A very good year
Discussion
What’s a good year for a cerb? Cerbs are not vintage wine, fine wine is not prone chassis rot or engine re-build.
It's all well and good buying with your heart with £3000 per year available in the bank, but when you don't i'm afraid Mr. Wallet has the last word.
My budget has come down quite a lot since I first considered the cerb (currently it's hovering around £16,000) mainly due to the fact that I was put off by it not being a very good every day car.
So I know about the bleak years of 01 -03 which were bad for cheap parts.
I don’t really want a 96 version because of design and the fact there is gonna be other problems associated with a 12 year old TVR.
I’m looking at a 98 or 00 face lift but can’t decide which????
Any views greatly appreciated and I apologise if this subject has been covered before.
Maybe a good idea to sticky a buyers tips for cerbs as this subject comes up more than once in one form or another.
It's all well and good buying with your heart with £3000 per year available in the bank, but when you don't i'm afraid Mr. Wallet has the last word.
My budget has come down quite a lot since I first considered the cerb (currently it's hovering around £16,000) mainly due to the fact that I was put off by it not being a very good every day car.
So I know about the bleak years of 01 -03 which were bad for cheap parts.
I don’t really want a 96 version because of design and the fact there is gonna be other problems associated with a 12 year old TVR.
I’m looking at a 98 or 00 face lift but can’t decide which????
Any views greatly appreciated and I apologise if this subject has been covered before.
Maybe a good idea to sticky a buyers tips for cerbs as this subject comes up more than once in one form or another.
Only advice I can give is set your Budget, less £3k to put in the bank as a 'Just in case' fund, then buy the best one you can find regardless of the year. There is no such thing as a 'cheap' cerb, and the Cerb's on here (PH) will tend to be the best buy's as most of them are owned and maintained by enthusiasts.
Didn't know about the bleak years 01 to 03......And I've been lurking on here for five years 
Anyhow, if anything don't rule out the old Cerbs, the rotten one's on here (so far) tend to be 98's or 99.
The 96 cars & early 97 cars have a different coloured chassis & no body's mentioned them rotting yet. Downside appears to be the early crank, however A quick search on here throws up about five of them in the last couple of years.
If I was buying A cerb today, I'd have a look at James Agger's 53 plate 4.2. Few miles on the clock, but nothing I'd be worried about. £17750 seems cheap to me.
Or have a look at one of those 2000 model speed six's at £10,000, some of them have had recent rebuilds, but even if they haven't, you've got £6000 change to have one done yourself.
Good luck in your search.
Anyhow, if anything don't rule out the old Cerbs, the rotten one's on here (so far) tend to be 98's or 99.
The 96 cars & early 97 cars have a different coloured chassis & no body's mentioned them rotting yet. Downside appears to be the early crank, however A quick search on here throws up about five of them in the last couple of years.
If I was buying A cerb today, I'd have a look at James Agger's 53 plate 4.2. Few miles on the clock, but nothing I'd be worried about. £17750 seems cheap to me.
Or have a look at one of those 2000 model speed six's at £10,000, some of them have had recent rebuilds, but even if they haven't, you've got £6000 change to have one done yourself.
Good luck in your search.
Edited by RUSSELLM on Tuesday 20th May 16:48
RUSSELLM said:
The 96 cars & early 97 cars have a different coloured chassis & no body's mentioned them rotting yet.
My chassis is still nigh on perfect at 12 years old and it lived by the seaside for 3 years of those, albeit in a garage.RUSSELLM said:
Downside appears to be the early crank, however A quick search on here throws up about five of them in the last couple of years.
I am that 40%! Rebuilt the 3rd time with a 4.5 block & steel crank and used the 4.2 heads and induction set-up.If the styling of the early cars is an issue then your best option is to search out a 96/97 car that's had the post '00 light conversion done and a rebuild using either a post '98 4.2 block or a 4.5 block. Billet or forged crank isn't an issue but iron or steel is.
Happy searching.
It surely must be messy to reverse engineer it if you wanted to.
Gazzab said:
Best chassis = early or late.
Mine is the 29th off the production line, so its got all the early stuff, like clatter-cams, sun-visors, no decals on the heating/aircon buttons, the windscreen and rear screen deflectors are black fibreglass and not carbon fibre but the one thing I don't have is extensive corrosion. The worst I have is some surface dust where the coating has migrated.So there is something to be said for an early one...
It's a PPG formula, similar but not identical to the TVR Reflex Purple. TVR used to mix their paint using dry pigment, so their ratio of pigment to solvent is different to an off-the-shelf formula. This meant they were able to mix a greater pigment ratio and hence apply less paint (greater opacity). Equally this also means its a b*gger to match their custom colours!
I own a bodyshop and if you search my previous posts I detailed the process (+piccies) from start to finish including prices. It scared most people. In terms of repairs however, reflex is a pretty easy compared to a standard metallic as you don't have to worry about blends as the colour shifts anyway
Equally you have less concerns about the metallic fleck stand-up etc.
Edited to add link to prev post:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
But as you point out the paint is flipping expensive.
I own a bodyshop and if you search my previous posts I detailed the process (+piccies) from start to finish including prices. It scared most people. In terms of repairs however, reflex is a pretty easy compared to a standard metallic as you don't have to worry about blends as the colour shifts anyway
Equally you have less concerns about the metallic fleck stand-up etc.
Edited to add link to prev post:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
But as you point out the paint is flipping expensive.
Edited by apguy on Wednesday 21st May 15:35
Check the classifieds, and do your homework. Condiiton, condition, condition, and I dont mean how glossy is the bodywork.
Look for receipts, what work has been done, when it was done etc. Dont be too fussed about having to be FTVRSH, as lots of people use good Indies to maintain the cars.
Good ones do come up, so keep your eye's pealed. I would say there may be a good one come up for sale this weekend, when the pictures have been taken and the advert posted
Mr F
Look for receipts, what work has been done, when it was done etc. Dont be too fussed about having to be FTVRSH, as lots of people use good Indies to maintain the cars.
Good ones do come up, so keep your eye's pealed. I would say there may be a good one come up for sale this weekend, when the pictures have been taken and the advert posted
Mr F
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