Sanding the Bodywork - July 2008 
Many hours of sanding are now required to help prepare the bodywork for the guys at Surface and Design.
Every inch of lacquer, which is peeling badly, has to be removed and any irregularities in the shell must be marked up so they can be corrected before painting.
More fun than washing socks!
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Doors Together... - July 2008 
Having dissembled the two doors and found them to be rusted to death, we have sourced new window winder motors & mechanisms, but still have to purchase new 'green' glass and do a spot of welding before the doors can be re-assembled and put back on the car.
We are currently looking for new window runners, as the originals are no longer servicable. Rover SD1 fronts are the order of the day - unfortunately there are none available. More fabricating...
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Light It Up! - July 2008 
Before the shell goes off to Surface & Design we have to spend many happy hours making sure the front lights will re-fit properly and making new adjusters for them - as the old ones didn't adjust!
A mock-up all-in-one adjuster, which accommodates both the headlamp and the driving lamp, will be fabricated in three pieces, then when fully servicable, will be re-fabricated out of one piece of stainless steel sheet to produce the perfect headlamp shroud.
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Engine to the Shop - March 2008 
So having spent many, many happy hours freezing our bits off in the shed wearing out the Dremel, the engine having been stripped and then polished to within an inch of its life, it is now time to take her to the builders. We hope to see her return, fully dyno tested by the end of the summer...
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ECM Test - February 2007 
The ECM was sent off to Lucas to be checked out, as it had been sat in rather damp conditions for a number of years and could well be corroded inside.
Much to everyone's surprise she came back with a written report confirming a clean bill of health.
Fabulous!
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New Exhaust System - September 2006 
As the original exhaust system was is a very poor state of repair, we fabricated a new one - sympathetic in every way to the old one - but this time made from high quality stainless steel for better aesthetics and longevity.
As the system may well not bring the noise level down below 105db, we also have the option of fabricating a pair of track-day baffles for the end of the system, to allow us to pass scrutineering for hillclimbs and sprints.
Although if we can get away without the baffles we most certainly will!
Oh yes...
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Body Shell Mods - August 2006 
The prototype bodyshell has been modified by cutting access panels in the front of the tunnel to allow the rear plugs to be changed with the engine in situ.
The nose has also been cut at to allow sidelamp and indicator bulbs to be changed without having to cut out the complete unit. Always a good idea...
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Body Shell Repairs - May 2006 
The old girl's bodywork isn't in the best of conditions, so we spend a couple of months cutting out star-cracks and making good the holes in the bodywork in preparation for when she eventually goes to the spray shop.
Several areas are repaired on the car including the front pillars and several areas on the rear quarters where the fibreglass is particularly thin.
We also make good the inside of the nose where the radiator is located. There is no evidence of a major front-end shunt, but it looks like there could have been one or two near misses in the past and the entire area is live.
We are also taking into consideration here that we will be re-installing a bigger capacity radiator with twin fans, as Nelly has a history of running very hot and over heating...
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Back in Black! - February 2006 
Feb 2006 the chassis is collected back from Richard Thorpe at RT Racing in Sheffield, who has done an absolutely fantasic job on the old girl. The new powder coating is very impressive and the chassis looks better than new.
All major parts have been replaced and the front anti-roll bar brackets have been modified to add strength.
Good job!
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New Veneers - January 2006 
The fully refurbished veneers returned from London Carriage Craft early January 2006 and looked absolutely amazing. Given the dreadful state of the originals, Malcolm and the team have done a superb job.
We look forward to re-fitting the veneers as the finishing touch to trimming the interior in Spring 2009.
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Splashing Around! - August 2005 
It took around six months spare time to complete the set of 10 splash moulds for the White Elephant.
If she was to take a knock at any time, at least now we can give her a proper repair.
It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it!
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Pristine Wheels - July 2005 
Before we could take the wheels off we had to hammer off the alloy centre caps which had badly corroded and welded themselves to the body of the wheel. Believe it or not it took over a week to take all four wheels off without causing any damage.
The four OZ Racing Lattice Wheels were taken to Pristine Wheels in Woburn Sands, Milton Keynes for a complete rebuild including diamond cutting and re-chroming, before having the new 245/45ZR16 T1R Toyo Proxes fitted & balanced.
