Well I have had the Chimera for almost a year now and it has been more reliable than most cars. It starts and runs well and nothing much has gone wrong with it. The MOT is now due and a service, so we shall soon see how much damage my "enthusiastic" driving has entailed.
The Tuscan has also been running very well. The only thing that has happened is the washer pipe fell off after the last service. As I had the bonnet off to fix this (the Tuscan has two bonnets, the larger of which bolts on) I changed the wipers to some Leven items that look a lot better than the originals and have an improved integrated washer system. I also fitted some Kick Plates from Leven as the early Tuscans did not have them fitted.
We have been to the local TVR club meet and had a great time "hooning" around Suffolk with the other cars. Everyone is very pleasant and friendly and the runs are well organised along some great roads, with usually a good meal in a fine hostelry to look forward to at the end of the day .
Tuesday 28 October 2008
Sunday 27 July 2008
Tuscan Service and MOT
Well the dreaded Tuscan service has been and gone and the good news is that no major work is required and she sailed through the MOT. The exhausts do have catalytic converters after all.
When purchasing a cheap Tuscan with the TVR Speed 6 engine their is always the fear of very expensive clutch or engine work, but the engine seems to be in good order and hopefully the clutch will last a while as well.
Matt at Sebring seemed to think it was an early but very well looked after car and that the previous owners had, had the servicing carried out by reputable TVR main dealers to good effect.
Another bonus was that Matt identified that the desirable Hydatrak LSD differential has been fitted, which is normally only fitted to the 'S' version. This really helps the handling on the track and probably helped it feel so well mannered round Snetterton circuit. With the Reflex Paint, upgraded brakes, Air Conditioning and 18" spider wheels, she certainly has all the right bits and pieces!
However after the track day a complete new set of brake pads were required, The drilled discs needed cleaning and a change of brake fluid to the DOT 5.1 spec. These Ferodo pads were very expensive so even though the standard service was a very reasonable £289, the total bill was £685. She is due a 12,000 mile service next year and that will be even more expensive, but this was a £50,000 super car when new with a sub 4 second 0-60 and 185mph top speed, so you have to expect this kind of expense.
Matt also checked the reason the heater blower fan was not working (the only real fault with the car) and found it was due to a fault in the Heater ECU, so I will have to get it repaired as they are difficult to find.
Matt also suggested the original shock absorbers were sagging and I have noticed it bottoming out at the rear on a couple of occasions, so a set of Racing Red shocks will be the next items to purchase at a cost of around £700 for a set.
When purchasing a cheap Tuscan with the TVR Speed 6 engine their is always the fear of very expensive clutch or engine work, but the engine seems to be in good order and hopefully the clutch will last a while as well.
Matt at Sebring seemed to think it was an early but very well looked after car and that the previous owners had, had the servicing carried out by reputable TVR main dealers to good effect.
Another bonus was that Matt identified that the desirable Hydatrak LSD differential has been fitted, which is normally only fitted to the 'S' version. This really helps the handling on the track and probably helped it feel so well mannered round Snetterton circuit. With the Reflex Paint, upgraded brakes, Air Conditioning and 18" spider wheels, she certainly has all the right bits and pieces!
However after the track day a complete new set of brake pads were required, The drilled discs needed cleaning and a change of brake fluid to the DOT 5.1 spec. These Ferodo pads were very expensive so even though the standard service was a very reasonable £289, the total bill was £685. She is due a 12,000 mile service next year and that will be even more expensive, but this was a £50,000 super car when new with a sub 4 second 0-60 and 185mph top speed, so you have to expect this kind of expense.
Matt also checked the reason the heater blower fan was not working (the only real fault with the car) and found it was due to a fault in the Heater ECU, so I will have to get it repaired as they are difficult to find.
Matt also suggested the original shock absorbers were sagging and I have noticed it bottoming out at the rear on a couple of occasions, so a set of Racing Red shocks will be the next items to purchase at a cost of around £700 for a set.
Monday 21 July 2008
Snetterton Track Day
Just completed my first track day, with my middle son in the Tuscan and it was brilliant; expensive, but brilliant!
The Tuscan ran beautifully the whole day. We could just about keep up with the fast guys and never felt like we were lacking in power, even though there were a lot of race prepped and super charged TVR Griffiths, Chimaeras and T350s etc there. Quite a few cars didn't last the distance however and had to be trailered home.
The upgraded brakes were really good and never faded once, even though towards the end I was really, really leaning on them very hard. I was nervous of cooking them at first, but needn't have worried.
The handling was very neutral indeed and neither end felt that it was going to do anything nasty.
We had a lot of controlled power slides though and I could squeak the front tyres or slide the tail out at will. We Steepened the angle of attack of the top blade of the wing and that did seem to help the handling, there were a couple of other Tuscans there all 'S' versions that have 30 more Horsepower than mine, but we could corner faster than them and they did not seem to have any more power on the straights.
The Tuscan used nearly 50 litres of Super Unleaded during the day, which was a bit of a shock!
I was using the shift lights though, and revving to over 6000 through the gears. We could just about reach 130 down the Revett straight and 120 on the start line Senna straight, before we had to brake hard for the corners with the car standing on its nose.
My driving certainly improved throughout the day and fortunately the weather was glorious and the track very sticky. I was very impressed with the Bridgestone Potenza tyres fitted to the Tuscan you could really depend on them.
The Tuscan throttle however has a vey long action and it hurt my leg after a while to push it all the way over and down. You also have to be gentle when changing down the box and wait for
everything to settle down and not force the stick through. Every lap we learnt a little more and got used to the car until we were flying round, choosing the braking points with care and sliding through most of the bends.
The Tuscan is truly an awesome car and very forgiving too. Not once did I feel things were getting out of control or beyond my abilities, which says a lot for the car! It is very tiring though and tonight we are both shattered. I feel I could have done better and there is much room for improvement, but probably 2 track days a year will be enough I think.
Snetterton is a great track and the facilities are very good and very clean. This Trackday was organised by Easy Track and the paper work and briefings and marshalls etc were all extremely well organised.
The Tuscan is being serviced and MOT'd tomorrow at Sebring in Wisbeech so we shall see what needs doing. I guess a new set of brake pads will be required at least! It is not the big 12,000 mile service, so I have everything crossed I won't get a horrendous bill.
The Tuscan ran beautifully the whole day. We could just about keep up with the fast guys and never felt like we were lacking in power, even though there were a lot of race prepped and super charged TVR Griffiths, Chimaeras and T350s etc there. Quite a few cars didn't last the distance however and had to be trailered home.
The upgraded brakes were really good and never faded once, even though towards the end I was really, really leaning on them very hard. I was nervous of cooking them at first, but needn't have worried.
The handling was very neutral indeed and neither end felt that it was going to do anything nasty.
We had a lot of controlled power slides though and I could squeak the front tyres or slide the tail out at will. We Steepened the angle of attack of the top blade of the wing and that did seem to help the handling, there were a couple of other Tuscans there all 'S' versions that have 30 more Horsepower than mine, but we could corner faster than them and they did not seem to have any more power on the straights.
The Tuscan used nearly 50 litres of Super Unleaded during the day, which was a bit of a shock!
I was using the shift lights though, and revving to over 6000 through the gears. We could just about reach 130 down the Revett straight and 120 on the start line Senna straight, before we had to brake hard for the corners with the car standing on its nose.
My driving certainly improved throughout the day and fortunately the weather was glorious and the track very sticky. I was very impressed with the Bridgestone Potenza tyres fitted to the Tuscan you could really depend on them.
The Tuscan throttle however has a vey long action and it hurt my leg after a while to push it all the way over and down. You also have to be gentle when changing down the box and wait for
everything to settle down and not force the stick through. Every lap we learnt a little more and got used to the car until we were flying round, choosing the braking points with care and sliding through most of the bends.
The Tuscan is truly an awesome car and very forgiving too. Not once did I feel things were getting out of control or beyond my abilities, which says a lot for the car! It is very tiring though and tonight we are both shattered. I feel I could have done better and there is much room for improvement, but probably 2 track days a year will be enough I think.
Snetterton is a great track and the facilities are very good and very clean. This Trackday was organised by Easy Track and the paper work and briefings and marshalls etc were all extremely well organised.
The Tuscan is being serviced and MOT'd tomorrow at Sebring in Wisbeech so we shall see what needs doing. I guess a new set of brake pads will be required at least! It is not the big 12,000 mile service, so I have everything crossed I won't get a horrendous bill.
Friday 18 July 2008
Tuscan Spoiler
When I purchased the Tuscan it came with a spare set of 16" alloys with tyres and a spare boot with spoiler. It had taken me a while to get them picked up, but now I have them home I decided to put the boot spoiler on. It is a very nice metal one and the blades have been sprayed to match, but it took three of us to fit it!
The struts were for some reason fitted the wrong way round but I have put them on the right way and it looks a lot better. It certainly gets even more attention now and I think gives it more of a "super car" look.
I am off to Snetterton on Monday for a Track Day in the Tuscan. It will be my first and there will be some very powerful cars there, so I hope everything goes OK! I have got insurance and my bike helmet is gold ACU approved so will be OK. It is not cheap to do this sort of thing, £175 through the TVR club and £40 insurance with Hagerty (with £1500 excess!) but I am very excited about it and can't wait. It is not a race and there will be expert instruction provided.
I am hoping my biker roundabout skills will come to the fore!
