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Very first car produced. I restored this car many years ago.
Listed on BaT with five days remaining.
Go grab a bargain.
Listed on BaT with five days remaining.
Go grab a bargain.
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First 2500 Vixen
- Thread starter Grantura_MKI
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OP
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Safe travels!
OP
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Purchase by a member of the forum.
escoboy
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So Grantura_MKI, escoboy here. i won the BaT tvr auction so the car will be coming to Escondido in the next few weeks. you mentioned having pics of the restoration. i assume it was at your shop in fallbrook a decade ago and more-or-less sat in a collection (in FL?). imho, this is a significant car in the TVR world, so any and all info i can find relating to the backstory/history of this car, i would like to collect and be able to pass on to its next caretaker. so please contact me if there are pis etc you are willing to share. many thanks
sidebar, my mutant '71 Vixen was at the fallbrook car show a couple months back. got lots of attention, then one of the judges passed by and said he owned a Vixen as well... but didn't stay to chat :-(
sidebar, my mutant '71 Vixen was at the fallbrook car show a couple months back. got lots of attention, then one of the judges passed by and said he owned a Vixen as well... but didn't stay to chat :-(
OP
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Yes, will share what I have. If you can find a video at woodwork when both Gerry and Martin spoke about the car and how it came to life would be good.
You will get the books that mention the car in it with your delivery I believe the UK club has the build card for it. I did see it once whilst at David Gerald TVR in the UK.
Am busy this week, but maybe next?
Don’t do the Fallbrook car show. Don’t know anyone with a Vixen, but there is a 2500M in town.
You will get the books that mention the car in it with your delivery I believe the UK club has the build card for it. I did see it once whilst at David Gerald TVR in the UK.
Am busy this week, but maybe next?
Don’t do the Fallbrook car show. Don’t know anyone with a Vixen, but there is a 2500M in town.
escoboy
Freshman Member
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Well the car has arrived. Very DISAPPOINTINED. Speedo sez 80 at 60mph, tach doesn’t work because “someone” installed a positive ground Pertronix Ignition in a negative ground car (that’s a good one!) and d*cked the wiring, o/d not working, t/s’s not working, IGN warning light not working, pulling on the choke to make it work d*mn near rips it out of the dash you have to pull so hard, H2O temp keeps climbing to 230deg (hopefully just a sender…), NONE of this mentioned in the auction.
once sale completed and transportation arraigned, absolutely no further communication from the “seller” … and who really is the seller?? The auction states “The seller tells us…” but the title doc’s show WIREWHEEL purchased the car out of NY in 2022. That's 4 years ago...
YES I can fix all this crap, but where is the clarity/honesty/conscience by sellers??? that’s two cars this year and both so inadequately described it borders on criminal – definitely SMARMY. Will not ever buy on BaT again.
once sale completed and transportation arraigned, absolutely no further communication from the “seller” … and who really is the seller?? The auction states “The seller tells us…” but the title doc’s show WIREWHEEL purchased the car out of NY in 2022. That's 4 years ago...
YES I can fix all this crap, but where is the clarity/honesty/conscience by sellers??? that’s two cars this year and both so inadequately described it borders on criminal – definitely SMARMY. Will not ever buy on BaT again.
OP
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Sorry to hear this.
I know the ownership history from when I delivered the car.
Most of the wiring I would suspect was done in Florida. Unfortunately, the guy did spotty work. Would definitely remove the electronic ignition.
All I can say is the car as been through many hands now and who know what has been done. OD was fresh when the car was done, so should be an easy fix.
Yes, it had Vixen in the grill. No problem with cooling. These were UK number plate letters.
Real shame it has been messed with.
Rest easy….it is one of one and you stole it!
I know the ownership history from when I delivered the car.
Most of the wiring I would suspect was done in Florida. Unfortunately, the guy did spotty work. Would definitely remove the electronic ignition.
All I can say is the car as been through many hands now and who know what has been done. OD was fresh when the car was done, so should be an easy fix.
Yes, it had Vixen in the grill. No problem with cooling. These were UK number plate letters.
Real shame it has been messed with.
Rest easy….it is one of one and you stole it!
escoboy
Freshman Member
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thanks grantura. i don't really understand why it is so hard to be honest and above board - seems to me to be harder to be a cheater... like CPR Classic in Fallbrook. that was a biz that was featured in Octane, had a great customer base yet screwed its customers... dreaming of the ez $$ i guess.
and why if you run classic car sales biz do you even talk to or know a POS mechanic??
anyway i digress... can you shed some lite on a few things, please. and thanks in advance
1 there is a thermal switch on the bottom of the swirl pot that controls a lucas relay on the firewall next to the steering column. the wire to it arrived unplugged. plugging in the wire latches the relay w/ key on or off. purpose of these items? and i suspect thermal sw bad...
2 original puller fan not working. i assume the otter sw in the rad controls it?
3 does a wiring diagram exist for this car? perhaps in your collection?
4 turn sig's work KOKO (key on key off), sb powered on a switched green fused circuit. is that sending me off investigating idiot mechanic playing with wiring??
5 the harness that terminates between and feeds the alt and distributor has dual wall heat shrink covering the harness wrap where it terminates. doesn't seem to match up with other parts of the harness. thoughts?
6 quoting the BaT ad:
"an aluminum fuel tank with an in-tank fuel pump has been installed along with a stainless-steel exhaust system. Service completed in June 2026 is noted to have involved servicing the fuel system, replacing the electric fuel pump... ".
I drove the car down to my buddy's house to pillage his TR250 bits to return the ign system to points style and came home on a flatbed (my wife is making me pay for buying this "awesome" -my words- TVR :-/ ) quick diagnosis - no fuel, don't hear anything back near the tank and i did earlier. sounds like it's time to get to the gas tank and find out what "replacing the fuel pump" really means. You concur? any memory of what pump was installed in the tank when you had it?
