1974 TVR 2500M driver restoration

I definitely plan to add one. Probably immediately ahead of the top edge of the rear glass. 

Thanks all. Ironically this one on BAT had a 3rd brake light. 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1976-tvr-2500m-2/

It may be just because I know there wasn't one there originally but it just doesn't look right to my eyes. I suppose it won't be hard to install one down the road if I still feel I need one. I think I'm going to see how that pulse module works to start with. 

Wiring work went well this week. I'd say I have it at least 85% built. Have a few last question marks to decide on (how to make the side marker lights, which are normally just part of the parking light circuit, also function as turn indicators) but for now off to Daytona! 

Have fun at Daytona!  We'll expect some pics!

The 3rd brake light on that auction car looks fine.  I was thinking of putting one at the top of the glass, not the bottom.  Just gets it higher and more visible.  Not sure what that would do to my rear-view vision.

Back from the Rolex 24 and I've been continuing to work through the final pieces of the harness. Also about to have the window assemblies reinstalled into the doors.

I didn't grab a bunch of pictures during the race but did take several videos and put them into a compilation. We walked all over the grounds and through the garage area but found the best spot to watch was in the grand stands near the Turn 1. We had an AirBnB where we went for a quick night's sleep but overall watched about 18 hours of the race in person. I was tired enough after that just watching, I can't imagine how exhausting it must be as a crew. Definitely recommend going if you're a sports car racing fan. Walking around on the banking and infield during the grid walk was pretty cool. For those that recognize the name Jordan Taylor came over and "signed" the hood of the Corvette of his old team while we were standing next to it. Pretty fun moment to watch between him and his old crew.

Yours truly:

In reply to ViperT4 :

Oh boy are you right about the tired crew. I had a car in the race in 1999. We finished 52nd and last running car, 7th GT. The race itself is far different now, we had no stadium lights, they started adding them in 2000. 82 starters and less than 40 running at the finish. Yup lots of non running cars got credited with a finish because our car took the checker. Pre-grid photo below. My beard is all white now....

Had some "fun" yesterday getting the windows installed into the doors.

This process is actually pretty straightforward, but there is an order to assembling the pieces in the door itself which took some trial and error to figure out. The opening at the top of the door is too narrow to allow whole window assembly to slide into the doors as a unit.

That being said, here's ViperT4's guide to installing TVR 2500M window assemblies-

With the windows removed from the doors the first step would be to slide the window regulator out of the channel at the bottom of the glass. Grease up the channel and window regulator. Also remove the L-bracket from the bottom of the window frame.

Drop the window frame and glass into the door skin. To install the L-bracket which screws to the bottom of the window frame you'll want to support the frame so that the bottom is accessible via the cutout in the inner door. A 2x6 I had handy did the job for me.

Install the bottom L-bracket with its two screws. The forward one is easy to get to, but the rearward screw is a few inches aft of the cutout so getting your hand in there can be tricky.

Insert your bottom spacers between the L-bracket and the door structure.

Slide the window regulator into position by positioning the slider wheel aft of the window inside of the door. It will help to have the window crank assembly oriented like the image below so it is closely aligned to the screw holes.

Place the window crank spacer over the crank assembly. While keeping the handle portion close to the glass so it goes behind the fiberglass, slide the entire regulator forward to engage the wheel in the channel. Begin to installed the 4 screws holding the crank assembly to the door.

Wonder why it just won't sit flush to the door structure. Investigate more closely and realize there's still a 1/4" of the old plywood spacer that was originally used stuck to the sections of inside of the door. Disassemble/remove everything and scrape away the old wood, then vacuum it up from inside the door.

Redo do all of the above steps. Lastly install the nail anchors that keep the frame secured to the top of the door skin.

Stand back and admire how piss-poor these fit within the body openings. On both sides, the top-forward corners of the window frames touch the tops of the A-pillars as the door opens or closes.

Being the same issue on both sides, having looked at my pre-restoration pictures, and looking at pictures of other 2500M I don't believe this is a fluke. On the other cars some were more successful than others in adjusting the doors. I tried adjusting my driver's door and I don't have any room to go backwards with it and very little room to go down. I also investigated moving the window backwards relative to the door, and there's not enough room to do that while maintaining the integrity of the holes that hold those nail-in anchors. The new holes would overlap the old ones, essentially being long ovals.

Looking at frame/body gaps as a whole it just appears they're not the same shape so they're not going to ever be perfect, but I should be able to get the doors to where they're not actually hitting the A-pillars.

In reply to TurnerX19 :

Very cool story! I'm sure there's a great sense of accomplishment in being able to finish.

ViperT4 said:

Thanks all. Ironically this one on BAT had a 3rd brake light. 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1976-tvr-2500m-2/

It may be just because I know there wasn't one there originally but it just doesn't look right to my eyes. I suppose it won't be hard to install one down the road if I still feel I need one. I think I'm going to see how that pulse module works to start with. 

