You are not logged in

TVR 3000S restoration

by Nigel Warner

April 2003

I decided to restore the hood frame next. The frame was broken in a couple of places and it has been repaired a few times before, one of which had broken again. Two of the screws that hold the middle bar to the side of the frame had stripped there threads and had fallen out. It had been repaired by welding but this too had broken. I first of all removed the hood itself from the frame. It was only attached at the front, on the header rail, and peeled off quite easily with no damage. I replaced the two screws with appropriate sized pop rivets and then re-did the welds so hopefully it will now be strong enough. One of the screw headed bolts that hold part of the side of the frame together was missing so I replaced it with an ordinary nut and bolt. The frame was then rubbed down to get rid of the rust after the remains of the glue was removed from the header rail with some WD40 and then sprayed with Satin Black Hammerite. I then oiled all the joints which made a remarkable difference to it's operation even though it didn't seem that stiff before. I fitted the fram to the car to check it's fit. The header rail seems tight to the screen on the passenger side and there's quite a gap in the middle and on the drivers side. I tried to get it to fit better by bending it slightly in the middle but then the clips wouldn't fit into the holes on the windscreen frame so I put it back to how it was and I will have to put some rubber strip underneath to seal it against the screen frame. I have been told by a few people that it should have the header rail rubber from an MGB fitted to the header rail. I bought one but I can't get it to close against screen so I will have to re-think that.

I cleaned up the hood cover as best I could but the rust stains on the inside wouldn't shift. I may dye it black in the future to try and hide the stains but at the moment I will put up with it. The outside however looks fine. I re-glued the front of the hood back on to the frame and left it to dry. When I got the car the hood wouldn't attach to the two clips nearest the door on the drivers side and unfortunately I still can't get it to fit any better. I will have to have a look to see if I can adjust it any better.

I also found that the Hazard Warning switch wasn't working. I have found out that this is from a post '76 MGB/MGBGT but I also found out that they aren't very well made and don't last long. They are also about £25. I found one the same size and very similar in appearance at Holdens for £6.25 Part number: 020.036.It has exactly the same fitting on the back so it was just a case of plugging it in. I now have the Hazard Warning lights working again.

May 2003

I gave up trying to get the hood to shut with the MGB header rail fitted and bought a length of 13mm x 13mm closed cell sponge from Woolies which I have glued to the header rail and this seems to work OK. It doesn't allow water in when squirted with a hose but I suppose I will only know how good it is when I'm driving in pouring rain.

I decided to make a catch to stop the bonnet opening fully if it became unclipped on both sides (I had one side pop open when driving it home when I bought it). This I did by using a clip from an old key ring and a piece of strap from one of my wife's old handbags. I fixed the clip to the middle of the front edge of the bonnet with a piece of leather strap. I then fixed a ring with another piece of strap to the bulkhead. I experimented with getting the length right so that it opened just enough to unclip it.

I ordered a set of new springs and dampers from Adrian Venn at Exactly TVR to replace the leaking Spax dampers and warped springs. One of the springs was warped so much it had worn away quite a bit of metal from the damper. The new AVO dampers and springs looked too nice to fit to the car. The rear dampers and springs went on very easily, it was just a case of unbolting the old ones and putting on the new. In case you remove all four springs and dampers and can't remember which were the front and which were the back the thicker springs go on the front. To get the front ones on I had to undo the anti-roll bar from the chassis to allow the wishbones enough downward movement to fit the bottom damper bolt but apart from that they were also straight forward. All I've got left to do now is to give all the nuts and bolts a check to make sure I haven't missed tightening any and then get check it over ready for it's MOT.

I've just got back from the MOT station with a nice new MOT certificate so this is the end of the restoration, however there may be a few problems come to light when I start using it.

[Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ]

If you wish to make contact with Nigel regarding this article then visit the contact us page and we will forward your messages on.

Fancy seeing you and your classic on these pages? Get in touch via the contact us page and we will let you know how you can provide your own article.