P496PWX TVR Chimaera - Car History Lost

[InvaderMK2]

Good evening all,

We are looking for information on the following car Starmist Blue 1996 TVR Chimaera 4.0 - P496 PWX. We bought this car last summer from a salvage auction as the car had been written off for “Smoke damage”. The car arrived with no history whatsoever. We have visited the garages who have MOTed the car but have not gained any information yet.
The car has had 3 previous owners from new:
1st owner purchased from HHC 1996-2006 - based in the Melton Mowbray area thought to have been looked after by TVR dealer TMS Performance Cars.
2nd owner 2006/7-2018 - based in Clowne area. MOTed every year 2008- 2013 then sorned until January 2019.
3rd owner 2019 written off around 600 miles after its MOT in January.
The car is now with a TVR specialist who has found/ replaced the following; two HT leads which were the incorrect HT leads now replaced with a new set, coolant reservoir pressure cap, fuel lines, tyres, various rubber bushes, soot found around the bulkhead - no smoke damage. The car seems ticks over nicely. However, it rapidly boils within 5 minutes of normal driving. The engine has since had a compression test which has came back with very good results, pistons/ bores are all good, head gasket all good.

We would love to get our TVR back on the road. It has only covered just over 40k miles and is in rather good condition excluding the overheating issue. The specialist and us are still confused to why the car is overheating and we are looking for information on the car. Any information would be appreciated whether that is from 20 years ago or more recently as we have no history in relation to the car.

Thanks in advance,

Daniel

[PhilF329]

Hi Daniel, I would have expected your ‘specialist’ to have worked out why it’s overheating relatively quickly. If they can’t do that then I would suggest you need to find another garage.

On the history you can obtain MOT history online and you may have to accept the detail history has gone. It’s all about condition so a good specialist should be able to give an opinion on the car and a ‘to do list’. If you aren’t handy with the spanner’s then it’s money well spent.

Well done on giving it another chance - they are great cars

[sixor8]

For information, TMS in Melton Mowbray became PPC (Power Performance Cars) in 2005:

https://www.tvr-car-club.co.uk/news/update-from-tm...

Paul the owner of PPC stopped trading in 2019. Their page still has details and contacts on there that may help:

https://en-gb.facebook.com/pg/ppctvr/posts/

On the overheating, presuming it isn't the obvious stuck shut thermostat, it is likely an air lock.

[InvaderMK2]

Yes, we are aware that Paul started PPC. He has since closed the business. We have visited Paul and he too no longer has any records. Thanks for your help.

[InvaderMK2]

Hi Phil,

We were hoping that we could find out something about the car. Someone must know something you would think. The coolant system has been checked/tested and seems to be working fine hence the heads, pistons etc have been checked. All look ok too. The head is now away for a pressure test and once it is back together it will be tried again. If we still have no improvement then we really need to consider our options. Fingers crossed we can get her back on the road soon! Thanks for your help.

[dhutch]

With time you might trace the previous owner or someone who knows the car via here or other forums, if you know where it was based/moted you might get leads by phoning.

But it could also have been owned by someone who had it more as a nice car than an enthusiast, or just doesn't post online.

Hope you find something, else good luck with the car, hunt, but also enjoying what it is.

Daniel

[Colin RedGriff]

Have you tried contacting the TVR car club?

They may be able to pass your details to former owners

[PhilF329]

I would agree with Sixor8 that an air lock or faulty thermostat could cause the overheating. If the head is ok then I would change garages and start from scratch by flushing the cooling system, testing the thermostat, checking the stat and hoses are all connected to the right places and bleeding the system thoroughly. I have seen thermostats in the wrong way, hoses connected in the wrong places or even deliberately blanked off as short term bodges and given the cars history this is a strong possibility. Worth using a garage recommended on here and / or getting a copy of the Steve Heath Bible - link here, but you may be able to get a used copy: https://www.shengltd.com/infusions/eshop/eshop.php...

If you get the MOT history that may help you trace previous owners. The DVLA used to offer a tracing service but I believe they stopped it for data protection reasons. I used it years ago to trace owners of a few 1960's Mini Cooper S's I restored and always got a good response. Even had a couple pop to see me and their old car.

Good luck

[LLantrisant]

your garage must be total amateurs.....sorry to say that....detected 2 wrong igntion leads (no matter what leads are fitted, te engine runs always), not able to trace an overheating problem, thereofre dismantling the engine....at the end of the day you have a nice bill. adding this to the purchase rice (unless it was not extrmeely cheap) may end in a price region were you could have purchased a car in good running order.

[lancepar]

Too late for you now but if you are still having a overheating issue try.........

On a cold engine, If you remove the swirl tank stopper, remove some coolant so the inlet from the engine can be viewed and then start and run the engine fast from the lever near the plenum, do you see a raging torrent of coolant flowing into the pot from the engine hose?

If not could suggest water pump failure?

[Zener]

lancepar said:

Too late for you now but if you are still having a overheating issue try.........

On a cold engine, If you remove the swirl tank stopper, remove some coolant so the inlet from the engine can be viewed and then start and run the engine fast from the lever near the plenum, do you see a raging torrent of coolant flowing into the pot from the engine hose?

If not could suggest water pump failure?

Wont be a raging torrent into the swirl pot the thermostat will be closed an hydro carbon test of the cooling system and flow test of rad and thermostat function along with condition of water pump impeller gets my vote and not in that order apart from the HC test which should of been done before the heads were removed , cause can vary the last RV8 I see with a similar issue was a crack behind number 5 liner so ......... pretty much worse case scenario sadly but I bet there was a bit of low coolant or overheating prior to this they dont generally do this out of the blue

Edited by Zener on Friday 7th August 11:47

[FoxTVR430]

Pressure testing is OK and this will detect leaks. But what about the water flow rate?
Maybe something has been ingested into the water gallies in the heads/block and is reducing the flow so that it easily overheats? Has the water flow through the head/block been looked into yet??

[Englishman]

In terms of history you could contact Tony Abrams, now running HHC sportcars in Hexham, who was working in Harrogate until he moved further north about the time this car was sold. Also suggest contacting James Agger now of James Agger Autosport who worked at TMS while it was serviced there so may remember the car or know would have looked after it.

Agree with the others on getting someone that knows TVR's backwards to get it going. Worth the expense in the long run.

[ahpboxster]

Tony Abrams was incredibly helpful when I got my TVR from a local dealer. He supplied the car new 23 years ago and when I contacted him, he sent me all the paperwork he had (which he had kept since supplying it). He also filled me in on the where the car had been etc.

Really nice chap to talk to.

[lancepar]

If the thermostat is closed as it will be on a cold engine then the only course of flow will be around the engine, otherwise where else will it go?

[Zener]

lancepar said:

If the thermostat is closed as it will be on a cold engine then the only course of flow will be around the engine, otherwise where else will it go?

Of course there is flow but not via the swirl pot / top hose but via the heater loop also known as the stat bypass pre stat opening circulation if you like

[LLantrisant]

its so easy to remove the thermostat and drive without to see of this would have been the cause....

as the engine is now ripped apart such easy tests cannot be done anymore. 5min until it overheats would exactly match with a failed (sticky) thermostat

waterpump: its extremely rare that waterpumps fail to "move" the water, they may start leaking, but the impeller works always.

[Classic Chim]

Zener said:

Of course there is flow but not via the swirl pot / top hose but via the heater loop also known as the stat bypass pre stat opening circulation if you like

I was also led to believe the correct thermostat with the small hole in it allows a small amount of water to circulate before stat actually opens but as it’s such a small hole I’m not sure that’s correct but I was told it is important to fit the stat with a small weep hole.

[lancepar]

I based my comments on what I did the other day.



When replacing the lost coolant to the swirl pot (pre-serp) the flow was more than a trickle but maybe calling it a raging torrent was abit OTT.

[InvaderMK2]

Englishman said:

In terms of history you could contact Tony Abrams, now running HHC sportcars in Hexham, who was working in Harrogate until he moved further north about the time this car was sold. Also suggest contacting James Agger now of James Agger Autosport who worked at TMS while it was serviced there so may remember the car or know would have looked after it.

Agree with the others on getting someone that knows TVR's backwards to get it going. Worth the expense in the long run.

Thanks for your advice. The TVR specialist who is currently working on the car is HHC Sportscars (They cannot access any previous history and they do not know what is wrong with the car at the moment).