06x15 & 06x16 - TVR S2 (Part 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler
Dealers, a show that loves

to take iconic cars
heading for oblivion.

And we make them into head turners
one more time. I hunt down the cars.

And I wield the spanners, and
with profit in mind, we sell them on.

This time we're on the hunt
for a British sports car that's

got seat of your pants
handling and brutal performance.

And it's named after a bloke called Trevor.
Yes, it's the TVRS.

The shape of the TVRS is unmistakable,
curvaceous, breathtaking, British.

But you don't buy an S to pose.
This is a driver's car.

The 170-brake, 6-cylinder
engine offers 0-60 in just 7 seconds.

It delivers motorbike thrills and
puts you in touch with the road.

Trevor Wilkinson
founded TVR in 1947, but

this car comes from the
company's 80s heyday,

when TVRs were the British
alternative to European performance cars.

They can be temperamental,
but they've got soul.

This is why I want
one, and with a budget

of just five grand to
buy and restore a car,

we've got a job on our end.

Right, early bird catches
the worm, and it really is early.

Now, everyone knows that that
TVR has got a loyal fan base,

and the S2 is such a popular car,
and it's easily accessible for parts.

Thing is, I thought it'd be really
easy to go and find one, and it is.

If you've got ten grand to spend,
there's loads on the Internet.

Problem is, I haven't got ten grand.
An old Wheeler dealer like me,

I've only got three or four grand
to spend on one of these cars.

When you're at that range,
well, really, you're slim pickings.

But there's a clever way to
harness a great motor room resource.

Hit the forums.
Hundreds of TVR fans are

online, on Club Pages
and other TVR fan sites.

They're either selling cars or
discussing ads they've seen elsewhere.

I've put the word out
on the forums that I run a

cheap car, and I'm already
getting some ideas back,

including this ad for a shaky
S2 on an Internet auction site.

Now, this guy sounds too good to be true.

He says nobody's bothered
to come and view it yet,

and he's willing to sell
it whatever the price.

Now, the only problem I can see
for me is the car is in Yorkshire,

which, from where I am, that's
a very, very long way away.

But needs must, and who dares wins?

The S2 has a tuned six-cylinder
engine, but no guide price and no reserve.

I'm a fan of the Internet
as a way of finding cars,

but a few pictures on a
website don't tell the whole story.

So take my advice. No matter how
tempting, a car lock's never been blind.

Well, I've made it all the
way to Halifax in Yorkshire,

and what a pretty little
village it is, and look at this.

Lovely house, lovely gate.

It's just dope. They're lovely people.

Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo!
That's the motor. Looks exciting.

Ooh, if I could get this car for
free ground, it could be a bargain.

You, Dave? I am. I'm Mike.
How are you, mate?

Good to see you.
I'm dead excited about seeing this car.

Thanks for taking the time out.

I know you've got it
advertised on the Internet

auction site, but I
must see it before I bid.

That's OK. That's fine.
Right, good. Lead on.

It actually looks in great
condition on the outside.

Yeah, it's a fair bit spent on it.

It's got a full-service history.
It has. Yeah.

Inside, TVRs are notoriously bad
for, you know, things like steering

and indicator st*lks and things
dropping off. What's it like?

No problems with steering,
indicators, things like that.

More like the windows, a bit dodgy.

What do you mean, a
bit dodgy on the windows?

This one takes about a minute to go down.
OK.

You know, the lads are
showing its age a bit, I think.

Yeah, the interior looks a bit sadder,

but I'm concerned about the electric,
so they'll need addressing, won't they?

Right, what's important with a TVR, though,

is what lies underneath here.
Right, to open it, yeah?

Yep. On you go.

Oh, wow, look at that.
That's a full 2.9, yeah?

Yep. It's a simple, straightforward engine,

but it's been looked after.

I bet it sounds awesome, doesn't it?
It does, it does.

Get in!

I really like the car.

All I need to do, really,
is take it for a test drive.

You don't mind? Yeah, no, I'm fine.

OK, listen, I'll be 10, 15 minutes.

I'll have a quick drive round the block.

If it's what I want, I'll place
a bid, and hopefully I'll win it.

All right, mate, see you in a bit.

Enjoy yourself. Cheers.

Oh, yes! Yes, I'm alive.

It makes the hair on the
back of my neck stand on it.

The car feels alive. You've got
to remember this car's weightless.

It's got a fibreglass body, and you can
feel that engine, that 2.9 Ford engine,

put the power down to the rear wheels.

Now, the thing that lets this
car down most of all, really,

is its shoddy interior.

Just on the test drive here,

I've already started to pull
pieces of the interior part.

