All our bespoke parts are designed in-house – here we take a closer look at that process.
We are redesigning and remanufacturing parts for two main reasons: they’re no longer manufactured or available to buy, or because the original parts from the 1950s were never intended for racing and simply aren’t up to the task and modern materials can be employed to make lighter, stronger and more durable parts, all within the regulations. Front hubs, for example, were modified by TVR from the design used by Triumph on their TR models, but are now so old it’s impossible to find unused and unworn examples – not ideal for racing. Front uprights, were only previously available as original 1950s Triumph Herald parts, cast in steel. Replacements for road cars have been available for years but only in aluminium (ideal for road cars as it’s lighter and cheaper to manufacture but not legal for racing under FIA rules).
Ivan modelling the front hub, ready to be sent for CNC machining.
We first ask how we manufacture this part – fabrication (for example folding, rolling or welding sheet metal for pedal boxes, fuel tanks, brackets etc), CNC (milling or turning metal using a computer-controlled lathe or mill to make hubs, stub axles, brake caliper mounts etc), injection moulding (casting a part where large volumes are required; for example any cast aluminium or plastic part, but we’re not there yet), and 3D printing (for example the dashbard binacle, fire extinguisher system mounts, awkwardly shaped spacers and other non-stressed purposes).
Exploded ‘step file’ view of our bespoke remanufactured front hub.
We then ask which material to use to, while cross-referencing against the regulations to ensure parts are both safe for their intended purposes and within the rules. And finally we spend a lot of time interrogating the design to try to work out if it has any weaknesses before making prototypes. By doing so we make the development process digital rather than physical and thus significantly cheaper. Any changes are made to an electronic rather than physical product that would otherwise need to be built and tested each time.
Chassis tubes laser cut and read for welding together on the jig
The part design (called a ‘step file’) created on-screen isn’t just a pretty picture, it contains all the data for a CNC machine to recognise the geometry so it can write its own program to cut the part. Each step file is saved and new stock can be ordered at a click of a mouse.
Chassis extras
Insert photo of original front upright next to remanufactured one, sitting on a printed copy of the step file.