Miscellaneous

Service Item Checklist
Building a TVR
Pure Speculation
Cat Fish

Service Item Checklist

Jan 98
Every 6000 miles also means every 12 months, whichever is earlier. This list was in use in July 96 and was dated 1994. I don't know whether it has changed since then.

Item	Operation	Interval
1	Check condition & security of seats, belts and mountings	6,000
2	Check footbrake & clutch operation	6,000
3	Check lights horn & indicators	6,000
4	Check wipers, washers & blades	6,000
5	Check handbrake	6,000
6	Clean & grease battery connectons	6,000
7	Check & adjust headlamp and driving lamp alignment	6,000
8	Check front & rear wheel alignment	6,000
9	Remove wheels	6,000
10	Check tyres	6,000
11	Check brake pads calipers & disks	6,000
12	Refit wheels to original hub position	6,000
13	Check operation of doors, bonnet & boot locks	6,000
14	Lubricate hinges, door catches & bonnet catches	6,000
15	Check cooling and heater systems for leaks etc	6,000
16	Check brake servo hose condition	6,000
17	Check HT lead condition	6,000
18	Clean & check condition of distributor cap	6,000
19	Check operation of alarm system	6,000
20	Clean & adjust spark plugs	1st 1,000 mile service only
21	Renew spark plugs	6,000
22	Renew fuel filter element	12,000
23	Check crankcase breathing system for leaks & condition of hoses	6,000
24	Renew air cleaner element	12000
25	Check & adjust driving belts	6,000
26	Check throttle operation	6,000
27	Check & top up cooling system	6,000
28	Check & top up power steering fuid	6,000
29	Check & top up clutch fluid	at 6,000 then every 12,000
30	Renew clutch fluid	at 12000 then every 12000
31	Check & top up brake fluid	at 6,000 then every 12000
32	Renew brake fluid	at 12,000 then every 12,000
33	Check & top washer fluid	6,000
34	Lubricate throttle linkages & pedal pivot	6,000
35	Check & adjust ignition timing	6,000
36	Check & adjust engine idle speed & fuel mixture settings	6,000
37	Check & adjust steering	6,000
38	Renew engine oil & filter	6,000
39	Check & top up gearbox oil	6,000
40	Renew gearbox oil	at 24,000 and 48,000
41	Renew differential oil	at 24,000 and 48,000
42	Check & top up differential oil	6,000
43	Lubricate prop shaft sliding joints	6,000
44	Lunbricate prop shaft UJs	6,000
45	Lubricate handbrake linkage	6,000
46	Check visually brake, fuel & clutch pipes & unions	6,000
47	Check exhaust system for leaks security & damage	6,000
48	Check for fluid leaks from steering & suspension	6,000
49	Check & tighten steering unit & check ball joints and covers	6,000
50	Check tightness of prop shaft coupling bolts	6,000
51	Check & tighten front & rear axle suspension link fitting & check condition of mounting rubbers	6,000
52	Check condition of engine mounting rubbers	6,000
53	Adjust handbrake	6,000
54	Check cambers	6,000
55	Check window heights and wind noise	6,000
56	Carry out road test	6,000

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Building a TVR

Mar 98
The information below is taken from TVR's 1996 factory visit information pack. If you want the full story, pay them a visit!

Chassis Fabrication

Chassis components are cut on site from mild steel tubing, jig formed and welded. The chassis is then de-greased, etch primed, and hung on an electrically charged conveyor where it is sprayed with polyester-epoxy powder. After powder-coating it passes through a 200°C oven for twenty minutes.

Chassis assembly is completed by fitting the wishbones, uprights, springs, dampers, steering rack and fuel and brake lines.

Body Construction

The body is initially built up in about eight different moulds made from epoxy resin (for good release properties) and triaxial glass matting (for strength). The production moulds were taken more or less directly from the original polyurethane foam buck produced by the designers.

The body panels are laid up by hand using polyester resin and chopped stand matting. Biaxial matting is used on stressed areas such as seat belt mountings, and a layer of coremat incorporated in large panel areas to stop them resonating. When it is sufficiently cured each panel is trimmed in its mould and the moulds for the top half of the body are bolted together so that they can be joined with more chopped strand matting. The complete top mould assembly is then inverted onto the floor pan mould and joined, and the whole thing left to cure overnight.

When the body has been broken out of the mould the flash is removed by angle grinding and generally cleaned up, before being bolted to the chassis and cured in a low-temperature oven for eight hours. The final step before painting is to finish flatting the shell and trial-fit and prepare the bonnet, boot and doors.

Painting

The shell receives four coats of primer with a 30 minute bake between each coat. This is then flatted by hand ready for the colour coats. Before going on to assembly the paintwork is buffed and polished and sprayed with a protective coat of Transeal.

Assembly

This proceeds in eight stages:

1. Fitting small parts such as the tail lights, petrol tank, pedal box and radiator.

2. Doors and boot lid, door wiring and boot wiring.

3. Main wiring loom, heater box and hoses, fuel sender and wiper motor.

4. Interior trim.

5. Steering column, seat belts, door seals and windscreen.

6. Engine, gearbox, gear linkage and gear lever.

7. Battery and cables, alarm, door electrics and dashboard.

8. Onto ramp for propshaft, exhaust and airflow meter, tighten suspension bushes, adjust geometry, add fluids and check over.

The final step is to start and adjust the engine prior to a 30 mile test drive, then the Transeal is pealed off and the car got ready for the transporter.

How Long and How Much?

The whole build process takes about four weeks and 450 manhours. By far the largest single item is 160 manhours spent on making the bodyshell.

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Pure Speculation

May 98
As a result of the Far Eastern economic crisis, the spanking new TVR plant in Malaysia has found itself with a lot of spare capacity and an exchange rate that makes its output extremely cheap compared to the UK. Although the standard of assembly and trim on the Malaysian cars didn't impress anyone who saw early examples (a few found their way into the UK as dealers' courtesy cars), the chassis coating line and the body moulds are reputed to be more modern than the UK ones and producing very high quality parts.

Now if you had a full order book in the UK and a partner in the Far East who could supply you with truckloads of cheap high-quality components, you'd tell them you weren't interested, wouldn't you?

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Cat Fish

Aug 98
Adapted from a recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Brush a sheet of cooking foil with oil (not Mobil 1) and wrap around a whole fish seasoned with fennel, salt and pepper, a clove of garlic and a little lemon juice or white wine. Wrap in a second layer of foil and seal tightly.

Use wire to fix the foil parcel securely to the catalytic converter and bake for twenty minutes at 40-50 mph.

When you arrive at your destination, remove the parcel, unwrap and serve immediately.

It should be possible to create a very acceptable tandoori meal by placing pieces of chicken and nan dough directly on the cats. Do not try boiling rice in the swirl pot as it will be very difficult to get out and will taste of glycol.

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