Talking of which I was on the southern bypass the other Saturday morning in the Tuscan in the fast lane and saw what I thought was a police car a long way back coming from a slip road and braked hard. A point they noted when they stopped me a little while later! I got a verbal warning, the tyres checked and a breath test, which read zero. The old biker skills do come in handy; check the rear views every minute and always, always look up the slip roads !
The struts were for some reason fitted the wrong way round but I have put them on the right way and it looks a lot better. It certainly gets even more attention now and I think gives it more of a "super car" look.
I am off to Snetterton on Monday for a Track Day in the Tuscan. It will be my first and there will be some very powerful cars there, so I hope everything goes OK! I have got insurance and my bike helmet is gold ACU approved so will be OK. It is not cheap to do this sort of thing, £175 through the TVR club and £40 insurance with Hagerty (with £1500 excess!) but I am very excited about it and can't wait. It is not a race and there will be expert instruction provided.
I am hoping my biker roundabout skills will come to the fore!
Talking of which I was on the southern bypass the other Saturday morning in the Tuscan in the fast lane and saw what I thought was a police car a long way back coming from a slip road and braked hard. A point they noted when they stopped me a little while later! I got a verbal warning, the tyres checked and a breath test, which read zero. The old biker skills do come in handy; check the rear views every minute and always, always look up the slip roads !
Roar 08
A bit belated this post but we had a great time at ROAR 08 in the Peak district.
We had a very slow trip up and only averaged 40 mph on the A roads so 160 miles took 4 hours. The Chimp achieved only 21mpg but most of the time we were in 4th, it really was a tedious trip and a testament to the appalling congestion on our roads. Mind you we fared a lot better than some people who took the M6 that Friday!
We had a great time at the event and met some really nice people. I was surprised how well my Chimp looked against the pristine examples costing nearer £20K.
I put her on the dyno and got 230hp at 5700 revs and 240 ft/llb of torque at 4500 revs. These are excellent figures for the 4L and compare with a 4.6L which had 234hp and 243 ft/llbs of torque but at only 3000 revs. Having the torque higher up the rev range is much better as it helps you reach the horse power and makes the power seamless through the rev range. RPI had obviously advised me correctly!
They did mention my rev counter was reading 6,250 when actually the engine was doing 6,000 rpm. This is a bit of a relief as a couple of times I have seen almost 7,000 indicated!
I also went out with a Police advanced driving instructor round some very tight hilly roads and
he seemed to like my driving. He new I was a biker straight away and gave me 5 out of 5 for observation!
We came home on the A1 for as long as possible and then took the A47, which was much better. The Chimp never missed a beat and didn't puff any smoke from the zorsts on the dyno at all, unlike some others.
It must also be quite comfortable as the missus slept for quite a while on both trips.
We had a very slow trip up and only averaged 40 mph on the A roads so 160 miles took 4 hours. The Chimp achieved only 21mpg but most of the time we were in 4th, it really was a tedious trip and a testament to the appalling congestion on our roads. Mind you we fared a lot better than some people who took the M6 that Friday!
We had a great time at the event and met some really nice people. I was surprised how well my Chimp looked against the pristine examples costing nearer £20K.
I put her on the dyno and got 230hp at 5700 revs and 240 ft/llb of torque at 4500 revs. These are excellent figures for the 4L and compare with a 4.6L which had 234hp and 243 ft/llbs of torque but at only 3000 revs. Having the torque higher up the rev range is much better as it helps you reach the horse power and makes the power seamless through the rev range. RPI had obviously advised me correctly!
They did mention my rev counter was reading 6,250 when actually the engine was doing 6,000 rpm. This is a bit of a relief as a couple of times I have seen almost 7,000 indicated!
I also went out with a Police advanced driving instructor round some very tight hilly roads and
he seemed to like my driving. He new I was a biker straight away and gave me 5 out of 5 for observation!
We came home on the A1 for as long as possible and then took the A47, which was much better. The Chimp never missed a beat and didn't puff any smoke from the zorsts on the dyno at all, unlike some others.
It must also be quite comfortable as the missus slept for quite a while on both trips.
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Nice Weather
Well I have been out and about enjoying the nice weather.
Both the Chimaera and Tuscan have been used regularly. The Tuscan gets looked at a tremendous amount and even BMW M3 owners get out of its way on the bypass! The Exhuasts have been "sleeved" to make it slightly louder and this also makes it "pop n bang" nicely on the over run as well. It has black 18" spider wheels with "G string" tyres and orange brake calipers. The brakes have been upgraded so it stops really well.
The Tuscan is a very twitchy car to drive if there are truck ruts on the road or a steep camber, but it seems to all come together the faster you go. It only has 1.7 turns of the steering wheel lock to lock and it is very low to the ground and so I won't be taking it into any multi-storey car parks!
The Chimaera is still running very well and we have been blasting about as usual. It really is a very pleasant car to drive in the sunshine with the roof panel removed but the rear screen and windows raised.
Lets hope we have some great weather this year. We are off to the Roar 08 Chimaera festival in late June in the Peak District. The wife is going to have some treatments in the spa and I am putting the Chimaera on the Dyno to see what power it is making.
Both the Chimaera and Tuscan have been used regularly. The Tuscan gets looked at a tremendous amount and even BMW M3 owners get out of its way on the bypass! The Exhuasts have been "sleeved" to make it slightly louder and this also makes it "pop n bang" nicely on the over run as well. It has black 18" spider wheels with "G string" tyres and orange brake calipers. The brakes have been upgraded so it stops really well.
The Tuscan is a very twitchy car to drive if there are truck ruts on the road or a steep camber, but it seems to all come together the faster you go. It only has 1.7 turns of the steering wheel lock to lock and it is very low to the ground and so I won't be taking it into any multi-storey car parks!
The Chimaera is still running very well and we have been blasting about as usual. It really is a very pleasant car to drive in the sunshine with the roof panel removed but the rear screen and windows raised.
Lets hope we have some great weather this year. We are off to the Roar 08 Chimaera festival in late June in the Peak District. The wife is going to have some treatments in the spa and I am putting the Chimaera on the Dyno to see what power it is making.
Monday 26 May 2008
New TVR
Well I have been very busy. I have sold my Camaro and purchased another TVR! This one is a 2000 Tuscan and was being advertised quite cheaply on eBay. Getting the Camaro ready for sale has taken a lot of time, but the Chimaera has been running very well indeed.
We went to Snetterton on the spring Bank Holiday in the Chimaera to watch the TVR, Ferrari, Ginetta and Mini racing and had a brilliant day out. The weather was beautiful and Snetterton is a great venue. Loads of TVRs turned up and we all lined up so people could admire these great cars. The Chimaera looked a little sober compared to some of the other TVRs but I like the understated look. My Tuscan however really stands out in its reflex green paintwork and black spider alloys.
I had to lay some laminate flooring in the wife's salon this weekend and the Chimaera proved to be a great workhorse. I got 5 packs of laminate flooring in the boot and one in the passenger seat, plus all my tools! I can even get my workmate bench in the boot as well and still managed to take another Porsche (don't even bother to note which model any more) on the bypass at the same time! When will they learn?
I an going to include my adventures with the Tuscan as well on this blog and maybe do some camparisons between the two cars. The first thing to note isthat they have tthe same gearbox but feel very different. the tuscan gearknob gets so hot you can hardly use it, but the change is sweet. The Chimaeras gearknob is cold but the gearchange not as smooth, so I presume the linkage is different. the Tuscan definetly "Wows" people and creates a real stir, wherever you go, but I like driving the Chimaera as you can really chuck it about and use it more as an everyday car. Every trip in the Tuscan is an event though and I really like the look and the colour and the interior.
We went to Snetterton on the spring Bank Holiday in the Chimaera to watch the TVR, Ferrari, Ginetta and Mini racing and had a brilliant day out. The weather was beautiful and Snetterton is a great venue. Loads of TVRs turned up and we all lined up so people could admire these great cars. The Chimaera looked a little sober compared to some of the other TVRs but I like the understated look. My Tuscan however really stands out in its reflex green paintwork and black spider alloys.
I had to lay some laminate flooring in the wife's salon this weekend and the Chimaera proved to be a great workhorse. I got 5 packs of laminate flooring in the boot and one in the passenger seat, plus all my tools! I can even get my workmate bench in the boot as well and still managed to take another Porsche (don't even bother to note which model any more) on the bypass at the same time! When will they learn?
I an going to include my adventures with the Tuscan as well on this blog and maybe do some camparisons between the two cars. The first thing to note isthat they have tthe same gearbox but feel very different. the tuscan gearknob gets so hot you can hardly use it, but the change is sweet. The Chimaeras gearknob is cold but the gearchange not as smooth, so I presume the linkage is different. the Tuscan definetly "Wows" people and creates a real stir, wherever you go, but I like driving the Chimaera as you can really chuck it about and use it more as an everyday car. Every trip in the Tuscan is an event though and I really like the look and the colour and the interior.
Friday 18 April 2008
Good News!
I have had the chassis checked at Offords and they have declared it to be in great shape. This is unusual for a Chimp of this age. Offords had 1 on the ramps and another 4 Chimaeras awaiting chassis repairs, so I am well pleased. The mechanic who has his own Chimaera also liked the engine mods and thought how nicely the car drove.
I had a small leak on the low pressure side of the Power Assisted Steering seen to with new hoses, a new Serpentine belt fitted and the Diff topped up. With the chassis check this cost £150. I will get the chassis scraped and more waxoyl reapplied before the Autumn.
It was a 170 mile trip in pleasant sunshine and the Chimp just purred along, never missing a beat. With the induction changes it has an unusual engine note at motorway speeds and is a lot quieter. In addition the fuel consumption is very much better. It really was a pleasant trip regardless of traffic and again it makes you realise what a great car the Chimaera is in all driving conditions. I was so comfortable on the way home I almost nodded off!
