1995 Griffith 500 restoration

1995 Griffith 500 restoration

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RobXjcoupe

Original Poster:

2,898 posts

78 months

Friday 22nd July 2022
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A couple of pictures of Jaguar xjs seats re-upholstered I found. Beige is original, not keen on the blue vertical pleat design, its a little plain, but the black seat has been done very well.

RobXjcoupe

Original Poster:

2,898 posts

78 months

Thursday 1st December 2022
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So had a phone call this lunchtime. Chassis back and body painted but……
I asked for a black chassis and it’s white. I just said as long as it looks good in white that’s fine. Pictures below if interested. Body is original colour of starmist blue





[url]


Sasquatch

3 posts

46 months

Thursday 1st December 2022
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Starmist paint looks great, chassis better off in white (IMHO) again looks great, interested to see how front looks with high beam spot delete.

Polly Grigora

10,694 posts

96 months

Thursday 1st December 2022
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What's with all the cable ties, they go hard and break off

Classic Chim

11,932 posts

136 months

Thursday 1st December 2022
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Polly Grigora said:
What's with all the cable ties, they go hard and break off
Rubbish. Mine lasted 20 years and only came off by cutting them!

Classic Chim

11,932 posts

136 months

Thursday 1st December 2022
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And that’s looking mighty fine Rob. Fantastic. Is that at Adrians place wink

RobXjcoupe

Original Poster:

2,898 posts

78 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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Classic Chim said:
And that’s looking mighty fine Rob. Fantastic. Is that at Adrians place wink
Yep!

Belle427

7,262 posts

220 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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Does make me wonder how cable ties were ever allowed to secure fuel and brake lines.
No doubt they do last but just seems odd to me.

RobXjcoupe

Original Poster:

2,898 posts

78 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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Belle427 said:
Does make me wonder how cable ties were ever allowed to secure fuel and brake lines.
No doubt they do last but just seems odd to me.
If I had the time and space, I would use a more traditional method to attach the fuel and brake lines. Unfortunately budgets as they are cable ties as per original factory is fine with me.
Like most things, unlimited budget would be awesome lol

sixor8

5,189 posts

255 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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Classic Chim said:
Rubbish. Mine lasted 20 years and only came off by cutting them!
They are still there on my 23 year old car too! smile Using them on a car of unitary construction would be a no-no but on a car with a separate chassis and body, fine. but not clse to the engine of course, heat and all that. smile And passed as safe many years ago. Polly's is yet another observation from somebody who has never owned a TVR. rolleyes

RobXjcoupe

Original Poster:

2,898 posts

78 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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Another chassis picture.

gordon1955

109 posts

33 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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RobXjcoupe said:
LucyP said:
Surely you are not going to put lights from 2008 into a 2022 project? Technology has moved on. Find something current and much better, if you want to upgrade.

And surely you are not going to put 1970/80s XJS seats in either. Are they the TWR ones or just the standard Jaguar ones that were once as flat as a snooker table and then in the late 80s got the big bolsters where the piping wore down to the plastic core from the seatbelt rubbing (my dad had a XJS V12 from new that did just that)? The XJS seats are enormous, heavy and tall. The headrests almost touched the XJS's headlining. They were heated too. Surely you want something modern, light and simple.
Unfortunately 2022 lights in a 1995 car isn’t legal until the car is 40 years old and lets face it original TVR seats are 70’s British leyland based. 80’s xjs Seats would be an upgrade. smile
All the lightweight modern sports seats are not very appealing to the eye or look particularly comfortable fitted into a classic styled interior like the Griffith. By all means I’m open to suggestions if you give examples, but I’m not building an Asian turbo car with every bit of current technology thrown at it. I’m restoring a classic styled British sports car with a few upgrades of which parts are more readily available. One thing I agree with is simplicity. The recaro styled xjs seats are a simple design, easy to fix and new foams are readily available if needed once I start to template the cover.
Also having heated seats is a must with a bad back. Too much heavy lifting in my younger years has taken its toll. So the compromise is sports car ride but comfy seat! Lol smile
About time someone put you in your place LucyP

