Modify,keep std or sell
Discussion
Getting itchy fingers with regards to what to do with my 99 (V reg )griff 500.
I paid £23k 12 months ago from Fernies with approx 33k on the clock.Its now covered 45k (service due very shortly and front tyres getting near replacement )Starting to feel it could do with a bit more get up and go and getting some new suspension , wheels and tyres and a few other minor mods to freshen it up. I'm guessing its probably worth about 17k on a trade in and perhaps 18.5k private.It does everything I want it to near as damn it and if I got something else how long would it be before i was tired of that .So Do I.....
Get it seviced and tyred up and spend money on it as a when I need to and stick another 12k on the clock over the next twelve months and let it depreciate a bit more and have another look at it.
Sell it and buy something else( probably a Tuscan or a T350T )The griff has been a joy to own over the last twelve months and is always ready,willing and able when I am to go for a blast and I am slightly bothered that a S6 car may not be.( although there are alot of positive S6 threads out there aswell )and the Griff is pleasantly cheap to maintain.
Or modify it and freshen it up.Ive nearly bought wheels and tyres and stumbled at the last hurdle.Instead of spending about 10k on a new car spend it or some of it on new bits and pieces....New wheels/tyres about 1k/suspension about 1k.Brakes/Light mods front and rear and stone chip resray.Different seats and stereo upgrade and engine upgrade.Quite like the sound of a 5.5 rover unit if it was in budget ( anybody know a rough price to buy and install and get up and running?)
Help me please .
I paid £23k 12 months ago from Fernies with approx 33k on the clock.Its now covered 45k (service due very shortly and front tyres getting near replacement )Starting to feel it could do with a bit more get up and go and getting some new suspension , wheels and tyres and a few other minor mods to freshen it up. I'm guessing its probably worth about 17k on a trade in and perhaps 18.5k private.It does everything I want it to near as damn it and if I got something else how long would it be before i was tired of that .So Do I.....
Get it seviced and tyred up and spend money on it as a when I need to and stick another 12k on the clock over the next twelve months and let it depreciate a bit more and have another look at it.
Sell it and buy something else( probably a Tuscan or a T350T )The griff has been a joy to own over the last twelve months and is always ready,willing and able when I am to go for a blast and I am slightly bothered that a S6 car may not be.( although there are alot of positive S6 threads out there aswell )and the Griff is pleasantly cheap to maintain.
Or modify it and freshen it up.Ive nearly bought wheels and tyres and stumbled at the last hurdle.Instead of spending about 10k on a new car spend it or some of it on new bits and pieces....New wheels/tyres about 1k/suspension about 1k.Brakes/Light mods front and rear and stone chip resray.Different seats and stereo upgrade and engine upgrade.Quite like the sound of a 5.5 rover unit if it was in budget ( anybody know a rough price to buy and install and get up and running?)
Help me please .
Quinny said:
I'm not sure on the price of the 5.5 V8D engine.
Good guide
topsparks said:
If anyone wants Robs number ,his mobile is 07951208383,you are best to call him on his home number in the evening on 01775822656(I have asked him if its ok to post his numbers and he's fine) the short 5.5 engine is £3500,no vat cam or lifters.He took my engine out,changed over all the bits,including re-grinding heads and refitting the engine including new flywheel and front pully for £5500.
Hes willing to take a part-ex on your exsisting motor too!,anyway off to wash the car as I 'am off to the Ace.
Hi, financially you are always better to sell and buy a quicker car than make yours quicker, any mods you make won't add much to the value. But, it doesn't stop most people! The main thing with a daft car like a TVR is 'do what you want', no-one can really justify 300+ hp for getting a to b, so it is really a hobby. Nic
I'm in a similar situation to you '99 Griff, had it nearly 12 months, similar miles price as yours asked myself the same questions, here's my answers....
My car is currently mostly standard and I really cannot think of a car that I'd rather have for similar or even say twice the money. The S6 TVR's are okay, but any Griff is better looking and sounding. Values aren't going down that fast either. Is the Griff a timeless classic? I think so.
I expect I'll keep the car for another 5-10 years, it gives me that much pleasure. Over that time I'll probably spend 2-3K on the suspension, nothing exotic, just good proven value for money. And on the engine over time, I'll get it up to what the factory handbook says it has, so that'll be another 4-5K I expect. IIRC the Sprint article from V8 Developments this month talked about 9k for a highly developed Rover V8 that's a bit scary, but you don't have to spend that much. Most of this expenditure can be spread out over time if you aren't feeling flush or when existing components are coming to the end of their life.
Imagine 320-340BHP, similar torque, suspension that was working in a user friendly fashion, great timeless looks, great sound and it's a compelling story. Perhaps in 10 years your car (and mine) will be worth 10K, that's just 1K depreciation per year, now's not the time to sell, enjoy. Sell it now and that circa 5K depreciation.
I looked at a very nice Ferrari 456 going for around 65K (similar age and miles to my car), I think it would have just about been the car that would have tempted me away from my Griffith. But I certainly couldn't afford it and in a way I'm glad as for 20 ish K I have nearly everything I desire in a car and just maybe you do too?
