Buying my First cerbera, any advice please?

[suprarich]

Hi everyone, Been looking for a cerbera for quite sometime now and finally put a deposit down on the pearl white 4.2 which is for sale at the minute, first of all does anyone know the car? It's been down at xworks gettin a few jobs done before I pick it up and the guys there have been a great help keeping me informed with the progress. Basically looking for some advice on the car, what to look out for things to do and so on, the cerbera currently has 40k on the clock with no known rebuild done with regular servicing carried out, how long can the ajp go without a rebuild depending on driving style?
Thanks in advance, for any help will be much appreciated
Richard

[ukkid35]

What year? Makes more difference than you could possibly imagine.

[suprarich]

ukkid35 said:

What year? Makes more difference than you could possibly imagine.

It's a 97, reg is R147YJU if anyone knows the car
I've heard the crank in the early 4.2's can be a problem sometime, how true is this?

[aubrey9160]

If its done 40k on the existing crank its not likely to have one of the chocolate cranks in it so shouldnt be a worry. Make sure you warm the car up properly before giving it too much loud pedal

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

Put it in the air and poke it with a stick.

By that I mean check the chassis and outriggers. Don't fall for the " it's been regularly waxoyled" line as this can be hiding thousands of pounds worth of work.
Good luck.

[suprarich]

aubrey9160 said:

If its done 40k on the existing crank its not likely to have one of the chocolate cranks in it so shouldnt be a worry. Make sure you warm the car up properly before giving it too much loud pedal

Thanks, I'll make sure I do

[suprarich]

Obiwonkeyblokey said:

Put it in the air and poke it with a stick.

By that I mean check the chassis and outriggers. Don't fall for the " it's been regularly waxoyled" line as this can be hiding thousands of pounds worth of work.
Good luck.

It's been down at xworks and had abit of chassis work carried out, when I get the car back it just needs painting and waxoyling, it's also had new radiator, starter motor, fuel lines, cats and new plugs put in all by the guys at xworks

[ukkid35]

suprarich said:

It's been down at xworks and had abit of chassis work carried out, when I get the car back it just needs painting and waxoyling, it's also had new radiator, starter motor, fuel lines, cats and new plugs put in all by the guys at xworks

The thing is, that all sounds good, but rads, starters, lines, cats and plugs are all things you could do yourself with minimum hassle.

Fixing the chassis is not so easy. I am resigned to accepting that my car's life is limited, not by the engine or consumables, but by the chassis. Eventually it will become uneconomic to keep it on the road. The only question is when will that happen.

[suprarich]

ukkid35 said:

The thing is, that all sounds good, but rads, starters, lines, cats and plugs are all things you could do yourself with minimum hassle.

Fixing the chassis is not so easy. I am resigned to accepting that my car's life is limited, not by the engine or consumables, but by the chassis. Eventually it will become uneconomic to keep it on the road. The only question is when will that happen.

The guys at xworks have welded any bits on the chassis which needed anything doing and said its in good condition just needs painting and waxoyling

[esso]

I think the chassis should not necessarily be the major concern,it can be repaired and replacements may be on the cards,however talking to a couple of specialists lately,spares for Cerb`s are starting to become difficult to get hold of......steering wheel ribbon cables for the steering wheel buttons are currently unavailable.

[robsco]

I posted the same question about early 4.2 cranks before I bought mine last May. Yes, a few have snapped, and they are all early 4.2s. I believe the cranks were cast iron and upgraded to steel items circa 98. That said, I was told it was such a rare occurence that it isn't worth worrying about. I took the attitude that if the crank does make a bid for freedom, I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it. So far, I've had the most exciting 6000 miles of motoring. Relax, enjoy the car, fix the niggles as and when they occur, and enjoy owning England's finest.

[suprarich]

esso said:

I think the chassis should not necessarily be the major concern,it can be repaired and replacements may be on the cards,however talking to a couple of specialists lately,spares for Cerb`s are starting to become difficult to get hold of......steering wheel ribbon cables for the steering wheel buttons are currently unavailable.

So are there not many company's reproducing tvr parts? Who are the biggest and can many parts be sourced from other cars as I know you can use a Mitsubishi starter in the cerbera but not as good quality?

