:: Diary - August 2025 ::
:: Monday, 11 August 2025 ::
I missed the local TVR Car Club meeting last Sunday - I was in Southampton at a family celebration, so I missed all of the exciting news about all
the events that the club will be attending (which I expect, as usual, would be "none"). Our wee group have decided to organise our own wee tour -
more news will follow soon!
At last though, it's time to take the Vixen to the paint shop! I have temporarily fitted the headlights and indicators so that I can drive it there
- it's only 4 miles or so but it woud be just my luck to get spotted by the one police patrol that dares to venture out on the mean streets here...
I have brought a box for those bits, and just enough tools too be able to remove them.
The drive there is easy, except for the big queue at the one set of traffic lights that I have to go through, where "they" are resurfacing the road
again... during the peak hour... still, at least now I know that the car doesn't overheat in traffic.
It takes me around 10 minutes to remove both headlights and front indicators, and the associated wiring, and leave the car with him.
:: Thursday, 14 August 2025 ::
Another day to add to the "Aw for fuck's sake, what is it now?" experience of TVR ownership...
I got a call from the bodyshop yesterday - he has started prep on the car and he wants me to pop in and see him. Now in my experience, such calls
rarely end with "this is going to be a lot easier than I thought". No...
There's the car, there's the bonnet over in the corner. He says that as he has been rubbing down the shite-coloured filler that I used, he has found
that it has a few star cracks in the top, and stress line fractures under the front valance, which he's going to have to grind out and refill.
The arrows here point to those star cracks, where something has pushed up from underneath.
Here's a couple at the rear driver side... THey aren't as bad as they look in the photo: the jobby-coloured filler does exaggerate them a bit!
I'm not going to show photos of them all - those two are the worst, the others aren't so bad...
He thinks that the stress cracks under the valance are because the bonnet has been allowed to "overextend" forwards, and has cracked around that
hinge bar. I'm not so sure...
Here's a photo taken 4 days after the bonnet was delivered, while I was fitting the grille. At this point, the hinge bar hadn't been fitted - I
still had to get the guys around to test fit it so that I could glass the hinge frame o in the right place. All I had done at this point was cut
holes for lights, vents etc. You can see the cracks (which I thought were scratches) under the finish, in the top of the photo (the bonnet is
upside-down here!)
I can't think how the top of the bonnet could have become star-cracked, unless it was when I was moving it on to that wee wooden table. I was careful
though, and don't remember any particular damage-causing incidents (although that was now 4 months ago, so I could easily have forgotten by now).
Anyway, however it happened, it's my problem now...
He has also spectrographed the paint and says that the closest match isn't Ford Rosso red (as it says on the respray receipt that I got in the
folder with the car), but Daihatsu Mistic Red (that's how they spell it). He has ordered the paint, and it does look exactly right...
So what can you do except say "Aye, carry on pal..."
:: Monday, 18 August 2025 ::
I decided to drop in and visit the Vixen at the body hospital today.
He has done a lot of work, but not much of it is immediately visible. He has ground back the star cracks and re-glassed them and rubbed them down.
He says there's still a bit of smooting to be done. It;'s definitely looking a lot better close-up!
The cracks underneath the valance have also been treated.
It's nearly ready for a filler / primer and then we'll see if any further prep is needed before spraying on the colour.
It'll be lovely when it's finished. I hope!
:: Friday, 22 August 2025 ::
Another visit to the bodyshop today...
The bonnet has now been filled and shaped, with a primer over the top, and then a guide coat for blocking down. All of the cracks, and most of the
pinholes, are now filled and will be ready for final painting soon.
Today he is masking off the underside - grille, hinge brackets etc - that's getting painted this afternoon and then left to dry over the weekend.
Finishing and painting the top will be next week now...
I'm sure it's going to be a great job when it's finished, but I'm getting a wee bit concerned about the time. I decide to tactfully keep that
to myself. There's no point in getting into an argument and pushing for it to be finished quicker, because then it's not likely to be as good
- and a better finish in the long term is better than a quicker job in the short term, for no real urgent reason...
Instead, I come home and release a lengthy string of curses and obscenities at the Vixen-sized space in the garage. That'll learn him.
:: Wednesday, 27 August 2025 ::
Another visit to the bodyshop today... hopefully the last one before collection!
The underside is painted, and the top side has been primed and rubbed down, ready for another final primer this afternoon.
It's getting painted tomorrow, and should be finished and ready to collect on Friday.
It's looking pretty good though!
Now... does anybody know how to get rid of a heavy 5 foot square old fibreglass bonnet? It's cracked and broken but still mostly in one piece. The
Council won't take it, recyclers want to charge to even look at it, I can't burn it (not here anyway) and I don't have transport to take it
anywhere else to torch the bastard. It might end up going in the bin in A4-sized bits, from now until Christmas 2027...
:: Friday, 29 August 2025 ::
First thing in the morning, I get the call... the Vixen will be ready today. I can't get in to collect it until afternoon though because (a) I have
work to do, and (b) Mrs Git is away this morning so can't give me a lift. Oh and (c) the electrics in my garage blew the circuit breaker last night.