Cheers
John.
PS The standard Griff 500 leaves a Ferrari 456 for dead away from the lights
My car is currently mostly standard and I really cannot think of a car that I'd rather have for similar or even say twice the money. The S6 TVR's are okay, but any Griff is better looking and sounding. Values aren't going down that fast either. Is the Griff a timeless classic? I think so.
I expect I'll keep the car for another 5-10 years, it gives me that much pleasure. Over that time I'll probably spend 2-3K on the suspension, nothing exotic, just good proven value for money. And on the engine over time, I'll get it up to what the factory handbook says it has, so that'll be another 4-5K I expect. IIRC the Sprint article from V8 Developments this month talked about 9k for a highly developed Rover V8 that's a bit scary, but you don't have to spend that much. Most of this expenditure can be spread out over time if you aren't feeling flush or when existing components are coming to the end of their life.
Imagine 320-340BHP, similar torque, suspension that was working in a user friendly fashion, great timeless looks, great sound and it's a compelling story. Perhaps in 10 years your car (and mine) will be worth 10K, that's just 1K depreciation per year, now's not the time to sell, enjoy. Sell it now and that circa 5K depreciation.
I looked at a very nice Ferrari 456 going for around 65K (similar age and miles to my car), I think it would have just about been the car that would have tempted me away from my Griffith. But I certainly couldn't afford it and in a way I'm glad as for 20 ish K I have nearly everything I desire in a car and just maybe you do too?
Cheers
John.
PS The standard Griff 500 leaves a Ferrari 456 for dead away from the lights
I can definately recommend the modifying route.I've scratched the speed six itch,and i don't miss it one bit!When you modify a great car like the Griff,it just gets more and more Griff like if you do the right things.I was really worried i might spoil it's character,but it just enhances rather than spoils it.All the mods i've done are on my profile,and there isn't one of them i regret doing.In particular i'd recommend an alternative ecu from the outset,and some quality suspension,these are the most significant purchases i feel.
So many X, Ys and Zs Scorch. Taking the cost of the buying the car out the equation, as we all know your minted, and not mentioning reliability as we all know what would happen to the topic then, I would be asking myself the following questions -
1, knowing the S6 running costs, am I comfortable paying them?
If not, then I would stick with the Griff, if so then move on to no. 2.
2, do I rate shape/design over power? Which would I prefer to drive if they all had the same power, a Griff, a Tuscan, or a T350?
if the answer is other than the Griff and I could afford the S6 running costs and are happy with the risks, then I would sell it. If I still prefered the Griff though, I would consider what 'all' the costs would be to get me to the power level and handling I would be happy with, and if in budget, mod the Griff.
As your aware, there are plenty of people on here who can advise on mods they carry out, or P'Headers who have had work done to help weigh up costs, and as put, you can always sell the original parts to help offset the cost.
For me, as you know, I love the Chim and the open top motoring, and at the mo I would never get rid of it. I love the style of the newer models, especially the Tam and T350. But if it came to the crunch and I wanted more power, I wouldn't spend much in trying to get more from an already fairly old designed engine that's quite resrictive. By spending hundreds, yeah, you'll get a little more but not alot, you need to invest thousands to start to get anywhere near what a S6 puts, and that, I couldn't do.
I know you didn't mention the car in your original post, but for me, if I was at this crossroads as you are, I would just upgrade to a Cerb, but then you probably knew that already.
Craig.
1, knowing the S6 running costs, am I comfortable paying them?
If not, then I would stick with the Griff, if so then move on to no. 2.
2, do I rate shape/design over power? Which would I prefer to drive if they all had the same power, a Griff, a Tuscan, or a T350?
if the answer is other than the Griff and I could afford the S6 running costs and are happy with the risks, then I would sell it. If I still prefered the Griff though, I would consider what 'all' the costs would be to get me to the power level and handling I would be happy with, and if in budget, mod the Griff.
As your aware, there are plenty of people on here who can advise on mods they carry out, or P'Headers who have had work done to help weigh up costs, and as put, you can always sell the original parts to help offset the cost.
For me, as you know, I love the Chim and the open top motoring, and at the mo I would never get rid of it. I love the style of the newer models, especially the Tam and T350. But if it came to the crunch and I wanted more power, I wouldn't spend much in trying to get more from an already fairly old designed engine that's quite resrictive. By spending hundreds, yeah, you'll get a little more but not alot, you need to invest thousands to start to get anywhere near what a S6 puts, and that, I couldn't do.
I know you didn't mention the car in your original post, but for me, if I was at this crossroads as you are, I would just upgrade to a Cerb, but then you probably knew that already.
Craig.
mongoose said:
I can definately recommend the modifying route.I've scratched the speed six itch,and i don't miss it one bit!When you modify a great car like the Griff,it just gets more and more Griff like if you do the right things.I was really worried i might spoil it's character,but it just enhances rather than spoils it.All the mods i've done are on my profile,and there isn't one of them i regret doing.In particular i'd recommend an alternative ecu from the outset,and some quality suspension,these are the most significant purchases i feel.
