Wheeler Dealers
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Mine is a 1999 and is solid enough although does have some corrosion. It will get a restoration in a couple of years' time.
I feel like a broken record saying this but I'd MUCH rather replace some rusty box section and tube than attempt to get pretty much any steel bodied car (which has seen similar exposure to road salt) back to as-new condition.
I'm doiny some work on out MG Midget at the moment and it's reminding me of how soul destroying it is working on steel bodied cars. Sure you can MIG weld to your heart's content but it is never as-new. You don't have a clue how bad rust on a steel bodied car is until you start to cut it apart. What appears to be a new outer wing ends up being inner wings, reinforcements, replacement of steel around voids you didn't even know were there... If you think a TVR chassis job is bad try a similar job on a steel car. It'll cost significantly more just for the remedial work and then you're usually compelled to carry out a full respray too -and the interior had to be totally stripped to do the body welding.
Total erradication of rust on a TVR is extremely simple. Give me a plastic body on some cheap tubes any day!!!
I feel like a broken record saying this but I'd MUCH rather replace some rusty box section and tube than attempt to get pretty much any steel bodied car (which has seen similar exposure to road salt) back to as-new condition.
I'm doiny some work on out MG Midget at the moment and it's reminding me of how soul destroying it is working on steel bodied cars. Sure you can MIG weld to your heart's content but it is never as-new. You don't have a clue how bad rust on a steel bodied car is until you start to cut it apart. What appears to be a new outer wing ends up being inner wings, reinforcements, replacement of steel around voids you didn't even know were there... If you think a TVR chassis job is bad try a similar job on a steel car. It'll cost significantly more just for the remedial work and then you're usually compelled to carry out a full respray too -and the interior had to be totally stripped to do the body welding.
Total erradication of rust on a TVR is extremely simple. Give me a plastic body on some cheap tubes any day!!!
Oh corrosion, I have nightmares, mines a 99 speed6 and its rotten look at my thread T540 VHO its fairly current, but tomorow all the rust should have been replaced by new steel, plenty of pictures on there. Doesnt come cheap especially when you take the opportunity to repair, replace and upgrade, reckon this will be in the order of 11k US dollars, but pretty much a new car, except for engine and interior and bodywork, has anyone ever seen the film 'Moneypit' very funny, bitlike my life but with a house, yeah, corrosion, shocking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jamieduff1981 said:
But compare that to the same exercise on a steel car...
In theory that is very true, there is very little metal work needed on the Cerb chassis. When I first stripped my 98 I looked down in to the rear quarters, they were just as they came from the factory, as you’d hope with fiberglass, but it was a lovely feeling anyway! The only problem is, as kstearn says, when you have it in bits you find loads of little jobs that needed doing here & there, then there are loads of bits that could do with replacing. I’ve done all the work my self & still I’m 5k down, I only spent £30 on new steel to weld in! I’ve done a number of ground up restos on steel bodied cars & the Cerb is taking almost as long as they did.
I was just thinking about how Ed did the wheeler dealers one so quick after another 11 hour day trying to make things fit that never did properly in the first place. Then it occurred to me Ed didn’t know about any of the little niggles like hand breaks not working, rads not quite fitting, clutch releasing bearings wearing out, cold air leaking into the cabin, heat from the exhaust etc etc, he just swapped the chassis over, that would be quite quick. Remove re-fit job done! And he would have done it so quick he’d have remembered where all the bits went too…
Tried selling my 97 Cerb, has 12k in bills this year alone. First question was always about the chassis, which is fine. At some point will obviously need something ( i do mean years ) but that would be the end of the conversation.
as i said in a previous post, buy any tvr and restore the chassis no matter how (insert expletive) the rest is and you will sell at a profit to a TVR newcomer.
as i said in a previous post, buy any tvr and restore the chassis no matter how (insert expletive) the rest is and you will sell at a profit to a TVR newcomer.
Luckyone said:
I've done a number of ground up restos on steel bodied cars & the Cerb is taking almost as long as they did.
Actually that's not strictly true, my first ground up rebuild took 4 years & the Cerb has been off the road for 3 now. But my first one I did twice as the work I did at 14 didn't look so good at 17 that was all I did in those years. In the three years the Cerb had been in bits I've half rebuilt two other cars & had two kids...don't do it for money, do it for a hobby, love of classic british engineering madness. Do it till it isn't viable any more and hopefully pass it on to someone who can keep the ol'girl moving. my last car a 69 lotus +2 elan, cried when the stud that killed the chassis (for me), dissappeared across the road. had that car for years, wanted to drive with an umbrella up when it rained the sunroof leaked so much. as for the two candles up front someone called colin chapman once called headlights well,,,,,,,,I still wasn't out of pocket when I sold her.... broken.
Cars like the 69 elan, the 99 Cerbera, i'm convinced have a spirit, so that, if looked after, like we all do, will look after us later on if you get my drift, bit daft but had a drink now and should've gone to bed, is there anyone as daft as this ooppps gnight. K
Cars like the 69 elan, the 99 Cerbera, i'm convinced have a spirit, so that, if looked after, like we all do, will look after us later on if you get my drift, bit daft but had a drink now and should've gone to bed, is there anyone as daft as this ooppps gnight. K
Luckyone said:
RFC1 said:
Try restoring any "classic" british sportscar. Healey/e-type/xk etc etc and you will then think a tvr is no more than an awkward meccano set...
Sandy
It’s a very easy to put back everything just as it came out, it just when you want to make it better it takes the time Sandy
If you apply the same attention to detail to a steel bodied car you'll be there for a month of Sundays, or starting £7000+ down on a brand new shell from Heritage or similar.
It's not fair to compare TVR durations and costs with normal cars when the TVR owners decide to replace or renew pretty much everything while they're at it. Steel bodied cars get the rusty bits cut out, welded up and anything hard to reach gets soaked in Kurust. I was doing a few bits and bobs on 1963 E-Type the night before last, a car which recently had a professional ground-up restoration. It's a very presentable car, don't get me wrong, but there is still evidence of somethings just being too awkward to do - little nooks and crannies on the inside up the front of the bonnet etc. TBH I'd be happy with the car if I owned it - it's lovely - but it's still nowhere near the standard that people usually end up getting their TVRs up do amidst a ground-up restoration so I maintain it's still not apples-for-apples.
If someone is interested in a TVR and is worried about a rusty chassis - it does not need to be a cripplingly expensive exercise to get the car useable. If they succumb to images of chassis porn and perfection from other peoples' rebuilds then yes, the costs will go up but they'll also have a new car at the end of it which will be worth top money. If someone wants to buy a Cerbera and drive it though, then with a couple of friends to help lift the body off the chassis can be welded up for pocket money and with brushed on surface coating it'll be functionally as good as new. If they want it to look new underneath then that's where the cost comparison with steel bodied car mindsets diverge.
jamieduff1981 said:
Again I agree with what you're saying and TVR restorations often end up with something better than they left the factory, but that's the owner's choice to do so and not a reflection of the work actually needed to make the car useable.
If you apply the same attention to detail to a steel bodied car you'll be there for a month of Sundays, or starting £7000+ down on a brand new shell from Heritage or similar.
It's not fair to compare TVR durations and costs with normal cars when the TVR owners decide to replace or renew pretty much everything while they're at it. Steel bodied cars get the rusty bits cut out, welded up and anything hard to reach gets soaked in Kurust. I was doing a few bits and bobs on 1963 E-Type the night before last, a car which recently had a professional ground-up restoration. It's a very presentable car, don't get me wrong, but there is still evidence of somethings just being too awkward to do - little nooks and crannies on the inside up the front of the bonnet etc. TBH I'd be happy with the car if I owned it - it's lovely - but it's still nowhere near the standard that people usually end up getting their TVRs up do amidst a ground-up restoration so I maintain it's still not apples-for-apples.
