February 2011

All disks, wishbones, brake calipers etc have now been cleaned and look pretty good.

Before

After

I have also finished cleaning the rear end of the chassis, some of the nooks in the chassis have blistered and have some surface rust. I have decided that to avoid having various shades of black, I will clean and de-rust these areas and key all of the rear chassis. This will be followed by a coat of primer on any bare metal followed by a couple of coats of black 2K paint.I have put off preparing the rear end for the moment and decided to check out the pedal assembly. I remove the pedals to make it easier to clean and to check the assembly etc The brake cylinders for front and rear are different sizes 3/4 inch for the front and 5/8 inch for the rear. Mine have been fitted the wrong way around. The cylinders have a bead of sealant applied around the face to provide a water tight seal to the bulk-head, I was expecting these to be troublesome in removing. Luckily for me they come away easily. Upon refitting I thoroughly clean the faces with thinners and apply fresh sealant.

 I decided to check the clutch master cylinder, this again came off easily, even the bead of sealant came of in one piece, I cleaned and resealed it. These should be good water tight joints now. I don't want any wet feet (I have had a TVR too long for that !!).

The petrol tanks have been badly painted - looks like the paint was poured on, the top section is also painted, most builds leave this as bare shiny ali. I will try and remove the paint and restore the bling. To get the tanks out I have to remove the side pods. The rivets underneath were drilled out. An incredible amout of sealant was used bonding the side pods to the underneath of the chassis. To cut through I ended up using an old serrated bread knife (well it is old now). Removing the sealant from the chassis was a slow process using a scraper blade and thinners to soften the sealant. I'm not looking to removing it from the side pods.