Chassis outriggers replaced

13/05/2009

Two years ago while treating my chassis to some anti-rust paint, i discovered that the passenger side front outrigger was badly corroded. Dirt had previously obscured my view of the area. About 4 inches on the top of the chassis tube that runs under the doorsill had disappeared as well as 3 inches on the diagonal tube from the outrigger to the engine.

I put off having the chassis repaired while i bought a house and got married, but last month, the car was transported up to Sportmotive in Stoke on Trent. The have perfected a method of replacing the outriggers without having to remove the body, thereby keeping the cost down. They also have jigs to create new chassis if required, and as such, it is easy to create new outriggers. The work was quickly completed and on May 9th, i had the car transported home. I am very pleased with the result. The new outriggers look great and the whole chassis has been cleaned and treated to anti rust paint. This has surely added many more years of life to my pride and joy. I would recommend Sportmotive to any TVR owner who is considering having their chassis repaired.

This might sound strange, but i also asked for one of the outriggers to be returned so i could inspect the damage and post pictures here. I had thought the passenger side outrigger was the worst. The driver side showed no visible sign of corrosion. To my horror, the driver side was just as bad!

With so many Chimaeras, Griffith and Cerberas, and some newer TVR's also, reaching the age where chassis corrosion is becoming an issue, it is worth having the outriggers professionally checked. Even if the chassis looks in good condition, it is the area that you cant see that could be in a serious state.

Better shots of the wheels

05/02/2009

New wheels

24/01/2009

After several years of searching, i've finaly found a set of wheels. With my front tyres almost down to the wear indicator, and with suitable tyres in the right size and speed rating very difficult to find now, it was the perfect opportunity to change to some larger rims. This not only gives me access to high performance rubber, but also updates the look of the car.

I've always felt the original wheels are too small aesthetically. Back in 1994 when the car was built, the 15 inch front and 16 rear was acceptable, but today even small hot hatches have big wheels.

I've opted for Gun Metal Inovit ST VI 7.5x18" rims with 205/35 front and 225/40 Toyo T1-R tyres. This keeps the overal height of the wheels the same as the originals. As you can see from the image below, there is not much rubber on the fronts!

The rear's have a little more sidewall

Overall, i'm very pleased with the wheels and they vastly update the look of the car.

Searching for new wheels

29/01/2007

My search for new wheels continues. I must have visited every manufacturer's website, but it seems most dont giving full details of the wheel dimension. In particular, info about the stud pattern and also the wheel offset is few and far between. I've found a number of wheels that may fit and made the following comparison tool:

The Jordan R's can be supplied by ACT Products so will definitely fit the car with the correct offset.