Fuzz Townshend takes us behind the scenes of the restorations on the latest series of Car SOS. This week the team’s experts tackle a not-so clever Trevor
CAR SOS NEW SERIES EXCLUSIVE
The late Trevor Wilkinson’s first stroke of genius was turning a mundane (sorry, all Trevs) name into a groovy one.
TVR seems to ooze excitement.
The second stroke of genius was to construct the cars around a lightweight tubular spaceframe using glass reinforced plastic bodies, with the pick of a range of peppy, tuneable engines and many adapted proprietary parts.
The third was to do all of this at a time when the nation was moving into an era of vibrant creativity and self-belief.
Norfolk engineer Steve picked up his Grantura MkIIA in 1979 and has owned it ever since, all be it with a brief break when he sold it, only to regret the act and buy it back again. Perhaps he knew that this little car was about to put up a big fight.
Steve’s mechanic and restorer chum Mark’s cheery demeanour set alarm bells ringing as he helped us to extract the TVR from his workshop especially when only a motley selection of parts accompanied the incomplete car.
Its cracked and fractured bodywork was worrying enough but closer inspection revealed what appeared to be delaminated sheets of glass-fibre making up the shell, meaning that repairs to these areas would be extensive and time-consuming.
Back at the workshop, fractures were spotted in parts of the spaceframe, as was a small area of rot to the left side lower main central longitudinal where it emerged from the tightly wrapped GRP body.
Cutting an exploratory inspection window into said fibreglass released a cascade of rust and further cuts revealed even more corrosion. The concealed lower parts of frame had mostly rotted away leaving only cavities. Our only course of action was to remove the bonded-on body, which involved a lot of awkward and messy work with a cutting disc. I can attest to the fact that old fibreglass gets everywhere once it’s disturbed.
