My 1973 TVR 2500M : Renew and Restomod

Slow_M said:

  

Found it! 

Sooo.... Are you interested in parting with it?

Or alternatively, can you take a whole bunch of dimensions for me so that I can fabricate my own version?

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

I’m prepared to part with it. 

In reply to Slow_M :

Let's confer by e-mail.

I started working on getting the rear suspension assembled today.

I'm thinking these steel rods might want some anti-seize before I put them in the casting.  Based on how impossibly-stuck the old ones were, it's clearly a corrosion point.

The fit on the rods is somewhere between a sliding fit and a light tap-in fit.

I've got some of the Permatex aluminum-based anti-seize and it says it's good for steel parts in aluminum castings, so that seems like the hot ticket.

The waffling, worry, and indecision ended yesterday.

And this started:

My suspicions and estimates were correct - the inside radius is concentric with the original hole.  Now I've got a 7/8" hole going all the way thru that touches on that radius:

And a fit-check with my test-bushing.  Everything looks good.

I'm going to go turn down the repair bushing in a little bit.

I ordered the structural adhesive from Pegasus, but didn't feel like ordering the surprisingly expensive dispenser.  So I designed and 3D printed my own:

Fits into my caulking-gun:

That's it for now.

Oooooo. I like that, good idea.

That should work fine.  Most likely stronger than the stock piece.

bluej (Forum Supporter) said:

Oooooo. I like that, good idea.

Let me know if you want the stl files - I'm happy to share!

Look around on Amazon, too. I found a Chinese version of the $99 3M adhesive dispenser I needed for like $15.  And from the looks of it it comes from the same molds...

Finally got a bit of work done today.  Cleaned up the holes thru the casting and got the reinforcing bushing roughed in:

Here's another awful picture:

I need to smooth out that inside edge a little before I bond the bushing in place.  The mechanics who removed the previous rod were not especially careful with my priceless irreplaceable casting...

Also - since I had the garage in "Machining Mode" I went ahead and made some nut plates for the transmission mount.  Here's one with the 3/8"-20 rivet nuts placed but not pulled:

I still need to make an adaptor for the fine thread nut to work with my rivet-nut tool.  I'm now a bit annoyed that I bought the Grainger brand tool instead of spending extra on the name-brand one.  The name-brand one has a million options for mandrels.  With mine I have to make my own adaptors.  Blech.

That's all for the moment.

In other news, my older daughter (the 16 y/o) proclaimed the other night that she wants to help with the car.  This is news!  She's been doing physics this fall and I've been telling her all the interesting real problems I solve with the stuff she learned in class that day.  I really do make my living on high-school math. 

So I think maybe we'll run the new brake lines and work with clean new materials, and quiet, easy-to-use hand tools.  And no sparks flying in her face.

I learned my lesson with the 14 y/o, who liked to help before but grew tired of loud grinders and filthy grease-covered frame tubes. 

I try to learn...

Just messed around with my new flaring tool, trying to make some new brake lines.  It was a bit of a failure.

So questions:

Question 1: The bulkheads that came with the Good Parts kit are 37 deg single flare.  At least the hard lines that came with the kit have a single flare.  My Eastwood flaring tool would seem to only produce 37 deg double-flare connections.  Are the two compatible?

Question 2: My tubing cutter does a marvelous job of smashing and sealing the cut end of tube.  It is old and probably pretty dull.  Will a new cutter make for a happier time?  Or is there a different method?

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

I'm a Neanderthal. I cut tubing with a Dremel and a little cutoff wheel.

In reply to Recon1342 :

That sounds more sophisticated than the mess I perpetrated today.

TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) said:

Question 2: My tubing cutter does a marvelous job of smashing and sealing the cut end of tube.  It is old and probably pretty dull.  Will a new cutter make for a happier time?  Or is there a different method?

time for a fresh cutting wheel. Huge difference.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

time for a fresh cutting wheel. Huge difference.

 

That was my other thought.

What about the 37 deg flare, Mr. Brake Engineer?  Is a 37 double flare compatible with single flare fittings?

In addition to a fresh sharp cutter wheel make sure to thoroughly de-burr both in and out side of the tube. Double flares are compatible with your fittings. Single flare is forbidden on a brake system. I won't single flare anything.

In reply to TurnerX19 :

Thank you, sir!

I feel like I'm getting a handle on this brake line business.

I don't have specific experience with single flares other than knowing that they can split. It does ring a bell that single flares do not meet safety standards.

Finally got done fretting about this bonding job, and did the actual job.  It was easy.  It went fine.  I fret too much.

First I did the "mechanical bond prep" aka I scuffed all the parts with 120 grit.

Then I remembered I had this aluminum etching kit for doing EXACTLY THIS KIND OF JOB!

It was really simple.  Dilute a cap-full of each fluid with a couple cap-fulls of water in two separate dishes.  Brush on Step A, let it sit for a few minutes.  Brush on Step B, let it sit.  Rinse with clean water.  Air dry & bond.

Here are the parts with the B-part applied:

BTW, Tillamook cream cheese is really good and totally worth the extra buck over the "regular" stuff.

All ready to bond:

My 3d-printed dispenser worked perfectly.

Not many pictures during, because I don't have three hands and I dislike coating my phone in structural adhesive.

Here it is afterwards:

In other news, I mounted the front shocks.  Which was easy.  But some days I just need an easy job.  Everything has been hard lately.

I'm glad you're still at it.  That looks like a great repair job.  My garage doesn't have heat, so things have temporarily ground (or frozen) to a halt.

I built a lot of R/C models in high school and learned how messy epoxies can get.  Seam sealer is another thing that just gets on anything around me.

Agreed on the Tillamook stuff.

I stripped all of the AN fittings I could get my grubby mitts on off a Douglas DC-4. All of the hard lines were Aluminum or Stainless. Not one was double flare. 

Given that I have access to CuNiFe lines, I will never use steel lines again. As they offer roughly the same corrosion resistance as Stainless, and superior vibration resistance to all other alternatives, there’s no reason to scratch my head. I’ll replace a bubble flare with a bubble flare, everything else is single, and I try to use as many AN connections as possible. 

If it’s good enough for aviation, it’s good enough for me. 

One more positive, about the Copper lines. They are softer than mild or Stainless Steel, so if the tooling isn’t flawless any transferred burrs are less likely to cause leaks. 

Edit:  double / bubble

In reply to Slow_M :

I am willing to bet that the ferule behind the flare serves the same purpose only more so, than a double automotive flare.

Seeing as this is a British car, I am surprised that the topic of a bubble flare has not come up.

I am surprised that the topic of a bubble flare has not come up

I was wondering the same thing.  Most of the fittings on the TVR should be bubble flare with the odd double flare scattered throughout the car.  

RoddyMac17 said:

I am surprised that the topic of a bubble flare has not come up

I was wondering the same thing.  Most of the fittings on the TVR should be bubble flare with the odd double flare scattered throughout the car.  

Yes, most of the car is bubble-flare.

The complicating fittings are:

The brake lines and fittings that came with the disc brake kit are all 37 deg AN single-flare.

The clutch is double-flare metric.

My flaring tool doesn't make good 37 deg single-flares, but it makes very nice 37 double-flares.  So I'm planning to go that way.

Edited my previous post. Meant bubble, not double.