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TVR 420i, It just HAD to be done... By
Jeff Morgan I have been the proud owner of a TVR 350i for 7 years, it was in a bit of a sorry state cosmetically but by the end, mechanically it was a sound TVR (I have still got the cuts on the knuckles to prove it). I have always considered the 350i to be quite a powerful performance car but during a track day in 1995 I was more than a little suprised to watch a TVR Griffith go past me like I was standing still, even though I was ‘larging it’ at the time! It made me think......MORE POWER NEEDED, MORE POWER NEEEDED. Following a comment off my friend Mark at one of the West Midlands TVR Car Club meetings also started me thinking. He mentioned that my 350I’s wheels were in need of a little TLC (they were rather grotty) and that I should maybe see about getting them re-furbished to make them look a little better. I priced up the wheel refurbishment and totalled up the other work required to get the interior / exterior cosmetically up to scratch and decided that it was going to cost quite a considerable sum to tart the car up to any sort of acceptable standard. After consulting the boss (the wife) I decided to start looking for a bigger wedge with more power and one that was in better shape cosmetically. I would have liked to go for a Griffith but not being a rich bugger I set my sights on a 400, 450? or SEAC?, that way I could still have the wedge’s brutal aggressive styling (and certain exclusivity) and have the power that I craved.
Well, I started looking
in earnest at ads in the motoring press and on the internet and I soon
realised that a good 450SE was just out of my reach financially (and almost
as rare as chickens teeth) and a sorted SEAC was the same except even
more bucks. Finally after much searching I found a suitable car, I e-mailed the guy and to my surprise it was also local, I arranged a visit to find an 11 year old car in excellent condition. It was a 400SE in all its glory – it also had a sound track to match! After a bit of haggling and some checking with HPI it was mine. Big grins all round were an understatement, the car not only looked the business but the inside was dry, the leather was unmarked and it did not even leak when it rained! Everything went well
until…..in Jethro's words, "what happened was" lots of
water started to find its way out of the engine! After a few months of
poking, prodding and checking water levels etc I decided to get the problem
looked at more closely as I was getting more than a little worried at
the rate the engine was losing water. I took the car to a small firm based
in Nuneaton near Coventry run by a guy called Dave (his initials make
up the name of the company) DJE. DJE specialise in
V8 engines, Dave knows the V8 inside out and his work is to the highest
standard, he has worked on several TVRs in the past and he came very highly
recommended. After inspecting the engine bay ‘Oh dear’ was mentioned
‘that doesn’t look right there’ was another comment that
Dave came up with, also the fuelling system was not right either –
oh dear indeed! After starting it
up with the radiator cap off things got worse still, bubbles started appearing,
‘Oh dear’ again says DJE ‘that definitely needs looking
into. Book it in for a heads off and pressure test’. The results
came back; the heads and the block were both cracked, bugger! After further inspection
and a complete engine strip other problems were discovered including:
a bad job done on the porting on the heads which were over done which
caused the cracks, the bearings were also shot and other vital bits were
badly worn etc - the list goes on. It turns out the engine was a lemon,
bugger, shite, bugger!. After much deliberation (with the wife) I decided
to give the go ahead to DJE to work their magic and get my baby back together.
3 weeks later I get my 400 back which is now a highly tuned 420, an engine bay you can eat your burgers off (see pictures), shiny new heads, stage 3, cross bolted, sump baffled, blue printed and more (see full report below). The sound of this car is simply awesome compared to before. Can't welly it yet, as it needs running in. Bugger! Following a house move back to South Wales I had many running in opportunities which included regular trips back to DJE for oil changes (which I had to do to comply with the 12,000 mile warranty that comes with the rebuilt engine). The time finally comes when I can let the car loose above 2500 revs – WOW!
To put it mildly,
the car now SHIFTS like shite off a shovel!, it is now a totally different
beast than it was before the re-build. It roars, it yells, it kicks you
in the back with the acceleration, it scares me, it uses fuel like it’s
going out of fashion and it eats tyres – God, I love this car!!! I bought the car in
good faith, unfortunately it had a problem (that I was obviously not aware
of at the time) and after much anguish and expense (£5,800 to be
exact) I now have a well sorted, monster and not to mention rare TVR wedge
– and as a bonus the Wife even likes it! The money that I have had to spend so far would have got me a nice Griffith. But I want to live a life less ordinary – A big ‘nutter’ wedge; it just had to be done! If you are looking for a huge grin for buck factor the 400 does it for me every time, only the SEAC improves the whole wedge ‘package’ in my opinion.
The previous owners
have looked after it well, spending lots of money on upgrades and mods
(all the brake linings changed for Goodridge stainless braided brake hoses,
AVO shockers with new springs with adjustable corner weights, waxoyled
chassis etc). Unfortunately some of the upgrades were carried out better
than others! If anyone who used to own it is looking in and reading this,
be assured it’s in good hands. If
you are interested, below is the Final report of the work carried out
by DJE on my TVR.
And a 12,000 mile warranty subject to DJE servicing. Also the sump has been baffled. It runs on Vavoline racing oil, not synthetic (due to the original 50's design) and has a change every 3000 miles. The block is newish 3.9 Range Rover (3 yrs ?) hence the alternator is on the other side to the norm, and other ancillaries had to be relocated. Red line is 5500 rpm.
On paper the engine is good for 275 BHP but there was no time to do a proper Dyno test as I was moving back to Wales. This figure comes from the basic expected O/P and then the mods that DJE carried out (each one having a set gain) .5 BHP for each valve and guide customed for example. All the above for
£5800 For more information on DJE, visit their website at: http://djev8.com Best Regards Jeff Morgan |
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