Technical Tips - Weird Parts

Some of these parts have obscure origins, and some seem to have fallen from another dimension.

M Door Hinge

The M Series door hinge comes from the English Ford Anglia. The strange curled spring is not used on TVRs. The reason the hinges are always sagging is that they are made from aluminum. Simple replacement won't help, the new ones sag within weeks. Some people bush them with bronze, which seems to work. Most people just use the secret "TVR Lift". This Anglia picture comes from Classic and Sports Car, February 2002.

Radiator Overflow Bottle and Radiator Cap

Most 60s and 70s TVRs have a tank, apparently made from a section of gas pipe, plumbed into the cooling system directly between the engine water outlet and the radiator. Owners refer to this as the "header tank". The parts manual calls this the "coolant reservoir". An additional plastic bottle called "overflow bottle" by owners was called "expansion reservoir" by the factory. Some of the new cars seem to be equiped with an aluminum tank called a "swirl pot".

Normally the radiator cap (with pressure release valve) was mounted on the header tank, the overflow bottle being open to the atmosphere. In later cars the pressure release valve was on the overflow bottle, the cap on the header tank being a blank. I'm going into this in great detail because the subject is more complicated than it needs to be, indeed, many new cars seem to sport a vast array of bottles and peculiarly shaped tanks whose only imaginable use is to placate or confuse the EPA.

Vixen and Early M Series


The unidentified TVR overflow bottle.	The Tr6 version.

The donor car for Vixen/M overflow bottle (parts #3,#6,#7) has never been identified, if you know what it is from, contact me at CRC. Most people use the very similar bottle from the Tr6. Part #21 is the header tank which was manufactured by TVR. Part #1 is the pressure cap and normally rated for 7.5 psi. Some header tanks were fitted with the now standard size neck of 1/2" depth; other cars have 3/4" or 7/8" necks. Yes these things where once not standardized. If you can't seem to hold pressure, have it checked. It can be unsoldered from the tank. Triumph illustration from the Roadster Factory Tr6 catalog.

Later M Series

The later M series used a pressurized metal overflow bottle #15308. Some later 3000Ms used the "large" radiator found in most Taimars and 3000s.

Pressurized bottle TVR #15308

2500M Upper Radiator Hose

When trimmed to length, Dayco hose part no. 71128 is a near perfect fit for the upper radiator hose (engine to header tank) on the 1974 2500M. This replaces TVR parts #15272, 15286 and 15271.

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Last updated on February 6, 2005.