Refresh 1994 Chimaera 500 Advise
Discussion
Need a little help, as my pride and joy for the last 10 years is getting on a bit, was planning on getting rid while it’s still reasonable and cutting in with my wife who is after a Boxter, the extra money from my Chimaera may get us into the latest new model which is a very good car.
Generally it looks great from 10ft away, but on closer inspection it’s not looking quite so hot both inside and outside, a re-spray and carpets, a few other little issues sorted and would be looking a cracker again.
Mechanically the car is perfect, but as expected for 20 years old is now looking a little sad under the bonnet which brings me to my big question.
It’s early 1994 pre-serp 500 which still runs very strong, has 75k miles and have only had minor issues with the rocker pads, the internal parts are still very bright looking like new, so believe that it is still very much alive.
As I’m going to now keep it and spend some money on the nice things, I believe it would be good to rebuild the motor with new bearings, rings, cam and followers, together with the heads being rebuilt, in order to give me another 10 years. A lot cheaper to do now than wait for a failure. Along the way I would like to update the engine management to something more modern which brings me to trigger wheels and how to mount this onto an already busy front end of the motor.
Can I simply change the front cover to Serpentine with the better oil pump and distributer drive during the refresh, or would I be better seeking a Range Rover 4.6 cross bolted complete engine and ancillaries, and refresh this, perhaps changing the heads over along the way.
I do not think that my 500 crank/pistons could be swapped over as the mains are a different size.
My head tells me to just refresh the original motor, after all it has done 75K, still going strong so why spend a lot of money updating it.
Any thoughts would be appreciated on why I should go further.
Many thanks
Generally it looks great from 10ft away, but on closer inspection it’s not looking quite so hot both inside and outside, a re-spray and carpets, a few other little issues sorted and would be looking a cracker again.
Mechanically the car is perfect, but as expected for 20 years old is now looking a little sad under the bonnet which brings me to my big question.
It’s early 1994 pre-serp 500 which still runs very strong, has 75k miles and have only had minor issues with the rocker pads, the internal parts are still very bright looking like new, so believe that it is still very much alive.
As I’m going to now keep it and spend some money on the nice things, I believe it would be good to rebuild the motor with new bearings, rings, cam and followers, together with the heads being rebuilt, in order to give me another 10 years. A lot cheaper to do now than wait for a failure. Along the way I would like to update the engine management to something more modern which brings me to trigger wheels and how to mount this onto an already busy front end of the motor.
Can I simply change the front cover to Serpentine with the better oil pump and distributer drive during the refresh, or would I be better seeking a Range Rover 4.6 cross bolted complete engine and ancillaries, and refresh this, perhaps changing the heads over along the way.
I do not think that my 500 crank/pistons could be swapped over as the mains are a different size.
My head tells me to just refresh the original motor, after all it has done 75K, still going strong so why spend a lot of money updating it.
Any thoughts would be appreciated on why I should go further.
Many thanks
Thanks for the comments guys.
Interesting views, especially regarding the resale value and refurbishment costs, must say that some of the budget costs quoted would make a refurbishment project plain daft. This must only make future cars become rarer as the dogs rot away or become broken for spares.
Just to clarify, my car is not a project, everything is up together and works well, for me the following things are less than perfect.
Cosmetic
Stone chipped front end
Rear wings marked by previous owner putting roof section in boot - touched in by me
Small areas of rear lacquer peeling around the number plate, Mirror stone chips
Carpets fading - drivers foot well becoming quite scruffy
Crack in rear window, targa panel fabric damaged, this year when the roof departed company at high speed.
Mechanical - possible future problems
Rad - no leaks but looks a little past its sell by date
Hoses - been on the car for 20 years, just replaced the top hose due to a crack
Would like to update ECU to get ignition, sequential fuel injection to improve mpg touring manners
Am very hands on, so will prep bodywork for local re-spray specialist, fit new carpets, sound deadening material and trim where required. New rear hood and recover targa section myself.
Will leave mechanical bits to summer next year, when I could detail the engine bay and replace rad and hoses.
The mechanical bits would come under normal expenses, but would hope to get the cosmetic bits done for under £2.5K which would get back the kerb appeal. Will look at after market ECU as a separate project as and when.
Would like to add that my decision to keep is based on the fact that I cannot find anything to replace it for less than £40K, and this budget would only put me in the same place as the Chimaera one or two years down the road. Not much comes close to the TVR experience out there, and the more modern the further away from driving pleasure it becomes. As a final comment, If I did sell up and throw in with my wife's desire for a Boxter, getting into a new model, I would loose more that £14K in depreciation in the first year, which was some of the figures quoted for the Chimaera refurb, so my wife is going to have to buy a older model as a replacement for her 20v turbo coup.
Many thanks, and will let you know how things go.
P.S. Only thinking of a engine rebuild, in terms of shell replacement, timing chain and possibly cam while im there as a preventative measure. Used to rebuild my highly strung jet ski motor every season for a few hundred pounds, my mates would wait for something to happen and spend thousands.
Interesting views, especially regarding the resale value and refurbishment costs, must say that some of the budget costs quoted would make a refurbishment project plain daft. This must only make future cars become rarer as the dogs rot away or become broken for spares.
Just to clarify, my car is not a project, everything is up together and works well, for me the following things are less than perfect.
Cosmetic
Stone chipped front end
Rear wings marked by previous owner putting roof section in boot - touched in by me
Small areas of rear lacquer peeling around the number plate, Mirror stone chips
Carpets fading - drivers foot well becoming quite scruffy
Crack in rear window, targa panel fabric damaged, this year when the roof departed company at high speed.
Mechanical - possible future problems
Rad - no leaks but looks a little past its sell by date
Hoses - been on the car for 20 years, just replaced the top hose due to a crack
Would like to update ECU to get ignition, sequential fuel injection to improve mpg touring manners
Am very hands on, so will prep bodywork for local re-spray specialist, fit new carpets, sound deadening material and trim where required. New rear hood and recover targa section myself.
Will leave mechanical bits to summer next year, when I could detail the engine bay and replace rad and hoses.
The mechanical bits would come under normal expenses, but would hope to get the cosmetic bits done for under £2.5K which would get back the kerb appeal. Will look at after market ECU as a separate project as and when.
Would like to add that my decision to keep is based on the fact that I cannot find anything to replace it for less than £40K, and this budget would only put me in the same place as the Chimaera one or two years down the road. Not much comes close to the TVR experience out there, and the more modern the further away from driving pleasure it becomes. As a final comment, If I did sell up and throw in with my wife's desire for a Boxter, getting into a new model, I would loose more that £14K in depreciation in the first year, which was some of the figures quoted for the Chimaera refurb, so my wife is going to have to buy a older model as a replacement for her 20v turbo coup.
Many thanks, and will let you know how things go.
P.S. Only thinking of a engine rebuild, in terms of shell replacement, timing chain and possibly cam while im there as a preventative measure. Used to rebuild my highly strung jet ski motor every season for a few hundred pounds, my mates would wait for something to happen and spend thousands.
Edited by BeastMaster on Sunday 19th October 12:14
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