Southways Automotive rebuild
With your car SORNed who has not wondered if it might be the time to take the body off the chassis and do a full rebuild, just to spend dark knights in the garage? I’ve given into this myself, having rebuilt a car that had a problem with rot between the aluminium side panels and the steel chassis. All in all a few week’s work. 14 months later the car was back on the road. It was a kit car. The odd thing is that it took me just 8 months to build it.
There is a truism that you should multiply by four what you already know is wrong with the car and multiply by ten the estimated cost.
The TVR combination of steel chassis and fibreglass body gives everyone a false sense of ease. All you have to do is take the body off, then everything you need to work on is exposed and ready for you to repair. What could be easier?
For the home mechanic there are certain problems doing it yourself that have to be accepted. Bulk is the main one. A garage looks nice and big until you have to get to all sides of the car. The space under the car is very restricted if it is lifted on jacks and axle stands. It is barely enough for all the service items. And then there is the body.
Rumour has it that with everything taken off, the body weighs around 300kg. This of itself would be a problem to overcome. But there is the additional concern that the body has to be lifted evenly. It is not a good idea to have four mates, one on each corner. Firstly, 75kg is rather a test, and secondly it would put a huge strain on the tub.
You might want to consider keeping the heavy doors in place and the roof erected to ensure the load is spread as much as possible.
Right, if you are still reading then it is possible that I have not put you off with all the doom and gloom.
Southways Automotive are rebuilding what on first sight,above, appears to be a lovely Chim. Chief mechanic, Richard Kitchen, is taking the body off to completely refurbish the chassis.
For us, start off with what you can look for to see if the car does require a full body lift. If you want just your outriggers or wishbones repaired then you could just go for a partial body lift but Southways are not sold on this when replacing just the outriggers and they would recommend inspecting the chassis in detail.
As can be seen by the picture, right, a ramp makes things much more comfortable and easier. Whilst these are rather expensive, and most (all?) require special electrics, they can be hired for an hour or more in some Halfords and similar places. It is not a bad idea if you are servicing the car. It is not a bad idea to hire one to examine a car you are considering buying.
Picture, left: the front offside lower wishbone. The rust has taken a hold here and replacement is the only sensible option. Whilst it is easy to suggest this should have been picked up earlier, getting under a car can be difficult, and not without its danger, for a home mechanic.
Start your inspection from one specific point – take your choice – and work your way around the car, examining every bit of the chassis as you go. Do not ignore one bit because it is difficult to get to. That means it is probably more likely to have problems.
Remember that it normally looks a lot worse than it really is. A little bit of surface rust appears to be a disaster but a few seconds with a wire brush and the strong metal is revealed. But if you see a pin hole, once all the rust is removed you will probably be able to get your finger inside.
Left: what looks disastrous is in fact just surface rust and will clean up with a little wire brushing.
The chassis of the TVR Griff and Chim is remarkably strong. I have been told that it is not a true backbone chassis, nor is it a spaceframe. It has been described as a twin-rail chassis with spaceframe strengthening and outriggers. The basis for this can be seen in the pictures of the chassis removed. But whatever you call it, what is certain is that the two main rails are vital to the overall strength.
It is reassuring to know that rust problems with the main rails is extremely rare. However this chassis has a rather large hole.The good news with this car is that the chassis has not rusted from the inside out, meaning that the problem is localised and the chassis can be repaired to original standard without problems.
Richard reckons that the probable cause were the various pipes are tied on to the chassis. In this instance it was the carbon canister hose rubbing against the paint, then the bare metal. As it is, it was caught in time. It is a good idea to check anywhere there is a cable tie or clip as they make great water, then mud, retainers. Even so, to the casual glance it does not look all that bad but see later.
Most of the rust was merely surface rust and the chassis overall was in good condition. The outriggers were more or less as expected but the rest, apart from one or two points, just needed a bit of TLC.
The classic places for rot are the outrigger corners and the middle beam joints about half way along.
There are two ways of estimating the condition of the chassis, extrapolating by considering the state of the chassis that can be seen, this requires experience obviously, or go for the full body off.
Left: what does the state of this outrigger tell us about the whole chassis? Not a lot actually. It doesn’t even tell us much about the state of the joint itself.
Once the decision is made that a body-off is required, the work starts.
The way Southways Automotive go about it is to start at the back of the car and work forwards. The boot is stripped first, fuel tank and plumbing removed – store very carefully – and the seat belts. This is a good time to replace them. The car presumably is around a dozen years old or more. They end up at the front with the bonnet being removed and the radiator and various underbonnet objects and wiring being the last things to go.
Richard suggests the home DIYer should mix the tasks rather than follow the same method. It can be daunting to have a run of really difficult jobs as this can affect morale. Below: the interior is stripped out and placed somewhere it will not be damaged.
Once everything is disconnected, with all the parts boxed, labelled, and stored carefully, the body can be lifted. If it is your first time it is probable that you will have forgotten an item or two. Or three, so be prepared.
How you lift the body is down to you. Richard’s method is for it to be supported around the axle area. They use the ramp to lift the body and a custom-made dolly to store it. Right: the body just being lifted. You can see from the angles of the road wheels just how much the body weighs.The body will need to be covered if it is stored outside as the windows will not be wound up.
Below the body and rolling chassis. The body is on the bespoke dolly.
Then the chassis has to be stripped. The engine is easy enough to remove now that the body has been removed although it is still a heavy lump, despite being all alloy.
Above left: the rolling chassis. Above right: with wheels removed. Now come the painstaking stripping process. It is essential at this stage to take as many photographs as possible, back up with notes on procedures, problems and sequences, to ensure that the rebuild goes ahead without problems. Or rather, too many problems. Left: the rear suspension, upper wishbone removed.
Right: with the suspension removed the next thing to go was the propshaft and driveshafts.. Next was the heavy differential. Again, it is advised to go through each process and item in sequence rather that dip a toe in here and there. Do not forget to mark everything, even when it is obvious where a bolt or cable goes as you will forget.
Below: the engine being removed together with the gearbox. It is easy enough to lift once the body has been removed although it is still a heavy lump, despite being all alloy.
Above, right: the bare chassis, eventually. Now is the time to inspect the various nooks and crannies. There is little doubt that you will be shocked and surprised at what you see. However, do not give up hope. Firstly, it always seems much wore than it is, and secondly, you might want to save some of that despondency for when the chassis returns from the shotblasters.
Below: if you think selling your house is stressful then you have never sent your chassis away to the shotblasters.
Above: obviously this needs some remedial action. However, the shotblasting will reveal just how bad, or indeed good, the joint is. Above, right: This joint looks in pretty good condition but the same condition applies. You will not know if it is ok until then. Right: some suggest that the outriggers are not structural and therefore are not that important. If you look closely you will see a hole drilled in the vertical plate of metal. This is where the passenger seatbelt lower mount bolts in. If you do not think that is vital then you probably have them well insured.
Left: the chassis at the front nearside just after the wishbone mounts. It looks disastrous but all is not as bad as it seems. The rust in on the main rail, an obviously critical part of the chassis, and the front wishbone mount is not something you can do without. However, it has rusted from the outside due to the cable you can see running past, attached, although more by habit than strength, by a couple of cable ties. This has worn away the protective paint and allowed rust to take a hold. It is local so easily corrected.
RV8R would like to thank Southways Automotive, of Fareham, Hants, for their generous help in producing this article. Please clikc on the picture.
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