:: Diary - May 2025 ::

:: Thursday, 1 May 2025 ::

Vixen bonnet repair - day 7.

I found out something very importatnt today. Unfortunately, I didn't find it out until the day after I needed to know it. More of that in a minute, but first, you'll be desperate to know how we got on with the trial fitting of the bonnet.

The first step is to run masking tape along the edges of the body, to protect the paint. Then we tape narrow stips of plywood to that to create the correct bonnet gap.

Then we put a couple of layers of dust sheet over the engine and radiator so that there are no sharp corners to dig into the underside of the bonnet.

Then Dave and Eric move the bonnet into place, and we check all the gaps, including along the back, under the windscreen scuttle. This needs a couple of goes, while I go undrneath to check the fit of the hinge frame. Lift off - adjust frame - replace a couple of times before it seems to be right. Then I mark the inside of the bonnet with a pencil, to show ehere the frame has to be mounted.

This also requires some "off-the-car" discussion and deliberation! We also bend the wee tabs slightly to maximise the contact area with the bonnet, to try to eliminate and "stress points".

We then have a wee rest and cakes prepared by my glamorous Technical Director, for nearly as long as we spent doing the job.

They depart, and I tidy up a bit and then decide to visit the paint shop to confirm a date for painting. This is where I receive 3 bits of information:

1. Although he said that he would only need around 2 weeks notice, he now says he has no available time until June;
2. Eric has just been in before me and has taken the last available slot for June; and
3. It's not a good idea to use knifing stopper for pinholes in glassfibre because it doesn't set properly. Too late, I've covered the car in the bloody stuff. It's not the end of ther world, as it goes brittle when it's baked, and he'll be able to remove it when he dries out the glassfibre before painting. He suggests that I leave it alone for him to deal with (which I suspect is his way of saying "don't make it even feckin' worse you thick bastard".)

I book it in for the first week in July...

Anyway - home again after a consolation sausage roll, and I decide to start to fix this hinge frame in place. I'm going to stick it in place with glassfibre filler (again to spread loads and to fill in any gaps between the metal frame and the bonnet shell). This shows stage 1 complete!

Now I plan to leave that to dry for a day or two, before I glassfibe the frame in properly.

That's another 2 hours today, bringing the total to 25 hours.

:: Friday, 2 May 2025 ::

Vixen bonnet repair - day 8.

Now that I now that I have 8 weeks left to get this ready for paint, there's no great rush. Today, thjough, I'm going to fix that hinge frame to the bonnet so that it has time to set before I try fitting it.

The front legs of the frame are embeddded in fibreglass filler, which has set since yesterday. The frame is already pretty firmly attached! I cut enough matting for both sides - first a square with a slot in it for the leg to poke thropugh, then 2 to overlap that, front to rear, then 2 more strips sideways. Each layer is brushed down then pressed with a wee aluminium roller to get the air out and ensure good adhesion.

I mixed just enough resin to finish that bit!

Then I cut another 3 layers of matting to glass in the tube across the front - one layer overlapping the next and again, trying to get all the air out.

That looks not too bad!

I've now used all of the fibreglass resin that I bought, so I'll need to get more - unless resin has a shelf life of around 20 years after you've opened the tin. I think that old tin can go in the bin. I'll need to get more though, because I still have to glass in the bonnet lock pins and also the wee hoops for the windscreen washer tubes.

Those bonnet pins are supported by metal bracing plates, that don't come with the bonnet, or with the new pins. I cut 2 bits of 1mm sheet steel to the right size (measured from the old bonnet), then realise that I can't drill them and position them until I have tried the bonnet on the car so that I can mark the right positions for the pins to meet the bonnet catches on the bulkhead.

That's enough for today though - another 2 hours bringing the total to 27 so far.

:: Saturday, 3 May 2025 ::

Vixen bonnet repair - day 9.

I had a few things to do today, so didn't get on to the bonnet repair until late afternoon.

First though, I moved the S out of the garage so that I could give it a bit of a clean before the TVR car club meeting tomorrow. Then I decided to waste more time going for fuel, not necessarily by the most direct route... What a brilliant wee car!

I thought about these bonnet catch pins last night, and worked out how to fit them, I think, by installing the pins in the catches and then marking the inside of the bonnet frame to show where I have to drill. However, I'm sure that the plates need to be pre-drilled off the car to fit the pins, and that whole assembly has to be lined up.

