TVRs and Stuff

:: Diary - October 2022 ::
:: Sunday, 2 October, 2022 ::

I haven't had a lot to report over the last 2 months, EXCEPT that last week, I decided to check when the TVR's road tax is due - it used to be April but I think I sorned it during the first Covid so it must be around now.
No it isn't. Road tax ws due in April. I've been driving it around with no tax, including our trip around the north of Scotland in June."
OOOooooppps!
Well I'm not taxing it now - it's along at the farm and that's where it can stay for now.
Which brings me to today's TVR Car CLub meeting. I haven't been to the July, August and September meetings because other stuff just got in the way. Also, we heard in July that our usual venue had gone into liquidation, so the others had tries a couple of alternative venues in August and September. Today we are in alternative venue 3, in Dunblane.
Except - my TVR is at the farm and doesn't have any tax! I decide to go in the Porsche, just for a run and to clean it out a bit before its service and MOT tomorrow. I meet up with Dave and Eric and off we go!
The venue is very nice but kinda limited in the parking department. We all get in ok, but others (non-TVR) end up parking all the way down the drive and out on the main road.

The food is nice, and all arrives for everybody at the same time, which is also nice. The staff are very friendly too, which is nice. I have to admit though that I didn't have the full-on main meal, seeing as I am going out for dinner tonight as well!
That also means that we have to leave a wee bit early, so we convoy back through, before I split off from the other two to head home. At this point I encounter the back of a queue leaving some event at an equestrian centre, waiting at the most inefficient set of traffic lights you can imagine. Just as I join the queue, I pass a woman walking down the road. 20 minuts and around half a mile later, she has disappeared, reached home, had her dinner nd is now sitting watching 'Married at First Sight Australia" on catch-up.
Anyway, we reach home in the rain, get the car in the garage and then get changed to go out again.

:: Monday, 3 October, 2022 ::

The Porsche passed its MOT by the way!

:: Saturday, 8 October, 2022 ::

John has arranged an "end of season" weekend tour of Yorkshire, where we intend to meet up with Adrian so that he can give his car some exercise. However, the Porsche is at the house and the TVR isn't, and I haven't had time this week to swap them over. Also, the Porsche is taxed and the TVR isn't, due to a slight administrative oversight. Also, the Porsche is hardly getting used and could do with some exercise as well. Also, it has a heater. Decision made! The Porsche will be attending its firt TVR event, despite having the engine at the wrong end.
We meet up with John and Joyce, Eric, Dave and Jim at our normal meeting point at Newbridge, and after a bit of a chat, we're off. Well, they are - as I go to reverse out of my parking space, a wee Citroen thing appears to park in a space behind me, and spends ages manoeuvering into a double space. I mean ages... But after a few minutes while she docks the Citroen safely, we're off!
We head around Edinburgh and down through the Borders, at a nice steady speed so as not to wake the natives, to Jedburgh, where we stop for breakfast.

When we return to the cars, I nip over to the garage to buy some screenwash - if there's any in the car, it's not working! When I return, the others point out that there's a screw through the tread of the front tyre. I check the pressure (only around 2psi too low) so I decide to leave the screw in place, since it seems to be doing a good job of plugging the hole, but keep an eye on that tyre.
Eric has to head back home, so the rest of us head on south - over Carter Bar and down by Kielder and Otterburn to a garden centre at Corbridge, where we meet up with Adrian and make tracks for the cafe (it's been a whole hour since breakfast!) for a wee cake. We end up sitting under a heater while the manly TVR drivers defrost.
Then it's onward on the next stage of our expedition - down the A68 and into the edge of Darlington. I did a bit of work in Darlington at one time, and recognise the first roundabout as one that I had only seen before as a design on paper! I recognise some of the other roads, including a street that is photographed on the back of my business cards!
Anyway, as we head out the other side of Darlington, we find that our selected route is closed for some reason. After buzzing around in a circle like demented bees, we settle on an alternative route south, until we reach a garden centre where we stop to use the loo. Oh, and maybe have a quick wee cake.
When we return to the cars, I open the sunroof and the windows again - except the passenger window goes down about an inch and then stops with a loud clattering. It won't go down or up. Bugger. Nothing for it though but to keep up with the others and press on to our destination for today. After 10 minutes or so, the window drops down another inch, and I find that I can now put it back up (with lots of noises). Right, that's getting left shut for the rest of the weekend!
We arrive at our hotel in Pickering, and park up, check in and unpack before our next mission. We have decided that instead of eating at the hotel, we're going to head over to Whitby for fish and chips. I decide to hitch a lift with Adrian, just to be sociable and because I can't be arsed driving again.
After another nice wee drive up hill and down dale, past the RAF radar station at Flyingdales, we arrive in Whitby and park at the harbour.

