RHD to LHD Cerbra conversion for export
Discussion
Hi guys, am new to this forum, i used to live in the UK (where i was introduced to TVRs, i was always on love with the Cerbras and always wanted on, but now that i can afford one, i happen to live in Ghana where it one can not register a RHD car of any kind (except a road sweeper lol!) i so badly want one and i would like to know if its possible to do a LHD conversion. I run a workshop here and we have done a couple of mini cooper-S and my Mazda RX7 conversions here in Ghana, i do appreciate that this is a totally different car, and the application may be different.
i would like to know from those who have taken these car apart before;
1, is there room under the skin to do this conversion?
2, can i use a steering rack from another car? what will be the nearest Donner part?
3, can i relocate the brake master cylinder to the passenger side? if so will the fiberglass bulkhead be strong enough to take this
4, Can i easily relocate the pedal box?
5, can i find some one (maybe in the UK) to to make a new (lhd) dashboard in fiberglass and have it covered in leather?
6, are the windows door and mirror switches centrally positioned such that i do not need to modify the doors?
7, and finally i would like the most powerful/ reliable model to buy so some recommendations please; (bearing in mind that we do not have any emissions laws here)
Thanks guy in advance, i know am asking for a lot, and something unusual here, but its my only way of getting into a Cerbera without relocating back to the UK.
i would like to know from those who have taken these car apart before;
1, is there room under the skin to do this conversion?
2, can i use a steering rack from another car? what will be the nearest Donner part?
3, can i relocate the brake master cylinder to the passenger side? if so will the fiberglass bulkhead be strong enough to take this
4, Can i easily relocate the pedal box?
5, can i find some one (maybe in the UK) to to make a new (lhd) dashboard in fiberglass and have it covered in leather?
6, are the windows door and mirror switches centrally positioned such that i do not need to modify the doors?
7, and finally i would like the most powerful/ reliable model to buy so some recommendations please; (bearing in mind that we do not have any emissions laws here)
Thanks guy in advance, i know am asking for a lot, and something unusual here, but its my only way of getting into a Cerbera without relocating back to the UK.
Nice idea Autochecker.
I think it would be very difficult as the trim is designed for RH drive before any other work.
I am fairly widely travelled and know that West African (all African?) roads can be very very poor.
The Cerb is extremely low, lower than my M3 or Elise and has a problem with those narrow road humps designed for ambulances to pass over, so I personally feel you should think again.
I think it would be very difficult as the trim is designed for RH drive before any other work.
I am fairly widely travelled and know that West African (all African?) roads can be very very poor.
The Cerb is extremely low, lower than my M3 or Elise and has a problem with those narrow road humps designed for ambulances to pass over, so I personally feel you should think again.
wow! I like this forum. thanks for the prompt responds. you are right about the roads here, but I also have a lowered audi rs2 here with only about 2" of ground clearance. fortunately for me I live in a pretty good part of town with asphalt and concrete roads. my mates here also drive 997 turbo 996gt3 lambo lp560-4 and C6 callaway Corvettes which are equally low. again it won't be used as an everyday car, and am making this decision with my heart and not my head unfortunately
to my mind there is quite a lot of room in the pax footwell - I've never done anything remotely like a conversion like this, but I Think it more than possible you can get a pedalbox down there.
Dash/ Steering column. Unless I'm being daft, I can't see why you couldn't do something akin to a mirror image of the current setup - but use a chain transmission or something to keep the same rack - there is a lot of space around the rack at the moment - you could build in a system to keep the current rack, but drive it with a shaft that was symmetric on the other side, if that makes sense? That said, the cerb rack isn't the greatest, so given the amount of work you'd be doing I'd just see if I could find something more suitable out a box, and rather than fabbing in a tranmission to the current rack, fab in a new rack.
Behind the drivers bulkhead at the moment are the clutch/brake resovoirs - the steeing column passes to the rhs of the engine to the rack.
You'd have to relocate the coolant resovoir to the rhs of the car - that should be easy & a bit of pipework but nothing complex. The battery could go in the boot for simplicity. You'd then have the space where the battery & header were to get your clutch/brake resovoirs in - should be OK I'd have thought.
Under the PAX feet at the moment is also all of the electronics, ECU, controllers etc... you'd want to flip these over too - this could be a bit of a PITA, but again, in the scheme of this job hardly pivotal.
In terms of getting the wheel over to the lhs you'd have to weld in supports and so on, I'm sure. The dash will be a tough one to mirror - along with the trans tunnell too which will need flipping. All the switchgear for doors/windows would stay as-is - they are not 'sided'. but even if they were they would be the least of your problems.
Whichever way you attempt this from, to do at all will need total stripdown, body off I think. You'll need to reroute almost everything, but my feel is that there is a lot of room to do so, the chassis is pretty symmetrical so it's only fibreglass and a few struts here and there for the column that would need to be fabbed. In terms of underbonnet, again, there is quite a bit of room around there - and if you want to bin the hot air rad (will you need it?) you can empty out the lhs wing too to give more room again.
Biggest challenge in the project I'd have thought would be getting a mirrror image dash/console made to look right - most other things can be sorted with a welder&FG work, but the dash etc.. will be on display all the while and will look pants if not done right.
Again, this is from someone with no experience at all at attempting something like this, but the chasiss is pretty symmetrical, there is lots of room around the engine, and it's going to be easy to weld bits onto/hack bits away - FG up and respray to cover your tracks.
Good luck
Dash/ Steering column. Unless I'm being daft, I can't see why you couldn't do something akin to a mirror image of the current setup - but use a chain transmission or something to keep the same rack - there is a lot of space around the rack at the moment - you could build in a system to keep the current rack, but drive it with a shaft that was symmetric on the other side, if that makes sense? That said, the cerb rack isn't the greatest, so given the amount of work you'd be doing I'd just see if I could find something more suitable out a box, and rather than fabbing in a tranmission to the current rack, fab in a new rack.
Behind the drivers bulkhead at the moment are the clutch/brake resovoirs - the steeing column passes to the rhs of the engine to the rack.
You'd have to relocate the coolant resovoir to the rhs of the car - that should be easy & a bit of pipework but nothing complex. The battery could go in the boot for simplicity. You'd then have the space where the battery & header were to get your clutch/brake resovoirs in - should be OK I'd have thought.
Under the PAX feet at the moment is also all of the electronics, ECU, controllers etc... you'd want to flip these over too - this could be a bit of a PITA, but again, in the scheme of this job hardly pivotal.
In terms of getting the wheel over to the lhs you'd have to weld in supports and so on, I'm sure. The dash will be a tough one to mirror - along with the trans tunnell too which will need flipping. All the switchgear for doors/windows would stay as-is - they are not 'sided'. but even if they were they would be the least of your problems.
Whichever way you attempt this from, to do at all will need total stripdown, body off I think. You'll need to reroute almost everything, but my feel is that there is a lot of room to do so, the chassis is pretty symmetrical so it's only fibreglass and a few struts here and there for the column that would need to be fabbed. In terms of underbonnet, again, there is quite a bit of room around there - and if you want to bin the hot air rad (will you need it?) you can empty out the lhs wing too to give more room again.
Biggest challenge in the project I'd have thought would be getting a mirrror image dash/console made to look right - most other things can be sorted with a welder&FG work, but the dash etc.. will be on display all the while and will look pants if not done right.
Again, this is from someone with no experience at all at attempting something like this, but the chasiss is pretty symmetrical, there is lots of room around the engine, and it's going to be easy to weld bits onto/hack bits away - FG up and respray to cover your tracks.
Good luck
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?mem...
Talk to this guy? He has a LHD one.
Personally I would find one already owned by someone and pay 'over the odds' as that will be much cheaper than commissioning the work and parts.
Talk to this guy? He has a LHD one.
Personally I would find one already owned by someone and pay 'over the odds' as that will be much cheaper than commissioning the work and parts.
Gazzab said:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?mem...
Talk to this guy? He has a LHD one.
