TVR Vixen - Bodywork Fittings
Fixing the window frames so they didn't flap around was one of the worst jobs I've done to this car. At some time the frames had been removed and the brackets at the bottom of the door discarded and the bottom inch or so of the frame cut off with them.
When I refitted the windows and door trims I didn't have the chrome trims that fit under the edge of the window to hide the screw trims. These were apparently from a Riley 1.5. I contacted a Riley 1.5 owner at this site to find out whether I needed the trim from the interior of the front or the rear doors. He measured up for me (it's the back door) and said "I've got some spares if you want". Thanks Rob.
My Vixen differs from others I've seen in that it has an exterior lock on the passenger door but can't be locked from the inside. The trouble was the outside lock didn't work either. Trying it and jiggling the key suggested that maybe the problem was that I'd got the wrong key. A phone call to the previous owner revealed that he'd never locked it. I dismantled the lock - difficult without the right key - and had the lock barrel modified to take the same key as the driver's door. Success!
I fitted a new handle at the same time. The one on the other side had already been replaced and this side was pitted. I knew they were difficult to get and I called into a supplier of old Ford parts just to enquire whether he could get them. He said - I've only got one and it's sold - but he hasn't paid yet. I paid on the spot.
The door hinges are from a Ford Anglia and can be adjusted to get the doors aligned properly if they are not badly worn. I managed to do this quite easily apart from undoing the bolts - two sheared and had to be drilled out. There will be more trouble in future as the hinge pin is seized in the aluminium (where it's meant to rotate) and rotates in the steel brackets - where it's meant to be fixed.
Along the Vixen's sills there is a vertical fibreglass edge where two mouldings join that is prone to damage. I repaired this in several places while the body was off. It does not appear to be structural as the mouldings are bonded together inside.
While the body was removed I discovered that the chassis had been rubbing at three areas under the rear valance and had worn through the fibre glass. These areas were ground down and repaired and reshaped to give a little more clearance.
I noticed that this rattled even though the hold down magnet seemed OK. One of the hinge pins had been replaced by a loose bolt with two nuts locked together.
The local engineering suppliers had a suitable replacement pin for 10 pence but the job cost rose dramatically when I broke my cutters cutting the rusted bolt.
I thought a loose aerial would be easy to fix but tightening it up didn't work. Taking it out showed that it only gripped at one point on it's circumference with a sharp point which was starting to craze the glass fibre. I added an aluminium plate contoured to fit the body work and fastened to the aerial with filler. This spread the tightening load around the hole and seemed to do the trick.
When I bought the car the small chrome sidelight rims were missing and the indicators were not original. I was lucky enough to find some original pattern indicators at an auto jumble. I have subsequently discovered that these may have been used on the back of Series 2 Land Rovers from 1958 to 1963.
The chrome sidelight rims can be obtained from T & J Enterprises in Birmingham (0121 777 3386) part number 526496.
The bonnet has indicator repeaters on each side. Two types were used on Vixens. Most S3s had the larger type as my car does. I have looked at an S3 later than mine which has the original bonnet. That car had the small repeaters so I concluded that my car would also have had the smaller repeaters originally and they would fit better as my bonnet has no recesses.
I've bought the smaller ones but I can't face painting the whole bonnet to cover up the repairs to the holes. If you have to buy the smaller ones take note - some come with longer studs and earth leads to fit to fibre glass more easily.
These are from a Mark 2 Cortina but used upside down. They can be obtained secondhand from autojumbles. New lenses are being remanufactured in Australia. A UK supplier is New Ford Parts Centre.
The plastic rivets retaining the trim are difficult to find.