VIN numbers and general question on Cebera

[Steviebop]

Hello,

I am looking at a couple of Ceberas here in Aussy.
I just love them and just want to make sure its the right one.
there is a 2001 model here for sale 4.2, would most if not all 4.2 have the 4.5 bottom end in them being that its 2001.
also being 2001 it would be a LW but not all things line up ie the seats are the older type and it doesn't have spider wheels , but has the latter model front lights.
can you tell me from the VIN what year model it is.... SDLFAC2PXVK012253 and what they mean.

Thanks heaps

[mac315p]

This might help.

Believe it would have been a 4.5 bottom end at that age, but I've never heard of a 4.2 LW and being a 2001 doesn't make it a lightweight either in my book.

I can't recall the differences between a 4.2 and a 4.5 bottom end, but an adult will be along in due course no doubt (sump / dipstick is one thing I think?)

Edited by mac315p on Tuesday 23 January 07:18

[Jhonno]

mac315p said:

This might help.

Believe it would have been a 4.5 bottom end at that age, but I've never heard of a 4.2 LW and being a 2001 doesn't make it a lightweight either in my book.

I can't recall the differences between a 4.2 and a 4.5 bottom end, but an adult will be along in due course no doubt (sump / dipstick is one thing I think?)

Edited by mac315p on Tuesday 23 January 07:18

No such thing as a 4.2 LW, there were only about 6 or so true 4.5 LW's produced anyway, as bits flexed too much..

Difference between the 2 bottom ends.. 300cc.. (91mm bore vs. 88mm bore), the dipstick was a year thing, not a capacity thing.

[1485]

Steviebop said:

Hello,

I am looking at a couple of Ceberas here in Aussy.
I just love them and just want to make sure its the right one.
there is a 2001 model here for sale 4.2, would most if not all 4.2 have the 4.5 bottom end in them being that its 2001.
also being 2001 it would be a LW but not all things line up ie the seats are the older type and it doesn't have spider wheels , but has the latter model front lights.
can you tell me from the VIN what year model it is.... SDLFAC2PXVK012253 and what they mean.

Thanks heaps

ok here you go S=north europe,D= Great Britain,L=TVR,FAC2=engine (in this case 4.2 AJP) P=Petrol,X=Chassis,V = year of manufacture(and this is the true year wait for it 1997,yes 1997)K=November. And chassis number 2253 was on line 16th November 1997 Atlanta Blue 4.2 hope this clears it up and it will have an early 4.2 engine with the 4.2 bottom end ,and should be fitted with early clatter cams. it is not 2001 as advertised and is definitely NOT a Light Weight.

[Juddder]

1485 said:

ok here you go S=north europe,D= Great Britain,L=TVR,FAC2=engine (in this case 4.2 AJP) P=Petrol,X=Chassis,V = year of manufacture(and this is the true year wait for it 1997,yes 1997)K=November. And chassis number 2253 was on line 16th November 1997 Atlanta Blue 4.2 hope this clears it up and it will have an early 4.2 engine with the 4.2 bottom end ,and should be fitted with early clatter cams. it is not 2001 as advertised and is definitely NOT a Light Weight.

That's great information - many thanks - is there a definitive list of these fields out of interest?

Just tried it with mine - SDLFAC2PSV5011610

So not sure what S would mean for chassis and 5 for month (May)?

Also mine _is_ a 1997 so V is correct for that and would make it number 1610 on the line if I'm reading that correctly

[ukkid35]

1485 said:

ok here you go S=north europe,D= Great Britain,L=TVR,FAC2=engine (in this case 4.2 AJP) P=Petrol,X=Chassis,V = year of manufacture(and this is the true year wait for it 1997,yes 1997)K=November. And chassis number 2253 was on line 16th November 1997 Atlanta Blue 4.2 hope this clears it up and it will have an early 4.2 engine with the 4.2 bottom end ,and should be fitted with early clatter cams. it is not 2001 as advertised and is definitely NOT a Light Weight.

Disappointing but extremely useful info

Definitely worth checking the engine number, just in case it isn't the orginal

[Byker28i]

LW - large windscreen smaller border and less padding on the front of the rollcage.
There's very few lightweights built and even they seem heavier than my early one...

[1485]

Juddder said:

That's great information - many thanks - is there a definitive list of these fields out of interest?

Just tried it with mine - SDLFAC2PSV5011610

So not sure what S would mean for chassis and 5 for month (May)?

Also mine _is_ a 1997 so V is correct for that and would make it number 1610 on the line if I'm reading that correctly

ok on your chassis number are you sure the 5 is not a letter F? this would indicate June the V is 1997 also 1610 was a rolling number and remember at that time we were also doing chims and griffs so 1609 could have been a griff and 1611 a chim or a cerb or a griff, so it would have been the 610th chassis number for that year . And your car 1610 was on line 10th June 1997 Rosso Pearl 4.2?

Edited by 1485 on Wednesday 21st February 19:57

Edited by 1485 on Wednesday 21st February 19:59

[Juddder]

1485 said:

ok on your chassis number are you sure the 5 is not a letter F? this would indicate June the V is 1997 also 1610 was a rolling number and remember at that time we were also doing chims and griffs so 1609 could have been a griff and 1611 a chim or a cerb or a griff, so it would have been the 610th chassis number for that year . And your car 1610 was on line 10th June 1997 Rosso Pearl 4.2?

Spot on I think and many thanks to the original poster for letting me join in discussions and 1485 for the information.

The 5 came from the V5 document so is probably wrong, and from the original owners information it confirms "1997 (Aug) 4.2 Cerbera. Rosso Pearl - registered 1st August 1997"

Interestingly the details say "Ex-demo + one owner". Not sure where it was ex-demo though but a Full Engine rebuild by TVR at 9k miles!

[Byker28i]

Rosso Pearl, such a good colour...

[Mr Cerbera]

1485 said:

Juddder said:

That's great information - many thanks - is there a definitive list of these fields out of interest?

Just tried it with mine - SDLFAC2PSV5011610

So not sure what S would mean for chassis and 5 for month (May)?

Also mine _is_ a 1997 so V is correct for that and would make it number 1610 on the line if I'm reading that correctly

ok on your chassis number are you sure the 5 is not a letter F? this would indicate June the V is 1997 also 1610 was a rolling number and remember at that time we were also doing chims and griffs so 1609 could have been a griff and 1611 a chim or a cerb or a griff, so it would have been the 610th chassis number for that year . And your car 1610 was on line 10th June 1997 Rosso Pearl 4.2?

Dear 1485

Thank you for all your help.
Can I buy you a beer ?

All the best,

Paul

[tangerinedream]

Engine, not VIN numbers, but maybe someone can help:

My car's original engine number on the V5 was 4200413. About eight years ago, engine was changed for 4200620 (Full number is actually 733P4200620, but I understand the first four digits don't really count). In any event, it's presumably good news as the current engine is 207 engines after the original which I assume means it is less likely to have chocolate components...

Where I'm stuck is in trying to find which car my current engine came from. Surprisingly, DVLA say they don't have that information as their database is not set up that way - they only work on registration numbers. This sounds like b@llocks as I assume that if the police find a an engine they believe to be stolen, they can work out what car it came from. Has anyone come across this issue or know how I can find out which car my engine came from?

[Wolvesboy]

Hi to the OP (Steviebop)
Where in Australia are you based? The Aussie TVR Facebook page is a handy resource for finding out other information about "local" cars. There are more TVR's than I originally thought with NSW and Queensland having the most.
Im in Perth, WA and I think have the only Cerbera over here. I stand to be corrected though.
Make sure that the car is running well and check things like the brake disks etc as parts will have to be imported.
Good luck with the search.