Wiring work went well this week. I'd say I have it at least 85% built. Have a few last question marks to decide on (how to make the side marker lights, which are normally just part of the parking light circuit, also function as turn indicators) but for now off to Daytona! 

Hey Viper, That car is sitting my garage now! :-)  I know it's not stock and it looks stuck on (as it is :-)) but I don't think it is completely obnoxious. Tho, the installation on the lower edge of the glass isn't quite right. It's only about 32" off the pavement and 10" above the tail lights. Not to mention that the lens is angled upward to a good degree. Now, I haven't actually followed the car to see if it is effective but I think I will keep it but relocate it to the top edge of the glass.

In reply to Mach5 :

Congratulations on the acquisition! Overall I thought that was a solid car, I hope you enjoy it. I agree the execution of that light leaves a little to be desired.  The depending on how steep an angle it may actually be beneficial with the M's slight stature and how modern traffic has grown!

Well I don't want to jinx it but I think I'm very near the end of the wiring project. I've started making final connections and am aiming to have everything powered up at least once for testing the end of this week. There's a couple items I added I thought I would share here.

One is just a parking brake switch. I'm not using the PDWA, but I still have the warning light in the dash, so I figured I would wire it to a parking brake switch. I had a plunger type switch lying around from something else so I just made a bracket quickly and wired it up. Once I got it centered on the parking brake handle it works well.

The second and much more useful addition was a fan speed controller. Specifically it is this pulse width modulator. RioRand 7-70V PWM DC Motor Speed Controller Switch 30A https://a.co/d/h3iwoer

I already had put the fan on a relay but there was only one speed- full blast. With this you just connect the fan +/- to the motor control terminals, the relay 87 terminal to the modulator input +, then ground the module input -. Instead of using a potentiometer to reduce or increase the voltage to the fan motor, this will give it shorter or longer bursts of full voltage to control the fan speed. I tested it with the fan in the car and it works great. Even at the lowest speed you feel noticeable air flow coming through the vents. I have it mounted on the back side of the dash, and the control dial will be mounted on a separate bracket.

So far things are generally working as they should. I haven't gotten it to run long enough to tell me if the alternator is charging and if the radiator fans kick on with temperature yet so that will be my next goal. It's never really wanted to run sine the rebuild so I have to spend more time there anyway. Anyway, in general the electrical is looking good and she's starting to come alive!

Here's the brake light flasher in action. Should catch people's attention.

Looks good!

Could you take a picture of your fan / heater box for me?  Mine didn't come with any of that so I need to figure something out.

TVR Scott said:

Looks good!

Could you take a picture of your fan / heater box for me?  Mine didn't come with any of that so I need to figure something out.

I certainly can! Do these help?

I'm just seeing your thread update where you're having to entirely recreate that area. I'll see what other pictures I have from before reinstalling those components to give you a better idea of hold sizes and locations.

I'm not sure if the heater core came out of anything but it was just a generic looking hear exhaust. The blower motor and plastic housing ended up being the same as that used in a second gen Spridget so you should be able to find those second hand. 

ViperT4 said:

I'm just seeing your thread update where you're having to entirely recreate that area. I'll see what other pictures I have from before reinstalling those components to give you a better idea of hold sizes and locations.

I'm not sure if the heater core came out of anything but it was just a generic looking hear exhaust. The blower motor and plastic housing ended up being the same as that used in a second gen Spridget so you should be able to find those second hand. 

I got a heater core and the cover housing from Slow_M, so I'm ok there.

Spridget for the blower motor, eh?  On the TVRCCNA site, it lists MGB as the source but your fan doesn't look anything like the MGB version.  I'll check out the Spridget part and see if I can find one and make that work.

My mistake, it looks like I got that backwards. I thought the fan I bought was from a Midget but apparently the listing says 1968-1980 MGB. The Spridget fan and housing is a mirror image of our fans. Honestly, from what I remember the Spridget, Spitfire and many other British cars use the exact same fan motor but in a different rotation than ours.

Motor and bracket bolted right into my fan housing.

Ok, good info.

I wonder what the fan housing is?

Looks kind of like Europa one ... seems I read something about it coming from a Land Rover?

Been absolutely fighting with getting this engine running again. Today's the first day it's run on anything besides starting fluid. Needs more carb tuning to be sure, but happy to have made it here. 

Turns out I was fighting a couple issues with getting this engine running consistently. One was an intermittently failing ignition condenser. I had my distributor rebuild with all new components when I did the engine a could years back. I believe this was why I had such a hard time getting it to light off. But when I tested spark I would usually have it. It eventually go so bad that I was trying to confirm cranking timing and my timing gun wouldn't pick up a signal on half the plug wires. I knew my coil was getting power and the coil was also brand new, points gap were set, so I reached out to the distributor rebuilder. He said he had a batch of bad condensers come through and he sent me a new one.

The second problem was my own fault. Once I got it to start and run to operating temp I couldn't get it to idle lower than 1100 RPM with the throttle stop screws backed entirely off of the throttle levers. Also the front carb registered twice the rear carb on my carb synchrometer at the same time. Thinking the plate on one or both of the carbs were sticking open I took them off the car to inspect them. I found that I had installed the throttle plate backwards in the throttle shaft (I did not know this was something that could be done) and due to its beveled edge it was not sealing the way it's intended. Reinstalled everything in the correct orientation and the car is much happier. Idle sounds healthier and more steady and it really rips given some revs. I have to hurry up with the interior so I can put this thing on the road!

Nice job on the troubleshooting!

Continuing to check things off the list in going from running to running and driving,

Got some good work done over the weekend. The weekend prior I went to put my hydraulic fluid in the brake system finally. Seemed to go fine and I got everything bled. Pedal was firm but would continue to compress slowly if I held pressure on it. After a handful of pedal presses seeing if the air I thought was caught in the master would resolve itself I got out of the car and brake fluid found dropping from the rear brakes at a pretty good rate. Once I pulled the wheels and drums off it was clear it was coming from each wheel cylinder. "Odd time for them to fail" I thought since they worked before and I didn't do anything to them, but I ordered up two new cylinders from Moss. Put them in yesterday, then re-bled and all appears to be right again.

The first time out I'll know for sure if the brakes are working as I live at the top of this cul de sac and my driveway is just an extension of this hill.

Other stuff I'm crossing off the list-

Got the clutch slave cylinder mounted and bled. The pedal really only gets hard the second half of it's travel but I seem to be getting enough travel out of the slave rod, so I think I'm going to run it as is and make any adjustments as needed once I have a few miles on it.

Engine area is just about done. I have choke, heater valve cables run, coolant overflow and windshield fluid reservoirs mounted, blower fan fresh air ducting run to the front of the radiator. etc. etc.

I was making such an emphasis to get it running before so I could check things like tachometer and radiator fan temp switch function with the new wiring. The latter worked but the former did not. After a little troubleshooting I determined the internals of the tach were not working and I sent it off to West Valley Instruments outside LA to be repaired. After talking with them instead of fixing with used parts for $200 I just decided to convert it to be compatible with electronic ignition for $300. I'm still using points right now but it will be easy to make a change later if I need or want to.

I have lots of little things to check off I'm sure, but my biggest 3 steps to being finished as I see them now are:

1. Bonnet fitment and hood latches. The bonnet has never fit well and it's time to get that fully sorted. The latches I reconditioned also have far too much play in them to be useful so I have new ones from Gray's to install. Unfortunately they appear to be the later cable operative versions so I have some converting to figure out.

2. Carpeting. I ordered a full kit from Lakewell. I started to fit them recently but quickly determined given the lack of included instructions it's going to be beyond my current talents to get them to fit well. It looks like there's going to be cutting involved, which I'm not going to trust myself to get right with my one and only chance to do so for a given piece, and some of the pieces I can't even determine where they need to go. So I've contacted a few upholstery shops in my area and will be having one of them do the installation.

3. You may recall I was never happy with how the front right hub assembly went together. the bearing was either set too tight to where the wheel would spin but there was definitely friction acting on it, or too loose where the hub would rock independently of the vertical link. Swapping components from left to right didn't make a different. Recently I bought a few more vertical links and another HD hub kit from Rimmer Bro's so I'm going to get this sorted once and for all. I finished blasting and repainting the vertical links yesterday so I'll target assembling them this week so I can swap them in soon.

Just checked #3 off the list (not going in order mind you). Installing the new hubs on the extra vertical links I purchased gave me exactly the same results as before. The only things I carried over from the previous installation were the brake disc and the steering arm. I couldn't see how the steering could affect anything, and just for giggles I tried without the brake disk attached to the hub with again no change. From there I began to inspect exactly how these were put together and where variability or looseness could be introduced.

I arrived at the conclusion that the axle nut was putting all of the clamping force on the outer wheel bearing, but I really had no guarantee the inner bearing was full seated. The inner bearing and seal are show in the first picture. The way these mate up with the vertical link is the grease seal is supposed to fit around the raised collar through which the stub axle passes and seat into the groove which has all the red grease in it in the second picture. Then the inner bearing race seats against the collar itself.

I tried to set the seals further into the hub but the little bit I was comfortable with made no difference. Luckily the second set of hubs came with shims which I don't recall the first coming with. I always thought these shims were to be put between the axle nut and the outer bearing in case you needed to change the relationship between the slots in the castle nut and the hole for the cotter pin without adding more end float. But I guessed adding these shims between the vertical link and the hub could take up the slack on the inner bearing that might be the cause of my problems.

So on go the shims first, then the hub and voilà! No more looseness. No more binding, even with the nut tightened further than it should be. I didn't bother to figure it out exactly because I don't think I can do anything about it, but something about the spacing of the seal from the edge of the hub, the inner bearing to the seal, or both was causing interference. It must have been just to the smallest degree because there was no physical rubbing of the seal evident, nor could I feel any resistance to turning the wheel until the nut was almost set. But stacking these washers (.015" total on the passenger side and .10" on the driver's side) made all the difference in the world.

What axles are these? Not familiar with them?