7 my memory of choke cables on the PI engines had a dual cable - one cable to the pump for enrichment and one to the throttle linkage for fast idle. this setup has only the former. did it leave your care this way? and i bet the hose clamp securing the enrichment cable end wasn't your idea either...
8 this is a TR5 PI CP version eng/trans so it should have o/d on 2-4, correct?
9 idle is not very smooth - almost as if it had a cam... maybe due to replacement fuel pump and incorrect fuel pressure? above idle seems fine tho'
10 wondering why the speedo reads so off... 100mph indicated is actually 70. can't imagine even an idiot could do something to cause this. i've seen angle drives shear inside, and dry or overlubed cables and dry bearings in the speedo make the needle dance (this one doesn't bounce tho) so maybe time to send it out to Foreign Speedo...
11 AC gauges not common to me. temp gauge heads up to 230deg - infrared thermometer shows ~180 at t-stat housing, pusher fan kicks on at ~170 off the sender in the t-stat housing. maybe bad sender? thoughts on a source - speedograph richfield ltd - my first thought - no longer in biz. or maybe bad voltage stabilizer... is that mounted to speedo back like TR6's?
12 wondering if no turn signal/high beam dash indicators relates to bad ground(s). have to see if gauge illumination functioning
and why if you run classic car sales biz do you even talk to or know a POS mechanic??
anyway i digress... can you shed some lite on a few things, please. and thanks in advance
1 there is a thermal switch on the bottom of the swirl pot that controls a lucas relay on the firewall next to the steering column. the wire to it arrived unplugged. plugging in the wire latches the relay w/ key on or off. purpose of these items? and i suspect thermal sw bad...
2 original puller fan not working. i assume the otter sw in the rad controls it?
3 does a wiring diagram exist for this car? perhaps in your collection?
4 turn sig's work KOKO (key on key off), sb powered on a switched green fused circuit. is that sending me off investigating idiot mechanic playing with wiring??
5 the harness that terminates between and feeds the alt and distributor has dual wall heat shrink covering the harness wrap where it terminates. doesn't seem to match up with other parts of the harness. thoughts?
6 quoting the BaT ad:
"an aluminum fuel tank with an in-tank fuel pump has been installed along with a stainless-steel exhaust system. Service completed in June 2026 is noted to have involved servicing the fuel system, replacing the electric fuel pump... ".
I drove the car down to my buddy's house to pillage his TR250 bits to return the ign system to points style and came home on a flatbed (my wife is making me pay for buying this "awesome" -my words- TVR :-/ ) quick diagnosis - no fuel, don't hear anything back near the tank and i did earlier. sounds like it's time to get to the gas tank and find out what "replacing the fuel pump" really means. You concur? any memory of what pump was installed in the tank when you had it?
7 my memory of choke cables on the PI engines had a dual cable - one cable to the pump for enrichment and one to the throttle linkage for fast idle. this setup has only the former. did it leave your care this way? and i bet the hose clamp securing the enrichment cable end wasn't your idea either...
8 this is a TR5 PI CP version eng/trans so it should have o/d on 2-4, correct?
9 idle is not very smooth - almost as if it had a cam... maybe due to replacement fuel pump and incorrect fuel pressure? above idle seems fine tho'
10 wondering why the speedo reads so off... 100mph indicated is actually 70. can't imagine even an idiot could do something to cause this. i've seen angle drives shear inside, and dry or overlubed cables and dry bearings in the speedo make the needle dance (this one doesn't bounce tho) so maybe time to send it out to Foreign Speedo...
11 AC gauges not common to me. temp gauge heads up to 230deg - infrared thermometer shows ~180 at t-stat housing, pusher fan kicks on at ~170 off the sender in the t-stat housing. maybe bad sender? thoughts on a source - speedograph richfield ltd - my first thought - no longer in biz. or maybe bad voltage stabilizer... is that mounted to speedo back like TR6's?
12 wondering if no turn signal/high beam dash indicators relates to bad ground(s). have to see if gauge illumination functioning
OP
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Hi,
Probably best to phone me for answers….need to save my fingers!
Just to give you some help now, the car is wired using standard English wiring code…same as MG/ triumph etc.
Believe one relay is fan and other OD. The switch by the steering column operates the function.
Probably best to phone me for answers….need to save my fingers!
Just to give you some help now, the car is wired using standard English wiring code…same as MG/ triumph etc.
Believe one relay is fan and other OD. The switch by the steering column operates the function.
escoboy
Freshman Member
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i wrote Hayes expressing my disappointment and describing the current issues and here was his response:
I'm sorry to hear about your issues and that you're disappointed with the TVR.
To be clear, we did not restore this TVR and we didn't do much work on
it. I bought it as a non-running car from Bob Sharp, (of Datsun racing
fame), after he purchased this car and others, from the deceased
owner's estate. I did not receive any records with this TVR. The
mechanic of the previous owner installed the electronic ignition and
got the Lucas fuel injection working, so the car could be driven. It
had previously been sitting as part of his collection and had been
driven very little, since it was restored by David Zumstein, a number
of years ago. David would know exactly when the restoration was done.
I'm sorry to hear about your issues and that you're disappointed with the TVR.
To be clear, we did not restore this TVR and we didn't do much work on
it. I bought it as a non-running car from Bob Sharp, (of Datsun racing
fame), after he purchased this car and others, from the deceased
owner's estate. I did not receive any records with this TVR. The
mechanic of the previous owner installed the electronic ignition and
got the Lucas fuel injection working, so the car could be driven. It
had previously been sitting as part of his collection and had been
driven very little, since it was restored by David Zumstein, a number
of years ago. David would know exactly when the restoration was done.