How much would it cost...

[Chilliman]

Starting with a £10k Cerb to fit a 500bhp LS lump plus necessary upgrades (brakes/suspension/transmission etc etc)to end up with a reliable fire breathing continent crossing GT supercar? I'm liking this idea but have no idea what it would cost. Based on doing a good bit of the spannering at home... I'm thinking such a car would put the usual German and Italian supersheds in the shade

[edo]

I'm no expert, but the engine alone would be over £5k would it not? Cant see any way this would be less than ten grand of not more?

[scotty_d]

Would it not be better to buy a cheap Cerb sort it up and go for a 4.7 AJP re-build

[Chilliman]

scotty_d said:

Would it not be better to buy a cheap Cerb sort it up and go for a 4.7 AJP re-build

Is that a TVR Power upgrade Scott?

[ShiDevil]

Just buy a reliable 4.5, how fast you want to go! They are mental as it is!

[Chilliman]

edo said:

I'm no expert, but the engine alone would be over £5k would it not? Cant see any way this would be less than ten grand of not more?

OK, lets put it another way.. Lets say one has £35k to spend, not enough for a Sag, but more than enough for a well sorted T car. But, big but, they're not GT cars (including the Tuscan). (in my opinion). So, shirley, for that sort of money, you could build a serious mile eating reliable awesome looking Cerb? Or maybe for much less? I dunno, just looking for opinions.....

[Alexdaredevilz]

£2.5k for L33 5.3 LS lump

£1k cam, mapping, plumbing etc

£500 ls2/6 intake

£80 arp rod bolts

£500 for clutch/flywheel

£80 LS sport motive mounts

£1500-2k for 6speed gearbox

£600-700 for prop-shaft and drive shafts

£300 shifter kit

£1-2k for exhaust

£?? for custom a/c and p/s pipes

Or add another 15k for a lS9

[Chilliman]

ShiDevil said:

Just buy a reliable 4.5, how fast you want to go! They are mental as it is!

You make a good point however I'm not convinced there's such a thing as a 'reliable 4.5'... happy to be proved wrong though.... Also, can you get the AJP up to 500 bhp without serious expense/reliability issues?

[Chilliman]

Alexdaredevilz said:

£2.5k for L33 5.3 LS lump

£1k cam, mapping, plumbing etc

£500 ls2/6 intake

£80 arp rod bolts

£500 for clutch/flywheel

£80 LS sport motive mounts

£1500-2k for 6speed gearbox

£600-700 for prop-shaft and drive shafts

£300 shifter kit

£1-2k for exhaust

£?? for custom a/c and p/s pipes

Or add another 15k for a lS9

Er, so what does that all add up to Alex?

[Alexdaredevilz]

Chilliman said:

Er, so what does that all add up to Alex?

Depends what engine you want to start with, vary's from 2k to 15+

[Brummmie]

ShiDevil said:

Just buy a reliable 4.5, how fast you want to go! They are mental as it is!

ALOT faster!

[Chilliman]

Brummmie said:

ShiDevil said:

Just buy a reliable 4.5, how fast you want to go! They are mental as it is!

ALOT faster!

Knew you'd chime in Brummmie

[carsy]

Obviously it depends on how much you can do yourself. Sportmotive LS3 in a Griff, drive in drive out £14k. Presume similar for a Cerb.

Also depends what you are getting for your initial 10K car.

Dont think you would have to go anywhere near 35k if doing it yourself.

You could just stick one of those hard tops on your supercharged Chim and your almost the same.

[Chilliman]

carsy said:

Obviously it depends on how much you can do yourself. Sportmotive LS3 in a Griff, drive in drive out £14k. Presume similar for a Cerb.

Also depends what you are getting for your initial 10K car.

Dont think you would have to go anywhere near 35k if doing it yourself.

You could just stick one of those hard tops on your supercharged Chim and your almost the same.

Yep agree with that carsy... but, the Cerb, I'm told, (and I can believe it) is superior in handling terms by a fair margin because of the longer wheelbase, plus it has all that space in the back (forget passengers but loads more luggage for a GT..) I just can't imagine anyone ever building a more capable GT car for the money... A properly sorted one just has to be the best bet out there by a long long way

[Alexdaredevilz]

Just wave a chunk of cash under brummies nose

[scotty_d]

Chilliman said:

Yep agree with that carsy... but, the Cerb, I'm told, (and I can believe it) is superior in handling terms by a fair margin because of the longer wheelbase, plus it has all that space in the back (forget passengers but loads more luggage for a GT..) I just can't imagine anyone ever building a more capable GT car for the money... A properly sorted one just has to be the best bet out there by a long long way

The Handling is really night and day even with my old shocks not Nitrons it was super planted next to the chim.

[Chilliman]

Sorry guys, put the thread on general stuff....

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Chilli

[camel_landy]

You could probably do an LS3 Cerb for approx £20k.

Get yourself a cheap, donor Cerb... One with a knackered engine would be good. Whip the body off, mod the chassis for the LS3, tidy it up and then blast & powdercoat. Put it all back together with the LS3 and 'hey presto', you've got yourself a rock-solid daily driver which will need very little maintenance other than an oil, pads, filters, etc...

That's basically what I'm doing with mine! It's at the powder coaters at the moment, it'll go back together with the original 4.2 but when that goes pop, I'll stick an LS3 in.

M

[Derek Smith]

Chilliman said:

You make a good point however I'm not convinced there's such a thing as a 'reliable 4.5'... happy to be proved wrong though.... Also, can you get the AJP up to 500 bhp without serious expense/reliability issues?

I knew of a 100k 4.5 Cerb that was used as a trackday car so not quite molycoddled: totally reliable engine. When I said to the owner that he must have one of the highest mileage Cerbs he told me a friend had one with 125k, also totally reliable. It was used every day and also spent time on the track.

Speaking to two engineers at a TVR main dealers. I asked them about AJP reliability. Neither of them could remember a failure of a 4.5 that was not, in some way, the fault of the owner or had been 'contributory'.

I've seen a crank or two that had seen better days and a block with a hole in the side where a rod made a bid for freedom. However, there was contributory negligence in some way.

The AJP was a very reliable engine. If the oil pressure sender needs replacing then you have problems. It is, I am told, an engine out job.

I've driven a couple of 4.5 Cerbs and the power was much more than adequate. I've driven one with some work on the ECU and that was terrifying.

If you want an LS then go for it. I wouldn't dream of putting you off. I would suggest weighing up what you would get for all that money.

Further, you might well get a lot more heat. I was at a trackday with a couple of LS-engined Sagarises (Sagari?) at Brands and heat disapation was a problem. The air con had to be on all the time. When it failed the driver got out of the car part-boiled.

The unreliability of a Cerb comes from the systems rather than the engine.

[C3BER]

Read what has been said and some makes sense but some a right load of sh!te.

1. 4.5 is perfect for the car
2. Not all massive BHP engines equal speed.
3. Increase speed in a striaght line but do the conversions equal a car that can handle corners.
4. Get the handling sorted before power.
5. Power only to the handling of the car.

And so I could go on an on but if you want a car for GT work then buy a different car or buy a BMW striaght 6 engine for its reliability etc.

As for LS conversion... How often do you hear or read... I now need a new gearbox or tyres or clutch or this and that.

Make the best of the car you have got and not something that others are still not happy with.

As for your original question 20k and counting.

Buy an Aston.