It just falls apart in your hand,
and that's typical of a TBR.

I reckon that it could
be a minefielder problem.

I mean, the thing is, I love this
motor, but they're real marmite cars.

You either love them or you hate them,

and the people that hate
them, they just bang on about

reliability issues, and
they're forever breaking down.

But the people that love
them really love them.

So I'm definitely going
to bid on this motor.

Fingers crossed, eh?

I found a local hotel,

and with only a couple of hours
left for the online auction to run,

I'm placing a £3,147 bid.

It might sound strange,
but these odd figures,

often win out.

Now, judging by my watch,
the auction should have finished.

I've been really patient and
resisted picking up my mobile phone,

but now is the time to find
out if I've won that auction.

Remember, I bid up to £3,147.

So let's just click the page.

Here it comes.

Congratulations, you've won.

Oh, and I've won for £2,550.

Result.

Brilliant! It's time to collect my TBR.

Even Christmas morning
doesn't feel as good as this,

although the S2 really is a gift.

Told you I'd be back, didn't I?

Yeah, mate, cure it.

Yeah, I'm very good.

I'm so pleased I got the car.

I'm pleased I got the car.

It's a fair price as well, £2,550.
I'm delighted.

I'm very excited.

So I transferred some money into your bank.

Yeah, got that.

You have got that.
So how can you take it away?

Yeah, do you want to
stay in the pier for us?

I will do, yeah.

Yeah.

It's mine.

It's now my TV.

I can't believe it. I got the car.

So pull up outside with this wondering
engine and just look at the face on it

because I'm sure he's
going to be as happy as I am.

But my happiness is short-lived.

Do you know what?

I'm a little bit worried about
the steering on this TBR.

It's not dangerous.

In a straight line like this, it's fine,
but once you push this car into a bend,

it just doesn't feel as
tight as it should do.

I think there's something definitely warm.

And that's not the only problem.

The brakes don't feel 100% either.

Now this TBR has been standing a mile,

so just to put my mind to rest,

I'm going to get Ed to
check the brake system.

It doesn't feel too bad,

but when you do brake,

it does pull to the right a little bit.

So I think it's best that
Ed gives them a once-over.

And when you've got a powerful car,

well, you think of brakes.

And as the miles build, so do my fears.

Typically, with any
car that I've just bought,

I'm keeping a very, very
close eye on all the dials,

and there's a few worrying
things that are happening.

The temperature Gauge,

well, that just seems to be
going up towards the red.

Overheating can be serious for an engine,

so I pull off the motorway
to have a closer look.

And sure enough, there's a
shower going on underneath the car.

Oh, it's hot.

It's very hot under there.

The wait for it to cool
down seems to take

forever, and a nearby
drinking trough of the cows

provides the water I
should have bought with me.

Right, she's topped back up.

I've got a little bit of water left
for the remainder of the journey.

Let's hope I make it back.

One thing's for sure,

I'll be keeping an eye on
that temperature Gauge.

A TVRS. That looks and sounds fantastic.

What do you reckon, eh?

I've got some TVRS sunshine.

Well done.

Wait till you see under here, son.

Ford 2.9-litre engine.

It's had some work done to it.

Sounds absolutely awesome.

Well, let me just turn it off for a minute,
because you know what I'm like, Ed,

I'll never buy a car without
the odd little surprise.

Right.

And this one surprised me when
fluid started coming out the bottom of it.

I'll have a look.

Let's have a think.

Now, it's not easy to see
with this kind of surface,

but I reckon I can
see a little bit of water.

Well, you say that, but it
means this could be the radiator,

it could be a top hose, it could
be something much worse.

I'll have to look into it.

Come and have a look inside.

Look at that, Ed, look.

Fine British craftsmanship.

A little tatty, I have to say.

It looks quite untidy in here.

All those dials could
do with a bit of help.

And the seat, you
know, it's not nice either.

Mate, it's 20 years old.

There are a few gremlins,

like you'd expect being
a TVRS and 20 years old.

The electricals ain't up to scratch.

As you say, the dials are a bit nasty, and
some of them work and some of them don't.

So we've got to sort out the interior,

got to have a look at the engine,
sort out that little leaky thing,

and then also the brakes,
they were quite good,

but just a bit woolly.

The steering was great,
but it was just a bit sloppy.

So you haven't got to do
all that, and we'll be all right.

The thing is, I've got a
really strong suspicion

that all this stuff is going to
mean a whole load of work.

All these small jobs are going to
turn into massive, massive problems.

No, no, massive profit, Ed.

I gave 25 and a half of this little motor.

