Chimaera newbie

[-JUT-]

Hello peeps

Just put a deposit down on a 1996 4 litre Chim, Cooper Green with cream leather, picking it up on Saturday :-)

Can anyone recommend a good independent specialist in the North London / Herts area? The car is coming with what appears on paper to be a half decent aftermarket warranty which I suspect will get used, but need to find a suitable specialist... I live less than 5 mins away from the TVR Centre in Arkley but their labour rates are a little bit steep...

[jasandjules]

Never used them, but you do have Tower View Racing around that area?
Or Topcats racing?

[dougc]

Tower View at Staples Corner or Topcats in near Aylesbury.

If you go for Tower View I'll be there on Saturday morning so I'll say hello if I see you

Welcome to the fun

[-JUT-]

I'm picking it up from Kent on Saturday, and already looking forward to giving it a bit of right foot through the Dartford Tunnel with the roof down

[-JUT-]

Ha ha ha, joys of TVR ownership - managed to get a good 5 miles down the road before smoke started coming out of the bonnet!

I noticed a slight whiff of burning oil on the test drive but the garage assured me that they'd missed the filler neck when topping it up, and it was just burning off the spillage... on closer inspection the offside rocker cover gasket is leaking onto the exhaust manifold :-(

Phoned the garage, they got a quote from somewhere local to fix it for £100, so have told me if I can get it done locally for that or less, they'll pay for it - or I can bring it back to them and they'll get their garage to do it - but as I picked the car up in Kent, and live in North London, the time involved and fuel cost makes that less than ideal. My local garage reckon they can change the gasket (and adjust the handbrake, which won't currently hold the car on anything more than a 1% gradient!) for under £100, and I've bought the gasket myself for them to use - is it a hard job on the offside? How long does it take?

Cheers

[chimalsu]

try tightening the rocker bolts before you pay money out mine tend to need doing every now and then

[-JUT-]

TBH I've bought the gaskets now, and if the garage are going to foot the bill, it's one less thing to worry about. I did attempt to tighten it but didn't have an 8mm bi-hex socket.

But I do need the handbrake adjusting anyway, so might as well let the garage have at it :-)

[bigdods]

-JUT- said:

But I do need the handbrake adjusting anyway, so might as well let the garage have at it :-)

A chim with a handbrake that works

The best you can hope for is a handbrake that allows your P&J to roll slowly downhill

[-JUT-]

bigdods said:

-JUT- said:

But I do need the handbrake adjusting anyway, so might as well let the garage have at it :-)

A chim with a handbrake that works

The best you can hope for is a handbrake that allows your P&J to roll slowly downhill

Like that is it? lol

Well, so long rolls slowly enough to walk alongside and re-waterproof the roof... ;-)

[-JUT-]

Gazboy said:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-CARAVAN-WHE

[zumbruk]

-JUT- said:

bigdods said:

-JUT- said:

But I do need the handbrake adjusting anyway, so might as well let the garage have at it :-)

A chim with a handbrake that works

The best you can hope for is a handbrake that allows your P&J to roll slowly downhill

Like that is it?

Not necessarily. I had mine MOT'd the day before yesterday and the box marked "Handbrake Efficiency" has "100%" printed
in it ... And what's more, it's true!

[-JUT-]

Guess I'll find out on Saturday morning when I pick it up...

TBH I'm more concerned about being able to drive it without smoke coming out of the bonnet vents... Fires are always a worry in plastic cars especially, I used to drive a Scimitar and was forever worrying about that thing going up in smoke!

[dougc]

Get yourself a fire extinguisher just to be on the safe side if thats a worry for you.

[-JUT-]

Already got one from the Scimitar, must remember to put that in the car...

[jasandjules]

bigdods said:

A chim with a handbrake that works

Sadly, ours works too well.. The other half struggles to get it on and off again!!

[biggiles]

Same here. The first "click" which actually holds the car on a gentle slope is requires the other half to use both hands and put some effort in!

[-JUT-]

OK, rocker cover gasket sorted and no more smoke - although my garage seem to have "appropriated" the other gasket of the pair that I left in the boot, and the 8mm bi-hex socket I'd bought in case I needed to tighten it up further down the line.

BUT...

No joy on the handbrake. Apparently the cable is stretched / defective and needs replacing. And apparently this is a pig of a job, as it runs over part of the chassis and requires the removal of part of the exhaust system to change it, so they believe. Anybody confirm if this is true?

[That Daddy]

you sure its just the cable,it may be the quadrents on the callipers sticking,worth trying 1st,only theres normally loads of adjustment in the cable.

[-JUT-]

Apparently the garage activated the handbrake mechanism from under the car by hand perfectly on each wheel whilst the vehicle was in the air and both sides gripped fine, just not enough force when applied via the handbrake as the cable was shagged.

[Flintstone]

To get back to your original question, an independent north of London?

A bit of a schlep up the A1 but you could do worse than Offords. £43(?) an hour labour or thereabouts and if you need a courtesy car there's usually a quirky SAAB to borrow.