My 1973 TVR 2500M : Renew and Restomod

Jeez, I never do updates anymore.  Here goes.

I spoke too soon on the integrity of the tent:

I went away for a week at the beginning of the month, and came back to this.  Must have rained a bunch.  I think it's actually fixable - I already 3d printed some beefier replacement brackets.  I think I'll add some pvc "in-between" spars to try and eliminate the saggy areas that catch water.

On to the car.  I'm getting farther along with the underside clean up.  Almost ready to make repairs.

The PO(S) had slabbed on a bunch of bondo (I guess?) in the rear wheel wells.  He trimmed the fender edge back most of the way.  Some of the underside glass looks trimmed too.  Then it looks like tires were still making contact - lots of stress cracks on the outside.  So bondo as reinforcement.  On the bright side it popped out in big chucks without much work:

There's also some rubber undercoating-ish stuff.  Not sure if that's or added later.  Comes out with copious application of elbow-grease.  I'm going to add a couple layers of carbon to the underside, since this seems to be a known stress point.

I've decided to get the repairs finished and then find a good body shop to take over and apply paint.  If I paint it myself I'll be mad about all the little flaws.  Best to just pay someone at this point.

TVR Scott said:

There's also some rubber undercoating-ish stuff.  Not sure if that's or added later.

Not sure where that thought was going, but it's not factory. As far as I remember, all M series frames were painted black, and that's it. The lack of rust protection was a thing people whinged about, in period. Tasmin frames came with a light gray powdercoat finish. Bottom of the bodies may have had some body color overspray, but nothing like the blackened salmon skin you're showing. 

In reply to Slow_M :

I just meant to ask if there was originally any undercoating on the wheel wells or body.  Sounds like not.

Were the bodies just bare fiberglass underneath?

TVR Scott said:

I've decided to get the repairs finished and then find a good body shop to take over and apply paint.  If I paint it myself I'll be mad about all the little flaws.  Best to just pay someone at this point.

Brilliant move. Isn't it amazing how much less some little things can bug you if you didn't cause them?

TVR Scott said:

In reply to Slow_M :

I just meant to ask if there was originally any undercoating on the wheel wells or body.  Sounds like not.

Were the bodies just bare fiberglass underneath?

Not is correct, re: factory undercoating.

Yes, just bare fiberglass, except for the overspray. 

I was just thinking about how rhino liner in those areas would be your friend, long term. Especially for covering the outriggers but for keeping the fiberglass in decent shape, too. You'd probably have to get some surface prep done that improves adhesion. That said, I think mine had a heavy coat of flat black paint on parts of the underbody and engine bay. Can't remember if that was original. 

Hi Scott, 

I hope you've been keeping well. Any updates? 

For a while, it felt like your progress was so rapid and so constant, that I would have thought you'd be doing car show events, by now. 

That's not a slight, in any way. More like me marveling at the quality and quantity of work you were maintaining, for a LONG stretch. 

In reply to Slow_M :

Hey buddy, thanks for reaching out.  Things have been pretty whirlwind for the last few months.  Losing my mom, then the dog, planning and running the memorial service, then a road trip to Vermont with my daughter.  I finally got to come up for air in the beginning of Sept.

It's been slow progress on the car this summer.  It's been wicked hot, so my excitement for grinding on the body in the heat is pretty low.  It is cooling off now, and I'm feeling some enthusiasm to get started on the body work again.

I did get the steering rack and related parts painted the other day, so I'll get that assembled soon.  A little forward progress.

Good to hear that you're back into it. Eagerly anticipating progress updates.

B