I did get held up in traffic on the All and A14 and watching the temperature gauge like a hawk noted how well the fans coped under pressure. Roundabouts are an endless source of amusement however as the Chimp is brilliant and carrying lots of corner speed you leave other vehicles floundering in your wake as you accelerate smoothly out the other side.
Again very pleased with my purchase and feel ever more confident in the Chimp's abilities.
I had a small leak on the low pressure side of the Power Assisted Steering seen to with new hoses, a new Serpentine belt fitted and the Diff topped up. With the chassis check this cost £150. I will get the chassis scraped and more waxoyl reapplied before the Autumn.
It was a 170 mile trip in pleasant sunshine and the Chimp just purred along, never missing a beat. With the induction changes it has an unusual engine note at motorway speeds and is a lot quieter. In addition the fuel consumption is very much better. It really was a pleasant trip regardless of traffic and again it makes you realise what a great car the Chimaera is in all driving conditions. I was so comfortable on the way home I almost nodded off!
I did get held up in traffic on the All and A14 and watching the temperature gauge like a hawk noted how well the fans coped under pressure. Roundabouts are an endless source of amusement however as the Chimp is brilliant and carrying lots of corner speed you leave other vehicles floundering in your wake as you accelerate smoothly out the other side.
Again very pleased with my purchase and feel ever more confident in the Chimp's abilities.
Sunday 13 April 2008
A Good Day
Sun was shining this Sunday, so I dragged the missus from her duvet at 8:30, checked over the Chimp, removed the roof panel, put "Songbirds 2008" on the excellent Pioneer CD changer for her (instead of Tom Waits / Nick Cave / Bruce Springstein) and set off for Wells-Next-The-Sea about half an hours gentle cruising distance away.
The Chimp purred lazily through the lovely Norfolk countryside at 60 mph, with the heater blowing lots of cosy warm air. What a pleasant drive, which the missus seemd to thoroughly enjoy; which is nice.
We stopped at the wonderful Wells Deli for Spicy Chian coffee and to buy some local cheese and bread, fed the ducks, noted a Porsche Boxster and an XK8 in the car park, walked up an down the wharf and headed for home again.
I have driven this little route in/on many vehicles and begun thinking on the way home how the Chimp is so well suited to this kind of driving and what a great morning it had been. The Chimaera has to be the quintessential English sports car and very much at home on the highways and byways of Norfolk. You can choose to cruise gently along or with a drop of a couple of gears get to insane speeds in a matter of seconds, relishing every corner with the V8 howling fortissimo. If only the MGB / Elise / Triumph TR / Porsche / Mazda MX5 crowd new what they were missing and for so little money.
Bloody Marvelous!
The Chimp purred lazily through the lovely Norfolk countryside at 60 mph, with the heater blowing lots of cosy warm air. What a pleasant drive, which the missus seemd to thoroughly enjoy; which is nice.
We stopped at the wonderful Wells Deli for Spicy Chian coffee and to buy some local cheese and bread, fed the ducks, noted a Porsche Boxster and an XK8 in the car park, walked up an down the wharf and headed for home again.
I have driven this little route in/on many vehicles and begun thinking on the way home how the Chimp is so well suited to this kind of driving and what a great morning it had been. The Chimaera has to be the quintessential English sports car and very much at home on the highways and byways of Norfolk. You can choose to cruise gently along or with a drop of a couple of gears get to insane speeds in a matter of seconds, relishing every corner with the V8 howling fortissimo. If only the MGB / Elise / Triumph TR / Porsche / Mazda MX5 crowd new what they were missing and for so little money.
Bloody Marvelous!
Wednesday 2 April 2008
Porsche virgin no more
The Chimp has been running really well and I am using it more, which seem to be a real tonic for it.
My son and I happened across a new shape Porsche Boxster S on Sunday on dual carriageway just before some traffic lights and though some stupid granny swerved across 2 lanes in her Nova and cut us all up, managed to line up with it on a red light. On the Green I bogged the Chimp and she didn't "pull out of the hole" very well so we were neck and neck in first, I banged her through the gears t0 6000 into 4th and the Chimp pulled ahead in each gear. Brilliant stuff and goes to show the tuning modifications have been worthwhile. the Porsche weighs 1353KG has 260bhp and goes 0-60 in 5.7 seconds. It all happened so quickly, but a good result:
1996 TVR Chimaera 400 = 1 : 2006 Porsche Boxster S =0 !
I have also been out on my favourite country roads exploring the handling of the car at speed and even though the roads are apallingly rough and pot-holed the Chimp is hanging on well. I feel now it may be time for a brake upgrade though!
This is a brilliant car for the kind of driving I do and I am enjoying the experience very much indeed.
My son and I happened across a new shape Porsche Boxster S on Sunday on dual carriageway just before some traffic lights and though some stupid granny swerved across 2 lanes in her Nova and cut us all up, managed to line up with it on a red light. On the Green I bogged the Chimp and she didn't "pull out of the hole" very well so we were neck and neck in first, I banged her through the gears t0 6000 into 4th and the Chimp pulled ahead in each gear. Brilliant stuff and goes to show the tuning modifications have been worthwhile. the Porsche weighs 1353KG has 260bhp and goes 0-60 in 5.7 seconds. It all happened so quickly, but a good result:
1996 TVR Chimaera 400 = 1 : 2006 Porsche Boxster S =0 !
I have also been out on my favourite country roads exploring the handling of the car at speed and even though the roads are apallingly rough and pot-holed the Chimp is hanging on well. I feel now it may be time for a brake upgrade though!
This is a brilliant car for the kind of driving I do and I am enjoying the experience very much indeed.
Thursday 27 March 2008
Wet Weather
I have been using the Chimp all through the wet weather and apart from the battery not having enough power to start the car if I leave it for more than 3 days and the water ingress being of biblical proportions in this terrible weather, all is well.
I have removed the driver side carpets as they were really sodden and the interesting thing is the car doesn't appear to be any more noisy.
The engine tuning really comes into its own on wet roads and whereas before I felt nervous about applying power, now I feel in complete control and can balance the car on the throttle perfectly.
The Chimp cockpit is a pleasant place to be on these wet days and driving into town is no chore at all. The heater is great, the wipers work fine, visibility is good and braking and grip are all excellent.
It would be nice to get the top off though, so role on the good weather!
I have removed the driver side carpets as they were really sodden and the interesting thing is the car doesn't appear to be any more noisy.
The engine tuning really comes into its own on wet roads and whereas before I felt nervous about applying power, now I feel in complete control and can balance the car on the throttle perfectly.
The Chimp cockpit is a pleasant place to be on these wet days and driving into town is no chore at all. The heater is great, the wipers work fine, visibility is good and braking and grip are all excellent.
It would be nice to get the top off though, so role on the good weather!
Saturday 15 March 2008
More Trouble
Oh well ,TVR ownership looks like being a real roller coaster ride. I am not complaining though, modern cars are so boring and uninvolving.
Friday the Chimp had a flat battery after the awful weather we had. It had sat around for 5 days so I guess I need to use it more, though it is a new battery. I guess the alarm system is to blame.
The hood is still leaking as well, but I think this may be due to the fact that the "Elephant Ears" are missing. Apparently these seal the bottom of the hood and I can;t see any on my car.
Friday Evening I had driven through town, went to the cash point and then quickly stopped again to put some fuel in and the Chimp refused to start. Everything seemd OK, except when you turned the key to the start position nothing happened. I did notice the warning lights dimmed slightly when I turned the key so figured that because she was now running hotter the resistance in the starter wiring had increased to a point where she wouldn't turn over. Sure enough after 20 minutes, she started fine. This is a common TVR problem and somehow I will have to insulate the starter wiring from the hot exhaust pipes.
Apart from that she is running nicely, no squeks, rattles, bumps or other untoward noises, though again if you leave her for a few days, the tick over is noticeably higher for several miles, but settles down eventually.
The wife has an Audi TT (180hp) and she enjoys a laugh, so on the dual carriageway on the way home the other night we "explored the performance envelope" of our respective vehicles. Suffice to say the TVR is much quicker all through the speed range! It also handles like it is on rails as well, as nothing has been able to get near me on roundabouts or twisty roads either.
The Steve Heath bible has arrived and is a good read, though I don't agreewith all he says, especially concerning oils. It is a weighty tome so will take a while to digest.
Friday the Chimp had a flat battery after the awful weather we had. It had sat around for 5 days so I guess I need to use it more, though it is a new battery. I guess the alarm system is to blame.
The hood is still leaking as well, but I think this may be due to the fact that the "Elephant Ears" are missing. Apparently these seal the bottom of the hood and I can;t see any on my car.
Friday Evening I had driven through town, went to the cash point and then quickly stopped again to put some fuel in and the Chimp refused to start. Everything seemd OK, except when you turned the key to the start position nothing happened. I did notice the warning lights dimmed slightly when I turned the key so figured that because she was now running hotter the resistance in the starter wiring had increased to a point where she wouldn't turn over. Sure enough after 20 minutes, she started fine. This is a common TVR problem and somehow I will have to insulate the starter wiring from the hot exhaust pipes.
Apart from that she is running nicely, no squeks, rattles, bumps or other untoward noises, though again if you leave her for a few days, the tick over is noticeably higher for several miles, but settles down eventually.