So I'm going to make up the plates before dinner time. First I mark up the 3 mounting holes for the bonnet pins, and then 5 holes where it is fibreglassed to the inside of the bonnet - those will allow the fibreglass to bond through the holes and create a better joint. I drill out those holes using a succession of increasing drill sizes and a hole-cutter, then I use that first plate as a template to mark and drill the second plate.

Here's the two plates, all drilled out out.

The plate needs a double bend in it, to mount behind the bonnet pin, then bend up to the level of the bonnet, then flatten out to stick to the underside of the bonnet. That proves to be trickier than it looks, because the bonnet profile means that the plate needs a twist in it, as well as the up-and-down bend to meet the bonnet at the right angle. It also needs a slight cuirve across its width to try to eliminate any air gap.

This means bleedin' ages of "bend-a-bit, try it out, bend it more (or less), try it out, twist it a bit, no not that much", ad infinitum (or ad nauseam) just for the first plate, as I gradually bend it into the right shape.

By this time, I don't have time to shape the second one - a wee task for tomorrow.

I think I spent 2 hours at this, bringing the total to 29 so far.

:: Sunday, 4 May 2025 ::

No bonnet repair work today - it's the TVR Car Club meeting!

I meet up with Dave and Eric for a wee run before the meeting. We set off over the Forth, and round by the Ochil Hills back to the venue. The S is running brilliantly - I'm really enjoying our wee drive. I don't drive TVRs enough, in relation to the amount of time that I spend playing with them.

The meeting is good - Hugh and John join us for the usual chat, while Dave and Eric obsess about TVR wedges for sale. Bonus - it was Dave's birthday on Friday and he's brought cake.

Then a chap turns up who spoke to me a couple of months ago about buying an S Series, and he wants to have a look at one or two, and see where common problems might be.

Then I get a text from the guy who bought my Porsche - he saw the TVRs outside the hotel, anmd wonders if I want to see the Porsche again. It's nearly leaving time though, and because I'm travelling in a group, I don't have time today.

The three of us leave in convoty, along the motorway this time. I turn off firts, and about a mile further on, I stop at temporary traffic signals for roadworks. As the car stops, disaster strikes!

Loud pop. Engine stops. Hiss. Smoke. Fuck.

I roll the car backwards from the lights, and open the bonnet to isolate the battery.

The cause is immediately apparent - the ignition coil has blown apart, the oil inside has dropped over the engine and exhaust (hence the smoke) and the internal paper insulator is on fire where the wiring has been shorting against the casing. It's only a tiny fire though, so I put that out with my hand.

I phone Dave, who has just arrived home, 5 minutes down the road, to ask if he has a spare coil. He has, and arrives with it 10 minutes later.

While I'm waiting, I remove the busted coil and terminals. I've never seen (or heard of) a coil failing like this... I'll have to check that the car isn't overcharging or something. Anyway, a quick swap, with limited tools, and I'm mobile again!

That aside, I've had a great day with my wee car, as we go into our 23rd year. Monir setbacks are forgiven!

:: Tuesday, 6 May 2025 ::

No bonnet repair work again yesterday today - just other stuff to do.

Today, though, we're on to day 10!

First, I think I had better pick up all these metal shavings and filings from the workbench and garage floor. The easiest way is by waving a welding magnet over it, then I scrape that off with a plastic trim tool.

On to the bonnet... I start by bending the second bracing plate to shape - this is a bit easier than the first on, but still a case of frequent trial and error.

I lift the bonnet to the front of the car, and with my Technical Director holding it up, I manage to get the hinge pins in.

Car and bonnet reunited!

Now for the bonnet catches. The old latches are still attached to the car, so I need to position the new pins into the rear of the bonnet to match up.

The spring pins are considerably more robust than the ones that were on the car pins into the rear of the bonnet to match up. They are also slightly longer, even when tightened right up.

I fit the pins into the catches, and put a wee blob of red paint on the back end of the spring bolt. Then U lower the bonnet so that the paint marks the fibreglass. Then with the bonnet back off the car, I drill a larger hole for the central bolt, and smaller holes for the fixing bolts.

