160,000 Mile TVR Chimaera
Discussion
Shed TVR said:
Hello all,
After reading back through this I've decided I can't sell the car; I've put it on SORN until I have the time to fix the various issues it has.
I will post a proper update this evening.
Thanks!
ST
Excellent news - I still think that even with the faults it was a cheap TVR and if you ever wanted to get another further down the line you probably will have to pay a lot more for oneAfter reading back through this I've decided I can't sell the car; I've put it on SORN until I have the time to fix the various issues it has.
I will post a proper update this evening.
Thanks!
ST
Looking forward to the update
As promised, here is the update. Sorry for the pics being tiny, I had to change hosting website. If you click them it should go to the full size version.
It doesn't seem like 2021 was the last time I posted but it goes quickly I guess!
After it passed MOT, I did have a few issues unfortunately. First breakdown due to the fuel pump dying, turns out the cheap connector I used wasn't up to the job for the 12V feed!
Next breakdown, this time the handbrake got stuck while I was away and I could not get it to release. Photo is terrible but you get the idea. In the end I had to unbolt the handbrake mechanism and park the car in gear to get it home.
Turns out there was just not any grease left in the mechanism and it was seized solid. I re-built it and it works fine now!
After this, the map was really bugging me. The car was horribly jerky at low speeds and wouldn't cruise well, depsite the AFR and timing being fine. I ended up running a vacuum line to the ECU and switching to hybrid alpha N fuel mapping which made a huge difference. This takes into account the throttle position as well as engine load instead of just the throttle position, and allows you to cut fuel on overrun. I'm not sure why it wasn't set up like this in the first place, but I'm glad I made the change.
I took the car down to Cornwall for a holiday and it made it to Lizard point:
New vacuum breather and handbrake handle:
Thought I would take a look at my loose clutch pedal and found the pivot point like this! Imagine how many times you need to press the clutch for that to happen. Anyway, it was replaced with a new part.
So at this point, I had been driving the car for over a year with no working rev counter. I had tried so many times to get it to work, and the guy who built my loom was supposedly the only person who can build a conversion kit and was AWOL. Eventually, I took apart my rev counter and figured out the circuit, ran a square wave straight from the MS2 bypassing the rest of the circuitry. It worked perfectly!
After doing a lot of playing with the ECU I managed a few runs of over 30MPG in the car, managing 32MPG on a run up to Morthumberland once. Running the hybrid alpha N and fuel cut, plus AFR trim and running 15.0 on a cruise made a huge difference.
The car actually broke down on it's second MOT test which I don't have any photos of as I was too embarassed
One of the coolant hoses for the heater matrix called it a day during the 3000RPM emissions test - just got too hot in proximity to the exhaust manifold and sprayed coolant everywhere. Luckily they were nice to me and fixed it for £50.
4th breakdown. This time the battery went flat (RIP Monbat). The car kept having a parasitic drain issue which I have not found yet, so it has to be left on trickle charge.
Then the wipers died on me. I found the switch block was totally rusted out and this got replaced, along with a new connector.
Replaced some gaitors that got missed during rebuild:
One of the MOT advisories was the reverse light not working, so I took a look at that. Pulled the connector off and a wire fell out with it! Turns out whoever re-wired the lights did not make these off properly. Might become a re-ocurring issue...
All fixed:
I bought this god awful thing to replace the Saab as it was costing too much in fuel and the arches were going rotten. Turned out to regret that as it was the worst car I have ever owned. Seriously, how can a car look so nice and be so terrible?
That quickly got replaced with a Volvo when it became un-economical to repair at 81k miles...
And finally, I put all new Bilstein shocks and springs on it as the seals went on one of the Nitrons. This made a huge improvement to the car and it no-longer bump steers like mad and crashes around.
Final picture of the car taken the other day.
So, why did I put it up for sale? Basically, it needs work doing and I am struggling to find the time. It really needs:
- Wheel alignment
- Mapping on rolling road
- Exhaust manifolds re-surfacing/replacing.
I will have to come up with a plan and get this all done. Keep you all updated.
p.s. if anyone knows a workshop that will re-surface manifolds let me know.
It doesn't seem like 2021 was the last time I posted but it goes quickly I guess!
After it passed MOT, I did have a few issues unfortunately. First breakdown due to the fuel pump dying, turns out the cheap connector I used wasn't up to the job for the 12V feed!
Next breakdown, this time the handbrake got stuck while I was away and I could not get it to release. Photo is terrible but you get the idea. In the end I had to unbolt the handbrake mechanism and park the car in gear to get it home.
Turns out there was just not any grease left in the mechanism and it was seized solid. I re-built it and it works fine now!
After this, the map was really bugging me. The car was horribly jerky at low speeds and wouldn't cruise well, depsite the AFR and timing being fine. I ended up running a vacuum line to the ECU and switching to hybrid alpha N fuel mapping which made a huge difference. This takes into account the throttle position as well as engine load instead of just the throttle position, and allows you to cut fuel on overrun. I'm not sure why it wasn't set up like this in the first place, but I'm glad I made the change.
I took the car down to Cornwall for a holiday and it made it to Lizard point:
New vacuum breather and handbrake handle:
Thought I would take a look at my loose clutch pedal and found the pivot point like this! Imagine how many times you need to press the clutch for that to happen. Anyway, it was replaced with a new part.
So at this point, I had been driving the car for over a year with no working rev counter. I had tried so many times to get it to work, and the guy who built my loom was supposedly the only person who can build a conversion kit and was AWOL. Eventually, I took apart my rev counter and figured out the circuit, ran a square wave straight from the MS2 bypassing the rest of the circuitry. It worked perfectly!
After doing a lot of playing with the ECU I managed a few runs of over 30MPG in the car, managing 32MPG on a run up to Morthumberland once. Running the hybrid alpha N and fuel cut, plus AFR trim and running 15.0 on a cruise made a huge difference.
The car actually broke down on it's second MOT test which I don't have any photos of as I was too embarassed
One of the coolant hoses for the heater matrix called it a day during the 3000RPM emissions test - just got too hot in proximity to the exhaust manifold and sprayed coolant everywhere. Luckily they were nice to me and fixed it for £50.
4th breakdown. This time the battery went flat (RIP Monbat). The car kept having a parasitic drain issue which I have not found yet, so it has to be left on trickle charge.
Then the wipers died on me. I found the switch block was totally rusted out and this got replaced, along with a new connector.
Replaced some gaitors that got missed during rebuild:
One of the MOT advisories was the reverse light not working, so I took a look at that. Pulled the connector off and a wire fell out with it! Turns out whoever re-wired the lights did not make these off properly. Might become a re-ocurring issue...
All fixed:
I bought this god awful thing to replace the Saab as it was costing too much in fuel and the arches were going rotten. Turned out to regret that as it was the worst car I have ever owned. Seriously, how can a car look so nice and be so terrible?
That quickly got replaced with a Volvo when it became un-economical to repair at 81k miles...
And finally, I put all new Bilstein shocks and springs on it as the seals went on one of the Nitrons. This made a huge improvement to the car and it no-longer bump steers like mad and crashes around.
Final picture of the car taken the other day.
So, why did I put it up for sale? Basically, it needs work doing and I am struggling to find the time. It really needs:
- Wheel alignment
- Mapping on rolling road
- Exhaust manifolds re-surfacing/replacing.
I will have to come up with a plan and get this all done. Keep you all updated.
p.s. if anyone knows a workshop that will re-surface manifolds let me know.
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