The wife has an Audi TT (180hp) and she enjoys a laugh, so on the dual carriageway on the way home the other night we "explored the performance envelope" of our respective vehicles. Suffice to say the TVR is much quicker all through the speed range! It also handles like it is on rails as well, as nothing has been able to get near me on roundabouts or twisty roads either.
The Steve Heath bible has arrived and is a good read, though I don't agreewith all he says, especially concerning oils. It is a weighty tome so will take a while to digest.
Sunday 9 March 2008
Driving Pleasure
I eventually found the dashboard light switch under the dash to the left of the column and so now the instruments are illuminated again - doooh!
I am awaiting the deliverery of the TVR "bible" by Steve Heath, which if you like tinkering with TVRs is apparently a must. Can't wait to get immersed in all that technical stuff!
I had heard on the TVRCC web site and Pistonheads.co.uk that the odometer sticking is quite a common problem and can happen any time the odometer tries to roll over 1000 miles. A suggestion was to reverse quite a way then accelerate hard forward to try and force it over.
This did not work for me, but since the upgrades the acceleration of the ChimP is now very impressive indeed and opposite locking holding a controlled power slide on dry tarmac is good fun.
One of the reasons I purchased the TVR was due to the fact that I had given up motorcycling after 30 years. It really is a fun car and in many ways as rewarding to drive as a motorcycle, which I did not expect. I do make excuses just to take the ChimP out for a drive and as we get to know each other I am getting an awful lot of pleasure from being behind the wheel. Right now she is running beautifully.
I am really very pleased with the whole TVR ownership experience, from the web sites, the excellent club magazine, through the suppliers to the car itself. I just don't beleive you can get this from buying a new sports car, even if you spend more than 10 times as much.
I judge my cars on smiles per mile and even when I am at home on the internet my fellow club members make me laugh.
I am awaiting the deliverery of the TVR "bible" by Steve Heath, which if you like tinkering with TVRs is apparently a must. Can't wait to get immersed in all that technical stuff!
I had heard on the TVRCC web site and Pistonheads.co.uk that the odometer sticking is quite a common problem and can happen any time the odometer tries to roll over 1000 miles. A suggestion was to reverse quite a way then accelerate hard forward to try and force it over.
This did not work for me, but since the upgrades the acceleration of the ChimP is now very impressive indeed and opposite locking holding a controlled power slide on dry tarmac is good fun.
One of the reasons I purchased the TVR was due to the fact that I had given up motorcycling after 30 years. It really is a fun car and in many ways as rewarding to drive as a motorcycle, which I did not expect. I do make excuses just to take the ChimP out for a drive and as we get to know each other I am getting an awful lot of pleasure from being behind the wheel. Right now she is running beautifully.
I am really very pleased with the whole TVR ownership experience, from the web sites, the excellent club magazine, through the suppliers to the car itself. I just don't beleive you can get this from buying a new sports car, even if you spend more than 10 times as much.
I judge my cars on smiles per mile and even when I am at home on the internet my fellow club members make me laugh.
Thursday 6 March 2008
Injection Upgrades
I have just got the ChimP back and the good news is that she is running even better! The difference is quite marked all through the rev range, but especially at the top end.
It did cost £1693.76 for this work, but some quite major bits have been changed that provide benefits now and will provide further benefits if and when I go to a 4.6L engine. I now have:
Ported inlet manifold
Modified Plenum with enlarged throttle
Modified trumpets and base.
Variable fuel pressure regulator.
As well as a host of other bits and the oil has been changed.
RPI have checked the engine and all is well. It appears the cam and tappets have been recently
changed, which is good news. the tapping noise at startup has stopped as well.
Chris from RPI has driven the car quite a bit and his opinion is that in terms of handling and performance it is in good condition and quite impressive. RPI went to great lengths to explain to me the care and attention they have lavished on the car and you can certainly appreciate that. I wish my Suzuki dealer would do the same!
I have been doing some more investigation and the next phase for the ChimP(funds permitting) is as follows.
New Alloy wheels 17" front and 18" back with toyo tyres - £800
New Steering Wheel - £250
Partial interior re-trim to change the cracked seats etc from cream to light grey - £1500
Racing Red Shocks - £700
Leven Kick plates, column stalks, switches, vent decoration etc - £225
A tidy sum indeed, but I could have easily spent £20K on something that basically is not as accomplished.
The Chimaera really is designed for the kind of twisty A and B roads I use most. There is no motorway in Norfolk after all. I think it is the perfect base on which to build an ultra fast A-B sports car, probably one of the best ever designed. Sure there are other cars in this bracket, but not for £6.5K and the main point is that other cars are not as customisable, look as good or sound so gorgeous.
My mate Will has just sold his S2000 and purchased a 4 year old BMW M3 convertible. I have been passenger and it certainly has all the toys , is beautifully made and is very quick in the mid range, though it weighs 1660Kg; 600Kg more than the ChimP and 260Kg more than the Camaro! Will is not mechanically minded and does longer trips than me so it is the perfect choice for him. Will is not the best passenger and after a little trip down my favourite back roads admitted that the ChimP was a pretty awesome motor vehicle and really quite scary!
The dash lights have stopped working now, which I hope is just a fuse but I suspect I will be changing to the new Leven dashboard sooner than expected. It all points to the dash having been removed for whatever reason before and things not being replaced properley.
This is sooo much better than buying a new car, all ups and downs and excitement and expectations. I have owned the ChimP for 3 months now and the buzzz just goes on and on...
It did cost £1693.76 for this work, but some quite major bits have been changed that provide benefits now and will provide further benefits if and when I go to a 4.6L engine. I now have:
Ported inlet manifold
Modified Plenum with enlarged throttle
Modified trumpets and base.
Variable fuel pressure regulator.
As well as a host of other bits and the oil has been changed.
RPI have checked the engine and all is well. It appears the cam and tappets have been recently
changed, which is good news. the tapping noise at startup has stopped as well.
Chris from RPI has driven the car quite a bit and his opinion is that in terms of handling and performance it is in good condition and quite impressive. RPI went to great lengths to explain to me the care and attention they have lavished on the car and you can certainly appreciate that. I wish my Suzuki dealer would do the same!
I have been doing some more investigation and the next phase for the ChimP(funds permitting) is as follows.
New Alloy wheels 17" front and 18" back with toyo tyres - £800
New Steering Wheel - £250
Partial interior re-trim to change the cracked seats etc from cream to light grey - £1500
Racing Red Shocks - £700
Leven Kick plates, column stalks, switches, vent decoration etc - £225
A tidy sum indeed, but I could have easily spent £20K on something that basically is not as accomplished.
The Chimaera really is designed for the kind of twisty A and B roads I use most. There is no motorway in Norfolk after all. I think it is the perfect base on which to build an ultra fast A-B sports car, probably one of the best ever designed. Sure there are other cars in this bracket, but not for £6.5K and the main point is that other cars are not as customisable, look as good or sound so gorgeous.
My mate Will has just sold his S2000 and purchased a 4 year old BMW M3 convertible. I have been passenger and it certainly has all the toys , is beautifully made and is very quick in the mid range, though it weighs 1660Kg; 600Kg more than the ChimP and 260Kg more than the Camaro! Will is not mechanically minded and does longer trips than me so it is the perfect choice for him. Will is not the best passenger and after a little trip down my favourite back roads admitted that the ChimP was a pretty awesome motor vehicle and really quite scary!
The dash lights have stopped working now, which I hope is just a fuse but I suspect I will be changing to the new Leven dashboard sooner than expected. It all points to the dash having been removed for whatever reason before and things not being replaced properley.
This is sooo much better than buying a new car, all ups and downs and excitement and expectations. I have owned the ChimP for 3 months now and the buzzz just goes on and on...
Tuesday 26 February 2008
Further Mods
I am pleased to report that after the upgrades etc the TVR has settled down and is going very well indeed. At motor way cruising speeds the ChimP just purrrrrs along.
Chimaeras tend to get called "Chims" in the TVR Car Club. I think this is due to the peculiar spelling, which naturally gets shortened? I am calling mine "ChimP" though because it is P registered and it's like having a monkey on your back when things go wrong!
After the recent engine work both the engine and box are a lot smoother, but as the tick-over has settled down when cold I can now hear a "tapping", which will no doubt be the camshaft or lifter.
I have finished off waterproofing the hood and it looks a lot smarter and the water simply runs off instead of soaking in.
As the Odometer has stopped at 51,999 and other things indicated a higher mileage my suspicions of tampering were aroused. If you go to http://www.direct.gov.uk/motoring you can now search your cars MOT history. You need either the V5 reference number or the last MOT reference number(computerised only). Sure enough I found that a prior MOT showed 71,000 miles so the complete service history and 51,000 odometer reading had been falsified. A real bugger, but I am afraid an all too common occurrence when buying from the trade.
The stainless Dash and Radio panel have been delivered from Leven and look very nice indeed, though I will wait for a while before fitting. I am also in the process of sourcing a nicer looking steering wheel as well from Mota-lita who have asked me for a load of measurements to see if they have one that fits.
I am going to the USA on business, so the Chimp has gone to RPI for a week to have the air intake side of things sorted. This involves a new Plenum, new "Bell mouth" intake trumpets and a new air intake valve. They are also going to change the oil and check the camshaft and compression. I don't expect good news!
Chimaeras tend to get called "Chims" in the TVR Car Club. I think this is due to the peculiar spelling, which naturally gets shortened? I am calling mine "ChimP" though because it is P registered and it's like having a monkey on your back when things go wrong!
After the recent engine work both the engine and box are a lot smoother, but as the tick-over has settled down when cold I can now hear a "tapping", which will no doubt be the camshaft or lifter.
