Which Griffith?
Discussion
I'm looking into the possibility of buying a Griffith as an every day driver. I normally service my own vehicles and I've got no worries about getting my knuckles scraped etc etc. Given that a 4.0 4.3 or 5 litre is within my budget, is one likely to give me less trouble than the others? Does anyone know of a 500 reg L500 TVR thats for sale via trade reasonably local to me?
Any advice on running one daily? (I live easy walking distance to work should the worst happen!)
Cheers in advance!
Any advice on running one daily? (I live easy walking distance to work should the worst happen!)
Cheers in advance!
Buy on condition above all else. Full service history is nice too, obviously.
There will always be arguments over which is best, but generally the 4 litres are regarded as less desirable, simply because your average Griffith owner has a fragile ego and doesn't like admiting that he is, ahem, somewhat under endowed!
500's are newer (so likely to be better condition, all other things being equal), more powerful and have better brakes, amongst other improvements, but don't sound anything like as nice as the pre-cat cars.
Would suggest that it is therefore down to personal choice between the 500 and the 4.3. The Big Valve 4.3 is probably most desirable of all, if you can find a good one.
Advice on running one daily? Don't! At least not if you live easy walking distance from work. Short journeys are bad for all engines (oil never gets up to full working temperature), so not the sort of treatment you should inflict on a Griff.
Also, they are plain lethal on slippy roads. Check out all the 'another Griff bites the dust' and 'I killed my Griff' threads on the forum, recently, then bear in mind how few Griffiths were built and, of those, how many owners frequent this forum!
Better to give it regular runs of a decent distance when the weather is favourable. These cars are guaranteed classic status in the very near future, so it's time we started looking after them!
There will always be arguments over which is best, but generally the 4 litres are regarded as less desirable, simply because your average Griffith owner has a fragile ego and doesn't like admiting that he is, ahem, somewhat under endowed!
500's are newer (so likely to be better condition, all other things being equal), more powerful and have better brakes, amongst other improvements, but don't sound anything like as nice as the pre-cat cars.
Would suggest that it is therefore down to personal choice between the 500 and the 4.3. The Big Valve 4.3 is probably most desirable of all, if you can find a good one.
Advice on running one daily? Don't! At least not if you live easy walking distance from work. Short journeys are bad for all engines (oil never gets up to full working temperature), so not the sort of treatment you should inflict on a Griff.
Also, they are plain lethal on slippy roads. Check out all the 'another Griff bites the dust' and 'I killed my Griff' threads on the forum, recently, then bear in mind how few Griffiths were built and, of those, how many owners frequent this forum!
Better to give it regular runs of a decent distance when the weather is favourable. These cars are guaranteed classic status in the very near future, so it's time we started looking after them!
One of these 'which' threads again.
I'm afraid the answer to your question lies within your own heart.
For all the comments you'll read on here, there'll be another to counter it.
Seeing that you mention that you are within walking distance from work, I think that maybe you are afraid of reliability? Don't be. They're all Rover V8's and a bad 4ltr will be less reliable than a bad 5ltr. And a bad 5ltr will be less reliable than a good 4ltr.
A 5ltr will be a tad lumpy in traffic but will induce skid marks on road and in pants, on an enthusiastic run.
A 4ltr will be a little more pleasing to the foot muscles on a trip to the butchers. It will also induce skid marks but they won't be quite as long.
Its an unanswerable question which you pose.
The fact is, your heart will buy it. The other fact is, you probably know what your heart is saying right now.
Just follow it. Whichever way it points, BIG fun is the destination.
>> Edited by lazyitus on Thursday 20th January 23:37
I'm afraid the answer to your question lies within your own heart.
For all the comments you'll read on here, there'll be another to counter it.
Seeing that you mention that you are within walking distance from work, I think that maybe you are afraid of reliability? Don't be. They're all Rover V8's and a bad 4ltr will be less reliable than a bad 5ltr. And a bad 5ltr will be less reliable than a good 4ltr.
