In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
That's big enough to fit (closely) around outside of the 3.5" ring. I suppose that 3" OD thick-wall tube would be the hot ticket, but I don't feel like buying any steel right now.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
That's big enough to fit (closely) around outside of the 3.5" ring. I suppose that 3" OD thick-wall tube would be the hot ticket, but I don't feel like buying any steel right now.
My package from the UK came yesterday, and I was all set to post a happy unboxing pic. Then I opened it.
Instead I'm post a frustrated, angry, confused unboxing pic:
The customs label says two short and two long rods. I'm pretty good at counting, and I keep coming up with a total of one.
WTF email sent to RaceTech...
Shipping steel rods in a paper envelope is not a good idea...
stuart in mn said:Shipping steel rods in a paper envelope is not a good idea...
You said that, and I picked the package back up to further inspect. Indeed one corner has a hole blown thru it. If I'd opened that side I would have never seen that.
Kudos to Race Tech. They already got back to me to say they'll be sending out a replacement.
In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :
Umm... didn't it FEEL like just maybe it was one rod and not four? But I feel your pain. My Goodparts order left PA on Monday, Wednesday delivery. Wednesday the axles came, diff kit suddenly got listed as "in transit". Now it says they'll be here July 1 (Wed.) So it took an extra week vacationing somewhere! If they (RaceTech) don't make good, I can have my local guy make extra when he does mine!
Marathon tube-replacement-session this afternoon. I had this work started for quite a while, but too many things have gotten in the way lately.
First one on the agenda - replace the smashed lower cross-member. This one was actually pretty easy. Just mitered the corners on the chop saw, and then had to match the angles on the old tubes.
Here it is after fitting:
And TIGed in:
Next up to bat was the rusted out-rigger on the front passenger's side. This was the first "problem area" I found when I got the car, and some of the worst rust.
Here are the initial cuts on the new tube with the chop saw and then a hack saw.
Now blended in with the die-grinder and sanding drum:
I found out I could blow a great deal of cold air in my face if I held the die grinder with it's exhaust pointed the right direction. That made the sweltering shop a little better!
The fit-up at the midway point. There is another diagonal tube hiding underneath here too. A complex joint.
The long view of the whole tube. Note the two aluminum plates clamped on to keep the alignment right:
And, all buzzed in:
I had to MIG the inside corners, since they were too tight for my TIG torch. Went fine, though the clean-up is definitely the big pain there.
That's it for now!
I've got to hand it to you, Scott, you do beautiful work! Mad skills!
What a great read your thread is! Makes me want to get my Daimler V8 powered TVR Vixen back on the road.
Sonus said:What a great read your thread is! Makes me want to get my Daimler V8 powered TVR Vixen back on the road.
Welcome! Thanks for chiming in, and I appreciate your kind words.
A Vixen with a Daimler V8? That sounds like a unique critter! Post a few pics. Better yet, start a build thread to document the "back on the road" process.
In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :
Here Here!!! Sounds fascinating... I know I want to see it. What model TVR did it start out as?
In reply to Stu Lasswell :
The Vixen was the model before the M-Series like ours. It was sold in various forms, engines, and even different names. There's a whole other level of complexity where there were different frames under the same body. Or bodies with subtle differences. The M's are actually much more straight-forward.
Bill is an encyclopedia of info on those 1960's cars!
I am not very good at my own threads, but immensely enjoy reading other's threads. My TVR is a series one Vixen with an engine from a Daimler 250 V8 saloon. I blew the head gaskets on my trip home from the 2018 TVR Pre80s meet in the UK. Currently looks like this in my garage.
Heads has been skimmed and new gaskets fitted. Just need to service the last carb before getting it all back together and then have it retested for road use here in Norway.
This is how it should look
In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks, Scott, I guess I just read right through the "Vixen" part and went right to Daimler. I'm pretty familiar with the TVR models, and you're right, they came in many variations. Most common is the Ford 4-banger from the Cortina, but the Triumph 6-cylinder (pre-M) was used too. I have a friend in AZ restoring a Grantura... it used the 1800 MGB engine.I don't envy him, as the frame in those early cars are glassed in to the body structure, and he has had to cut up the body a lot to deal with rusty frame tubes! Also have a friend with a Daimler SP250... that Daimler motor is sweet, being basically a mini-Hemi. 2.5 liter, aluminum heads, plug leads straight out of the valve covers like the old Chrysler hemis of the '50s-early '60s. Very cool motor!
Oh man. Forgot all about the benz hemi! In a British fiberglass sports car no less!
Thats is. Nothing cooler will be seen today.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
No Benz in the Daimler V8, it is English Daimler, and the 2 Daimlers parted ways before the Daimler/Benz merger.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
Huh. Never knew there was two Daimler!
There's just all kinds of interesting stuff happening in my thread today!
The British Daimler engine is pretty cool. 2.5 litre V8 with hemi heads. 140 HP, looks great with a set of webers (what engine doesn't?)
Normal configuration for that Daimler V-8 is two S.U. carburetors* in a weird canted semi-side draft *configuration. My friend cut and welded the manifold to accept a conventional 4-barrel carb. The engine was also used in the Jaguar Mk.2 body sedan* as the Daimler 2500 (or maybe it was 2.5).
*(For all you proper English followers, substitute "carburettors", "draught", and "saloon" where appropriate).
Another bit of trivia... the Daimler sports car was known originally as the Daimler "Dart" but was changed to SP250 for the American market to avoid trademark infringement with Dodge. Daimler also copied the Triumph TR3 frame almost exactly, with some parts even interchangeable (or so I'm told).
But they definitely did not copy the TR3 body..... While the TR3 is an acquired taste to some (personally I love it), the Daimler SP250 is quite homely to most folks. Daimler definitely did not borrow any design help from their friends at Jaguar. That huge botttom feeder grill, flat sides with the fender "flairs" and then tail fins. Strange looking car but a beautiful interior, definitely upscale from Triumphs. But that engine deserves a better place, like a TVR!
Just re-read three pages in Mark Donahue's memoir "The Unfair Advantage" detailing his experience trying to race a Daimler SP250. Said he basically was rebuilding the engine non-stop. Evidently it liked to spin the center main bearing. He said it was the worst race car he ever drove, and the last car he actually owned himself.
In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :
Even MORE Daimler-related trivia. That V-8 was designed by the same guy (Edward Turner) who developed the Triumph motorcycle parallel twin, which made him famous and Triumph the "World's fastest production motorcycle" for years. Think Bonneville! He was sort of a "one trick pony" as a designer, and the Daimler V-8 Is basically four Triumph 650 twins, water cooled and on a single crankshaft.
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