400HC VIN informations

[al02052]

Hello
I am evaluating to buy a 400 HC with the following VIN SDLDCC4P9TC011374.
Somebody can help me about production year, if the VIN is compatible with the 400 HC engine and some other important informations ?

Seller says that the car is a 1997 but I do not know if in 1997 the 400HC was still produced or not.
Car was first registered in Japan and than recently imported in EU.
Is fitted with air conditioning and mileage is 18500 with full Japanese TVR service bills. Price is 13000 GBP.

Suggestions are welcomed.

Alberto

[jonnyb]

The best bet is to phone the factory on: [phone]. Tell them the VIN number and they will be able to tell you how the car left the factory. Its the only sure way to tell. Also It may have had a replacement engine.

Also £13k for a 97 sounds OK but it will have to be in tip top condition for that price. Or from a dealer.

[groomvroom]

Tried the factory and they said they coulndt help at the moment. Andy at APM told me that TVR Power are the best bet for checking specs on the rover based cars, however they dont seem to be answereing their email at the moment Still trying to confirm my Chim BV.

[andy-w]

It should have HC stamped with the engine number and on the Vehicle Chassis Plate just above the break reservoir and an HC badge on the plenum (But that is easy enough to change).

[al02052]

engine n. 37A40P3713

[al02052]

www.tvrpower.co.uk
Is it a dealer or the engine factory ?

[andy-w]

On the VIN plate the engine number should finish with an HC same as the engine number.

*********HC

[jonnyb]

andy-w said:

On the VIN plate the engine number should finish with an HC same as the engine number.

*********HC

Not necessarily. Mines an HC confirmed by the factory and the engine number doesn't finish with HC.

[jonnyb]

al02052 said:

www.tvrpower.co.uk
Is it a dealer or the engine factory ?

Used to be the engine factory. They built all the rover based engines for TVR. They are still a subsidiary of TVR but have now branched out into other things.

[andy-w]

It should say it on the VIN plate though????

[jonnyb]

andy-w said:

It should say it on the VIN plate though????

Not on mine. It may on others.

But I have the original receipt for mine with the HC option specified and I have checked this with the factory and the supplying dealer.

Its why its so easy to fake it!

Edited by jonnyb on Tuesday 24th October 13:28

[that daddy]

jonny b, mine is the same nothing after the engine no,says hc on plenum, hc one the ecu chip,and hc in the owners book and bill of sale,but nothing on the chassis plate,also as the double valve springs,the only reason i know this is because i wanted to be sure when i purchased.

[andy-w]

Hmmm easy to fake....?

Get new VIN plate re-engrave and age so it does not look new...get engine stamps the same size as ones alredy used on engine and re-stamp after removing manifold on left side...get 400HC badge to fit on plenum....5 min job!!!

Like JohnnyB says...check with the factory....they can confirm straight away.

[that daddy]

yeh your right the owners hardly going to let you open up the ecu,or remove a rocker cover...easily faked alright.

[Rum Runner]

Yep mine the same , no Hc after vin number but is a HC ,bill of sale and , original manual , and spoke to the salesman who sold it 1st,2nd,3rd times, also written on ecu .It seems to want to rev more and sound sweeter at high rpm than standard 4.0. But as we know every car is very different .Think at present that is a little pricey , especially as a import. There are some decent 500's for that much these days. Check in classifieds i.e
http://pistonheads.com/sales/107509.h

Edited by Rum Runner on Tuesday 24th October 22:47

[siobe]

I had a 97 HC when one year old, with all paperwork and a build sheet faxed to me from the factory to confirm as an HC before I bought it. I now have another 97 HC I purchased in May (privately for 10K, 37K miles) where all the paperwork from new and handbook show HC, and I've no reason to doubt it. Neither car had / has HC on the VIN or engine number. Current Chim much faster with Offords exhaust , although both the same colour red .
For 13K needs to be not just good but a bit special condition wise.

[v8sag]

Hmm,somebody's making a tidy profit,you can pick up Chims in Japan for 2 to 3k,check it has'nt been in a crash,get someone that reads Japanese to have a look at the export certificate as a lot of damaged TVR's come up for auction there,saying that they seem to write them off with very little damage.

[siobe]

v8sag said:

Hmm,somebody's making a tidy profit,you can pick up Chims in Japan for 2 to 3k,check it has'nt been in a crash,get someone that reads Japanese to have a look at the export certificate as a lot of damaged TVR's come up for auction there,saying that they seem to write them off with very little damage.

This could be good advice as the Japs are very harsh on their 'MOT' tests, and anything suspect can end up in an auction and on a boat.

[al02052]

The seller says the car has just one owner (a diplomat that bought it in Jap and now is returned in Europe).
I have pictures of all the Jap papers (but are in Japanese...) In the front cover of the TVR leather book is clearly written HC. In any case I sent and email to TVR Jap importer asking to put me in contact with the garage that did the services.
I would like to post some images but is not possible.

PRO
a) air conditionig, b) low mileage, c) colours (dark grey / grey), c) HC, d) come with LHD headlamps.
CONS
a) from Jap, b) serviced every 6k miles but not every year, c) sourced by a non-TVR specialist in a market where TVR is from Mars (at the moment in the continent are on sale no more than 15 Chim).

The other way that I am considering is to buy one in UK (but few come with A/C and most interiors come in magnolia/tan etc that I do not like too much)...

[derbygreg]

If it shunts you in the backside under 2K RPM and likes to hit the rev limiter its a HC...