First things first - the electrics. They say that everyday, you should do something that scares you, and conquer that fear. My fear is getting blown
10 feet into the air when I'm already 6 feet up a ladder, and then landing from 16 feet up with everything already turning black and crispy, and
ending up splattering into the floor like an incontinent chimney sweeps with Parkinson's.
So the first thing is to find the problem... I see that it's the lighting circuit that's tripped, but the wall sockets seem to be ok. I reset the
circuit breaker but it trips again after a few seconds...
Yesterday, I hired a man to clean the front of the house and the garage. He's done a lovely job, but maybe water has been pressurised into the base
of the security camera?
Check again that the garage electrics are off, then disconnect the cable to the camera at the junction box inside the garage. Reset the breaker and
it's fine...
When I take the camera off the wall, I find that it's packed with spiders' dinners - webs and cocooned insects, all soaking wet. I clear those out,
reconnect the electrics, and everything works! And nobody gets frazzled!
Next scary thing - will the Vixen's paint be ok? Memories of the Lexus paint job 13 years ago, come flooding back. I'm not emotionally resilient
enough to go through all that shit again.
I needn't have worried - it looks great!
He has been waiting for me to arrive, to help him to fit the bonnet to the car. That takes about 5 minutes. The paint match and finish looks perfect!
He goes back to spraying the bonnet for a BMW...
while I get on with fitting headlights and indicators so that it's legal for driving home. Apart from the missing front registration number.
Next scary thing (3 in one day) is driving home in the pishing rain. It has been drier than a tandoori oven here for feckin weeks, and 5 minutes
before I'm ready to leave, it absolutely monsoons it down... Light car, skinny tires, questionable wipers do not a good combination make.
Added to that, everybody seems to be driving like pricks. Or is it just me, scared (for the fourth time) to damage the newly-painted front end?
Just up from the garage, there's a set of traffic lights with a queue like a Russian bread shop. The lights go green. Everybody shuffles forward.
Lights go red. Everybody stops, a suspiciously short distance from where the queue started.
Eventually, the lights go green. Everybody shuffles forward. Lights go red. Everybody stops again.
After everybody else has had a shot, including pedestrians who get a green man even although they fucked off five minutes ago, the lights go green
again. Everybody shuffles forward. Lights go red. Everybody stops. I'm now 4th in the queue - bound to get through next time!
The lights go green. Car No 1 shoots off. Car No 2 seems to have fallen asleep. The lights don't detect any movement so the lights change back
again. Just as the lights go to amber, car no 2 lurches forward at the speed of a crippled snail, and car no 3 follows him through, on red by
this time. I have to stop again...
This gives me ample time to curse the driver of car no 1 and all of his ancestors, before the lights finally change again...
It's scary that these cretins are out there...
Anyway, it's now home, ready for fitting the rest of the badges and shiny bits. Not today though. (Ignore the wee puddle of water in front, that's
clean pure rainwater that ran out of the front of the bonnet when I opened it.)
:: Saturday, 30 August 2025 ::
Oooooohhhh! Shiny bits!
First though, I need to tidy up the wiring, for 2 reasons:
1. The indicators aren't working; and
2. Dip beam isn't working on both sides.
Soon(ish) sorted with a test probe and wee pliers to tighten up connections.
Then I cable tie all the wiring into place, rather than leave it hanging loose like it was when I got it, and add the two wee dividers I made to
help direct air through the radiator, rather than into the wheelarch.
Then I work through the other items on the list. First the headlight rings.
Then the washer jets and the hose inside the bonnet, through the wee clips that I moulded in.
Then the new (proper) sidelights.
Then the bonnet badge and the two chrome side vents (Ford Zephyr!).
When I go to fix the registration number in the front grille, I remember that the black paint on the grille has worn through in places, partly I
think because of acetone from the fibre-glassing, and also just through getting moulded into shape for fitting. I decide to paint it again before
fitting the numbers. Rather then mask off the whole of the rest of thr car, I spray some paint into the cap off the can, and paint it on with a wee
brush. It still takes ages, but looks a lot better.
So that leaves me with 3 jobs for tomorrow - fit the numbers to the grille, and refit the front bumpers, for which I need an extra pair of hands so
that I don't scratch the paint to shit while I'm fitting the bolts.
:: Sunday, 31 August 2025 ::
Couple of quick wee jobs - fit the reg number on the grille, then the quarter bumpers. It takes me longer to tidy up afterwards!
It has been a toil, but it's looking good!
There's the car, there's the bonnet over in the corner. He says that as he has been rubbing down the shite-coloured filler that I used, he has found
that it has a few star cracks in the top, and stress line fractures under the front valance, which he's going to have to grind out and refill.
The arrows here point to those star cracks, where something has pushed up from underneath.
Here's a couple at the rear driver side... THey aren't as bad as they look in the photo: the jobby-coloured filler does exaggerate them a bit!
Here's a photo taken 4 days after the bonnet was delivered, while I was fitting the grille. At this point, the hinge bar hadn't been fitted - I
still had to get the guys around to test fit it so that I could glass the hinge frame o in the right place. All I had done at this point was cut
holes for lights, vents etc. You can see the cracks (which I thought were scratches) under the finish, in the top of the photo (the bonnet is
upside-down here!)
