After the exciting ‘high’ of getting the V8 engine rebuilt, reinstalled and hearing it fire up for the first time in years, everyone thought we had earned a breather. But in true project car fashion, that moment of triumph was just the beginning of the next wave of work. The first start revealed an engine that was running rough, something that was expected on a freshly rebuilt engine with a new increased airflow intake manifold and a fully stripped down and rebuilt carburettor. The first tweaks involved getting the timing right, so the team cracked on, timing light in one hand and workshop manuals in the other, chasing the sweet spot where the idle would hold steady and the throttle response would come alive. This combined with the fine-tuning of the mixture and idle screws on the carburettor provided a healthy sounding engine ready for its first full heat cycle. As the team found out, getting a newly built engine to behave is not just a technical job. It is part science, part instinct and experience, and in our case, a shared determination not to settle for “good enough”.

Thanks to Chris Smith at Devon Racing, we were very kindly given some new engine mounts from another TVR, and the engine, with the gearbox, was finally mated with the chassis. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of the problems for Gerald. A lot of hard work allowed the engine to be plumbed in and started, after which we quickly realised oil was leaking out the back of the engine through an oil gallery bung that wasn’t properly sealed. We also found the coil would get extremely hot even when the engine wasn’t running, so that needed to be replaced too. The engine had to come out again.
However, every cloud has a silver lining!

In every project, there are certain moments that stand out, and we have just hit one of those milestones: the engine is finally installed in the TVR! This marks a pivotal step in bringing our vision for this restored classic to life.

The journey to this point was not without its challenges, as we spent months sourcing the right parts, restoring or modifying every single part, ensuring every detail met our standards for performance and compatibility. The freshly built engine was finally ready to go in, but after careful preparation of the engine bay, our first go at the installation uncovered that the engine mounting brackets were the wrong fit—a frustrating setback.

​Who are Zircotec?
Zircotec Ltd is a world leader in heat management, specialising in high temperature coatings and heat barrier solutions. Originally part of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Zircotec’s expertise lies in thermal barrier technologies initially developed for the nuclear industry. Zircotec is known for its plasma-sprayed ceramic coating materials that provide thermal and ​abrasive resistance. Their core products, such as...

​The Classic Car & Restoration Show at the NEC, hosted annually by Practical Classics magazine, has become a favorite of OUMF members in the past few years. OUMF is a club that prides itself on its can-do attitude as can be seen throughout countless event and race emergencies throughout the club’s history! The Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show gives the opportunity for OUMF members to showcase not only the products of their labors but also the techniques and skills built and refined through teamwork and collaboration.