[suprarich]

robsco said:

I posted the same question about early 4.2 cranks before I bought mine last May. Yes, a few have snapped, and they are all early 4.2s. I believe the cranks were cast iron and upgraded to steel items circa 98. That said, I was told it was such a rare occurence that it isn't worth worrying about. I took the attitude that if the crank does make a bid for freedom, I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it. So far, I've had the most exciting 6000 miles of motoring. Relax, enjoy the car, fix the niggles as and when they occur, and enjoy owning England's finest.

Thanks, looking really forward to owning a cerbera and the driving experience and I'm sure the positives out weigh the negatives of tvr ownership

[Mr Cerbera]

Hi Rich
Well, you've already done the right thing by frequenting this Madhouse.

I would get your guys to look at the tracking on her as a Cerb can change its character completely if this is not set-up correctly - and it's a reletively cheap job.

Meanwhile, warm-up as previously mentioned, and use her regularly.
Oh, and I would start by adjusting the adjuster thread (locked by a LockNut) on the Clutch pedal out so that the Clutch only disengages on the last part of the pedal movement. It might save you breaking Clutch fingers and having to replace.

Oh, and use her regularly

[scotty_d]

suprarich said:

So are there not many company's reproducing tvr parts? Who are the biggest and can many parts be sourced from other cars as I know you can use a Mitsubishi starter in the cerbera but not as good quality?

TVR power , Clever Trevor are the main parts places.

If you Join the TVRCC you get a monthly Mag full of adverts on Indy's and parts suppliers

[verminator]

When you guys say it's been waxoyled, do you mean that the chassis has been drilled
and filled with waxoyle properly, or do you mean its just been brushed on? If its just
brushed on is it worth doing?

[scotty_d]

verminator said:

When you guys say it's been waxoyled, do you mean that the chassis has been drilled
and filled with waxoyle properly, or do you mean its just been brushed on? If its just
brushed on is it worth doing?

Just sprayed on with a shoots gun on the likes. I hate the stuff very very very very very very very very much so

Loads of reason why i dislike it...... I hides things very well i like to see problem area's coming through and rub them back to bare metal and paint them that way i can keep on top.


Second.... if you ever have to weld bits of the chassis have fun de- contaminating waxoyl out the pours of the steel to get nice neat welds. fking night mare.

Third... every time you go to do a job on the car you end up covered in the stuff it ruins your cloths and garage floor in no time.

Paint protection or powder coating every time for me

[Cavey]

Mr Cerbera said:

Oh, and I would start by adjusting the adjuster thread (locked by a LockNut) on the Clutch pedal out so that the Clutch only disengages on the last part of the pedal movement. It might save you breaking Clutch fingers and having to replace.

Apologies for thread hijack but was interested to read this as another newbie. My clutch has to be pressed hard into the carpet to achieve a fully smooth change (unless rev matching) which I had thought probably meant the clutch needed a bit of adjustment but from what you say it sounds as though it may be set correctly?

[davidd]

ukkid35 said:

The thing is, that all sounds good, but rads, starters, lines, cats and plugs are all things you could do yourself with minimum hassle.

Fixing the chassis is not so easy. I am resigned to accepting that my car's life is limited, not by the engine or consumables, but by the chassis. Eventually it will become uneconomic to keep it on the road. The only question is when will that happen.

One of the very best bits about Cerbera ownership is that they were built by blokes in a shed (I went on the official shed tour many years ago). If you have a big enough shed then you can sort the chassis out. Compared to some of the stuff you have done on your car I would have thought it is quite straightforward.. If physically quite big..

(and lets fact it, welding is fun).

D

[suprarich]

Mr Cerbera said:

Hi Rich
Well, you've already done the right thing by frequenting this Madhouse.

I would get your guys to look at the tracking on her as a Cerb can change its character completely if this is not set-up correctly - and it's a reletively cheap job.

Meanwhile, warm-up as previously mentioned, and use her regularly.
Oh, and I would start by adjusting the adjuster thread (locked by a LockNut) on the Clutch pedal out so that the Clutch only disengages on the last part of the pedal movement. It might save you breaking Clutch fingers and having to replace.

Oh, and use her regularly

The tracking has been done by them and two new tyres as it was out
Thanks for the advice on the clutch i'll get that looked at