By the time we turn this around,

if the sun's shining like
it is today and we get

the roof off and we get
it looking nice and clean,

sunshine, we're being the money, trust me.

A thundering TVRS for
less than three grand?

Sounds too good to be true.

Find out after the break
if the dream carries on,

or is it the start of a
nightmare for poor old Ed?

Our Wheeler dealer's mission is to buy,

restore and sell on classic cars,

and I bought this meaty
TVRS for just £2,550.

I've already discovered a few snacks.

The temperature Gauge,

well, that just seems to be
going up towards the red.

When you do break, it does
pull to the right a little bit,

so I think it's best that Ed
gives them a once-over.

Do you know what?

I'm a little bit worried
about the steering.

It just doesn't feel as
tight as it should do.

I think there's something definitely more.

I hope these are easy to fix
and not the tip of a costly iceberg.

Over to you, Ed.

We've got a TVR.

It's a fantastic modern British sports car.

It's really fun to drive.

It's loud, it's sporty, it's fast,

but unfortunately it does have a
bit of a reputation for unreliability,

and true to form, on the
way back to the workshop,

Mike did complain of some overheating.

So the job I'm going to have to do first
is have a look at that cooling system.

Troubleshooting a cooling system
starts by identifying any visible damage

on the many water hoses
attached to the engine.

Okay, well, let's have a little look

at all the water system on
the top side of the engine.

We've got our little swirl pot
here and our cap for the filler,

so you can see all the joints
here and all the hoses are okay.

Now, this is a little bit scary around here

because you can see it's
actually very, very close.

to the fan belt there.

Looks like some old chafing
there, but nothing fresh,

and there's certainly no
water or anything there.

So looking at it from here,

I would say that the cooling system is
pretty much okay, which is annoying,

because it means that
if it's not an easy fix,

chances are there's something
wrong with the radiator.

So to look at that, I'm
going to close the bonnet

and get the car off a little bit higher.

I really hope the radiator isn't faulty,

because I know you can't buy
replacement radiators for this car.

Like many TVR parts,

the only option is to
get the part refurbished,

which is pricey and
requires a specialist.

Aha, now, there we go.

I've actually got a little telltale of
some drippy, rusty water on this side.

If I look on the other side, there we go.

You can see there's a hole
and some wetness, if you like,

so there is actually a leak
from this part side of the radiator.

So there's our problem.

So what I need to do now is take
the radiator out to have a closer look.

TVRs are made from many
parts from different manufacturers,

bolted on where TVRs saw fit,

so sometimes access is difficult.

With the brackets undone
on the front of the radiator,

or at the bottom,

we're nearly ready to take it out, but of
course I need to disconnect the hoses

because they're full of water,
so I'm just going to drain away.

the water that's in the
system into the bucket.

The coolant is toxic, so you
can't pour it down the drain.

Take it to your local council waste depot,
who will have special disposal tanks.

Now, with most of the water
drained from the system,

I can now undo the top hose,

and then of course
I've got to disconnect the

wiring for the fan,
and then, theoretically,

that radiator should
just pop out of the car.

As I disconnect all the hoses,
I'm checking for damage,

and will replace if necessary.

The cooling fan, which looks in good, Nick,

just unbolts from the radiator assembly.

Right, here's the radiator,
just checking for damage.

This side actually seems pretty good.

Our big issue is this bit here, where you
can see where there's all this moisture,

and there's obviously a hole
actually in the radiator itself.

This is not an easy fix, because
there is likely to be damage inside too.

It's a specialist job.

Mike's little leak could
end up costing over

a hundred quid to get
the radiator re-cored.

When I was messing around
under here with the radiator,

I noticed that the brake
servo was really rusty.

In fact, there's a hole that goes all
the way through to the diaphragm.

Now, if that diaphragm was to be punctured,

when you really need the brakes,
they're not going to be there.

You're not going to have your power brakes.

And of course, on a
normal car, that's a problem.

On a performance car,

that could be potentially
very dangerous indeed.

So I'm going to need to replace that.

While I'm under here,

I'm having a quick look at the
calipers, brake lines, and discs.

It all looks good,

so on with the brake servo.

Now, this job is going to
be an absolute nightmare,

because unfortunately, as we know,

TVRs are made from all
kinds of different manufacturers'

components, and I believe
the servo came from a Volvo.

But you can't get them anymore, so
we're going to have to use a replacement.

Now, I've managed to get hold of the
replacement, which actually comes from a Saab.

Theoretically, everything's
going to fit into the right place,

but it already looks
ever so slightly different,

and we're going to have to
use a different master cylinder.

