The first dutch official LS powered Cerbera by Steve Heath!!
Discussion
Moved to the top as this does include numbers...
Although I had set the car up to pass the emissions in the UK, for some reason it failed on the fast idle test at the Dutch RDW. It passed everything else and when they check a car, they really do check it. Arjen called me and so I got into my LS Cerb and drove over... via the ferry of course. and packed with a boot full of kit. Reset the emissions with my own gas analyser and lambda kit and it passed with really good figures. 0.01 CO and 5 ppm HC. The key was to get the cats really hot.
The rolling road session was interesting as once we got the fuelling better, the wheels started to spin on the rollers despite adjusting the straps etc. We got one power run which worked out at 496 bhp but as traction was a problem I am not too sure how accurate it was. The concensus was that the engine was in the 450-475 area but as I say, traction was a problem and this is with a taller 3.08 diff!
Henk who helped me reckons that the ignition curve could be tweaked a bit as well but we ran out of time. Torque starts at around the 380lb/ft and goes up accordingly. It is incredibly smooth.
Anyway there are another 3 cars in the pipeline.
shpub said:
Although I had set the car up to pass the emissions in the UK, for some reason it failed on the fast idle test at the Dutch RDW. It passed everything else and when they check a car, they really do check it. Arjen called me and so I got into my LS Cerb and drove over... via the ferry of course. and packed with a boot full of kit. Reset the emissions with my own gas analyser and lambda kit and it passed with really good figures. 0.01 CO and 5 ppm HC. The key was to get the cats really hot.
The rolling road session was interesting as once we got the fuelling better, the wheels started to spin on the rollers despite adjusting the straps etc. We got one power run which worked out at 496 bhp but as traction was a problem I am not too sure how accurate it was. The concensus was that the engine was in the 450-475 area but as I say, traction was a problem and this is with a taller 3.08 diff!
Henk who helped me reckons that the ignition curve could be tweaked a bit as well but we ran out of time. Torque starts at around the 380lb/ft and goes up accordingly. It is incredibly smooth.
Anyway there are another 3 cars in the pipeline.
Edited by shpub on Thursday 19th November 14:23
Hmmmm, looks nice. Here's an idea: I live in the US but am seriously missing my TVR(s). Would it be possible to buy a cerb in the UK, perhaps a damaged engine one, and get it converted for an LS V8 in the UK but not install the engine. Ship the prepared car over here and have one of the local custom shops fit the LS V8 that I could buy over here?
It is a nice installation and it is a magnificent engine! It is now the true GT it always should have been. More powerful and quieter where it should be more quiet.
And the conversion is done in a way, that it leaves every further (power) option open.
Pitty the season is almost over (for the nice wetter drivers). I'll let you guys know how I get on and when there are questions, do not hesitate to ask me, or even better, Steve.
And the conversion is done in a way, that it leaves every further (power) option open.
Pitty the season is almost over (for the nice wetter drivers). I'll let you guys know how I get on and when there are questions, do not hesitate to ask me, or even better, Steve.
Congratulations,
I have been following your threads on this for a while and I'ts good to see it completed.
I will seriously look at going down this route should anything happen with my engine, am i right in saying its been about six months since you handed the car over for the engine replacement. Is this how long it takes or did you have other work done.
George
I have been following your threads on this for a while and I'ts good to see it completed.
I will seriously look at going down this route should anything happen with my engine, am i right in saying its been about six months since you handed the car over for the engine replacement. Is this how long it takes or did you have other work done.
George
The work did take longer than expected due to supply issues and other challenges such as a faulty wiring loom that took some while to sort out, especially when it blew an interface box! To give you some idea, the crank sensor connection was a couple of twisted wires with a bit of tape wrapped around the wire! I ended up building a lot of test kit to get to the bottom of the wiring problems which were caused by faulty relays and an internal short in the fuse box amongst other things.
The diff ratio was changed and the the T5 box upgraded to the CTS full spec. We lost some time waiting for that to be done as the CTS were waiting on the gears. The original TVR flywheel was quite badly damaged and so that had to be replaced - we had a custom one made. That took a few weeks to make. Then there was a problem caused by GM going into administration and key parts suddenly were not available so it has taken a lot longer than planned.
The car did have some additional work done as well.
As we have standardized on this engine, it makes the prep and production a lot easier.
The diff ratio was changed and the the T5 box upgraded to the CTS full spec. We lost some time waiting for that to be done as the CTS were waiting on the gears. The original TVR flywheel was quite badly damaged and so that had to be replaced - we had a custom one made. That took a few weeks to make. Then there was a problem caused by GM going into administration and key parts suddenly were not available so it has taken a lot longer than planned.