To move the chassis around whilst the Alloys are being refurbed, we purchased two four 5 stud Ford Granada Mark II and two Mercedes steel wheels from a breakers yard.
The refurbed wheels look superb!
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Clocking On - July 2005 
All of the Elephant's clocks were sent to Carerbont Automotive Instruments for cleaning, checking & recalibration.
Several of the instruments were showing signs of water ingress and rust and the tacho has been updated.
The clock was left on 24002 miles though, just as we found her, well, 24001 actually - but who's counting!
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T5 & Diff to ATJ - February 2005 
The US spec Borg Warner T5 box & the standard Jaguar Salisbury diff were re-built by ATJ Transmissions in Chester.
Both units were stripped and acid-bathed before being thoroughly examined and then re-assembled by Alan.
The gearbox was re-machined to accept an updated seal kit and an updated thrust bearing was installed in the bell-housing.
Several hours were also spent re-finishing both units to bring them up to an 'as-new' finish.
An excellent job!
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Chassis to RT - February 2005 
Following the preliminary trip to Sheffield before Christmas for Richard Thorpe to cast his eye over the old girl, this time Nelly's chassis arrives at RT Racing without engine & box for a complete rebuild and powder coating.
As Richard will be grinding off remains of swarf and old tubing from the chassis and thoroughly cleaning her up, the chassis will come back in better-than-new condition.
Top man!
See you at the end of the year - no rush with this one...
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Strip the Engine Ancillaries - January 2005 
With the engine now on the bench the engine was stripped and catalogued.
All parts look to be in good condition, although it could be prudent to replace the Hitachi starter motor as it has been stood for several years and the water pump will be rebuilt or replaced, as it shows signs of wash marks, even though the car has only done 24002 miles...
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Remove Holden V8 - January 2005 
This is the time when you call upon your local TVR Car Club Archivist - Richard Sails - to lend you a hand and an engine hoist and remove the cast iron Holden lump from the chassis.
Removing the engine was reasonably difficult, as the manifolds are captive within the chassis rails and can only be removed once the engine is out. One can only assume therefore that installation will be even more difficult than removal.
Something to look forward to then!
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RT Chassis Examination - December 2004 
We take the rolling chassis to Richard Thorpe at RT Racing for a preliminary meeting to decide the best way forward for the chassis restoration.
It is decided that we will strip the chassis, apart from the four corners, before returning it to RT where it will be further stripped and then bead-blasted to see what, if any, tubing needs replacing.
After making good the chassis it will then be bead-blasted again before it's final powder coating.
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Body Off - November 2004 
After stripping the interior and shovelling out the grass, the moss, the several buckets of crispy Bristol Avenue leaves and lastly removing the mouldy carpet, the first major step in our restoration programme was to remove the body from the chassis and take a proper look at the Elephant's bottom for the first time.
To download the Elephant's body-off wallpaper click here:
800 x 600 resolution Elephant wallpaper
1024 x 768 resolution Elephant wallpaper
The chassis looked reasonably alright, to say the car has been sat outside for over six years. All the same the chassis was completely stripped and taken to RT Racing in Sheffied where the entire thing was to be bead blasted, cleaned up and re-powdercoated, whilst mods to the bodyshell were being investigated...
Thanks to the 'Dirty Dozen' for all their time and support in helping with the task.
A great day!
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Power & Passion - September 2004 
The White Elephant takes centre stage, next to the Speed 12, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for the TVR Car Club's main event of the year.
Penny Mallory interviews Howard about history of the car and the forthcoming restoration.
The old girl's second outing...
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West Lancs TVR Car Club - August 2004 
Having just rescued Nelly, she is put on display at the next meeting of the West Lancs TVR Car Club. Albeit she arrives on a trailer of course.
Two weeks of trying to diagnose a starting problem lead to the diagnosis that we have some very rusty electrics and several blocked injectors at the very least. So we make the decision to start stripping her down almost immediately.
A good night all the same though!
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Rescue the Elephant! - July 2004 
On the 15th of July 2004, Gus & I collect the White Elephant from Bristol Avenue, just a couple of weeks before Peter Wheeler sells the company to Nikolai Smolenski.
The sadly missed Dave 'Poseur' Cumming helps us with the old girl and also very kindly has the tree removed which was growing out of the boot!
Dave, with PW's permission, also gave us a brand new rear screen, to help us on our way with our task. Good man!
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