I have finished off waterproofing the hood and it looks a lot smarter and the water simply runs off instead of soaking in.
As the Odometer has stopped at 51,999 and other things indicated a higher mileage my suspicions of tampering were aroused. If you go to http://www.direct.gov.uk/motoring you can now search your cars MOT history. You need either the V5 reference number or the last MOT reference number(computerised only). Sure enough I found that a prior MOT showed 71,000 miles so the complete service history and 51,000 odometer reading had been falsified. A real bugger, but I am afraid an all too common occurrence when buying from the trade.
The stainless Dash and Radio panel have been delivered from Leven and look very nice indeed, though I will wait for a while before fitting. I am also in the process of sourcing a nicer looking steering wheel as well from Mota-lita who have asked me for a load of measurements to see if they have one that fits.
I am going to the USA on business, so the Chimp has gone to RPI for a week to have the air intake side of things sorted. This involves a new Plenum, new "Bell mouth" intake trumpets and a new air intake valve. They are also going to change the oil and check the camshaft and compression. I don't expect good news!
Saturday 16 February 2008
Things going wrong
TVRs are not the most relaible of vehicles it has to be said, but they are brilliant to drive and really quite fast.
Had a little go with a 89 Sierra Cosworth today. He was 3 up and really trying, judging by the amount of brown smoke from the over large zorst, but I could keep up fine. He had to slow down for the roundabouts a lot more than I did. In the end he accelerated off a roundabout, there was a big bang and a huge cloud of smoke which I had to drive through blind (A bit like a flak burst, it was that bad). After that he turned off up the next side road, so I suppose he did some damage.
The tickover as RPI predicted sorted itself out after about 20 miles and now returns to idle just fine.
The heater valve control on the dashboard has stopped working, as the cable seems to have popped out. This is a dashboard out job, but I can still operate it from the passenger footwell if I contort myself. The Odometer and trip have also just stopped working at 51,999 miles, again a dash out job.
I wanted to replace the dashboard and radio panel with a turned aluminium item from Leven anyway as the wood item has delaminated. I will get around to it after I have used the car a bit more and see what else goes wrong.
I have put the Renovo colour restorer on the hood and it looks great and makes the car look a lot newer. It looked horrible going on like that awful mid-blue of 90's Metros and Maestros but fortunately darkened down considerably when dry to the original Navy. You do need to mask the car up and take a bit of care with the brush. Use white spirit to get rid of any drips as soon as you can.
I think my TVR will settle down and become semi-relaible as we get used to each other, I suspect the car has not been used like this for a while and so things are bound to go wrong.
Had a little go with a 89 Sierra Cosworth today. He was 3 up and really trying, judging by the amount of brown smoke from the over large zorst, but I could keep up fine. He had to slow down for the roundabouts a lot more than I did. In the end he accelerated off a roundabout, there was a big bang and a huge cloud of smoke which I had to drive through blind (A bit like a flak burst, it was that bad). After that he turned off up the next side road, so I suppose he did some damage.
The tickover as RPI predicted sorted itself out after about 20 miles and now returns to idle just fine.
The heater valve control on the dashboard has stopped working, as the cable seems to have popped out. This is a dashboard out job, but I can still operate it from the passenger footwell if I contort myself. The Odometer and trip have also just stopped working at 51,999 miles, again a dash out job.
I wanted to replace the dashboard and radio panel with a turned aluminium item from Leven anyway as the wood item has delaminated. I will get around to it after I have used the car a bit more and see what else goes wrong.
I have put the Renovo colour restorer on the hood and it looks great and makes the car look a lot newer. It looked horrible going on like that awful mid-blue of 90's Metros and Maestros but fortunately darkened down considerably when dry to the original Navy. You do need to mask the car up and take a bit of care with the brush. Use white spirit to get rid of any drips as soon as you can.
I think my TVR will settle down and become semi-relaible as we get used to each other, I suspect the car has not been used like this for a while and so things are bound to go wrong.
Persistence Pays Off
Well with RPIs help we finally got to the bottom of the engine running problem.
I went to purchse some new plugs, because even though they had been recently replaced before I purchased the car, I also understood that upgrading the sparks could cause a plug to fail.
On removal one of the plugs was sooty and crudded up. When we looked at the new Magnecor leads, one ws cracked and burnt. What had happened was the angled metal plug caps fitted to the leads had rotated and this caused the lead to touch the exhaust and eventually start arcing. This is prone to happen on the left bank (looking from the front) where clearance is tight. The remedy is to fit a loose cable tie round cylinders 4 and 6 so the plug cap cannot rotate. RPI replaced the burnt lead FOC and I also fitted 8 new metal plug caps as the old ones looked corroded.
The new plugs were gapped to suit the new ignition upgrades and what a result. The engine is now 100% and smoooooth as silk. The tickover still takes a while to settle down but I have only done a few miles so hopefully it will cure itself as the ECU gets used to the changes. If not RPI will sort it for me when they improve the EFI air flow. I spent £63.45 today but it was money well spent.
I like RPI, they let me get my hands dirty and help if I want and I can make suggestions, on the one condition that I listen to their combined 61 years of Rover V8 experience! Chris Crane even took time on a busy Saturday to thrash the nuts off my car to make sure it was now running OK. Top Bloke!
All drive line shunt and the slight mis-fire has now gone. Hopefully now I can set a "Base Line" for the engine, to establish how further upgrades affect performance.
The engine temperature sensor has come from Wilco costing £9.35 but I shan't bother fitting it now. I also bought a selection of blade fuses as these can blow unexpectedly.
The Renovo hood refurbishment kit has also arrived and I have cleaned the hood to good effect. The next stage is to mask off and apply the colour restorer and water proofer.
I am a happy bunny and the sun is shining too!
I went to purchse some new plugs, because even though they had been recently replaced before I purchased the car, I also understood that upgrading the sparks could cause a plug to fail.
On removal one of the plugs was sooty and crudded up. When we looked at the new Magnecor leads, one ws cracked and burnt. What had happened was the angled metal plug caps fitted to the leads had rotated and this caused the lead to touch the exhaust and eventually start arcing. This is prone to happen on the left bank (looking from the front) where clearance is tight. The remedy is to fit a loose cable tie round cylinders 4 and 6 so the plug cap cannot rotate. RPI replaced the burnt lead FOC and I also fitted 8 new metal plug caps as the old ones looked corroded.
The new plugs were gapped to suit the new ignition upgrades and what a result. The engine is now 100% and smoooooth as silk. The tickover still takes a while to settle down but I have only done a few miles so hopefully it will cure itself as the ECU gets used to the changes. If not RPI will sort it for me when they improve the EFI air flow. I spent £63.45 today but it was money well spent.
I like RPI, they let me get my hands dirty and help if I want and I can make suggestions, on the one condition that I listen to their combined 61 years of Rover V8 experience! Chris Crane even took time on a busy Saturday to thrash the nuts off my car to make sure it was now running OK. Top Bloke!
All drive line shunt and the slight mis-fire has now gone. Hopefully now I can set a "Base Line" for the engine, to establish how further upgrades affect performance.
The engine temperature sensor has come from Wilco costing £9.35 but I shan't bother fitting it now. I also bought a selection of blade fuses as these can blow unexpectedly.
The Renovo hood refurbishment kit has also arrived and I have cleaned the hood to good effect. The next stage is to mask off and apply the colour restorer and water proofer.
I am a happy bunny and the sun is shining too!
Monday 11 February 2008
More Tweaking
It has been a nice weekend here in Norfolk and with the TVR running better and coming up to temperature I seized the opportunity for some testing .
Driving wise I am getting more used to the car. Following a large sports motorbike down my favourite country road, I was backing off all the time even though he cut all the corners. The road had dry salt on it and so the TVR let go at the back end coming out of corners a couple of times. The TVR has more tyre area and more torque than a bike so I should be able to keep up with one on a twisty road. I have to remember to not brake using the gearbox and use the brakes instead. The problem is I have had so many old cars with lousy brakes it takes getting used to.
On the bypass people seem to get out of the fast lane when you arrive in their rear view mirrors, which is nice.
I have advanced the ignition further because I thought the engine should be reaching 6000 even faster. This seemed to have worked and has also generally improved the running making the car seem more refined, though every time I use the car it seems to run differently, so it is difficult establishing a "base line" to work from, this could be due to the weather varying 14 degrees centigrade though. I do the timing a couple of millimetres at a time and am very careful how I use the throttle afterwards. You should be able to hear the difference and make further adjustments accordingly. The dizzy clamp nut is a bugger to reach on the Rover with PAS,especially when it is hot, so a special spanner will have to be made.
The engine tickover is not settling down quickly enough either, so I suspect a "sensor" problem somewhere. The Engine Temperature sensor is cheap to replace so I shall order one.
I have also ordered a complete Renovo hood refurbishment kit costing £64, which should make the car look better as the hood looks slightly faded.
Driving wise I am getting more used to the car. Following a large sports motorbike down my favourite country road, I was backing off all the time even though he cut all the corners. The road had dry salt on it and so the TVR let go at the back end coming out of corners a couple of times. The TVR has more tyre area and more torque than a bike so I should be able to keep up with one on a twisty road. I have to remember to not brake using the gearbox and use the brakes instead. The problem is I have had so many old cars with lousy brakes it takes getting used to.
On the bypass people seem to get out of the fast lane when you arrive in their rear view mirrors, which is nice.
