New member, old cerb

New member, old cerb

Author
Discussion

scerbera

Original Poster:

102 posts

113 months

Thursday 2nd October 2014
quotequote all
Hello chaps,

Just bought a 4.2 off a member on here. Genuine guy, unfortunately after 400 miles I suffered a near simultaneous master and slave clutch failure! How annoying. Changed the master unit, drove 1 mile and lost clutch again. Got to a friends race car building garage a few miles down the road and found fluid coming out of the bell housing.

Ordered a new slave assembly, was thinking of just doing the seals but may as well tick it off as never been replaced according to history.

So then, it drives like a cerb should so I am told, but I find it a bit weak. I have an E39 M5 and although I haven't had the chance to put them side by side yet, which I will do, i'd say the M is quicker, and on paper it shouldn't be.

I am going to keep the car and as such have the following planned;

HID light upgrade but keep the lights original style.

Brake and possible wheel size increase as the standard brakes are shocking unless there is a problem with them, but the previous keeper agrees they are not very good!

Interior update, not sure of what exactly yet, but probably a full leather re trim, I hear there is a pic thread on here somewhere which may give some ideas.

The chassis is good so minimal work required.

Engine management update to include twin turbo conversion, looking for 500bhp, so full ecu, knock senors, manifolds, intercooler, injectors e.t.c!

Should be a great project and the car will be fantastic, it is good now but I thought it was going to scare me silly. The brakes are especially disappointing!

The car is going on a dyno next week once the slave is fixed so I will let you all know if you are interested what it's putting out.

Given the above it has lovely ACT performance headers with barely any miles on them which are going to be available for someone around jan/feb time so bare that in mind if you are thinking of going for them.

I look forward to getting to know you all and hope you are all interested in what I have planned for the car!

sonnylad

1,155 posts

224 months

Thursday 2nd October 2014
quotequote all
Hi and welcome,

First do you have short legs or has your throttle pedal been prevented from full use of travel hehe

RFC1

1,107 posts

196 months

Thursday 2nd October 2014
quotequote all
Welcome aboard.
500BHP ? Look forward to that story.


Enjoy it anyway.

Sandy

scerbera

Original Poster:

102 posts

113 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
Thanks N7, some very nice cars there!

coco79

390 posts

173 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
Who is doing your twin turbo conversion? smile

scerbera

Original Poster:

102 posts

113 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
coco79 said:
Who is doing your twin turbo conversion? smile
Hi coco,

I will be doing it myself except for the electronics which will be done by a company called MTEC who make management systems for various setups and also custom work, so they will be taking care of the electronics side and i'll be doing the fab! They are going to use mine as a proto to run the flat plane on their software.

Jubag

113 posts

115 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
I would suggest if the brakes aren't filling you with confidants there is something amiss.

QuiteQuietCerb

994 posts

222 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
you think the m5 is quicker, pretty unlikely unless your cerb isnt healthy

gruffalo

7,509 posts

225 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
Jubag said:
I would suggest if the brakes aren't filling you with confidants there is something amiss.
Bang on, Cerbera brakes are really very good in standard form, even the smaller 4.2 ones.

It really does sound like you need to get your Cerb looked at by someone who really does know Cerebra's and get them to give you a list of jobs that need doing but it certainly sounds like brakes and engine are not as they should be.

Byker28i

58,831 posts

216 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
QuiteQuietCerb said:
you think the m5 is quicker, pretty unlikely unless your cerb isnt healthy
This, 4.2 cerb will have 340bhp ish in standard form E39 M5 about 380, but the M5 weighs 500Kg more, which is quite significant on a light car. If it isn't running right then this would be the first port of call.

Brakes, probably just brake compound. Get some CL pads from Brummie.

Who's 4.2 did you buy?

scerbera

Original Poster:

102 posts

113 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
It's tricky to tell which is quicker. The 0-60 times are close and I haven't had a good chance to test the Cerbera out yet. I'll be doing a little 10-100 test on a runway on monday or Tuesday with them both together which I'll film if anyone is interested!

It's going on the dyno as soon as slave is fixed so probably Tues/wed.

