Restoration of a 1984 280i "Barn Find" - Part 5
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April 25, 2008
On Thursday, April 17, 2008, I picked up my 1984 TVR 280i from the Sportscar Clinic after it got its Virginia State Inspection. The next day, we will be heading for North Carolina for the first British car show of the season, “The Gathering”, which is sponsored
by the Triumph Club of the Carolinas and held at the beautiful Shelton Vineyards near Dobson, NC.
This would be the first time I have driven this car any more than a mile in the year I have owned it. What a pleasure it is to get behind the wheel, turn the key, and hear the bark from that new exhaust system and head out onto the road for the trip home. But first, let’s go back to where we left off last time.
It was time for the car to go to the upholstery shop , so I loaded it up on my trailer and took it over to King’s Auto Upholstery, which is widely known throughout the middle Atlantic region for doing some really incredible interiors for street rods, customs, antiques and sportscars. I had discussed what I wanted with owner Freddie King so I dropped the car off, armed with weatherstripping and two hides of red leather and left it in his capable hands.
A couple of days later, I dropped by and was shocked to see the interior completely gutted! A few days later, the interior panels had been covered in leather, they were busy putting in the new interior insulation, and they were getting ready to cover the seats. I had asked that the seats be fitted with contrasting white piping and that the “TVR” logo be stitched into the upper seatbacks. You can’t imagine my reaction when I saw the finished seat…..it was simply STUNNING! Then, Freddie showed me the seat tracks. 
Apparently, when this car was stored away in the barn, there was some residual moisture in the carpet or carpet padding, and over time, it ate away at the seat tracks rusting them out completely. Freddie asked me if I thought I could get some new TVR seat tracks. I told him I doubted it so he said “let me see what I can do.” Later that day, he called me to say he found the right seat tracks and he would have them the next day.
He told me he had another car in the shop and the seats from it were on the bench near mine. He happened to glance at them and thought they looked pretty close in size to the TVR tracks. He took measurements and they were only about ¼” off. So the next day, he had a new set of seat tracks installed on my seats, and they were from a 1971 Ford Mustang!!
After two weeks in Freddie’s shop, he called me to say the car was ready. Not only had Freddie and his crew done the leather, but he also made a new convertible top, recovered the targa section, fitted all new weatherstripping, and made a custom convertible top boot to add that finished look when the top is down. 
Also, he installed all the refinished interior woodwork that Frank Lawson of Antique Auto Woodwork in Sophia, NC had done for me and it was beautiful as well.
After loading the car back on the trailer, we headed back to the Sportscar Clinic where they would have the exhaust work finished, now that the new stainless rear mufflers had arrived from England. Once the exhaust was complete (and sounding REALLY raucous!), and a few other items were completed, I then collected the car and took it up to Bud Brusseau’s Classic Cars in nearby Christiansburg, VA. Bud is my fiberglass specialist and he was going to fit the European front and rear bumpers, the rear valance, and the 350i front spoiler with integrated driving lights and paint them all to match the car. As usual, Bud assured me he would take care of it and he did just that, in less than 4 days! 
What a transformation for the car once those pieces were painted and in place. Now it really looked like it should. Yes, there are still some cosmetic issues yet to be addressed which will hopefully be wrapped up this summer, but now the car just needed a little cleaning and detailing and a state inspection. So, back to the Sportscar Clinic and the inspection was done and I was ready for my ‘maiden voyage’ behind the wheel of this car.
So, after picking it up on Thursday April 17, I drove it the 5-6 miles home which was really quite enjoyable. It was a warm sunny day, and the top was down and I was really enjoying the ride. However, after I got home, I noticed a puddle of coolant under the front of the car. I didn’t worry too much about it, but when a friend came over to see the car, I went to start it and it wouldn’t start. It turned out to be vapor lock which took care of itself in a couple of hours. So, I topped off the coolant and got the car ready for its trip to North Carolina the next day.
Friday, April 18th came and I loaded the car on my trailer and we made our way down to Dobson, NC. After checking into the hotel, I unloaded the car, picked up my wife, and headed the two miles down the road to the Shelton Vineyards to sample their offerings.
After returning to the hotel, the car overheated and dumped a larger pool of coolant onto the parking lot. 
I called Mark at the Sportscar Clinic about the problem and he reminded me that the electric cooling fan on the radiator was on a separate toggle switch on the dash, unlike my 1987 which has a thermostatically controlled fan. So, after feeling like a complete idiot, I topped off the coolant, turned on the fan, and started it up. So that’s one little tidbit I’m not likely to forget anytime soon.
The next morning, we were one of nine TVRs on the showfield and the “barn find” got a lot of attention from club members and spectators alike.
It’s been to a couple of other events since then, and I’m slowly starting to accumulate some miles on it waiting to get it back up to Bud’s shop for the rest of the cosmetic issues to be attended to. So, this project which started in April 2007, is coming to an end, and despite its overall expense, it has been a fun trip and worth it. I’ve learned a lot about this car and now I have the coming years to enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed.
- Marshall Moore