I have advanced the ignition further because I thought the engine should be reaching 6000 even faster. This seemed to have worked and has also generally improved the running making the car seem more refined, though every time I use the car it seems to run differently, so it is difficult establishing a "base line" to work from, this could be due to the weather varying 14 degrees centigrade though. I do the timing a couple of millimetres at a time and am very careful how I use the throttle afterwards. You should be able to hear the difference and make further adjustments accordingly. The dizzy clamp nut is a bugger to reach on the Rover with PAS,especially when it is hot, so a special spanner will have to be made.
The engine tickover is not settling down quickly enough either, so I suspect a "sensor" problem somewhere. The Engine Temperature sensor is cheap to replace so I shall order one.
I have also ordered a complete Renovo hood refurbishment kit costing £64, which should make the car look better as the hood looks slightly faded.
Sunday 10 February 2008
Philosophical Stuff
I once bought a car costing £16,000 and it depreciated to £6,000 in under 4 years, that is around £3000 a year! I vowed never to waste that much money on a car again.
At petrol stations people laugh at me in the Camaro I also own and say "That must be expensive to run" I also laugh (being a good natured fellow) and point out that the Camaro has made £7,000 in appreciation in 3 years, the Road Fund Licence(RFL) is zero, it costs £30 to service and the insurance costs £98. In contrast their shopping trolley euro hatch has probably lost at least £2,000 + a year in depreciation plus Hire Purchase(HP) and servicing charges. Therefore pumping in unleaded and octane booster to compensate for the 17mpg thirst is no real concern. I think it is the Total Cost of Ownership(TCO) that counts? Hopefully when I sell the Camaro it will have cost me nothing at all, but provided a lot more pleasure than sticking the money in the bank.
I was thinking of buying another car and had been looking at hot-rods and kit cars. When I wrote down what I wanted from my next car I set the following criteria.
1. It had to be an open top car.
2. It must not rust.
3. It had to handle and stop well, and I had to feel confident enough to take it on the odd track day.
4. It had to have super car performance and by that I mean a 0-60mph time of less than 5 seconds and a top speed in excess of 150 mph.
5. It had to cost around £10,000.
6. I wanted it to be comfortable with leather seats .
7. It had to look nice and have a pleasant colour.
8. It had to sound nice.
9. I wanted a good owners club.
10. I wanted to be able to "tinker" on weekends and do most jobs myself.
11. I did not want to have to travel far to purchase it.
After many weeks of investigation the TVR Chimaera seemed to match these criteria nicely and at a cost from around £6000 left scope for further improvement.
I did not want to pay for depreciation, expensive servicing or have an exotic engine that would need a rebuild every 20,ooo miles, or have to travel miles to a specialist dealer.
A couple of days ago my son and I found a couple of school boys looking over the TVR I eventually purchased in the office car park. They were about 12 years old and thought it was a Chevy Corvette! We had a nice chat and they thanked me for letting them look over the car. I was very pleasantly surprised the TVR invoked such a response as I always think they look rather understated?
At petrol stations people laugh at me in the Camaro I also own and say "That must be expensive to run" I also laugh (being a good natured fellow) and point out that the Camaro has made £7,000 in appreciation in 3 years, the Road Fund Licence(RFL) is zero, it costs £30 to service and the insurance costs £98. In contrast their shopping trolley euro hatch has probably lost at least £2,000 + a year in depreciation plus Hire Purchase(HP) and servicing charges. Therefore pumping in unleaded and octane booster to compensate for the 17mpg thirst is no real concern. I think it is the Total Cost of Ownership(TCO) that counts? Hopefully when I sell the Camaro it will have cost me nothing at all, but provided a lot more pleasure than sticking the money in the bank.
I was thinking of buying another car and had been looking at hot-rods and kit cars. When I wrote down what I wanted from my next car I set the following criteria.
1. It had to be an open top car.
2. It must not rust.
3. It had to handle and stop well, and I had to feel confident enough to take it on the odd track day.
4. It had to have super car performance and by that I mean a 0-60mph time of less than 5 seconds and a top speed in excess of 150 mph.
5. It had to cost around £10,000.
6. I wanted it to be comfortable with leather seats .
7. It had to look nice and have a pleasant colour.
8. It had to sound nice.
9. I wanted a good owners club.
10. I wanted to be able to "tinker" on weekends and do most jobs myself.
11. I did not want to have to travel far to purchase it.
After many weeks of investigation the TVR Chimaera seemed to match these criteria nicely and at a cost from around £6000 left scope for further improvement.
I did not want to pay for depreciation, expensive servicing or have an exotic engine that would need a rebuild every 20,ooo miles, or have to travel miles to a specialist dealer.
A couple of days ago my son and I found a couple of school boys looking over the TVR I eventually purchased in the office car park. They were about 12 years old and thought it was a Chevy Corvette! We had a nice chat and they thanked me for letting them look over the car. I was very pleasantly surprised the TVR invoked such a response as I always think they look rather understated?
Driving now modified
The Tornado Chip has taken some of the bass note out of the exhaust and like the 327 chevy it now has a turbine like wail that is quite exhilarating. I am pleased with the power delivery after the chip upgrade as there is so much more mid-range pull, just where you want it.
The TVR now feels like a real super car! The engine revs seamlessly through the rev-range up to 6000 with ease. The power is so much more controllable than before and therefore the car is so much more driveable in normal road conditions. The torque curve is smooth and powerful and just brilliant to drive with. Power is always there in any gear you simply choose how fast you want to accelerate by changing dow to the appropriate gear. I am getting used to the gearbox and it does require a firm hand but the changes are getting quicker.
The engine now comes smartly up to temperature with the under reading guage at 72(82) and I have some heat in the heater. The exhausts are also finally turning grey instead of the sooty black colour they had before and the fuel guage is taking longer to return to empty, which is nice.
Having driven many V8 engine cars I can however detect that one cylinder is lacking power, there is a slight "off-beat" note to the exhaust that needs looking into. At 50,000 miles it could be the camshaft, which are often the first things to wear on many V8s, or a valve, but hopefully something cheaper like an injector or a plug.
There is always room for improvement, but that is what is so enjoyable about owning older cars.
I have already discussed with RPI the next series of modifications, which will be to improve the air flow of the EFI system.
The TVR now feels like a real super car! The engine revs seamlessly through the rev-range up to 6000 with ease. The power is so much more controllable than before and therefore the car is so much more driveable in normal road conditions. The torque curve is smooth and powerful and just brilliant to drive with. Power is always there in any gear you simply choose how fast you want to accelerate by changing dow to the appropriate gear. I am getting used to the gearbox and it does require a firm hand but the changes are getting quicker.
The engine now comes smartly up to temperature with the under reading guage at 72(82) and I have some heat in the heater. The exhausts are also finally turning grey instead of the sooty black colour they had before and the fuel guage is taking longer to return to empty, which is nice.
Having driven many V8 engine cars I can however detect that one cylinder is lacking power, there is a slight "off-beat" note to the exhaust that needs looking into. At 50,000 miles it could be the camshaft, which are often the first things to wear on many V8s, or a valve, but hopefully something cheaper like an injector or a plug.
There is always room for improvement, but that is what is so enjoyable about owning older cars.
I have already discussed with RPI the next series of modifications, which will be to improve the air flow of the EFI system.
Engine Investigation
As suspected RPI found the thermostat was not operating and so it was replaced with an 82 degrees celcius item. Rover V8s can suffer from all kinds of maladies if they run too hot and as the TVR installation with the exhausts running round in front of the engine can cause high under hood temperatures I figured I would see how it went with the colder thermostat fitted. An 88 degree thermostat is available if required.
RPI noted my temperature guage was under reading by 10 degrees, which I had suspected as the fans cut in at an indicated 80 degrees instead of the 90 degrees I knew they were set to.
The ignition module (spark amplifier) was also changed from the Lucas Item to the RPI amplifier more often used in LPG conversions. This also requires a different coil to be fitted. In total £227 was spent.
The car certainly felt a lot better but I soon got stuck in traffic and neede to get to work so couldn't really notice the difference, but there did seem to be a "flat spot" in the power.
I started to drive home after work and the car ran horribly except at tickover. I limped home at 50 mph. It was late Friday, so I called RPI on Saturday and they told me to bring the car over right away.
The car ran better on the way there but there was still very little power. Chris at RPI took charge and in a few minutes it was established that the Timing marks on the Rover engine were out and the timing had been set too far retarded. Now the engine was running hotter and leaner it needed a lot more advance. With the timing changed the cars performance was totally restored.
RPI noted my temperature guage was under reading by 10 degrees, which I had suspected as the fans cut in at an indicated 80 degrees instead of the 90 degrees I knew they were set to.
The ignition module (spark amplifier) was also changed from the Lucas Item to the RPI amplifier more often used in LPG conversions. This also requires a different coil to be fitted. In total £227 was spent.
The car certainly felt a lot better but I soon got stuck in traffic and neede to get to work so couldn't really notice the difference, but there did seem to be a "flat spot" in the power.
I started to drive home after work and the car ran horribly except at tickover. I limped home at 50 mph. It was late Friday, so I called RPI on Saturday and they told me to bring the car over right away.
The car ran better on the way there but there was still very little power. Chris at RPI took charge and in a few minutes it was established that the Timing marks on the Rover engine were out and the timing had been set too far retarded. Now the engine was running hotter and leaner it needed a lot more advance. With the timing changed the cars performance was totally restored.