Similar thing. Went from Griff' to T350. T350 fabulous. But, Depreciation seemed huge and always niggling thought, 'is it gonna let go'. Wish I'd kept my Griff and spent the money on it that I'd lost on 350. Wow, now it would've been some car now.
If that's the Griff I think it is (starmist blue?) - I was all set to buy it until my house sale fell through, and I thought it was a real good'un. I think that combo will be the definitive classic Griff and I wouldn't muck about with it, but neither would I sell it (no help then, am I?)
JR said:I think the costs mentioned in teh Sprint article were for the "full-monty" including a fully mapable electronic ignition system (which I don't understand)
The article in Sprint suggests you will spend around £9,000. Rich... topsparks said:Why such a big price difference?
Rob took my engine out,changed over all the bits,including re-grinding heads and refitting the engine including new flywheel and front pully for £5500.
Rich...The article was indeed for a complete top of the range package, including act's tripple plenum and after market injection, to be totaly honest it was not a perticular good article because it looks like you have to spend £9000 for an upgrade!! substantial upgrades can be made by spending a fraction of this, i think i will get in touch with the sprint magazine and ask if i could do a monthly feature on what can be done for the cost outlay of the rover engine if people would be interested?
v8 racing said:
i think i will get in touch with the sprint magazine and ask if i could do a monthly feature on what can be done for the cost outlay of the rover engine if people would be interested?
JR said:
Cheers Rob. Why not have a word with Ted and do a monthly article here?
Do both Rob
we have to keep on top of these LS guys
[quote=v8 racing] to be totaly honest it was not a perticular good article because it looks like you have to spend £9000 for an upgrade!! substantial upgrades can be made by spending a fraction of this, [quote]
This would be of much more interest to us uninformed or those of us with out the large budget....
I'm running ACT induction kit, ACT carbon trumpets, fuel injectors supplied by you, Offords sports pipe conversion..... and to be honest I am only now looking for for an ECU remap (mark adams)..... but what else is obtaianable with the £100's budget, rather £1000's
>> Edited by Hoover. on Monday 13th March 23:14
This would be of much more interest to us uninformed or those of us with out the large budget....
I'm running ACT induction kit, ACT carbon trumpets, fuel injectors supplied by you, Offords sports pipe conversion..... and to be honest I am only now looking for for an ECU remap (mark adams)..... but what else is obtaianable with the £100's budget, rather £1000's
>> Edited by Hoover. on Monday 13th March 23:14
v8 racing said:
substantial upgrades can be made by spending a fraction of this
v8 racing said:
i could do a monthly feature on what can be done for the cost outlay of the rover engine if people would be interested?
I for 1 would.
As posted above, I've got a chim 500 which I've had for a year and a half and at the moment I've not been bitten by the mods bug due to the fact that there is so many differing posts as to what some upgrades do give you, and what 'truly' could I expect to get for my money.
I'm sure I can't be the only 1, but I think it would be pioneering and a great confidence builder if a reputable professional was to take a standard car, say a Griff or Chim, the same rolling road, and perform mods in a logic / sensible order that people do have carried out to show what 'could' be achieved for those who are considering upgrades. You then cut out all the cr*p about the differences in rolling roads and the initial state of differing engines and running gear; yes I know each engine is individual and will react differently to one another with the same mods, but....I still think it would be good to get what could be said as 'a rough benchmark'.
As said above, you'd need to run the same test car on the same road and forgetting things like air temperature/density, as we don't want to start to get to scientific
, and putting the car back to it's orignal state each time 'I'd' like to see the different dyno results for the following - 1 - Standard car as if straight off the street.
2 - Upgraded leads, new plug extenders, coil, distributor cap, rotor arm and general fettle
3 - ACT induction kit
4 - Manifold Cats removed
5 - Custom manifolds
6 - Back box through pipes
7 - Sports exhaust
8 - Several of above, probably, 2, 3, 4 or 5, and 6 or 7
Then with no. 8 in place, move onto what I consider to be the more expensive mods, such as (in no particular order) -
9 - Upgraded ECU and setup
10 - Bigger injectors
11 - Double / Triple Throttle inc Carbon Fibre Plenum
12 - Hotter cam
13 - distributorless ignition
etc, etc.
I haven't bothered to go to the lengths of heavy modding as it can go on forever and it was more about a more modest budget, and I know it's most likely not to everyones taste, but above is what I consider to be a logic'ish' order on how I would upgrade and a good exercise to see what can be acheived with the old rover.
Craig
ps - anyone who would like to use my car as a donor is quite welcome.
edited to keep JR happy.
>> Edited by crazycraig on Tuesday 14th March 09:24
>> Edited by crazycraig on Tuesday 14th March 09:25
crazycraig said:
new extension,
? Have you got the builders in?
crazycraig said:
5 - Custom manifolds
5 - Back box through pipes
6 - Sports exhaust
7 - Several of above, probably, 2, 3, 4 or 5, and 5 or 6
Then with no. 7 in place, move onto what I consider to be the more expensive mods, such as (in no particular order) -
7 - Upgraded ECU and setup
You've got two number 5s and 7s and seem obsessed with exhaust mods which are mainly for aural reasons.
Gassing Station | Griffith | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff