Tam, Chim or 450SEAC - which is tamer?
Discussion
Pacman1972 said:
The drive was - as you would expect - fantastic. I settled into the car very quickly, and going from memory it felt like it handled much more confidently than I remember my previous 04 Tuscan. It felt much less twitchy. The steering was flawless and the acceleration was more than enough for me. It didn't fail to put a smile on my face. The only down side was the quality of this particular car; headlights full of condensation, the interior was looking tired, the led panel wasn't working and some other minor quibbles.
Looking forward to comparing against the others
Is the SEAC still available? It's advert has been pulled from both ebay and Car and Classic?Looking forward to comparing against the others
Pacman1972 said:
The drive was - as you would expect - fantastic. I settled into the car very quickly, and going from memory it felt like it handled much more confidently than I remember my previous 04 Tuscan. It felt much less twitchy. The steering was flawless and the acceleration was more than enough for me. It didn't fail to put a smile on my face. The only down side was the quality of this particular car; headlights full of condensation, the interior was looking tired, the led panel wasn't working and some other minor quibbles.
Looking forward to comparing against the others
The Tamora is a great drive, was that the 2003 car down Ringwood area (family owned). Looking forward to comparing against the others
I,m also on the search for another TVR, but most of the cars chassis that I've seen are covered in some horrible black gunge, hiding some possible future problems.
The black gunge has been applied on hundreds of cars via TVR service centres as part of an attempt to stop them rusting, probably long after rust had set in on some cars. Importantly it does protect chassis to some extent if done early enough in the cars life.
If you want a chassis without this gunk surely you need a refreshed one or at least new outriggers or you will be constantly finding this I’d expect.
25 year old cars are going to have some corrosion, it’s wether it’s in a bad place or not which to me is the top chassis rails more than any other area. Rigger repairs are par for the course on the older cars as the factory coating was never going to last very long, even the newer TVR are now old in truth.
If I was looking again to buy a Tvr I’d be more interested in everything else, if that checks out then poor outriggers would be just one semi expensive bill then years of rust free motoring. If the riggers are great but the engine rattles or everything else is tired I know which one I’d buy.
Repairing outriggers is now the norm for many TVR specialists and some are getting very good at it lol.
If you want a chassis without this gunk surely you need a refreshed one or at least new outriggers or you will be constantly finding this I’d expect.
25 year old cars are going to have some corrosion, it’s wether it’s in a bad place or not which to me is the top chassis rails more than any other area. Rigger repairs are par for the course on the older cars as the factory coating was never going to last very long, even the newer TVR are now old in truth.
If I was looking again to buy a Tvr I’d be more interested in everything else, if that checks out then poor outriggers would be just one semi expensive bill then years of rust free motoring. If the riggers are great but the engine rattles or everything else is tired I know which one I’d buy.
Repairing outriggers is now the norm for many TVR specialists and some are getting very good at it lol.
citizen smith said:
The Tamora is a great drive, was that the 2003 car down Ringwood area (family owned).
I,m also on the search for another TVR, but most of the cars chassis that I've seen are covered in some horrible black gunge, hiding some possible future problems.
The one I saw was over near Tonbridge. I agree with you on the black Waxoyl. I get the logic behind it, but I'd rather see what I'm dealing with. Neither my 04 Tuscan or 99Chimaera were treated and both were completely corrosion free.I,m also on the search for another TVR, but most of the cars chassis that I've seen are covered in some horrible black gunge, hiding some possible future problems.
Pacman1972 said:
The one I saw was over near Tonbridge. I agree with you on the black Waxoyl. I get the logic behind it, but I'd rather see what I'm dealing with. Neither my 04 Tuscan or 99Chimaera were treated and both were completely corrosion free.
Sounds like the Tonbridge car was almost but not nearly. It will be hard finding the right car, but the end result will be worth it. Pacman1972 said:
The one I saw was over near Tonbridge. I agree with you on the black Waxoyl. I get the logic behind it, but I'd rather see what I'm dealing with. Neither my 04 Tuscan or 99Chimaera were treated and both were completely corrosion free.
Location and cars usage probably has a lot to do with basic chassis condition. Any that are not covered and original now must be worthy of a museum 
Seriously they do exist obviously but like you guys say hard to find.
Apologies all for the radio silence. After many month of lock down frustration I finally picked up a car.
I had settled on the idea of a Chimaera or Griffith and went to see a few examples of both and also had Steve from SD autotec inspect a couple on my behalf who I can't rate highly enough - Steve saved me from a couple of very expensive mistakes.
In the end I settled on a sorted example from a car collector. I had one criteria at the forefront of my mind, any colour but green... So obviously, the car I bought ended up being a 450 in Starmist Green with Estoril alloys, 24k miles, new outriggers and about 7k of recent work from David Gerald.
I have to say the green has quickly grown on me. I'd originally planned on upgrading to mk3 faired headlights and various other upgrades, but am now thinking it seems a shame to spoil the car's originality.
Thanks for all the tips and advice. Much of my reason for venturing back to tvr over another brand is the fabulous community of enthusiasts. Looking forward to the next tvr meet and putting a few faces to names .
I had settled on the idea of a Chimaera or Griffith and went to see a few examples of both and also had Steve from SD autotec inspect a couple on my behalf who I can't rate highly enough - Steve saved me from a couple of very expensive mistakes.
In the end I settled on a sorted example from a car collector. I had one criteria at the forefront of my mind, any colour but green... So obviously, the car I bought ended up being a 450 in Starmist Green with Estoril alloys, 24k miles, new outriggers and about 7k of recent work from David Gerald.
I have to say the green has quickly grown on me. I'd originally planned on upgrading to mk3 faired headlights and various other upgrades, but am now thinking it seems a shame to spoil the car's originality.
Thanks for all the tips and advice. Much of my reason for venturing back to tvr over another brand is the fabulous community of enthusiasts. Looking forward to the next tvr meet and putting a few faces to names .
Nice one - congrats! 
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