Too much Torque Costs Lives
My TVR 400 has a 3.9 Electronic Fuel Injected (EFI) Range Rover engine fitted. Allegedly TVR do not do much tuning to them. In effect the engine is designed for low end pulling power, which is why it makes the 1066Kg TVR so "tail happy" and difficult to control in the wet or on poor surfaces. I live in Norfolk England and the roads are rubbish and it rains a fair bit - Dooh!
I purchased the book by Des Hammill "How to power tune Rover V8 Engines", which is an excellent reference for this engine. I also search the internet daily to gather TVR related information.
The Marc Adams "Tornado chip" seemed to be the solution to the above problem. This was not a fried potato that caused excessive posterior erruptions, but rather an expensive little electronic Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory(EPROM) component "Chip" that re-maps the Electronic Control Unit(ECU) of the cars EFI system so that the power is delivered in a more progressive manner and further up the rev range. Unlike other Chips it does not simply add more fuel at the very top end. The Chip will not make more the engine deliver more power but it should make the car faster by enabling the driver to reliably use the power available.
Fortunately I live in the same county as RPI who were suppliers of said Chip and after some consultation regarding supercharging, which they thought was the wrong approach I decided to take their advice and have the chip fitted with Magnecor plug wires. The concensus of opinion seems to be that these leads are expensive but necessary.
The fitting took about 90 minutes as RPI also found the rotor arm was of poor quality and the vacuum advance unit wasn't advancing. All in all £635 was spent. The Tornado chip really did make a difference and now the TVR felt like a real super car with predictable super-car performance on tap. As it happens Chris Crane of RPI and I are of the same vintage and studied at college on the same engineering course. He also likes bikes.
RPI kindly showed me round their impressive workshop facility and explained in great detail the reasons for doing the tuning work they undertake and some of the pitfalls to avoid. All in all very informative and food for much thought and future Credit-Card torment. If you are thinking of modifying your Rover V8 I would reccomend you at least speak with RPI first.
I think the Cosworth 4.6L short engine upgrade would be most amusing, but can the TVR chassis handle it, with Nankang tyres? Chris took me out in his 5.2L Rover engined Morgan in the wet , which was a real hoot and mostly sideways in the wet. The noise was totally amazing, a real hooligan of a car.
When you change anything on an engine it affects other things. Not suprisingly the one down side of fitting the chip was that the upgrade now highlighted the stuttering at low RPM. It wasn't that bad, just enough to be annoying around town. Another problem was that the engine was not reaching its proper operating temperature and was running very rich because the EFI will provide too much fuel when the engine is under 80 degrees celcius.
I booked the TVR back into RPI for them to investigate. Likewise replacing the battery seemed like a good idea and so one was ordered from Fast Fit costing £88.
I am now looking forward to see how these changes improve the car ,whilst quietly dreaming of a cosworth manufactured 4.6L long engine conversion.
I purchased the book by Des Hammill "How to power tune Rover V8 Engines", which is an excellent reference for this engine. I also search the internet daily to gather TVR related information.
The Marc Adams "Tornado chip" seemed to be the solution to the above problem. This was not a fried potato that caused excessive posterior erruptions, but rather an expensive little electronic Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory(EPROM) component "Chip" that re-maps the Electronic Control Unit(ECU) of the cars EFI system so that the power is delivered in a more progressive manner and further up the rev range. Unlike other Chips it does not simply add more fuel at the very top end. The Chip will not make more the engine deliver more power but it should make the car faster by enabling the driver to reliably use the power available.
Fortunately I live in the same county as RPI who were suppliers of said Chip and after some consultation regarding supercharging, which they thought was the wrong approach I decided to take their advice and have the chip fitted with Magnecor plug wires. The concensus of opinion seems to be that these leads are expensive but necessary.
The fitting took about 90 minutes as RPI also found the rotor arm was of poor quality and the vacuum advance unit wasn't advancing. All in all £635 was spent. The Tornado chip really did make a difference and now the TVR felt like a real super car with predictable super-car performance on tap. As it happens Chris Crane of RPI and I are of the same vintage and studied at college on the same engineering course. He also likes bikes.
RPI kindly showed me round their impressive workshop facility and explained in great detail the reasons for doing the tuning work they undertake and some of the pitfalls to avoid. All in all very informative and food for much thought and future Credit-Card torment. If you are thinking of modifying your Rover V8 I would reccomend you at least speak with RPI first.
I think the Cosworth 4.6L short engine upgrade would be most amusing, but can the TVR chassis handle it, with Nankang tyres? Chris took me out in his 5.2L Rover engined Morgan in the wet , which was a real hoot and mostly sideways in the wet. The noise was totally amazing, a real hooligan of a car.
When you change anything on an engine it affects other things. Not suprisingly the one down side of fitting the chip was that the upgrade now highlighted the stuttering at low RPM. It wasn't that bad, just enough to be annoying around town. Another problem was that the engine was not reaching its proper operating temperature and was running very rich because the EFI will provide too much fuel when the engine is under 80 degrees celcius.
I booked the TVR back into RPI for them to investigate. Likewise replacing the battery seemed like a good idea and so one was ordered from Fast Fit costing £88.
I am now looking forward to see how these changes improve the car ,whilst quietly dreaming of a cosworth manufactured 4.6L long engine conversion.
Tuesday 5 February 2008
New Battery
I have replaced the battery as I got fed up having to keep charging it up before every trip. It is difficult to reach down the bottom of the footwell to undo the clamps and it is quite heavy to remove. There are a lot of wires to work around as well, but I think that is due to a previous owner not tidying up after themselves.
Fitting the new battery has made the starter turn quicker and the alarm operate more reliably, but the stuttering on light throttle has not been cured. This kind of engine problem can be caused by so many things but hopefully I will be able to track it down before too long, as it makes the car annoying to drive in traffic.
Apart from that the TVR is running very well and every time I take her out now I am glad I had the Tornado chip fitted. Instead of just lumping along in 5th at motorway speads I can now use the gearbox a lot more as the power is spread higher up the rev range.
Fitting the new battery has made the starter turn quicker and the alarm operate more reliably, but the stuttering on light throttle has not been cured. This kind of engine problem can be caused by so many things but hopefully I will be able to track it down before too long, as it makes the car annoying to drive in traffic.
Apart from that the TVR is running very well and every time I take her out now I am glad I had the Tornado chip fitted. Instead of just lumping along in 5th at motorway speads I can now use the gearbox a lot more as the power is spread higher up the rev range.
Friday 1 February 2008
First Improvements
I got the TVR home with my mate Will following in his Honda S2000 ( Top Bloke) with the car running badly on part throttle. I went to Wilco and got new leads and coil and rotor arm and distributor cap for about £42 quid and fitted them and the misfire was almost gone and the car at least driveable in traffic.
There were a few other bits to do, the Mirror glass fell out, but sticky fixers mended that. I cleaned up the leather interior with Hydrate from Simple Solutions who do all kinds of professional car valeting stuff and it smelt great. I gave the exterior a clean and polish and apart from 1 small stone chip she looked beautiful and a good buy.
The car also came with an Accumate fitted battery charger/conditioner so I figured the battery would be duff. Sure enough one cold night (Batteries really hate the cold) I could not start the car. Even the alarm would not work, or even the dash lights. I thought it would be a TVR gremlin, but I checked the battery voltage and it was only 10.42, so a cell had died. Being a true engineer and firmy believing in a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy I plugged the accumate in and it did bring the battery up to 12.78 volts after 12 hours or so, but it's little LED light should go Green and it stayed Amber, so I knew the battery was toast.
There were a few other bits to do, the Mirror glass fell out, but sticky fixers mended that. I cleaned up the leather interior with Hydrate from Simple Solutions who do all kinds of professional car valeting stuff and it smelt great. I gave the exterior a clean and polish and apart from 1 small stone chip she looked beautiful and a good buy.
The car also came with an Accumate fitted battery charger/conditioner so I figured the battery would be duff. Sure enough one cold night (Batteries really hate the cold) I could not start the car. Even the alarm would not work, or even the dash lights. I thought it would be a TVR gremlin, but I checked the battery voltage and it was only 10.42, so a cell had died. Being a true engineer and firmy believing in a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy I plugged the accumate in and it did bring the battery up to 12.78 volts after 12 hours or so, but it's little LED light should go Green and it stayed Amber, so I knew the battery was toast.
Driving Impressions
The TVR drives like a traditional English sports car should. It feels older than its 12 years, but comfortable.
There are some great country roads near where I live and I know them pretty well. I took the TVR for a nice long drive in early January 2008. Coming home I overtook a Citroen Saxo on the inside of a 2nd gear right hand hairpin bend and accelerating smartly away I just about shat myself as the rear end let go and I opposite locked it up the road for about 50 yards. That was fun I thought with my heart pounding from almost taking both me and the Saxo out into the fields. I had heard tales of people not taking their TVRs out in the wet and started to appreciate why.
To tell the truth I was a bit underwhlemed by the power delivery of the TVR. I also own a 1967 Camaro, which seemed a lot more refined and less how shall I put it "Agricultural" than the TVR. The 327 is a lovely free revving engine (much, much nicer than a 350) and by comparison the TVR felt more like a lorry all low down power and not much in the mid-range. The problem with a standard TVR is that the Rover V8 engine in 3.9L injected form was designed for a large off-road vehicle that needed plenty of pulling power. A light sports car does not need all that torque, in fact it is detrimental to rapid progress in the fact that the rear end breaks away unexpectedly (as above) under acceleration.
Personally I find the gear box notchy and difficult to engage gears under hard acceleration and the handbrake awkward to pull on hard. The pedals feel about right though and the steering wheel is adjustable, though the driving position is "long legged and short armed" and I am the opposite. The Steering wheel looks naff as do the column stalks, ash trays and heater outlets. Leven do some stick on aluminium trim items, which will make it look a lot better inside.
