Chimaera/Griffith 500 - Expected mileage until rebuild?
Discussion
Gentlemen,
Yesterday, I visited a decent Chimaera 500, which is for sale here in our region. Frame, body etc. looks splendid. So does the power train. Problem is that the latter can only be seen from the outside, whereas the crucial elements are hiden inside...
Engine pulled, no blue or black smoke. A bit tappy when cold (not entirely sure if that was the hydro tappets), but ok when warm.
What concerns me is that the car has now approximately 77k miles on the odometer - even for the good old Rover based engine not only a stone's throw...
Pursuant to the seller, (i) crankshaft bearings and conrod bearings had been checked (by Fernhust Motor Co) 25-30k miles and 9 years ago, and (i) camshaft has been renewed roughly 30k miles ago.
The car is not quite cheap, rather priced to the higher end. Hence, I would not be too happy to have major mechanical work in sight after buying.
What is you opinion? How many miles is the 5.0 engine good for without a substantial overaul being necessary?
Cheers,
Max
Yesterday, I visited a decent Chimaera 500, which is for sale here in our region. Frame, body etc. looks splendid. So does the power train. Problem is that the latter can only be seen from the outside, whereas the crucial elements are hiden inside...
Engine pulled, no blue or black smoke. A bit tappy when cold (not entirely sure if that was the hydro tappets), but ok when warm.
What concerns me is that the car has now approximately 77k miles on the odometer - even for the good old Rover based engine not only a stone's throw...
Pursuant to the seller, (i) crankshaft bearings and conrod bearings had been checked (by Fernhust Motor Co) 25-30k miles and 9 years ago, and (i) camshaft has been renewed roughly 30k miles ago.
The car is not quite cheap, rather priced to the higher end. Hence, I would not be too happy to have major mechanical work in sight after buying.
What is you opinion? How many miles is the 5.0 engine good for without a substantial overaul being necessary?
Cheers,
Max
It’s a difficult question to answer really, some cars that are used regularly can go on to see high mileages ok but the garage queens started once a month may exhibit some signs of wear.
I’d probably take the bearing inspection 9 years ago with a pinch of salt now.
There is evidence of problems with this particular engine but there seems to be a small minority with them.
If it were me and the engine sounded healthy with no unusual noises, and performed well then I’d probably go for it. I would just be aware that maybe one day in the very distant future that it may require attention and budget accordingly.
I know people see the 500 as the holy grail but you could buy a much cheaper sorted 400 and bolt on a supercharger kit to make it an awesome car, not everyone’s cup of tea but what’s not to like about a supercharged V8 !
I’d probably take the bearing inspection 9 years ago with a pinch of salt now.
There is evidence of problems with this particular engine but there seems to be a small minority with them.
If it were me and the engine sounded healthy with no unusual noises, and performed well then I’d probably go for it. I would just be aware that maybe one day in the very distant future that it may require attention and budget accordingly.
I know people see the 500 as the holy grail but you could buy a much cheaper sorted 400 and bolt on a supercharger kit to make it an awesome car, not everyone’s cup of tea but what’s not to like about a supercharged V8 !
Hello Max, this depends on the maintenance from the car, my Griffith 500 was maintained by the pre owners very poor, which resulted in an complete engine rebuild after 70tkm. Main issue was metal particles from the worn camshaft and a poor tolerance from the main bearings in the block...
The car which are you looking for look like it is in good maintained condition, go for it.
The car which are you looking for look like it is in good maintained condition, go for it.
get it good and hot making sure it dont have the dreaded 500 rattly small end issue lightly blipping the throttle and under light loads Buy on condition.
If it does not smoke, rattle or vibrate then all is well.
Look at the service history and question the owner.
Cars like this tend to be just occasional cars and as such do not do big mileages and because of this
might only be serviced every few years.
At the end of the day, it's not an exotic engine and parts costs are very reasonable as are repair costs.
If it does not smoke, rattle or vibrate then all is well.
Look at the service history and question the owner.
Cars like this tend to be just occasional cars and as such do not do big mileages and because of this
might only be serviced every few years.
At the end of the day, it's not an exotic engine and parts costs are very reasonable as are repair costs.
It’s not always practical but a good way to test the health of an engine is to have an oil sample analysed.
This will show the extent of wear of such items as bearings etc, due to lead and copper content.
High levels of other metals present such aluminium and iron will also reveal wear on other components.
This will show the extent of wear of such items as bearings etc, due to lead and copper content.
High levels of other metals present such aluminium and iron will also reveal wear on other components.
Mileage is not a deal breaker, buy on condition. My Griff 500 is on 107k miles and still going strong.
Although I try to convince myself that I can justify a full engine rebuild, everything is still within accepted norms, for oil pressure, oil consumption and compression test. It's still smooth and pulls well. I may treat it to its second camshaft, because that is starting to tap a little, but then cams are consumables in 500's !
Although I try to convince myself that I can justify a full engine rebuild, everything is still within accepted norms, for oil pressure, oil consumption and compression test. It's still smooth and pulls well. I may treat it to its second camshaft, because that is starting to tap a little, but then cams are consumables in 500's !
....and they are not expensive either. A reasonably standard camshaft is only a couple of hundred pounds. If you do the job yourself then the other costs make the total bill not a lot higher than the cost of the cam. Getting a TVR specialist to do it is still just a few hours labour..
Even full engine rebuilds are not as expensive as you might think - you would pay a lot more for a Porsche or Aston rebuild. It is, after all, just a Range Rover engine at heart.
Even full engine rebuilds are not as expensive as you might think - you would pay a lot more for a Porsche or Aston rebuild. It is, after all, just a Range Rover engine at heart.
Hi.
I was in a similar position when I bought my Griff 500 a fe2 years ago.
I had sold a mint low mileage (33k) Chimaera 500 as I had always wanted a Griff.
Obviously for the same amount of money I was looking at higher mileage cars which did worry me.
In the end I bought a year 2000 Griffith 500, 75k and owned for most of its life by a TVRCC regional organiser who travelled abroad on holiday every year in the car and seemingly looked after it like a baby.
I haven’t regretted it at all and in many ways the car drives and sounds better than the Chimaera.
As said above, it’s all relative to lots of factors. If the car drives well and makes no unusual noises then my advice is buy it. Lots of low mileage cars at this age can be more of a problem than a well maintained higher mileage one......
Regards Chris.
I was in a similar position when I bought my Griff 500 a fe2 years ago.
I had sold a mint low mileage (33k) Chimaera 500 as I had always wanted a Griff.
Obviously for the same amount of money I was looking at higher mileage cars which did worry me.
In the end I bought a year 2000 Griffith 500, 75k and owned for most of its life by a TVRCC regional organiser who travelled abroad on holiday every year in the car and seemingly looked after it like a baby.
I haven’t regretted it at all and in many ways the car drives and sounds better than the Chimaera.
As said above, it’s all relative to lots of factors. If the car drives well and makes no unusual noises then my advice is buy it. Lots of low mileage cars at this age can be more of a problem than a well maintained higher mileage one......
Regards Chris.
Hey folks,
Many thanks for your valuable input, which is highly appreciated.
After taking the issue under the pillow for some days now - and visiting another car with less miles and for less money - I have decided to call the seller, again, in order to talk money and make an offer. And, hopefully, we come to an agreement, so that I can take the beauty home after the rear shock has been refurbished, the waterpump been replaced and some minor tweaks have been made.
Looking forward to having you good news asap.
Cheers from Germany,
Max
Many thanks for your valuable input, which is highly appreciated.
After taking the issue under the pillow for some days now - and visiting another car with less miles and for less money - I have decided to call the seller, again, in order to talk money and make an offer. And, hopefully, we come to an agreement, so that I can take the beauty home after the rear shock has been refurbished, the waterpump been replaced and some minor tweaks have been made.
Looking forward to having you good news asap.
Cheers from Germany,
Max
I bought my 1999 500 at 112k miles in 2013, now on 125k, no issues and still on original camshaft etc. and I paid under £7k!! I have only done an oil change each year (cheapest semi I can find), 2 tyres and a battery. It is as some others have said only an RV8, none of its rocket science and be very wary of so called specialists!
semaj said:
I bought my 1999 500 at 112k miles in 2013, now on 125k, no issues and still on original camshaft etc. and I paid under £7k!! I have only done an oil change each year (cheapest semi I can find), 2 tyres and a battery. It is as some others have said only an RV8, none of its rocket science and be very wary of so called specialists!
I read plenty of stuff about 500 camshafts needing replacement at between 30 and 50k miles, then i bought a 500 with 47k miles on it. Cam was inspected at 46k miles and showed negligible wear so was reinserted with 16 new hydraulic lifters. Also dyno'd at Austec at 44k miles (after receiving a new vernier timing kit) at 302bhp. Original camshaft.Don't believe everything you read on the internet
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