And you can see straightaway.

that there's a reservoir attached to
that, whereas, of course, on the car,

it's normally a remote unit
attached to the side of the bulkhead.

So we're going to have
a bit more room in the

engine bay, but a lot
less room around here.

And, of course, I need to take off
all of the original pipes and plumbing,

and then actually put it back onto
here at a slightly modified orientation.

So chances are it's going
to be an absolute nightmare.

But then, after all,

that's what you buy into
when you buy a TVR.

The servo is a vital
part of the brake system.

Essentially, it's a metal can with a
big vacuum-operated diaphragm inside.

When you put your foot on the brake,
it helps to increase the braking force

acting on another vital part,
the brake master cylinder.

If the servo is damaged,

you'll need much more
force to operate the brakes,

and that can be dangerous.

Whew!

Look at the state of that.

I know it was rusty and had
a hole in, and you can see

the diaphragm, but actually
the whole can is so perished

that it might actually
separate under braking.

So it's a good thing that we're
actually going to change this over.

But what I need to do now is just
see how dissimilar these things are.

I mean, they look pretty much the same.

You can see you've got
these kind of indentations all

the way around the outside,
and you've got the same here.

Now, if I look at the actual
stud holes, or the bolt pattern,

I may need a little bit of
juggling here, so I'm just

going to offer it up and see
how it looks inside the car.

Now, it does seem as though
the servo actually fits really well.

You've got the takeoff of the
vacuum in the correct place.

Even the studs seem
to be in the right place.

But when I offer up the master cylinder,

it turns out that's not
quite the case at all.

What I need to do is actually
rotate the servo about 90 degrees,

which means I'm going to have
to re-drill some of those holes.

With the servo in place,

I can fit the master cylinder.

I'm reusing the fluid
level indicator cap

off the old one, and
I'll wire that up later.

Now what I need to do is connect
up all of the hydraulic pipes.

I've got to re-bend
them back into position,

or this position's going to
fit the new master cylinder.

Got to be very careful
not to kink the wire.

It'll keep kinked pipes.

All we've got to do
now is bleed the brakes,

but at least we now know that this car
has had a pretty major brake overhaul,

which means that it's
going to run straight into it.

It's not going to pull to the right,

and the brakes are going to
be there when you need them.

Our radiator is now back
from the refurbishers,

and you can see what
they've done, actually.

They've replaced the core here.

What they do is they take these tanks
off either side and they replace the core,

solder them or braz
them back into position,

put the frame back on, and
then give it a nice lick of paint.

So now it's ready to go back into our car,

but before I can do that,
I'm going to bolt on the fan.

Okay, let's have a look now.

Got to get this round the right way.

So that is the top, by the looks of it.

The radiator recore costs 120 pounds
with a turnaround time of just 48 hours.

There we go. Well, that's all sorted out.

So now I can put this onto the
car, but I mustn't forget these

because they, of course,
hold the top mounts.

with the radiator to the cap.

I'm sliding it in from above
and then onto its mounts.

Once it's located, I can then
lift the car and begin the refit.

So there we go, the wiring's done, the
radiator's in position, the hoses are on,

so all I have to do now is
fill up the system with water.

I'm adding some coolant to the water in a


doesn't overheat in the
summer or freeze in the winter.

Let's fire her up and then
we can just check for leaks,

get the engine nice and warm.

Sounds good as ever.

Another thing I'm going to do, I'm just
going to set the heater into the middle there

so that I know for
sure there's going to be

water going around the
heater system as well.

With the engine running,
liquid flows around the

system and any air can
escape via the swell pot.

Effectively, the car is burping itself.

Well, there we go.

So we've got our
reconditioned radiator fitted,

there are no leaks, it's
burped and ready to run,

so now our TVR is going
to run cool as a cucumber.

Ed, how are we getting
on with that cracking TVR?

Well, let's just say it lives up to
the TVR reputation for reliability.

What, never goes
wrong, drives like a train?

Not exactly.
Remember that small leak in the radiator?

Tiny leak.

It turned out to be rather a large leak,
had to have the whole thing re-cored

and then it took ages to
get back into the vehicle.

So there's a problem.

Well, I'm sorry about that,
but listen, the car was cheap

and if it's got a leak in the
radiator, you're here to fix it.

Look, you can make it up to
me, you can make amends,

these horrible old seats
without bad old piping,

you were pretty sure you could
get it sorted, so get it sorted.

And you think that's going
to be a problem, do you?

Trust me, I'll sort it.

The S makes you smile,
it gets your juices going

and delivers driving thrills
that belong to another well.

Oh, yes!

