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1980 Solihull build TR7 V8 3.5 DHC Ferrari Azurro Blue
I know some people think it’s best to play it cool when looking at a car with intent to purchase. If you look too keen then the vendor will stick to his guns as far as price is concerned, so the theory goes that you should give an air of non challance and the price will go down. Well I waited for about a year from I first saw my V8 DHC until it became mine. Now that is ice cool!
I first saw TWC776W for sale in the Northern Ireland Autotrader sometime back in 2000. At this stage I had a few quid burning a hole in my pocket that I had decided I wanted to spend on another TR7, a convertible this time with a V8 engine fitted. The car advertised in the Autotrader caught my eye particularly because it was a very striking colour so I phoned the vendor to find out more about it. I was told that the car had been sprayed Ferrari Azurro Blue, had a Rimmer Bros. MKIII bodykit, a 3.5 Litre Rover SD1 engine, lowered uprated springs, all round Spax adjustable shocks and four pot calipers fitted. The car was quite a bit away from me up in Magherafelt so I asked him to send me a picture so I could get a better idea of how she looked. A few days later I received the photo below through the post and another one of the engine bay showing the glorious V8 and its K & N filters. I had to see her!
My mate Richard (who had among numerous other cars recently restored a TR7 DHC) and I headed up to Magherafelt to see the car. We took my fixedhead coupe with us in case the vendor would be willing to do a trade in for her. When we found the house the car was already sitting in the driveway awaiting inspection. On examination we discovered quite a few problems with the car that we felt warranted a price reduction. They were as follows:-
- The wheels were too wide (7J at front and 8J at rear) and were therefore buffing the arches
- The window winder mechanism on the near side was not working
- The window was rattling on the drivers’ side
- There was a dent on the bonnet, where the oil filler cap had been too high and had left its mark after the first closing of the bonnet
- There were several dents along the rear fuel filler panel where it appeared someone had leaned too heavily when fitting the hood cover
- There were a couple of dents on the near side door
- The near side corner of the bumper was sticking out further than it should and appeared to have been glued into place
- The boot and spare wheel well area where still in the cars original colour of Silver
- The standard seats had been replaced with leather replacements from a Mitsubishi and sat too high in the car
- The interior furnishings had some items sprayed black and some still in their original blue
- The bodykit had been shoddily fitted. The filler which was meant to blend the lines into the bodywork had sank and every screw of the self tappers holding the arches on was visible
- The common TR7 DHC fault of paint cracking where the rear fuel filler panel meets the rear wings and where the headlamp panel meets the front wings was prevalent
This sounds like a huge
list of reasons to walk away but the truth is that once that bonnet was
opened and I heard the V8 being fired into life all was forgiven. Also
the cars owner let us look underneath and we discovered that the all important
rear trailing arm mounting points were in first class condition as was
the floor pan, sills and front suspension turrets. The question now was
how did she drive?
It was a damp day and the roads were greasy but off Richard and I headed for a test drive. What a noise! But I remember feeling as if the car wasn’t particularly quicker than my 2 litre fixedhead whenever I floored it. I complained about this to Richard who told me it had to be quicker. We got her out unto a good piece of open road and I sank the boot to the floor. First gear: 'this is disappointing Richie' I said, then second gear: 'I’m tellin’ ya, she isn’t that quick', into third gear now: 'she’s no quicker than my wee fixed head Richie, I swear to ya' I continued……But then we reached a bend and I felt the rear of the car twitch. I slowed down to a stop and said 'Richie, do you know what’s wrong? I reckon I have just very gently been spinning the wheels right through the gears and didn’t even know till I felt the twitch at that bend. That’s why the engine is roaring at full song and we aren’t flying the way we should. Lets take her out a bit further and this time I will ease the throttle in rather than gun her.' My God! What a difference. The roads were so greasy we were still loosing traction but it now felt like we had been kicked in the back whenever she took off. I swapped places with Richie and let him take her back as I got prepared for some bargaining.
When we arrived back at
the house the negotiation started. I offered him a sum of money plus my
FHC as part exchange but he said he wasn’t interested in taking
on another car which he would have to sell. I reckon he saw the excitement
in my eyes and wouldn’t budge on money, but we shook hands with
him, thanked him for his time and walked away....
About a year later I heard that the V8 I had seen in Magherafelt was being readvertised and was now down to sensible money. She was the best handling TR7 I had ever driven so I had to have her. My brother-in-law Ged (a mechanic), my Dad and I headed down cash in hand to see her. Some changes had been made since I last saw her. The ill-fitting leather seats had been replaced with blue check originals and the boot floor was now the same colour as the rest of the car, Ferrari Azurro Blue. I ended up buying the car for the same money I had previously offered but this time without the FHC as part payment. Just goes to show you that it pays to be patient.
Once I got TWC776W home I started to fix little problems with her. I experimented with the interior, first of all trying different inserts in the door panels which were not very successful and then finally buying new leather look vinyl panels and making them fit (they had strengtheners along the top edge which made them sit too high on the door). I took off the too wide Alleycats and put on the Wolfrace slots from my project car. I replaced the window winder mechanism with a good second hand unit and pulled the rubber up the channel of the other door where it had slipped causing the rattle. I sprayed the windscreen visors, windscreen finisher and wiper arms satin black and sprayed the mirrors and the front grill silver. I took off the rear red cruise lights and put on amber cruise lights both front and rear and wired them up to the indicators. Then I bought a Rimmer Bros rear deck spoiler (as seen with the MKIII kit) which I sprayed and stuck on with windscreen bonding. I now decided that I wanted to do something special with the centre console and arm rest part of the dash. I had always preferred the earlier black dashes to the later grayish brown ones which I felt looked “worn” so I sat about giving then a new lease of life.
I carefully measured
and then cut varying size holes in the plastic of the console with a hole
saw, sprayed them silver and placed sheets of carbon fibre look sheeting
behind them to give them a sporty (and individual) look. I put some of
this carbon film unto the steering wheel and arm rest lid as well and
kept the carbon look gear knob that came already in the car. Drilled aluminium
pedal covers and a similar floor mat completed the look. The blue check
seats were covered with a black and grey leather look covering temporarily
until I can get them professionally upholstered in either black leather
or leather look vinyl.
A few months into owning the car I decided I would like to change the wheels so I ordered a set of 14” x 6J minilite replica alloys and put them on instead of the slots. This really helps the car a lot but shows up the faults in the paint job. I plan to rub down and properly fill the arches, get a specialist to knock out as many dents as possible and possibly reskin the doors (depending what I find when I rub them down). I will treat the problem “paint cracking” areas discussed earlier (where the rear fuel filler panel meets the rear wings and where the headlamp panel meets the front wings and also on a car with this bodykit at the top of the rear quarter sill) by cleaning out the area as best as possible and running non-silicone based sealant into the groove and smoothing it off with a finger. I have already done this with great success on my FHC. Then I will spray the entire car in the same Ferrari Azurro Blue that the previous owner so wisely chose. There is one problem though…… The car is way too much fun to have to take it off the road and I have been working at the other two ‘7’s.
As and when this work is
completed I will inform you and post articles to the TECHNICAL
section of our website. Keep referring to the technical section for updates.
