March 2011

I have started rubbing down the rear chassis around the engine bay. What appeared to be imperfections in the powder coating turn out to be thin lines of rust.For instance there are some small ridges running down a tube, when sanded back it appears that there is a rust line a bit like a snail trail. I guess the chassis was not properly degreased / prepared prior to powder coating. Anyway it is a grotty job and as it has been a bit cold, I have used the temperature as an excuse not work too hard on the rubbing down.  I will not be able to paint it until the weather warms up. I  have swapped the front hubs over, so now they are on the correct sides as per the factory.

I also want to sand blast the joints where I cannot rub down the surface rust that easily, I need to drag the chassis outside to do that, so I started work on the Gixxer which was blocking one of the garage doors.

Another distraction was that I have been planning to run an airline around the garage, this will  improve the quality of the air for any painting work I plan to do, allowing most of the moisture in the air to condense and be drained off prior to the spray gun. There are four outlets around the garage each with its own filter / regulator. I will then also have a moisture filter on the back of the spray gun.

One of the airline outlets   Typical loop from the main feed to an outlet

The inlet to the airline, another outlet and the final drain tube   Another loop from the main feed to an outlet and a relief valve

The final distractions were with the TVR. My daughter drove it the other day, she came back later unable to open the boot. When pressing the boot release button you could here the solenoid click but not the solid clunk it normaly makes when it unlocks the boot. I check the forums for a way in but all relevant posts are handled with private messages. I register on the TVR owner's club forum and post a question but as I'm a newbie no one will provide the information – apparently a closely guarded secret to prevent theft etc. In the end I have to cut a hole behind the number plate in the fibre glass. I quickly find the cause – the cable has snapped from the solenoid to the lock mechanism. I repair the cable and as a makeshift repair to the hole I rig a metal strap behind the hole and bolt the removed piece to this. I seal around the hole with sikaflex.  If it bothers me enough I will grind the area back and repair the hole with fibreglass and paint it, although with the number plate back on it's out of sight. I have since found out there is normally a small hole behind the number plate whereby a small rod can be inserted to release the latch. A quick check on mine reveals that this hole is not present.

The second distraction with the TVR again involves my daughter (you would think I would learn and not let her drive it), on another excursion with it, she arrives home with white smoke billowing from under the bonnet. A quick look reveals a split in the high pressure power steering hose. Every time the steering is turned a jet of power steering fluid was squirted directly on to the left hand exhaust mainfold.