Polly Grigora

10,694 posts

96 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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Classic Chim said:
Polly Grigora said:
What's with all the cable ties, they go hard and break off
Rubbish. Mine lasted 20 years and only came off by cutting them!
Lucky you

The job is a massive bodge even when using your unbreakable cable ties

There is no way the pipes should be able to rub against the tubes

Pipe cable tie incoming



A big W on each buttock for these - https://www.mcmaster.com/tubing-clips/



Edited by Polly Grigora on Friday 2nd December 17:08

Classic Chim

11,932 posts

136 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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Polly Grigora said:
Lucky you

The job is a massive bodge even when using your unbreakable cable ties

There is no way the pipes should be able to rub against the tubes

Pipe cable tie incoming



A big W on each buttock for these - https://www.mcmaster.com/tubing-clips/



Edited by Polly Grigora on Friday 2nd December 17:08
But they don’t rub on the chassis.
Where did you get that idea from.
When has an owner ever complained of such an issue?
If they vibrated off the chassis you would hear it.
Funnily enough the pipes especially brake and fuel lines hugging the bottom rails cool both fluids because the chassis steel is always cooler than those pipes.
A friend has used fixings that suspend the fuel pipes off the chassis and I have a suspicion he might have fuel heating issues later down the line.

My rear brake line which was 20 years old when I removed it was reusable and no chaffing or scrape marks were present on any part of it or the chassis. It was replaced anyway but totally safe with very little corrosion all things considered.
My car was on 75,000 miles so the facts suggest cable ties do a good job and very easy to remove/ replace.




mk1fan

10,292 posts

212 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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Looking good. Nice refurb and photos.

Interested in seeing the front lights. I assume it is the twin 90mm Hella units. I like that and have seen it multiple times but with the spots retained.

Hope it goes well and you get to enjoy it soon.

Polly Grigora

10,694 posts

96 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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Classic Chim said:
Funnily enough the pipes especially brake and fuel lines hugging the bottom rails cool both fluids because the chassis steel is always cooler than those pipes
Classicsmile

Polly Grigora

10,694 posts

96 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
quotequote all
RobXjcoupe said:
So had a phone call this lunchtime. Chassis back and body painted but……
I asked for a black chassis and it’s white. I just said as long as it looks good in white that’s fine. Pictures below if interested. Body is original colour of starmist blue





[url]

OP, the work looks top class, you'll have a stunner when it's finished, can you not reconsider doing something better with the brake pipes?

RobXjcoupe

Original Poster:

2,898 posts

78 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
quotequote all
Polly Grigora said:
RobXjcoupe said:
So had a phone call this lunchtime. Chassis back and body painted but……
I asked for a black chassis and it’s white. I just said as long as it looks good in white that’s fine. Pictures below if interested. Body is original colour of starmist blue





[url]

OP, the work looks top class, you'll have a stunner when it's finished, can you not reconsider doing something better with the brake pipes?
Cable ties are fine. If I start drilling holes into the chassis tubes for a metal or even plastic fitting I would be creating a weak point for stress to focus on. Worse still non engineered crumple zones. Yes I agree cable ties don’t look professional but they do the job. It’s as factory. I could ask for white cable ties perhaps to match the white chassis?

TwinKam

2,355 posts

82 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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Weak points? Stress risers? Crumple zones? ...does your chassis not already have a number of 3mm holes in the bottom tubes for the heat shield screws? And there are those who have galvanised their chassis who have drilled two 6mm(?) holes in every tube! A few more 3 or even 4mm holes for 'P' clips would make no structural difference whatsoever. The only reason that tywraps were/are used is because they're cheap and quick. But they are not best practice; in proper grown-up car construction the pipes will touch nothing between clips.

Belle427

7,262 posts

220 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
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A bit tongue in cheek but just because it’s Tvr factory doesn’t make it right. laugh
They got a lot right but a hell of a lot wrong.
Anyway op your car looks fantastic.