Then I can fix those all together, along with the bracing plates. The plates wuill be glassfibred to the underside of the bonnet one I know that I have the catches adjusted properly.

Bonnet back on the car, and I am able to adjust the left-hand catch. The right-hand one, though, needs more adjustment than is available - only a couple of mm I think, so I need to drill out the holes a fraction more. First attempt helps but not quite enough. I also try adjusting the hinge pins backwards, but it's just not playing. I think I also need to adjust the front of the bonnet downwards at the hinge, to improve the bonnet gap, but I don't have time today.

I've spent 4 hours at this, with decent progress but still with adjustments to make. That brings the total to around 33 hours. I'll admit I'm not exactly grafting hard - it's a bleeding hobby so I'm just tinkering along. Plus, half of my time is spent looking for the spanner / socket / drill etc that I just laid down a minute ago. I also had an intermission to put up a hanging basket and a garden decoration. And another one for scones. And one for lunch. And one just because I'm an old lazy git.

:: Wednesday, 7 May 2025 ::

Vixen bonnet, day 11...

These bonnet catches are a nightmare... the left hand catch engages, but the bonnet is about 5mm to high, even with the pin wound right in. I can't get the right-hand pin to engage at all - it seems to be lined up, but it just won't engage. I faff around for ages taking it off, adjusting the mounting holes and putting it back, and also adjusting the hinges, and eventually it goes into place. The left hand side is still too high though...

The main problem is that the new pins are much longer than the old ones. I manage to straighten one of the old ones, but the other one snaps off...

Eventually I take the left hand catch apart and take off the lock nut, so that I can wind it in an extra couple of turns. That does the trick, for that side anyway.

Eventually, it does all fit into place, but the right-hand catch is still very tricky to engage - further adjustment required.

Being justifiably pissed off, I abandon the Vixen bonnet because the postman has just delivered a new ignition coil - so I fit that to the S so that I can give Dave his Griffith coil back. I have to go to B&Q and Morrisons so I take the S for a wee drive - lovely! When I park, a lad gets out of a car opposite and starts to take some photos as I'm walking away. Then when I get back, there's another lad with a camera phone. You forget how unusual these cars are, when you've had one for 20-odd years!

Very frustrating day trying to adjust hinges and bonnet pins, and it's better but still not finished... 35 hours total so far.

:: Thursday, 8 May 2025 ::

I've now spent 4 days in Conclave with a garage full of tools, and no feckin' clue... black smoke from the chimney as the latest bonnet-adjusting plan goes up in smoke. However today, "Habemus Bonnetus Perfecto"! I realised that the bonnet catches on the bulkhead aren't vertical, and I assumed that was to accommodate the "angle of entry" of the bonnet pin, but it turns out that the pins need to be angle slightly backwards.

So... a new "plan" emerges (if you can call it a plan). I make an angled shim out of a spare bit of 1mm plate to go under the catch to tip it backwards slightly, fit it under the pin, bolt it up and... it works perfectly! 1 feckin millimetre equals 4 days of grief...

No white smoke though, because that would mean "head gasket" and we're not encouraging that kind of negativity.

On to the next task. The old bonnet has wee bulkheads on each side to guide any air coming in the grille, through the radiator, not around it. The new bonnet doesn't have those, and I'm not sure if I need them or not - photos online show that they're not standard, some cars have them, some don't. Another plan - I can make them so that they fit to the hinge frame, but not glass them in.

The first step is to make a cardboard template, starting with a big bit roughly the right shape, and then stick bits onto it to align all the edges.

And it looks like this! The shorter right-hand edge goes behind the grille, the cut-out in the top is where the frame mounts to the bonnet, the cut-out in the bottom fits round the hinge frame tube, and the back edge aligns with the side of the radiator. I can make two of these in fibreglass, and fit them after the car is painted.

So the next steps will be glassing in the bonnet pin support plates and the wee clips for the windscreen washer pipes. To do those, I need to take the bonnet off again, without affecting its adjustment. Quick-release hinges help! Then I'll make these air deflectors for the radiator.

I'm also going to paint the front tube of the chassis red - it's currently grey like the rest of the chassis, but it's quite prominent under the bonnet when you look from the front, and looks like it's just primer. Red would be better!

At least it feels like progress, after 2 hours today - 37 hours total so far.

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