But they say the path of
true love doesn't run smooth

and I reckon the experience
with our TVR proves it.

No sooner has Ed whipped out
the screwdriver for a poke around,

the problem started coming.

The servo, which controls brake
pressure, was dangerously kaput.

Only much fiddling later, Ed had
the car stopping like it needs to.

That little dribble under the car?

Well, I thought it was no
problem, just a loose hose.

No, the radiator needed a recall.

We're working on a budget of
£5,000 to buy and restore our car,

so I'm hoping the tatty
seats and fragile electrics.

aren't going to cost an arm and a leg.

At the end of the
day, it's all about profit.

Mike was complaining about some
dodgy handling on the test drive.

He thought perhaps it was something to do
with the steering, but he wasn't too sure.

I, on the other hand,
think I do know what it is,

but I want to do some checks
so I can be absolutely certain.

Our TVR doesn't have powered
steering, which simplifies things a bit,

but as always, diagnosis
begins with a few basic checks.

Now, first thing I want to
check, just like a visual check,

just to see if there's
anything really obvious.

Now, when I was doing the
brakes, I couldn't see anything,

but I just make sure I
haven't missed anything.

And there's nothing out
of place, which is cool.

Also, next I'm going
to check is the ball joint.

The ball joints connect
the top and bottom

of the hub assembly
to the suspension arms.

If the joints wear, the slack
can cause wayward handling.

They do a similar test
to this during an MOT.

My simple check uses a
transmission Jack and a pry bar.

The idea is to see if there's any
movement within the ball joints.

But they both seem fine on this side.

Again, there's no movement
in the bottom ball joint.

So it's not the ball joint.

Next, I'm checking the
steering rack for slack

or delay between the
rotation of the pinion gear

and the corresponding
side-to-side movement of the rack.

No problems here.

That's good, so I have
to try something else now.

I look at the track rod ends.

I'll see here if I just squeeze that round.

And you can see, even
moving, what I'm doing

is I'm trying to move the
wheel from side to side.

And I can feel, perhaps... I mean,
it's almost imperceptible, to be honest.

Maybe a little bit of
movement, but not really.

I'll try the other side.

Oh!

I think we've found our problem.

You can see that it actually
looks like it's not done up,

but you can see the
nut isn't moving at all.

It's actually the ball joint itself.

Now, that is a pretty serious failure.

And you can see, because the track rod ends

are basically connecting or joining
the steering rack to the upright,

there's basically a ball joint in there.

You've got the little
threaded tail on the end there.

Of course, there's all that
movement going along.

So when you're driving
along, all the vibrations that

come through, you can
feel in the steering wheel.

Of course, that's taking all that force.

But if that one's gone, the other
one's probably soon to follow.

So I'm actually going to change both of
those, and that should solve our problem.

Swapping track rod ends
over is something you can

do at home and saves
around £100 on garage bills.

If you don't happen to have a ramp, a
trolley Jack will give you enough access.

OK, let's start with the offending article.

What I'm going to do first is I'm just
going to crack off the lock nut here.

That's undone, so now
what I'm going to do now,

I'm just going to undo this
pretty much all of the way,

and then all I need to
do, a nice big hammer,

and what I'm going to do
is I'm going to just hit here,

and the idea is to actually just kind of
break the taper by leaving the nut on there.

It protects the top of
the thread, but also it

stops that from pinging
out and doing some damage.

So here we go.

One hit, job done.

Normally, when replacing track rod ends,

it helps to count the number
of turns to remove them.

By counting the same number
of turns back on for the new part,

the all-important tracking should
be very close to where it needs to be.

Before I put on the new track rod end,

I'm going to take the other side off
as I'm replacing both at the same time.

Here are our nice new track rod ends.

Now, if I compare them with the old ones,

they're a much better Nick, but actually,

they're also slightly longer,
and I reckon that's because

the original ones have just kind of
been a bit corroded at the edges there.

Now, the problem is,
I've gone to the trouble

of actually counting the
number of turns to get these off.

If I then count those same number
of turns to put these back on again,

it's going to end up that the ball joints

on either side will be
slightly too far apart,

which means our
wheels will be towing out,

which means once these are on,
I'm going to have to do the tracking.

Tracking refers to the alignment of a
car's wheels, and it needs to be right,

but I can't check anything
until both wheels are back on.

There we go, that's done.

Now for the other side.

The new track rod ends
are on, but not done up tight.

They'll need to be adjusted,
so the job is far from over.

Annoyingly, because our new track rod ends

are actually a different
size to our old ones,

we've been forced to do the wheel alignment,
but there's actually no bad thing,

because if your alignment is out, not only
can you have slightly squiffy handling,

but also you're going
to get increased tire

wear and you're going
to be using more fuel.

Now the first thing I have
to do is sort out the steering.

So, I've got this nutty little gizmo here.

What's going to happen is I'm
just going to pop that into the cab.

I'm just going to straighten
up the steering wheel.

There we go.

And then because we haven't
got a seat, I'll put a wheel

in there just to give me
somewhere to push against,

and then I just pop
that down into position,

and that will hold the steering.

in exactly the right position
while we do all the adjustments.

And now we can start
putting on the laser gear.

Laser tracking is the
best system for checking

alignment as it gives
excellent accuracy.

What we're going to do first of all
is put on the actual laser unit itself.

Now this just pops into place.

I'm going to do the same on the
other side, and I'll just turn that on.

So we've now got our laser
going that way and that way.

We've got a little flag here.

Should we hang on the back?

We've got to get both front and
back wheels aligned correctly,

based on manufacturer's
specifications and tolerances.

So that's 10 degrees on this side.

What have you got on that side?

I've got about three.

So we've got like 13 degrees toe out,

and this car is supposed
to have 2.5 degrees.

So what we need to do is
now try and bring them in,

quite a fair chunk in fact, to
get them to the right angles.

Right now, Paul's tightening the
track rod into the track rod end,

adjusting the wheel
alignment from toe out to toe in.

Okay, that's nice.

A bit more, a bit more, up to two.

One and a half, there we go.

Stop there, that's nice.

So now look on the other side.

Okay, Paul, give it another go.

Keep going, keep going.

Okay, slow down about there.

Okay, so that's 1.25 as well.

So we've now got 1.25 on each side.

What we need to do now is make sure

that the markings on the
flags are actually the same.

Now with the correct amount of toe in,

we're adjusting the
wheel's steering alignment

from a bit right or left to dead ahead.

We are sorted.

Because the flag numbers
are actually the same now,

we've got exactly the right
thrust angle, which means we're

going to have everything
driving in that forward direction.

We've got a total of


which is exactly what
the manufacturer required.

And now, because
we've got that new track

rod end, we haven't
got our squiffy handling.

We're going to be saving on tire wear,

and we're going to be saving some fuel,
which on this car is a very good thing.

While Ed is hard at work,

it's time for me to put in some
legwork and sort out the seats.

Look at the state of this chair.

And you know the one
thing I love about this job?

It's little places like this.

Look, behind that door on this little.

nondescript factory estate
is the secret of turning this

old raggedy chair into
something fit for a Wheeler dealer.

Ooh, that's heavy.

This is my mate Mike.

He's my favoured car trimmer.

He's been looking after my cars for years.

And this is that old seat I
spoke to you about, Mike.

Right.

What do you reckon then, eh?

Little weenie bit up there,

a tiny little weenie bit
of repair down there,

and this minuscule repair just here.

It's all right, innit?

It's all right, yeah.

Can you do it?

I can.

Okay, what are you going to do first, then?

Right, take the seat to bits.

So split it.

End up with just a little bit.

So you actually take the whole seat apart
so it ends up into... Oh, right, okay.

And then take the cover off.

Cover's come off, yeah.

And strip down the stitch line.

So you get your standing knife
in and cut these off, do you?

Carefully, yeah,

cos you've got to retain this leather.

Okay.

So once all the piping's
done and the seat

will look sort of good,
it's still a bit messy.

Is there anything I can do about that?

I use a non-detergent soap and get into
all these grooves with a scrubbing brush.

and scrub away.

Do you know what you've
just done there, Mike?

You spoke yourself into that job.

Thank you very much.

I'll leave Mike to get trimming.

He needs 24 hours and the
approximate cost per chair is 70 quid.

Decent money for work that
would transform the interior.

Come back after the break to
see if we end up getting it right

and find a buyer for the TVR and if
we can sort out the interior and electrics,

we could see a five grand
selling price for the car.

Twice what we bought it for.

Welcome back to Wheeler Dealers.

We're reaching the end of the restoration
for this booming but tricky TVRS.

The cooling system and
brakes have needed attention

and next up, Ed's got
to tackle a problem.

that plagues many TVRs.

The problem with old fiberglass cars is that
they have a reputation for dodgy wiring.

Now, as it happens,

our car is actually in pretty good Nick,

although Mike did mention a couple little
niggles, so I do need to look into those.

But also, when it comes
to finding potential buyers,

that little extra selling
point certainly wouldn't hurt,

so I've got Barry an auto
electrician in to give the

car a once over and
hopefully a clean bill of health.

