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RossD
RossD UltimaDork
1/28/16 1:56 p.m.

That's a good looking car! Wiki state's that it had 106 hp and 133 lb-ft stock. You where looking for a car to fit a racing class, IIRC. A 26 year old wheezy Miata has more power than it stock, what are you going to do about it?

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
1/28/16 1:59 p.m.

In reply to RossD:

I know how to easily get 160hp out of that engine, no problemo. At 2000lbs, it will run pretty well.

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
1/28/16 2:17 p.m.
bravenrace wrote: In reply to RossD: I know how to easily get 160hp out of that engine, no problemo. At 2000lbs, it will run pretty well.

If that's not enough, there's always this:

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/28/16 2:54 p.m.

Nice car. Did that come from Connecticut by any chance?

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
1/28/16 2:57 p.m.

In reply to Woody:

No, Ohio.

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/28/16 3:04 p.m.

I used to autocross with a guy who had one exactly like that. There can't be too many of them around. I think TVRs are underappreciated.

RossD
RossD UltimaDork
1/28/16 3:14 p.m.

Is that 160 hp a rebuild every ten hours or more like every 10 years?

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
1/28/16 3:15 p.m.

In reply to Woody:

Well there were 947 of the 2500M's produced between 1972 and 1977, and almost all of them came here because they were developed for the USA. A bulk of the dealers were in new england, so there's a concentration of them in that area, although with the internet and ebay that isn't as true as it used to be. The white one above fell in my lap, showing up on ebay only 20 minutes from my house. My next one I had to travel to NYC for. This one is about 2 hours away from me. They are starting to go up in value recently. They got a bad rap for poor build quality, but now that most have been restored that isn't as much of a problem. They are really cool cars, IMO. I sold me others to buy my kid's cars a few years ago. I'm not selling this one.

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
1/28/16 3:16 p.m.

In reply to RossD:

That's still a very reliable street engine. You can get 200hp out of them in race trim, but they become fragile at that level. I'd rather have found a 1600M with the kent 4 cylinder, but they are extremely rare here.

RossD
RossD UltimaDork
1/28/16 4:26 p.m.

You could just swap that in. It probably used the four speed and xflow from a Pinto.

What about a Ford of Germany (FOG) Type E four speed (from said pinto) and Zetec? You could swap to a five speed from a XR4Ti in a OD is needed as it's based on the Type E. Throw on a BDA valve cover on the Zetec and it'll look more period correct.

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
1/28/16 5:17 p.m.

In reply to RossD:

The 1600 I believe would be allowed, but not sure if engines never used in that chassis would be eligible. I can tell you that the chassis begs for more power than stock.

ggarrard
ggarrard GRM+ Memberand Reader
1/28/16 5:46 p.m.

Bravenrace.. There's a fellow runnIng a TVR with VARAC (VARAC.ca) from Kingston Ontario.... He’s in the same vintage group as our MGB and GT6. I believe he has the Triumph 4 cylinder and is seeing an easy reliable 150hp... I can dig up his contact info if you like..

oldeskewltoy
oldeskewltoy UltraDork
1/28/16 5:47 p.m.

I remember my Vixen fondly... alas... back then (1979) I had a good back, and was a bit more pliable. Being such a 4AGE guy my dream was always to fit the 4AGE into the smaller Vixen.... 170hp, 8000 rpm, would be a good fit imho...

Enjoy it... not many of those cars around, and most are now just too valuable(upfront cost) to be played with.

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/28/16 9:15 p.m.

How hard is it to find replacement glass for those cars? That's always a concern of mine when you're dealing with specialty cars like this.

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
1/29/16 7:12 a.m.

In reply to Woody:

The door glass is flat, so it can be duplicated easily. The windshield is tough to find, but not impossible. The rear glass is reproduced in lexan, but it's pricey. So yeah, it can be a problem, but the TVR community is pretty small and most parts can be found without a lot of effort.

RossD
RossD UltimaDork
1/29/16 10:10 a.m.

Well I have a Type E that I'll sell if you want to go the Kent/xflow direction. It's worth $150 to me and I'll deliver it to any race at Road America.

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
2/1/16 8:36 a.m.

In reply to RossD:

I'm going to stick with the engine the car came with.

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
2/1/16 8:37 a.m.

It's set! I'm going to check it out and hopefully buy it this coming Saturday.

petegossett
petegossett GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
2/1/16 11:10 a.m.

In reply to bravenrace:

Good luck, can't wait for the details, more pics, and build thread!

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
2/1/16 11:25 a.m.

In reply to petegossett:

You bet!

RossD
RossD UltimaDork
2/4/16 12:16 p.m.

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
2/5/16 7:34 a.m.

In reply to RossD:

NickD
NickD HalfDork
2/5/16 8:37 a.m.
bravenrace wrote: In reply to RossD:

Does the spare tire really go on the front like that?

bravenrace
bravenrace MegaDork
2/5/16 8:53 a.m.

Yes it does, and the car has 53/47 weight distribution frt/rr with it there. Take it out and put a full tank of gas in it and it's 50/50.

EvanB
EvanB GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
2/6/16 3:05 p.m.

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/5436425617.html

Edit: Looks like that may be the same one you posted earlier.

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