Bring on the chips!

Then we head back to the hotel for a few drinks and it's bedtime!

Although I missed it, there was apparently a 3am game of "3 dames, 1 Hoover". The rules are - 3 ladies of a certain age sit in the restaurant drinking with their meal (I saw that bit) and then go out for a bit. When you come back at 3am, you forget your room number, or what floor it was on, but you do remember that there was a vacuum cleaner outside the room next door. So, you stagger around 3 floors of the hotel looking for this hoover... Eventually one finds her room and the rest can navigate safely from there...

:: Sunday, 9 October, 2022 ::

We're all up nice and early for a modest breakfast, during which the three hoover dames also appear, looking surprisingly spritely. Then it's out to the cars to wipe off the overnight condensation and get ready for the day. First I check that tyre pressure, it's down to 24. Arian lends me his footpump, which is wonky but effective but which then clamps itself onto the valve and won't let go until Ive lost more air than I pumped in. After 3 attempts I manage to leave more air in it than I started with - around 30psi.
Then it's time for Adrian's oil-checking routine, and making sure he is wearing the right driving shoes.

Then we're off again! After a stop to refuel, we head along the road a bit to Helmsley, and then up into the North Yorkshire Moors, and spectacular scenery. And sheep. Lots of sheep. Suicidal sheep.
When we arrive at the very top of the moors, there's a wee car park at Square Corner, which has a couple of camper vans and a number of empty cars. They must belong to hillwalkers because there's nothing else here (except sheep)! We have a short break, interrupted by a woman reversing a and Rover Discovery out of a parking space in the most awkward way possible. A blindfolded sloth on L-plates could do it quicker and more accurately.

Onwards again, further into the moors...

Before descending back down below the tree line.

We pass through Northallerton and Thirsk and then under the M1 and on through Richmond. We stop just outside Reeth just to admire the views up and down the valley.

Then we form up again for the next stage - south towards the Buttertub Pass - a not very wide road with very scary drops on one side and big hard stony boulders on the other side...

We reach the summit, and more spectacular views!

Then we head back down and into Hawes for a nice pub lunch.
Back to the cars and we head south first, and then eastwards back towards Ripon, with my turn in the lead. Suddenly I recognise Pately Bridge where Jim and I stayed for Adrian's wedding in April. Just beyond there, our intended route is closed, so after a stop for a quick confab, Adrian figures that he knos the way around the closure - turn up this road and back down that one. We do. It brings us out right at the closure - but on the wrong side of it. Adrian then brings his local knowledge into play (eventually!) and leads us around and into Ripon where the plan is to stop for a wee coffee.
Unfortunately, just before we reach Ripon town centre, Dave's car splutters to a halt. I go back for him - it turns out that it's the fuel pump relay again - a notorious problem with the fuel injection system that Ford fitted to the 2.8 engine - the infamous "pink relay". When I get back he's lying in the footwell and busy pulling the relay out and cursing the relay, the car, life and everything. The cursing ramps up in volume and intensity when a wire breaks off the relay socket. He manages to fix it though with a wee pair of pliers and some toenail clippers (yes really!) and he's soon mobile again.
We catch up with the others in the town centre and then head off past Adrian's house and then back under the A1 and on to Helmsley and back to the hotel in Pickering.
We have a wee break before dinner time, a few drinks and time for bed - this time without the 3 Hoover dames.