The big problem with TVRs is that
as they don't have a metal body shell,

all the circuits need to
be independently earthed.

Sometimes these connections
corrode or get loose.

Barry's got a nifty tool which not
only checks continuity or resistance

but can supply power or an
earth to any wire you're working on.

I hope he doesn't find anything nasty
as rewiring these cars can be a real pain.

I've also asked him to
check our slow electric

window as it could be
just an electrical fault.

Hi, Barry, how's it going?

Oh, hi, Ed.

I've got you a tea.

I've just finished.

Brilliant. So what's the verdict, then?

We can give it a clean bill of
health except for three items.

OK. Are they serious?

Not too serious at all.

We've got some wire
taps in the wiring loom.

Kind of like the scotch-lock sort of thing.
That's it.

So I just pull them off,
re-solder them, that'll be fine?

That'll be fine.

We've got a metal plate from the underside
of the aerial that seems to be adrift.

OK, so that's going to give
us bad reception on the aerial.

And the hazard warning switch is sticking.

OK, so maybe if I get a replacement
from a breaker, that should be fine?

Yeah, it's a fairly common part.

OK, so if I get those first
three things sorted out,

then basically you can give our
cars' electrics a clean bill of health?

Yeah, we'll send you something
through the post to verify this.

Fantastic. Cheers.

Thank you.

First up, I'm going to swap
the hazard light switch over

for a salvaged Ford
part brought on the net.

It's a quick job, only two
screws hold it in place.

I've got my replacement part.

I'm just going to pop
that back into the car.

It's very simple, just connect up the
wires and then do up the two screws.

Before working on the electrics,

remember to disconnect the battery first.

Well, there we go, it works perfectly.

Now onto the scotch locks.

These connectors can be a real headache

because the displacement of the wire's
insulating cover can allow moisture to get in,

and that leads to corrosion.

A solder joint is always better.

I'm using insulating tape because
there's not enough room for heat shrink.

My final job is to repair the ground plane,

a metal plate at the base of the aerial.

With this done, Barry can
issue the electrical MOT.

With a TVR, that's definitely
going to add value come sail time.

The window electrics are okay,

so the slow operation must
be a mechanical problem.

Let's get in and take a proper look.

Well, there we are.

It looks a little bit unpleasant in there.

It's seen quite a lot of rain, obviously,

because the rain can go
straight down past the window.

So I think what I'll do certainly.

is actually put some silicon
spray down all the runners.

That'll make it free
up a little bit as well,

help that motor.

But there's nothing really
obviously wrong with the mechanism.

I'll just use it up and down a bit to try.

But I think, fingers crossed,
that should sort it out.

TVR windows are often tricky.

If this works, I'll have saved
around £150 on a new motor.

So let's hope it does.

That is sorted.

The seats are back,
the piping looks brilliant,

and he's even given them
a bit of a clean-up as well.

But before I can put them back into
the car, I've got one more job to do.

Now, on the bottom of these
seats, you've got the seat rails,

and you can see these bolts here.

Of course, they're
going to bolt through this,

through the floor, and
then I can do them all up.

The thing is, they're flopping
around, which means at the moment,

I need to have a spanner
on both ends to do them up.

So what I'm going to do is,

I'm just going to sort of
grind a bit of metal away

and actually weld these
bolts into position so then when

I pop them through the
floor, I can just do the nuts up.

It might seem a bit
extreme welding a few

bolts in place, but this
will make installation

and future removal of
the seats so much easier.

The welding is now done.

So these will be ready to be bolted in, and
they are really going to set off the car.

It's getting very exciting now.

I'm just going to get
the seats into position.

Let's ease this one into place.

I've got a load of washers.

Okay, so everything seems to be in order.

So this side is in.

I've got to do the same
on the other side of there,

and I can get the car up a little bit
higher and then do up those nuts.

Just pop that into position.

Again, try and get the back ones in first.

There we go, so they're both
in, so now I need to bolt them up.

If I hadn't welded the bolts into place,

then I would have
been scrabbling around

underneath and on top
of the car at the same time,

trying to operate two spanners
to tighten the nuts onto the bolts,

but this was much easier.

Wow, look at that.

It was a small fix.

It's made a really big
difference to our car's interior.

It's looking very good.

And from the end of a small
job to the end of a big one.

The TVR's transformation from an on-the-brink
car to a serious contender is complete.

This is a great British
sports car, and I'm proud to

have kept her on the
road for a little while longer.

Finding a cut process was a challenge,

and it took Internet
forums and a lucky Internet

auction to bag this
car for only £2,550.

A bargain!