A 5ltr will be a tad lumpy in traffic but will induce skid marks on road and in pants, on an enthusiastic run.
A 4ltr will be a little more pleasing to the foot muscles on a trip to the butchers. It will also induce skid marks but they won't be quite as long.
Its an unanswerable question which you pose.
The fact is, your heart will buy it. The other fact is, you probably know what your heart is saying right now.
Just follow it. Whichever way it points, BIG fun is the destination.
>> Edited by lazyitus on Thursday 20th January 23:37
Because I live close to work I don't have to drive at all, so no worries about knackering the engine prematurely with lots of short trips. I was mainly interested in whether the larger capacity engines were more likely to have liner problems etc. There's no substitute for cubic inches, so you can guess which I'd ideally have!
I had a marcos for a while so am used to tail happy handling though not in the same proportions from reading this forum!
Cheers!
I had a marcos for a while so am used to tail happy handling though not in the same proportions from reading this forum!
Cheers!
followsw said:
Because I live close to work I don't have to drive at all, so no worries about knackering the engine prematurely with lots of short trips. I was mainly interested in whether the larger capacity engines were more likely to have liner problems etc. There's no substitute for cubic inches, so you can guess which I'd ideally have!
I had a marcos for a while so am used to tail happy handling though not in the same proportions from reading this forum!
Cheers!
I used to commute to windosr and then slough all through the year, first in a standard 4.3 (5.5 years) and then a 98 Griff 500(>6 years).
Can be done, age is a difficult one, you might find a 4,3 with so many repplacement bits, ie, radiator, clutch, front end re-spray to get all the chips out, etc, etc (after all parts where out it is 13 years old) that it is a 'newer' car than a 97 griff and as NEW, then you might find a car like my Griff 500 (S reg) which is virtually AS NEW as well. or you can find unloved, unlooked after tatty cars at all ages, even saw a rough looking last 100, seats tatty, roof scuffed, wheels curbed, lots scrathes, etc.
SO buy on CONDITION only, plus if you can afford it, NO need to get a high mileage one (still could be very good) but most of them do a low annual mileage, so you canb find even plenty of 10 year plus old TVR's with less than 40k on them, so no need to go the high miler route.
Personally, I would go for the 500, as you can have POwer steering, useful on a commute, especially parking, AND imo it is much easier (still quite hard in either) to catch the back end, with PAS - it is a quicker rack, and the non PAS can suddenly get heavy, if you lose the back end.
IE. I used to commute on main, and very back minor roads to avoid the jams, and they got very narrow and very slippery in wet /leafy conditions..
WIth respect to servicing yourself, be aware that a TVR service, does involve a lot of additional stuff, MOST of which is checking things, so you need to be aware of what extra to check. Get the TVR Griffith and Chimaear ' bible' by Steve Heath taht would help.
AND or get someone that really knows GRiffs to inspect one for you, they will spot any Griff/TVR issues that the likes of AA, etc will miss/not know about. If you read the book, you could probably spoy most things yourself.
If it is a really short commute, get a battery optimiser fitted, and don't rev it until the engine is warm, much more fun to make the short commute a slightly longer one, to warm the engine up.
After that the HARDEST choice..........
Is choosing the colour (int/ex)
B
Edited to add - I'm in berkshire too, if you seriuos, I could show you what a good one is like - (mine!) and have a chat - or pop along to the TVR-CC meet at the SWAN near REading every 3rd Tuesday.
B
>> Edited by bjwoods on Friday 21st January 08:32
>> Edited by bjwoods on Friday 21st January 08:39
In reference to the servicing, it would still get an annual checkup by a specialist, but I tend to do more frequent oil changes myself - plus if anything actual breaks I'd fix it myself. Would definately be interested in having a look at your car bjwoods, not actually ridden in one yet!
followsw said:
In reference to the servicing, it would still get an annual checkup by a specialist, but I tend to do more frequent oil changes myself - plus if anything actual breaks I'd fix it myself. Would definately be interested in having a look at your car bjwoods, not actually ridden in one yet!