:: Monday, 10 October, 2022 ::

We've all agreed to get up extra early (well, 7.30) for a 5 minute walk around the corner to Mathewson's - the classic car auction company starring on the "Bangers and Cash" TV series. They are obviously closed at this time of the morning, but we can have suspicious-looking peeks through the wire fencing. They have their own yard plus at least 3 areas alongside other units nearby.
The first classic beauty that we see is this - it's a Vauxhall Viva 2300 Estate with the then-ubiquitous RoStye wheels. Or it was... most of the bottom half of the car, including the sills and the bottoms of the doors, have long since biologically degraded to dust. It also has more dents than a docker's piece box.

A wee bit of research shows that this car was on ebay in August, but bidding stopped at £1,000 so it wasn't sold. There are apparently only 5 Viva 2300s left on the road, so even as the shitheap that it is, it might have some rarity value. Probably not worth the frustration value of trying to weld rus to more rust (I've been there many years ago with a Ford Capri in less shitheap condition) but 2.3 Vivas, Magnums and Firenzas used to be a lot of fun to drive.
Behind that, there's a wee yard with some decent-looking stuff including this Jag, Aston and Roller, and just to add some balance, a Renault 4 (I think).

In their own yard, there's a variety of stuff including Jags, a Rover 90, a Triumph 2000 or 2.5, a Lancia and several Minis.

Their museum is shut though, even during the day time, so it's back to the hotel for breakfast and packing.
I check that tyre pressure, and it has dropped to 27 psi - not too bad and not worth the risk of letting more air out, than I can pump in.
Then it's time to set off, with Adrian in the lead. We head up over the North Yorks Moors on a different road, but with an even greater concentration of sheep. It goes up, and when you thing you've reached the top, it levels out for a short distance and then goes up again... and again and again and again.
Then at the top, there's the most spectacular view over Middlesborough and the Tees estuary, before we head back down. South of Stockton, we stop to say cheerio to Adrian who is heading home to Ripon from here. I lead on to the A19, and then north through the Tyne Tunnel to the A1 and then the A197 where we stop in a garden centre for coffee and cake. Jim has to be home by 3-ish so we head off again up the A197 towards Coldstream, and then onwards past Lauder to the edge of Edinburgh, then home.
So there we are - another absolutely brilliant weekend in good company, in some of the most beautiful parts of the country - lovely scenery, spectacular views, beautiful wee houses and villages - it's a lovely part of the country!

:: Wednesday, 12 October, 2022 ::

I have been evaluating my tyre options - the car has Continental Sport Contacts front and rear, N-rated - that means that they have been tested and approved by Porsche for this model. However, that was in the 1990s, and N-rated Continentals are not available any more in the right size (especially the fronts), and any that you can get, are ridiculously expensive. There are more modern tyres, with better grip and wear performance, that aren't N-rated... which means that Porsche might not honour the warranty - that expired 30 years ago. I think I'll ask the Porsche specialist for advice.
In the meantime, I jack the car up and take the wheel off, and then remove the screw from the tread (which lets out a LOT of air) and then open up the hole a bit with a circular reamer and push in a (very tight) plug and trim the top. I blow it up to 30 psi and spray on some soapy water to check that it isn't leaking.

Then I have a quick look at this window. Pressing the window switch results in lots of noise from behind the door trim, but no window movement. It's not the motor that's faulty, although it might be the teeth on the spindle. Motors you can buy for around £120. It's more likely to be the regulator and lifting mechanism, which is ridiculously complicated and a bit more prone to failure, either through wear or from just being out of alignment. A new one of those costs the thick end of £500, so that's obviously more likely. I'll have to take the door to bits to find out what's wrong, and if it can be fixed with either a hammer, a big lever or a bloody good kicking. That's for another day...

:: Saturday, 15 October, 2022 ::

Yeah I know it's not a TVR and I know that you probably don't care, but I'm going to finish this story of the Porsche electric window. First step is to take the door card off. Now, if you think that the TVR is fiddly, you haven't tried this...
First there's a trim on top of the door. It has a capped screw at one end, and a screw holding a cover plate at the other. Under that, there are two torx-style bols holding the top cap on. Then disconnect the wee alarm wires and take it off.
Next, the door locking knob. It's held on with a single screw under a cap. Then the know coes off and the knob recess unwinds.
Then I pull the window switch out of the trim - it doesn't have individual wires so I make a wee diagram of where the 5 wires connect, and then pull them off and remove the switch.
Then disconnect the inside door handle - the connecting rod pops out upwards when you lever it with a screwdriver.
Then remove the door pocket... 4 screws around the edge, plus one inside the pocket itself.
Next, the arm rest. Two allen key bolts in the top, and another two longer ones deeply recessed into the armrest.
At last, the door trim is off! I can see a bit of window mechanism sticking through the plastic sheet that's stuck to the inside of the door. It's not looking good...
Then I remove the plastic and find that the lifter arm has come off the bottom of the glass. I need to take the whole thing out. I pull the glass right up out of the way, and then tape it to the top of the door frame to stop it falling down. Then I disconnect the motor, and the 6 allen bolts that hold the window mechanism to the door. No matter how I try, the motor won't fit past the front window channel to come out... So I separate the motor from te mechanism through the holes in the door, and then I can manoeuvre the mechanism out through the inner door skin. It fits through the hole - just - and only in one position...
So here's the window mechanism, out of the door. I check the teeth and reconnect the motor to test it - it all seems to work fine. I clean off all the old hard grease and re-lubricate everything.

Here's the other bit, that clamps onto the bottom of the glass. I asked Bob the Builder "Can we fix it" and his answer was "No, it's fucked".

The good news - I don't need a new mechanism, they are £500.
THe bad news - I do need a new window lifter, which cost around £200. Luckily I find one on ebay, still in its bag with original Porsche part number label, for half of that. It's still expensive for what it is (2 bits of u-channel welded together) but if you want the window to work... I bite the bullet and get the credit card out. I also order new rubber seal that fits between the clamp and the glass.
Meanwhile, here's a photo of the inside of the door, while I wait for the parts to arrive.

:: Wednesday, 20 October, 2022 ::

The parts are here!
This is the new window lifter, beside the old one. Slightly improved glass-gripping qualities...

Next question - how am I going to get that channel back on the bottom edge of the glass? The glass is still inside the door, and taking it out means dismantling more of the door to get the window frame out...
Let's try leaving the glass in the door and using the window fran=me to hold it while I put that bottom arm back on. I spray the rubber seal with soapy water and then put it on the bottom of the glass, lining it up with the marks where the old one was. Then I spray the window channel with water, and wedge it partly onto the rubber seal, and then lower all of that onto a couple of blocks of wood that I have wedged inside the door. Get it all lined up and then put another block of wood on the top edge of the glass and tap it down evenly with a rubber mallet. Lots of little taps rather than big whacks, and it gradually slips into place.
No shattered glass, no dented door, slides up and down by hand perfectly... Thats a relief!
Now to reassemble the rest of the mechanism into the door... Now normally you can say "refitting is a reversal of removal", but this turns from a relatively easy sport into an afternoon of sheer frustration. Now I took it out, I know how it came out, but will it go back the same way? Will it buggery. It's like childbirth in reverse. Eventually it dawns on me that when I took it out, the toothed wheel bit was sticky on the mounting plate, and was stuck an inch or so from the end of its travel. I freed it up and re-lubricated it, so now it moves back freely under the pressure of the return spring, to the end of its travel, where it doesn't fit through the door aperture... I need to move the arm slightly against spring pressure, and hold it place with a temporary cable tie, while I wiggle the mechanism into place behind the door skin where I can't see what I'm doing... New definition of the word "fiddly"! Eventually though, it's in!
Then I can move the regulator about while I screw the motor back into place on the bracket (the screws are behind the door skin once it's in), then reconnect the motor wires.
Then - pull the window down around half-way and slide the two rollers into the back of the channel on the window, push the window up again and mount the 4 bolts that hold the regulator to the door. The there is another guide channel that mounts at the back of the door with 2 bolts.
Lubricate the motor gears on the regulator wheel, and connect up a battery to the motor - window goes up and down depending which way round the wires are connected!
NOW it's just s reversal of removal - plastic sheet back on, reconnect the door speakers, and replace the door card on its clips, being careful to feed the door release through the hole in the door card, and refit the trim around the door lock knob to hold it in place. Refit the armrest with its 4 bolts, and clip the door release lever into the handle. Replace the door pocket, then wire up the window switch and push it back in place. Last step is to refit the trim along the top edge of the door.
Final test - all ok!

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