I'll be checking the servo etc on monday when I get access as it's on ramps in a garage at the moment and they are racing this weekend so I can't get to her!

scerbera

Original Poster:

102 posts

113 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
Byker28i said:
This, 4.2 cerb will have 340bhp ish in standard form E39 M5 about 380, but the M5 weighs 500Kg more, which is quite significant on a light car. If it isn't running right then this would be the first port of call.

Brakes, probably just brake compound. Get some CL pads from Brummie.

Who's 4.2 did you buy?
I have N7GTX's car.

scerbera

Original Poster:

102 posts

113 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
I may be wrong about the car. I have just watched a little video I did of pickup between 80 - 100 and it looks pretty rapid.

They deliver power completely differently so it is hard to tell. I'm not saying it's slow by any means. It may just be the TVR folklore that I was expecting too much! I don't find the M5 quick anymore though so it's probably just me!

Any suggestions for interior colours if I go for the full refit?

scerbera

Original Poster:

102 posts

113 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
Byker28i said:
Brakes, probably just brake compound. Get some CL pads from Brummie.
Who is Brummie? Could you post a link please?

ukkid35

6,138 posts

172 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
Heat dissipation is not the Cerb's strong point. Before I removed the Cats I needed gloves to change gear. Good luck with a TT conversion, I reckon the car will melt before you can get in to it.

As others have said, if it feels even slightly sluggish it's not working properly. Blocked cats, bad valve adjustments, poor throttle pot setup - fix all that any you'll be more interested in fixing suspension issues rather than engine power.

Byker28i

58,831 posts

216 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
scerbera said:
Who is Brummie? Could you post a link please?
Brummie is a long time member on here, that's his username

http://fortunamotorsport.com/products.html

Website

jamieduff1981

8,022 posts

139 months

Sunday 5th October 2014
quotequote all
As above. Even a mediocre performing Cerb will make an E39 M5 look positively pensionable. Likewise, Cerb brakes should have no trouble in locking up good quality tyres in the dry.

I would honestly suggest putting the twin turbo idea to one side until you have had some insight in to the existing defects because neither brakes nor engine sound even close to being right.

By the way - I had the same clutch fun and games as you, albeit on my drive home from buying it. It was useful to get to know how the car is put together to be honest smile I didn't exactly see it that way at the time!

P.S. you'll get to the bottom of the engine running problems very much faster if you enlist the help of one of a few experts on the subject such as Joolz (Kits and Classics) or Dom at Powers. I know many like to tinker, myself included but it's worth getting AJP experience involved if the car is as slow as you describe. An E39 M5 really shouldn't be worrying a Cerbera.

Edited by jamieduff1981 on Sunday 5th October 02:16

scerbera

Original Poster:

102 posts

113 months

Sunday 5th October 2014
quotequote all
jamieduff1981 said:
As above. Even a mediocre performing Cerb will make an E39 M5 look positively pensionable. Likewise, Cerb brakes should have no trouble in locking up good quality tyres in the dry.

I would honestly suggest putting the twin turbo idea to one side until you have had some insight in to the existing defects because neither brakes nor engine sound even close to being right.

By the way - I had the same clutch fun and games as you, albeit on my drive home from buying it. It was useful to get to know how the car is put together to be honest smile I didn't exactly see it that way at the time!

P.S. you'll get to the bottom of the engine running problems very much faster if you enlist the help of one of a few experts on the subject such as Joolz (Kits and Classics) or Dom at Powers. I know many like to tinker, myself included but it's worth getting AJP experience involved if the car is as slow as you describe. An E39 M5 really shouldn't be worrying a Cerbera.

Edited by jamieduff1981 on Sunday 5th October 02:16
Hi Jamie, thanks for that, as above will be checking the servo on the brakes out tomorrow and work from there. Once clutch is fixed the M and Cerb will be having a little roll on, then the cerb will be on the dyno on tuesday or wednesday. I may be wrong about the cerb, it's pretty hard to tell as the M has so much torque.

The guys I work with for engine management are very very good. They mapped a stock cerbie hill climb car which is fastest in class so they know what they are doing.

scerbera

Original Poster:

102 posts

113 months

Thursday 9th October 2014
quotequote all
Link to vid of dyno run today.

http://youtu.be/M2JKT9hplwk

max 315bhp running very rich we think.