The car had only done 7000 miles since the last 12k (and 1 year / 1,000 miles since the last 6k), but it had also been 3 years, so I figured it was worth going for the works, then it has been d0ne under my ownership.
I could have gone for a low mileage service + brake fluid, but after chatting with Jason and Dom at TVR Power I decided to get everything done.
One the to-do list was:
- 12k service (includes tappets, gearbox and diff oil, brake fluid, coolant)
- Uprated starter motor (fix hot-start problem)
- Injector flow-test, clean, flow-test (fix slight lean running at full power)
- Throttle body insulating gaskets
- MOT
- Updated Anderson connector (added to the work at Jason’s advice).
I knew this was going to be quite expensive and it didn’t dissapoint. £1,759 and we have only driven 1,000 miles in the last year (new baby hasn’t helped)
But on the upside, the car is now in A1 mechanical condition, with an excellent bill of health and nothing needs doing.
Jason even complimented the handling and how the car is set up (see this post from May).
Feedback I got on the car was:
- Gearbox and diff oil were very clean. They can be discoloured if it has been driven hard
- Injectors now have much better spray patterns, slightly increased flow, and decreased resistance. They should be opening faster and getting more fuel in
- Throttle bodies were easy to set up and the car appears to be running well
- MOT passed with no problems – once the tester was shown where the bonnet release was
- 19 shims fitted. 12 because the tappet was slightly out of tolerance, and 7 as the existing shim was discoloured which is apparently the start of softening / wear
- Brakes all working well
- Safer with updated Anderson connector – there has been a few big problems in the past due to these
Jason / Dom said just to enjoy the car, nothing to worry about. Hopefully I won’t need to go back for a year.
On starting the car, the effect of the new starter motor was obvious. Far more powerful than the old motor. Jason can thought the old motor might have a cracked in a coil and when the starter was hot, the continuity was lost.
I filled the car up with V-Power at the Bedworth shell station (just North of the M6) and headed home. The car drove well, no obvious differences to before but it was running nicely. The hot start to put it back in the garage was no problem, the new motor is amusingly quick.
Jason would like to know my view on the throttle body gaskets and if I can tell any difference. I will see what I can do.
In the afternoon I called CAT driver training to arrange a date to finish the delayed training of last year. Hopefully we will be able to sort a date in September or October now that all the faults in the car have been ironed out.
Next possible outing is the Shelsley Walsh breakfast club on Sunday.