Astacus’ S3

So, I have bought an S3. I have always liked the S and I just thought I should take the plunge and buy one. I have a Vixen in bits in the garage. I have been playing with it for maybe 14 years on and off and I really just wanted a TVR I could actually drive.

I’ll post up pics when I get a moment. The car is a 1990 non cat in Mica Red, which I really like. It has had a tub off chassis repair which seems to have been done to a good standard and the previous owner, a lovely chap from the West Country who need space for his Aston project, had done a lot of work on various mechanical bits, but the car is rather in need of a bit of TLC in some areas.
I am a little obsessive, so I am likely to get carried away with the cosmetics, but it’s a nice solid car that I can drive around and improve as I go. Perfect.
Project for the weekend is to find out why the boot pops open unprovoked and tidy up the boot. I have already pulled out the boot carpets and cleaned them ready to go back in. If I get that sorted and I have the time I will find out why the fuse board and the ECU made an appearance in the passenger footwell and sort that. Then I will be more comfortable driving it around.
After that I need to sort out the wiring under the centre console which is a mess. That should keep me going for a while
Major works include a new hood and probably a respray to deal with some spider cracks and a dash out job to fix some trim issues and sort out heater hoses and to fit a wood veneer dash.

Onward……

I

Ok first question: my boot latch has a solenoid AND a cable pulling it. Is there some sort of S series secret boot opening mechanism for when the solenoid fails?

Ha, yes found it!

So today I dismantled the boot lock mechanism, complete with th bracket and solenoid. I followed the cable to the end and discovered where it is supposed to be accessed from. Blimey that would be a palaver. I wouldn't want to be doing that in the pissing rain in a hotel car park trying to recover my luggage Note to self: keep the appropriate tool in the glove box....just in case.

Anyway, the lock was fine I think it was set slightly too low, and off centre, and so the small protrusion on the lid didn't completely "set" the receiver. Solution: stick a washer under one of the mounting lugs and jobs a goodun as they say. I may have to revisit this fix later. but for now its OK. The emergency release cable was seized solid so I replaced it with a spare bike cable i had and now I have a functioning boot lid.

I also managed to get most of the carpets back in the boot.

I took her for a blast around the by-pass and was followed by a guy who pulled up next to me to tell me the stop lights weren't working and that he had owned a blue S a few years ago. I said I had just spent the last 30mins getting the bloody indicators to work before going for a blast and he confirmed that he indeed felt my pain.

Here is a question for the engine experts: The car idles beautifully, but hates being in first or second. It runs really roughly under any load in low gear, but seems to run fine when given loads of revs. It won't go anywhere near the red line in any gear, but seems to accelerate well. Does anyone have any ideas where I should start looking? I have no experience in fuel injected, ECU controlled 'modern' engines so I guess this is where I start. Next week end I will be mostly tinkering withe engines.......

The rear light clusters were as source of issues on the donor car as well

I soldered fly leads and a waterproof AMP Superseal connector. Doesn't help the poor method of [factory] installation of the light units.

You can fit a golf umbrella out of the way in the ridge / shelf above the rear lights which is handy for roadside rest stops.

Running issues can be a pain to find but it is basically the 2.9 fitted to various Fords so a Haynes manual is worth purchasing. TVR put a lot of effor in putting pieces of kit in silly positions to give owners something to do.

ETA - there is no pre-pump fuel filter so it is worth fitting one, especially if you're changing the pump. The rough running could be a poor pump or blocked post-pump filter. This filter may be due to be changed.

Check the throttle pot for being changed, as they came rotationally wrong with the same Ford part number (car runs great at 50% throttle then poorly at idle speeds) there was a loom that Ford sold to correct the wiring (look at the three pins in the pot OE are silver replacement are gold). A meter will give you a reading and the loom 5 inches away from the plug being played with will be the tell of previous replacement. A@

For a solution to the rear light cluster connectors CLICK HERE.

Edited :

Ive been re arranging the drop-down wiring in my spare time this week and just out of interest I had a look at the ECU. The ECU I have is a

86GB12A650-DB which is listed as a Granada ECU on an earlier thread.

The car (like all old TVRs ) has been tinkered with by a number of people and it would be good to know I am starting from at least the correct basics when trying to track down my running issue

Can anyone with a 1990 pre cat car confirm what their ECU code is please. Having an original ECU might not solve the issues I have, but having a substitute isn’t going to help me diagnose issues

Thanks

Lovely, thanks Ray. Of to the internet to find one of those then, or at least try and work out what the different codes mean.

At a wild guess 88 could be the build year.

The terminal letters should tell me something I guess…..

Here's the original Ford reference document which matches ECU's and Granada etc engines of our era. And much, much more!

MT75 is the manual gearbox option on 2.9 Granadas etc. Of course, that wouldn't fit in the S chassis, so TVR used the Type 9 'box from the 2.8's.
Hint: if you need to change the clutch on your 2.9, you need the parts for the 2.8!