My 1973 TVR 2500M : Renew and Restomod

Used some Loctite Silver on the brake hats and rotors:

That should keep 'em from backing out.

Took me a sec 

I haven't heard of "1-shot" paint. Did the rec come from the recent chassis paint thread?

Also I'M excited to see shiny parts going together, so I can't imagine how pumped you are!

In reply to bluej (Forum Supporter) :

1-Shot is sign-painter's paint, and was being discussed in Weary Microbe's awesome Porsche thread.  It was used for painting numbers on old race cars.  It comes in small volumes, and is really only for detail use.

Yeah, I'm pretty psyched to be putting clean, new parts together.  Novel experience, for sure!

Related to that, I just heard back from the NDT guys: good new / bad news.  And more work to do.  Watch this space...

With ckean and shiny parts: a rattle can of engine clear makes them stay that way longer and easier to clean. 

Any strong opinions on a brand / series of wheel bearing grease?

I like lucas red n tacky. Use it everywhere. 

However, its what dad used so ive not really tried much else. But ive never had a failure due to the grease itself. 

Perfect!  I will take your advice and just use that.  I have all kinds of opportunities for analysis-paralysis - I will take the easy button here.

Second for the Lucas red and sticky. Good stuff. 

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

Mobil 1 here. I used to run a Shannon CSR that used a very expensive wheel bearing that would fail at the 2.5 hour mark. After changing to Mobil 1 we never had a failure in approx 100 hours.

More test fitting today.

I've verified.  There are at least three different brake flares used...

Finished drilling the brake bolts for safety wire.  For reference, for a 1/16" Cobalt drill bit, 1350 rpm is spot on.  Peck drill with lots of cutting oil.

Slow_M said:

This is overkill. 

Bernard, can you give more details on welding these bearing carriers? 

Did you do it yourself or farm it out?

What filler rod got used?  What alloy were the plates that filled in the holes?

Were they preheated first?  Heat-treated afterwards?

I've good a pretty good chunk in one that needs repair, and I'm planning things.

TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) said: Bernard, can you give more details on welding these bearing carriers?

Did you do it yourself or farm it out?

What filler rod got used?  What alloy were the plates that filled in the holes?

Were they preheated first?  Heat-treated afterwards?

I've good a pretty good chunk in one that needs repair, and I'm planning things.

My neighbor, in Illinois, did the welding and preparation; I think he used 6063T6, 3/8”. Yes to the preheating. No idea what filler rod. I think he said he created a chamfer, and filled it in two passes, but it’s been quite a while. 

John Wadman didn’t do this with any of the V8 Ms he built, and I think you’re already giving those uprights a good fighting chance, because you triangulated the lower A arm. 

It’s probably total overkill. 

In reply to Slow_M :

I'm not going to box in those windows.  The dye-penetrant testing found a crack in one.  It's here:

The whole corner of that bolt hole is blown out.  The inspector's yellow paint marks trace where it goes.

So I need to dig all that out and fix it.

Looking at it more, I think it might have been "fixed" there before.  It's got some signs of a cold poorly-connected weld.

I would give serious consideration to making a cylindrical "bushing" with one tapered end and a slightly undersized hole. Remove entirety of the boss on the upright and make a matching taper in the hole. Weld the bushing on and finish ream to size guided from the other side for parallel.  Any good welding alloy will be OK, the original casting is probably just A. 

TurnerX19 said:

I would give serious consideration to making a cylindrical "bushing" with one tapered end and a slightly undersized hole. Remove entirety of the boss on the upright and make a matching taper in the hole. Weld the bushing on and finish ream to size guided from the other side for parallel.  Any good welding alloy will be OK, the original casting is probably just A. 

That's an interesting idea.  Would certainly make the boss there solid again. 

I don't think I could get a weld on the inside of the joint, though.  Not very much room to work with.  I worry about the gap that would leave.

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

Then make the bushing stepped rather than tapered. Take the load off of the weld entirely.

In reply to TurnerX19 :

I could make the argument that a well-fit bushing bonded in place with a quality structural adhesive would be a better way to go.  Skip all the heat related issues and concerns of a welded joint.

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

I really like that a lot. I would, 'cause of the monocoque tubs I have built! 

In reply to TurnerX19 :

Yeah, a monocoque chassis was where my head was at.  I'm liking this idea more and more - keep good metal strong, and doesn't weaken it unnecessarily.  And the adhesive will really only be in compression and shear - ideal load path.

PS, now you have to share pics of the tubs you built!

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

I posted the top photo a while ago in the "show something you built" thread. Chevron BT46, a regretably poor design. The Shannon in the next photo I did the tub on in 1995, before I was documenting everything with digital photography. Also did a Ralt RT1 in the early '90s. Bottom photos are McRae GM1 that was a ground up resto with considerable help on contract to Executive Auto Sport. Before, during & after.

That's crazy cool.

What flavor of structural adhesive do you like?

When I was doing aerospace composites we used a lot of Loctite 9394.  Was like Frank's - we put that E36 M3 on everything.  Worked well for bonding metal parts to carbon panels.

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

Loctite/Hysol EP120. Recently I have used the auto mix tubes and cartridge gun. Before that became available,and before Loctite bought out Hysol, I would mix and spread with aluminum "craft sticks".The mixing gun is pricey, but you waste far less epoxy, and save a lot of time. Also reduces manpower requirement when you do a floor that has 800 rivets.

You must have Popeye-arms after bucking 800 rivets!

I'm guessing that was a typo and you meant E-120HP.  At least that's what I found, and it looks really good.  And about half the price of the 9394 I've used in the past.  If Pegasus carries it, I'm a believer! 

Yes, the static-mixer tubes are totally worth it.  My former employer would buy the dispensing guns but was too cheap to buy the static mixers.  So we would dispense a ton of super-expensive adhesive onto a piece of cardboard and mix it with a stick.  Wasted so much product to save a dollar on a static mixer.

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

Pegasus is my go to for any Loctite product they carry. Funny about the pricing. They are cheaper on Loctite than my local supplier even when I factor in the shipping. No Popeye arms when you use a pneumatic riveter with structural Pop Rivets. The McRae was originally solid rivet, but no more....