I expected the car to need a little TLC.

Ed discovered it needed quite a bit.

The leaky radiator needed to be re-cored.

The brake servo was shot.

Look at the state of that.

And that had to be swapped
out for a replacement part.

TVRs had fragile electrics,

so ours was given a professional
once-over that highlighted

three easy fixes that Ed
could do in the workshop.

The track rod ends were
causing the wobbly handling,

so Ed replaced them and
reset the car's tracking.

And the seats were
professionally re-stitched,

giving our interior the
luxury look it needs.

What's the damage?

We spent £115 on the brake servo,
radiator re-cored and fluid £120,

track rod ends £35,

electrical check and parts £80,

re-trim in £140,

dial in the price of the
car, and we spent £3,040,

a cracking car for the pennies.

Oh, yes! Yes!

I couldn't wait for this day, the day
when that TVR was finally ready to rock.

Well, it is ready at last,
and I can't say it's been a

walk in the park, and it
doesn't look massively different,

but I can tell you I've
put a lot of hours into this.

Well, Ed, it's a TVR, isn't it?

It's never going to be problem-free,
but I think I can take a bit of credit,

because I've done my
job right in the first place.

I found a good car with a good chassis,

good bodywork for the right price.

It was your job to get the
mechanicals up together,

which you've done, so well done.

Well, thanks.

Of course, now the car
breaks and steers as it should,

and that interior, which
always let the car down,

is now sorted as well,
so I reckon we're done.

I reckon we are done.

It looks great, Ed, just
stationary sitting here,

but I know, get these things out on the open
road and make the old hearts come alive.

So let's take it for a spin.

Why not?

I tell you what, Ed, this is the
reason I've wanted to get a TVR,

because you can just
feel this car, can't you?

Come here.

Feel the ground from that exhaust.

You can feel the throttle response.

You can actually feel the whole
thing in the seat of your pants.

It's a proper British sports car.

Well, I'm really proud of where I managed
to get this car, because you know what?

We're driving one of those rare things,


that is worth a few quid, Ed.

If I advertise it for, say, £4,95,

we took £4.5 grand for it.

I put this car in a local paper and
on a couple of specialist websites.

So far, I've been that
inundated with calls,

but I did have this guy, Steve,
come down here and have a look at it.

So fingers crossed I can do a deal.

What do you reckon then, Steve?

Well, it's very nice, Mike.

Very clean.

It looks like it's been well
sorted and well looked after.

Good.
Well, you're making all the right noises.

As you know, I advertise it for £5,000.

That's what I was looking for.

You're the first man to turn up.

Hopefully you'll be the first
man to buy it, and away you go.

£5,000 is really just
out of my price range.

I knew you were going to say that.

OK, well, look, thanks for popping down.

All right.

Cheers, Steve.

I'm going to fly now.

Now, I thought a TVRS at
five grand would fly out the door,

but the market conditions
aren't great at the moment.

It took two days for
another punter to show.

I know I must close the deal.

This car, Rob, is well sorted.

I think it's possibly one of the
best S series out there for Sal

at the moment in the country.

It was a good car to begin with.

It's got a new chassis,
which has been replaced

at some point recently
in this car's history.

The bodywork is immaculate,
the interior is immaculate,

and I've had my genius mechanic,
Ed, rub his very one hand.

over the mechanicals,
and it now stops, starts,

and points into a corner,

exactly like a true sports car should do.

It's got a flip-faced stereo,
it's even got an immobiliser.

It's yours, Robert, it's yours.

All you need to do is buy it.

I've advertised it five grand.

I want the money, and away you go.

Not for five grand, unfortunately, mate.

Go on, then, make me an offer.



Best I can do.

Come on, make it a bit...
I'll tell you what.

Four and a half grand.

No, I'm sorry, mate, 4,250.

Four and a half grand.

Come on, four and a half grand.

You're a hard... No, no, sorry.

No, I'm sorry, Mark, I can't.



It is, it can be.

Are you going to look after it?

I'm definitely going to look after it.

Hold out your hand.

You've got yourself the
best S-Series TBR for sale.

Well done.

Thank you.

And it's yours.

To be honest, I thought
we'd get well above 4,250,

but just over a grand profit
is nothing to moan about.

And we took what was a
notoriously unreliable car

and we've turned it around, and
that's something to be proud of.

I'm very pleased with our little
S, and I know Rob will be, too.

You either love or hate TBRs,
but how could you not love this one?

It's been one of the best fun
drives we've ever had on the show.

And if you like what we've
done and want to see more

iconic cars getting the
Wheeler-Diggler treatment,

then join us again soon.

Salah.