If someone is interested in a TVR and is worried about a rusty chassis - it does not need to be a cripplingly expensive exercise to get the car useable. If they succumb to images of chassis porn and perfection from other peoples' rebuilds then yes, the costs will go up but they'll also have a new car at the end of it which will be worth top money. If someone wants to buy a Cerbera and drive it though, then with a couple of friends to help lift the body off the chassis can be welded up for pocket money and with brushed on surface coating it'll be functionally as good as new. If they want it to look new underneath then that's where the cost comparison with steel bodied car mindsets diverge.
Couldn’t have put it better my self! I started out to just do a partial body lift (that bit only took me three days) so I could have easily have had it all welded & painted in an a month or so & the body back down with all new water, fuel pipes & rad etc for about £1.5k I’d already bought all the bits to do just that & it would have given a safe sorted car, if you’re really on budget you could just cut down to new fuel pipes & it would cost very little. But as said it’s a labour of love, you just need to remind yourself you do it for love, not money (no intention of ever selling). It’s just irritating when you release you’ve missed the summer getting carried away again three years later... If you apply the same attention to detail to a steel bodied car you'll be there for a month of Sundays, or starting £7000+ down on a brand new shell from Heritage or similar.
It's not fair to compare TVR durations and costs with normal cars when the TVR owners decide to replace or renew pretty much everything while they're at it. Steel bodied cars get the rusty bits cut out, welded up and anything hard to reach gets soaked in Kurust. I was doing a few bits and bobs on 1963 E-Type the night before last, a car which recently had a professional ground-up restoration. It's a very presentable car, don't get me wrong, but there is still evidence of somethings just being too awkward to do - little nooks and crannies on the inside up the front of the bonnet etc. TBH I'd be happy with the car if I owned it - it's lovely - but it's still nowhere near the standard that people usually end up getting their TVRs up do amidst a ground-up restoration so I maintain it's still not apples-for-apples.
If someone is interested in a TVR and is worried about a rusty chassis - it does not need to be a cripplingly expensive exercise to get the car useable. If they succumb to images of chassis porn and perfection from other peoples' rebuilds then yes, the costs will go up but they'll also have a new car at the end of it which will be worth top money. If someone wants to buy a Cerbera and drive it though, then with a couple of friends to help lift the body off the chassis can be welded up for pocket money and with brushed on surface coating it'll be functionally as good as new. If they want it to look new underneath then that's where the cost comparison with steel bodied car mindsets diverge.
jamieduff1981 said:
I feel like a broken record saying this but I'd MUCH rather replace some rusty box section and tube than attempt to get pretty much any steel bodied car (which has seen similar exposure to road salt) back to as-new condition.
Total erradication of rust on a TVR is extremely simple. Give me a plastic body on some cheap tubes any day!!!
That is very true, there are no seams for water to collect in & rust out or as you said enclosed box sections. I was doing some rust repairs on my 200SX that is the same age as the Cerb a 98, it had about the same about of rust as the Cerb, neither were MOT threating but I just didn’t want it to get worse. But the 200 has such complex triple or more box sections all with seams it’s next to impossible to fix it fully, I’m just hoping it will give me another 5 years or so. With the Cerb it’s very easy to re-coat all the exposed steel work & be happy for a very long time! Total erradication of rust on a TVR is extremely simple. Give me a plastic body on some cheap tubes any day!!!
camel_landy said:
...It also didn't help that the chassis used to be stored outside the factory, in the Blackpool sea air, prior to assembly!!
I used to think this was a myth until I started stripping off powder coat from my chassis to repaint. Tubes that have the powder coat intact are still covered in light surface rust once I remove it. My only explanation for this is the chassis was rusty before the powder coat went on.Gassing Station | Cerbera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff