ALL 430"S BV"S?
Discussion
Took my chimaera to ian at torque RVT a while back for a full service and whilst talking to ian he said that all the 4.3 rv8 were bv"s, I believe he worked at the tvr factory so im sure knows alot more than i do, Anyone enlighten me? (p.s. they did a top job and seemed like a decent bunch) cheers, Phil
I reckon it was a case of what parts they had on the day! Joking. Im not the expert you need sorry but I think there all big valve 4.3's? Special car I nearly bought one. Can engine number help, ask Don at Powers he built them I presume! Wait a minute and someone will enlighten us all. I really liked the one I looked at, mean. Not many made either, yep special.
Morning chaps. Mine is, I am told one of twelve factory big valve 4.3 Chimaeras. I have a dyno sheet which shows 274 bhp so it probably is. The only way to be 100% is to remove a head and measure the valves. Dom did tell me it was, from the engine no. Some were also converted by dealers after purchase I believe.
nickb134 said:
Some were also converted by dealers after purchase I believe.
That's where it gets tricky, what you must remember is a lot of buyers specified their cars to be built based on their input... In the duration of initial order to build to delivery, lots of owners changed specs (engines / colours / extras / trim....). Just look at how many change their minds over tyres, dampers... these days. Many cars would have been delivered quite different to the original spec sheet, at the bequest of the owner ~ whether these were always reflected in build sheet, log book who knows' This dealer converted thing always seems a bit woolly, I always guessed it would be more like dealer takes delivery, pays TVR, sends engine back to Dom, upgrade done, delivers to customer??? Can't really imagine dealers stripping engine & porting / cut & source bigger valves, ECU.... However, obviously owners whilst sat excitedly awaiting their new toy discover that the BV's add loads of oomph start thinking of ways to scratch up the bit of extra money to have it done, remembering only the Griffs had an official BV listed although TVR were always ready to do 'specials'. Hardly surprising undocumented BV's are not so rare ~ even though not the standard.
spend said:
... who knows ...
There in a nutshell you have it.Some say look for a 430BV plenum badge, others a V in the chassis number, yet others a 13:1 CR number stamped above the engine number, some say measure the valves for 1.69"/1.46", original factory docs could be a pointer but considered unreliable by many, and so on ...
The only person who might have an idea is Dom, that's assuming he still has the records.
Alun450 said:
That's the main thing Phil! Arn't the factory 4.3's got 430 on the plenom! Still don't mean it's a big valve. It's easy, if it's quick it's a TVR and that's all that matters. Enjoy your very rare car. Just thought arn't the rocker covers different also!
Generally if its a factory 430 it has "430" on the plenum, if its a factory 430BV it has "430BV" on the plenum.Reading your posts it sounds to me a bit like you may be getting TVReality & pub talk a bit mixed up? Roughly speaking a std 430 is going to be @245bhp and @270/5BHP for the BV variant, certainly most factory cars would have had the correct plenum badge, ECU chips and paperwork at delivery. AFIK I'm one of the few Chim owners with BV heads, historically most of the rumours about finding BV heads in std 430 engines has come from early Griffs.
Thanks Send that's what I meant to say, pub I own a tiv I can't afford the place! Out of interest then, how many factory 430BV's were built! Am I right in thinking the BV's have rocker covers to suit! Weren't they only built for a couple of years? The one I looked at was a 1993 car, was told by the seller about identity of engine by rocker covers and engine no?? Wanted to much for it and I didn't like the look of out riggers so never looked further, pity! Yes it's the power output that will confirm the facts. Didn't they just start offering the 450 Instead? Blimmey alot of questions but i do like them!
Alun450 said:
Thanks Send that's what I meant to say, pub I own a tiv I can't afford the place! Out of interest then, how many factory 430BV's were built! Am I right in thinking the BV's have rocker covers to suit! Weren't they only built for a couple of years? The one I looked at was a 1993 car, was told by the seller about identity of engine by rocker covers and engine no?? Wanted to much for it and I didn't like the look of out riggers so never looked further, pity! Yes it's the power output that will confirm the facts. Didn't they just start offering the 450 Instead? Blimmey alot of questions but i do like them!
The 430 (std or BV) & early 500s all had TVR cast rocker covers, all the other cars (inc later 500s) just had painted rover covers with badges stuck on. They were only built for a few years, and the 500 replaced them ~ the 450 was a lot later (don't confuse that with the 4.5BV which was a TVR 4441cc special). I don't know the numbers off hand, but there are more 430 Griffs than Chims.
spend said:
Alun450 said:
Thanks Send that's what I meant to say, pub I own a tiv I can't afford the place! Out of interest then, how many factory 430BV's were built! Am I right in thinking the BV's have rocker covers to suit! Weren't they only built for a couple of years? The one I looked at was a 1993 car, was told by the seller about identity of engine by rocker covers and engine no?? Wanted to much for it and I didn't like the look of out riggers so never looked further, pity! Yes it's the power output that will confirm the facts. Didn't they just start offering the 450 Instead? Blimmey alot of questions but i do like them!
The 430 (std or BV) & early 500s all had TVR cast rocker covers, all the other cars (inc later 500s) just had painted rover covers with badges stuck on. They were only built for a few years, and the 500 replaced them ~ the 450 was a lot later (don't confuse that with the 4.5BV which was a TVR 4441cc special). I don't know the numbers off hand, but there are more 430 Griffs than Chims.
Not all Griff 430s are big valves no. Very few were factory ordered BV's. My understanding was that there were no official Chimaera BV's of any denomination although there are undoubtedly a few modified or unofficial ones due to the part supply situation at any given time. Some may have the BV head but probably not the rest of the mods.
Dom does have most of the paper build sheets still - I went through a lot of the 1992 builds looking for information on my own car - there are a lot more "non-standard" cars than people may think from what I saw, including a few 5 litre pre cats!
Dom does have most of the paper build sheets still - I went through a lot of the 1992 builds looking for information on my own car - there are a lot more "non-standard" cars than people may think from what I saw, including a few 5 litre pre cats!
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