I only do up to 6k miles a year, so an annual trip to the dealer is all I need, no need to change the oil more regularly, as if you top it up (mobil 1 regularly) you might put a couple of litres in - some recommend mobil 1 motorsport, thicker grade, doesn't get consumed quite as much.
Where abouts in the world in Berkshire are- email me off line -
B
I think the words in Steve Heath's Griff Bible go something like "the Griffith 500, the pinnacle of Griffith evolution".
So you know what I'd recommend! Oh and the lumpiness around town which often gets mentioned isn't as bad as made out and can be sorted out anyway if it really bothers you. Good luck in finding the right one and I agree that ultimately, condition should be the deciding factor.
All the best - Chris
So you know what I'd recommend! Oh and the lumpiness around town which often gets mentioned isn't as bad as made out and can be sorted out anyway if it really bothers you. Good luck in finding the right one and I agree that ultimately, condition should be the deciding factor.
All the best - Chris
Painey said:
I think the words in Steve Heath's Griff Bible go something like "the Griffith 500, the pinnacle of Griffith evolution".
So you know what I'd recommend! Oh and the lumpiness around town which often gets mentioned isn't as bad as made out and can be sorted out anyway if it really bothers you. Good luck in finding the right one and I agree that ultimately, condition should be the deciding factor.
All the best - Chris
My 500 is most definetly much better in traffic than my 4.3 (which was one of last months manufacture - Decemeber 92 - Pre - cat regulations in 93)
B
>> Edited by bjwoods on Friday 21st January 10:17
>> Edited by bjwoods on Friday 21st January 10:24
Trying to keep the rose-tinted specs out of the way, I think the factory got to iron out most of the issues and were building the cars to their best by about 1995. That's not to say that anything's fundamentally wrong with earlier cars, but I think they got settled on what worked best by then. For example, things like gearbox and engine right down to controls (although even then you'd want to throw out the dreadful Nova switchgear and get some decent Leven stuff).
I had my '96 Griff for three and a half years as an only car. Nothing that serious went wrong and it's a tough little car which makes it a tough experience to beat. They definitely benefit from having lots of what they were built for -
I had my '96 Griff for three and a half years as an only car. Nothing that serious went wrong and it's a tough little car which makes it a tough experience to beat. They definitely benefit from having lots of what they were built for -
I've had my '97 Griff 500 for almost 5 years now, and it's been a paragon of reliability. I've done 32,000 miles over that time (now at 45k), and I put the reliability down to treating it somewhat like a classic car.
That's not to say that I treat it with kid gloves, after all, it's meant to be driven! More that you need a degree of mechanical sympathy, and you're willing to occasionally get your hands dirty doing minor bits and pieces on a sunday morning. Mine goes back to Fernhurst for all scheduled servicing, but for minor things like cleaning the stepper motor, replacing wiper park switches, etc, I do the work myself - all the things which would be annoying to make a trip to a dealer so they can do a 5 minute fix, basically!
The only problem now is that I've been bitten by the Tuscan bug, so it's probably going to be for sale in the next few months
Pete
That's not to say that I treat it with kid gloves, after all, it's meant to be driven! More that you need a degree of mechanical sympathy, and you're willing to occasionally get your hands dirty doing minor bits and pieces on a sunday morning. Mine goes back to Fernhurst for all scheduled servicing, but for minor things like cleaning the stepper motor, replacing wiper park switches, etc, I do the work myself - all the things which would be annoying to make a trip to a dealer so they can do a 5 minute fix, basically!
The only problem now is that I've been bitten by the Tuscan bug, so it's probably going to be for sale in the next few months
Pete
Servicing involves taking the exhaust off to get to transmission bolts to check tightness etc as well as the more usual items. There's a service schedule on BB's site which details all the items - I'm doing my own service this year - dropping the exhaust was a lot easier than I thought, and I'm really glad I did cos two of the four bolts on the propshaft flange were only hand tight. Also, check-out references on here to engine oil changes cos you can get yourself in a pickle if you're not prepared for the non-self priming pump.
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