Personally I would find one already owned by someone and pay 'over the odds' as that will be much cheaper than commissioning the work and parts.
Met him at Rockingham in '07 he had traction control fitted and was fitting ABS next. Nice car, I don't know if he did the conversion himself. Talk to this guy? He has a LHD one.
Personally I would find one already owned by someone and pay 'over the odds' as that will be much cheaper than commissioning the work and parts.
@ stuthemong wow! guys you are the best. thanks for all that write up. at worse I could do a "race-look" for the dash and throw in s roll cage if I can't get a mirrored was built. but from what you said it looks very simple. I notices a picture of the trelis chassis on the site and it looks pretty straight forward. I will also get in touch with the chap who has the lhd model too. the thought of abs too is nice. thanks so much for the information, am most grateful To you guys..
now which cerbera will you recomend? and also, does the body come off the chassis easily?
now which cerbera will you recomend? and also, does the body come off the chassis easily?
Which Model to choose? Well it depends [b]why[b] you want a Cerbera. I have a Cerbera because I love the Car. It's British, it's unique, it's a David v Goliath car, it has a very special unique engine in the AJP V8, it has a beautiful unique interior all clothed in a beautiful body, I sound like I am in love, well I am.
So back to the question, why do you want a Cerbera? From what you have said it sounds like you are going to extensively modify the Car, so you won't really have a TVR Cerbera.
If you just want one because you like the look of them, which is what it sounds like to me, then choose any model that has a blown engine, buy one as cheap as you can and then modify it as musch as you like, but you won't have a Cerbera.
To take the body off you are preactically dismantling the car - a full interior strip, and ideally the engine, gearbox and running gear removed, it's a BIG job.
The steering rack could bea problem, it sits 'inside' the chassis and removal is very tight so a different rack may not phsically be able to be fitted in.
It will be an expensive job to convert to LHD, doing it yourself will save a lot of dosh.
So back to the question, why do you want a Cerbera? From what you have said it sounds like you are going to extensively modify the Car, so you won't really have a TVR Cerbera.
If you just want one because you like the look of them, which is what it sounds like to me, then choose any model that has a blown engine, buy one as cheap as you can and then modify it as musch as you like, but you won't have a Cerbera.
To take the body off you are preactically dismantling the car - a full interior strip, and ideally the engine, gearbox and running gear removed, it's a BIG job.
The steering rack could bea problem, it sits 'inside' the chassis and removal is very tight so a different rack may not phsically be able to be fitted in.
It will be an expensive job to convert to LHD, doing it yourself will save a lot of dosh.
personaly am in love with the cerbera for its looks, but i understand there there are 2 different engine models, which one of the 2 if more powerful and more reliable? i run a workshop and labour to me is about £3 an hour (in Ghana) so i guess most of me bigger cost would be parts. thanks for all this valuable information.
There are 3 engine models, 4.0 S6, and a 4.2 and 4.5 AJP V8. Early S6's did suffer engine problems, but these will more than likely have been fixed by now. There is a lot of development work on the S6 engine now, and you can buy (or have rebuilt) 400+hp S6 engines for about £6k.
The AJP V8 is a reliable engine if looked after - ie it needs to be warmed up properly before being revved. It's a race engine based on a 90's formual 1 engine design.
Both the 4.2 and the 4.5 produce similar power figures in standard form, slightly higher for the 4.5, but The 4.5 engines can be worked on to achieve 400+ hp, but that needs to be done by a specialist in the UK, it is not a DIY job, it's a remap with different intake pipes.
The AJP V8 is a reliable engine if looked after - ie it needs to be warmed up properly before being revved. It's a race engine based on a 90's formual 1 engine design.
Both the 4.2 and the 4.5 produce similar power figures in standard form, slightly higher for the 4.5, but The 4.5 engines can be worked on to achieve 400+ hp, but that needs to be done by a specialist in the UK, it is not a DIY job, it's a remap with different intake pipes.
www.spacecomposites.co.uk have recently developed a LHD Cerbra kit to be retailed via Racing Green TVR.
http://www.racinggreentvr.com
http://www.racinggreentvr.com
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