The TVR noise is addictive though and I find I want to keep driving just to hear that glorious V8 on song. The suspension is too harshly damped for the pot-holed Norfolk roads but fine on smoother A roads and so I feel one of the next upgrades will be some adjustable dampers. The rear end in particular skips and hops over sharp bumps and if the tyres aren't in contact with the road then you are in deep, deep pooh. The car has done 50,000 so is probably due new dampers anyway.
For the price, this really is a wonderful car to drive and I would recommend all petrol heads to at least blag a go in one if they get the chance.
There are some great country roads near where I live and I know them pretty well. I took the TVR for a nice long drive in early January 2008. Coming home I overtook a Citroen Saxo on the inside of a 2nd gear right hand hairpin bend and accelerating smartly away I just about shat myself as the rear end let go and I opposite locked it up the road for about 50 yards. That was fun I thought with my heart pounding from almost taking both me and the Saxo out into the fields. I had heard tales of people not taking their TVRs out in the wet and started to appreciate why.
To tell the truth I was a bit underwhlemed by the power delivery of the TVR. I also own a 1967 Camaro, which seemed a lot more refined and less how shall I put it "Agricultural" than the TVR. The 327 is a lovely free revving engine (much, much nicer than a 350) and by comparison the TVR felt more like a lorry all low down power and not much in the mid-range. The problem with a standard TVR is that the Rover V8 engine in 3.9L injected form was designed for a large off-road vehicle that needed plenty of pulling power. A light sports car does not need all that torque, in fact it is detrimental to rapid progress in the fact that the rear end breaks away unexpectedly (as above) under acceleration.
Personally I find the gear box notchy and difficult to engage gears under hard acceleration and the handbrake awkward to pull on hard. The pedals feel about right though and the steering wheel is adjustable, though the driving position is "long legged and short armed" and I am the opposite. The Steering wheel looks naff as do the column stalks, ash trays and heater outlets. Leven do some stick on aluminium trim items, which will make it look a lot better inside.
The TVR noise is addictive though and I find I want to keep driving just to hear that glorious V8 on song. The suspension is too harshly damped for the pot-holed Norfolk roads but fine on smoother A roads and so I feel one of the next upgrades will be some adjustable dampers. The rear end in particular skips and hops over sharp bumps and if the tyres aren't in contact with the road then you are in deep, deep pooh. The car has done 50,000 so is probably due new dampers anyway.
For the price, this really is a wonderful car to drive and I would recommend all petrol heads to at least blag a go in one if they get the chance.
Taking the Plunge
I never intended to purchase a TVR but things tend to transpire in mysterious ways - cue twilight Zone music (dooo, dooo, do, do - dooo, dooo, do, do)
I had decided to give up motorcycling after an eventful 40 years and originally was going to purchase a Rat-Rod.
I looked on E-Bay.com at many suitable vehicles in the states, which were all available for a very low price compared to what is available in the UK. I looked at Model T's and Model A's and 32 Fords etc, etc. I placed bids on several, but in the end the thought of getting them through the SVA test, the cost of importation (around £2000) and the fact they would have to be on a ship for 2-3 months put me off.
I then thought I would build a Westfield Kit Car and do a few track days, but the spec I wanted came to around £14K and to be frank I am not that fond of the "Lotus 7" look. Having built a Kit-car or two before I could do without the inevitable hassle and SVA test tribulations as well.
The idea of building an Ultima also sprang to mind, but again a circa £50K price tag and the practicalities of the project started to do my head in.
I like to do a lot of research before I buy a car and to me that aspect of the hobby is very pleasing. The internet really is a great place for car related hobbies and there is a mine of very useful information if you know how to phrase the question correctly. Buying a new car from a dealer is a soulless experience and is over far too quickly. On the other hand I find improving older cars of character such a long term rewarding experience.
I was looking on Ebay for cars when the thought of a TVR just sort of struck me. I had a look and the prices were very reasonable, expecially as many of them seem to exit the road stage left through a hedge backwards and can be purchased as damaged repaired. Only £5700 for a 1998 low mileage example, for instance.
The price of a TVR looked good and the performance seemed good (0-60 in under 6 and 150mph top end), there was no SVA or build time to consider and I would have the bonus of a comfortable interior. The cars have the prerequisite V8 and so sounded good and looked good too, they handle well and there was a good owners club. The TVR can be tuned in many ways and provided much scope for "Tinkering". There were also specific TVR track days organised and even the Ace Cafe had a TVR day. The Insurance wasn't too bad at £400 (Though my 67 327 Camaro is only £98 as I can get a classic policy for it).
Soooo it seemed like a good plan all round. The only downside was the infamous TVR build quality - mmm oh well I am a qualified Automobile Engineer and Electrician and an experienced bodger, so "why didn't I just knock myself out" - as they say.
I had often considered purchasing a TVR over the years but they are in my opinion a "Kit Car" and use many parts from many production vehicles. I would never pay £35K for such a car new or even £13K, which was how much they were a few years ago, however if I could get a nice one for around £7K then I would consider that a whole lot of vehicle for Kit-Car money.
Now some people may be figuring at this point how can a guy who wanted a rat-rod end up with a TVR.? You know kind of go from tatoos and piercings to cloth cap and driving gloves? Well to me they are both V8 fibreglass open top cars and I would leave the cultural differences to those who care.
I wanted to sell my motorcycle before purchasing a new car but happened upon a 1996 TVR Chimaera in my favourite navy blue at a fairly local motorcycle dealer. I have purchased a lot of cars over the years and I know the fickle hand of fate when I feel her tap me on the shoulder, so just before Xmas 2007 I phoned up the geezer (he happened to be a mate of a mate it transpired) and did a pretty good deal trading in the bike. The car had a full TVR history had been HPI'd and was also fitted with power steering (a must for the wife). a good 6CD changer and seemed in pretty good condition, even the clock worked. I took it for a drive... it had a nasty misfire, but the guy had dropped the price £1500 so I figured I would risk it. I wanted to tune the engine anyway. I guess it cost me £6500, so I was happy - a lot of performance for a few quid.
I had decided to give up motorcycling after an eventful 40 years and originally was going to purchase a Rat-Rod.
I looked on E-Bay.com at many suitable vehicles in the states, which were all available for a very low price compared to what is available in the UK. I looked at Model T's and Model A's and 32 Fords etc, etc. I placed bids on several, but in the end the thought of getting them through the SVA test, the cost of importation (around £2000) and the fact they would have to be on a ship for 2-3 months put me off.
I then thought I would build a Westfield Kit Car and do a few track days, but the spec I wanted came to around £14K and to be frank I am not that fond of the "Lotus 7" look. Having built a Kit-car or two before I could do without the inevitable hassle and SVA test tribulations as well.
The idea of building an Ultima also sprang to mind, but again a circa £50K price tag and the practicalities of the project started to do my head in.
I like to do a lot of research before I buy a car and to me that aspect of the hobby is very pleasing. The internet really is a great place for car related hobbies and there is a mine of very useful information if you know how to phrase the question correctly. Buying a new car from a dealer is a soulless experience and is over far too quickly. On the other hand I find improving older cars of character such a long term rewarding experience.
I was looking on Ebay for cars when the thought of a TVR just sort of struck me. I had a look and the prices were very reasonable, expecially as many of them seem to exit the road stage left through a hedge backwards and can be purchased as damaged repaired. Only £5700 for a 1998 low mileage example, for instance.
The price of a TVR looked good and the performance seemed good (0-60 in under 6 and 150mph top end), there was no SVA or build time to consider and I would have the bonus of a comfortable interior. The cars have the prerequisite V8 and so sounded good and looked good too, they handle well and there was a good owners club. The TVR can be tuned in many ways and provided much scope for "Tinkering". There were also specific TVR track days organised and even the Ace Cafe had a TVR day. The Insurance wasn't too bad at £400 (Though my 67 327 Camaro is only £98 as I can get a classic policy for it).
Soooo it seemed like a good plan all round. The only downside was the infamous TVR build quality - mmm oh well I am a qualified Automobile Engineer and Electrician and an experienced bodger, so "why didn't I just knock myself out" - as they say.
I had often considered purchasing a TVR over the years but they are in my opinion a "Kit Car" and use many parts from many production vehicles. I would never pay £35K for such a car new or even £13K, which was how much they were a few years ago, however if I could get a nice one for around £7K then I would consider that a whole lot of vehicle for Kit-Car money.
Now some people may be figuring at this point how can a guy who wanted a rat-rod end up with a TVR.? You know kind of go from tatoos and piercings to cloth cap and driving gloves? Well to me they are both V8 fibreglass open top cars and I would leave the cultural differences to those who care.
I wanted to sell my motorcycle before purchasing a new car but happened upon a 1996 TVR Chimaera in my favourite navy blue at a fairly local motorcycle dealer. I have purchased a lot of cars over the years and I know the fickle hand of fate when I feel her tap me on the shoulder, so just before Xmas 2007 I phoned up the geezer (he happened to be a mate of a mate it transpired) and did a pretty good deal trading in the bike. The car had a full TVR history had been HPI'd and was also fitted with power steering (a must for the wife). a good 6CD changer and seemed in pretty good condition, even the clock worked. I took it for a drive... it had a nasty misfire, but the guy had dropped the price £1500 so I figured I would risk it. I wanted to tune the engine anyway. I guess it cost me £6500, so I was happy - a lot of performance for a few quid.
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