncomfortable under-car position.  I even gave her the creeper and took the cardboard for myself.  Kids these days...

I'm shopping for a new fuel pump.  Anyone have a recommendation for one with the following specs:

30 gal/hour at 55 psi

I'll be getting a bypass regulator to go with it, so higher flow/pressure is ok.

Doesn't need to be cheap per-se, but inexpensive would be ok!

This is the one I've used/am using on the TR6.

Walbro 190 LPH Inline Fuel Pump

It's worked very well.  To increase injector flow on the autocross car, we were running at a 60 psi rail pressure with no issues.  A 255 LPH pump is available if necessary.

Would an e2000 flow enogh? Ive used the $20 ebay specials often with success, and tgey do well with suction from a carbed tank. Even better with a surge tank feeding it.

Ive also used a few tanks inc pa4 (don't quote me on part number) fuel modules. Tray, in tank pump, feed and return lines all built into one unit. Never been disappointed. No fuel starvation at damn near empty and full lateral acceleration. 

Nailed the part number

Have the Walbro pumps gotten any quieter? I would look for an OEM solution that doesnt need a computer to run it (PWM)

Whew!  A plethora of options.  Thanks!

The Walbro 190 would definitely work.  My needs fit nicely in it's flow/pressure curve.

I'd like to see a chart on that E2000.  I'm guessing they're listing max pressure at zero flow, and max flow at minimum pressure.  That's sort of useful and sort of not.

I really like the Tanks Inc unit!  Looks like the PA-2 would flow plenty for my needs.

I do need to dig out the existing tank for starters.  I don't even have basic dimensions yet.  Then I need to do a bit more research ( or just ask you guys) about vents and roll-over requirements.

If you can't make the tanks unit work, we can look into surge tanks.

The e2000 was the stock high pressure pump for 351 windsor fuel injection trucks. So that may be what you need to look up for specs.

Dusterbd13 said:

If you can't make the tanks unit work, we can look into surge tanks.

The e2000 was the stock high pressure pump for 351 windsor fuel injection trucks. So that may be what you need to look up for specs.

Good to know.  Thank you, sir!

As it turns out, I have the Tanks Inc. PA-4 kit to mount a Walbro pump in my TR6 tank.  I *should* have the PA-2 kit, but just found out today I was sent the wrong one.  Sigh.  The PA-4 kit comes with the 255 LPH pump instead of the 190 LPH

The reason it's not in the car yet is that the mounting ring is 5" in diameter and the TR6 tank will require some modification/welding to fit it.  Something to consider after you dig your fuel tank out of the car.

Here's the picture from the factory parts manual.  Don't me why it took me 8 months to type "TVR Factory Service Manual" into Google.  Long-term laps of reason...

I don't know what the capacity is, but it's not a very big or very tall tank.  Not really any holes thru the top, so I think fitting an in-tank unit like the PA-2 might be problematic.

I do have a lot of room around it and on the frame nearby, so for the moment I'll think about external solutions.

With external pumps and efi:

Fuel starvation is a real problem. Efi tends to use all tge fuel it gets with very little left over returning to the tank. Even if it uses everything aheard of tge pump, its only about a quarter  quart. 

So, if the pickup in the tank gets uncovered, no fuel pressure. 

Mose efi tanks are baffeled to keep fuel around the pump to prevent starvation. Surge tanks are a good way around this if theresspace. 

Something to think about. 

The tanks unc unit requires cutting a new hole for install. Not existing holes.

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

Just looked more at that Tank's PA-2 unit, and saw how it's adjustable for tank height. That might actually work out fine. It says 6" min height.

I like that little surge tank section on that unit.

Use a Carter pump from the tank to feed a surge tank with a Bosch 044. Don't ever worry about running either pump dry.

They will last for years and never cause a starvation problem. About 200$ in pumps and fittings to solve it forever.

Good luck!

A few times when I've fitted EFI to a carb vehicle I've used the fuel pump housing/surge tank from a late 1980's Jetta/Golf. They're easy to find, easy to mount (designed to be hung underneath a car),  take a 45mm Bosch fuel pump, have a convenient bracket for a large Bosch fuel filter and have a non return valve built in. It also uses barb fittings to make it easy to fit with 5/16 (8mm) rubber fuel lines. It just needs to be supplied from a small in tank pump..

Special care package came from Team Stampie this morning:

My apologies to the FedEx guy.  98 lbs worth of apologies.

Unboxing! (The worst "event" of our modern times.)

Looks pretty sweet!

I'll need to get a hold of the guy at Good Parts and get some uprated axles and hubs going.

I recognize that as a Q45 differential, right? I am starting the planning for putting one with the Good Parts CV axles and hubs in my V8 TR4A.  Glad to see you are ahead of me, so I can watch and learn!

Glad it got there intact.  Actually kinda surprised it looks exactly like I gave it to them. The Harbour Freight rag and Lil Stampie's rubber band even held.  But kinda bummed as I see I forgot to include the two rear mounting nuts. Want me to look for them?

dherr said:

I recognize that as a Q45 differential, right? I am starting the planning for putting one with the Good Parts CV axles and hubs in my V8 TR4A.  Glad to see you are ahead of me, so I can watch and learn!

Yes indeed, it's an R200 differential out of a 1st gen Q45.  With the 6-bolt axles and a "Short-nose".  Ratio is a 3.538 which should work just fine with the NC 6spd transmission.

Stampie, don't worry about the mounting nuts unless you just happen to find them.  I'm going to be playing the hardware game for a long time on this project.

I've been excruciating for way too long on a transmission mount.  The connection to the NC 6 spd is a little weird, and I want to make sure assembly is reasonable.  Here's what I came up with:

A little hard to get a good screen shot with the frame in the way.  I'm using the same Energy Suspension universal mounts as on the engine.

Another view from below:

Fab starts in the new few days as I have time.