The car did have some additional work done as well.
As we have standardized on this engine, it makes the prep and production a lot easier.
Yes, I must say I am very pleased with the service and the follow up from Steve. He want to get to the bottom of things.
How does it feel? I'll need some time more in the car to give some more detailed info on that. The weight cannot make a difference. It is 20kg heavier than it was. Steve (and Dave Wallis) did relocate the front torsionbar though. Haven't pushed the car enough to be able to tell you more about it. Steve and Dave were very happy with the road manners. They took it to 150mph on a country road test drive (?) and it was rock steady. They have more experience in driving a cerb very quickly than I have.
My AJP v8 went bang wel before I got to know the car in terms of road manners when driving quick. The first thing that did put a big smile on my face was the first time i heard the car idle. When I got home and let my fahter hear it, it made him smile the whole day too. It's a mighty sound that really contributes to the image and feel of such a beautifull car.
I am going to change the cats (recently got my high flow metallic cats from the USA)and the rest of the exhaust system. Steve and Dave have a set of exhaust manifolds in development for better breathing, so the set that is on now will do for now. Ordered an X-pipe and 2 small resonators and two bigger ones. All in stainless. Do not know if I will be happy with the result of the sound. The current one is very nice as already said. The cats are nice though. You can see through them!
After the suppliers problems and some electrical problems, I am convinced it can be done a lot faster now. Steve and Dave did build up parts already. The enginemapping, we did here in the Netherlands ,was very good and can be used on the coming cars also (when customers opt for the standard 6 litre). A lot also depends on what you want. Everything is possible. First I decided on the engineconversion. Later on I decided for the uprated cts quiafe gearbox. Then I went calculating on the iinternet on a topspeedcalculator and came to making the decision to go for the 3.08 diff ratio.
I am happy that I did choose for the CTS gearbox. With the standard box however (and standard 6 litre engine) and roaduse, I think the combination should be reliable also. But, when you want to decide on doing camchanges or supercharging later on with this engine, you wil get in to trouble. But, I saw how easy a gearbox can be taken out from underneath the car compared to the AJP Cerbera. You can also do the gearbox later if you want.
I am stil surfing like mad on the internet to see what is possible with these engines. It is a lot!
I'll keep you guys posted.
How does it feel? I'll need some time more in the car to give some more detailed info on that. The weight cannot make a difference. It is 20kg heavier than it was. Steve (and Dave Wallis) did relocate the front torsionbar though. Haven't pushed the car enough to be able to tell you more about it. Steve and Dave were very happy with the road manners. They took it to 150mph on a country road test drive (?) and it was rock steady. They have more experience in driving a cerb very quickly than I have.
My AJP v8 went bang wel before I got to know the car in terms of road manners when driving quick. The first thing that did put a big smile on my face was the first time i heard the car idle. When I got home and let my fahter hear it, it made him smile the whole day too. It's a mighty sound that really contributes to the image and feel of such a beautifull car.
I am going to change the cats (recently got my high flow metallic cats from the USA)and the rest of the exhaust system. Steve and Dave have a set of exhaust manifolds in development for better breathing, so the set that is on now will do for now. Ordered an X-pipe and 2 small resonators and two bigger ones. All in stainless. Do not know if I will be happy with the result of the sound. The current one is very nice as already said. The cats are nice though. You can see through them!
After the suppliers problems and some electrical problems, I am convinced it can be done a lot faster now. Steve and Dave did build up parts already. The enginemapping, we did here in the Netherlands ,was very good and can be used on the coming cars also (when customers opt for the standard 6 litre). A lot also depends on what you want. Everything is possible. First I decided on the engineconversion. Later on I decided for the uprated cts quiafe gearbox. Then I went calculating on the iinternet on a topspeedcalculator and came to making the decision to go for the 3.08 diff ratio.
I am happy that I did choose for the CTS gearbox. With the standard box however (and standard 6 litre engine) and roaduse, I think the combination should be reliable also. But, when you want to decide on doing camchanges or supercharging later on with this engine, you wil get in to trouble. But, I saw how easy a gearbox can be taken out from underneath the car compared to the AJP Cerbera. You can also do the gearbox later if you want.
I am stil surfing like mad on the internet to see what is possible with these engines. It is a lot!
I'll keep you guys posted.
fatbutt said:
Hmmmm, looks nice. Here's an idea: I live in the US but am seriously missing my TVR(s). Would it be possible to buy a cerb in the UK, perhaps a damaged engine one, and get it converted for an LS V8 in the UK but not install the engine. Ship the prepared car over here and have one of the local custom shops fit the LS V8 that I could buy over here?
Dont see why not?Get in touch with Steve.
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