1997 TVR Chimaera 450
Discussion
Got some miles on it this weekend with a quick trip to Amore Autos yesterday for my dad to have a look at some TVRs, followed by my first venture to caffeine and machine this morning. Bumped into a friend from uni days with his 4.5 Cerbera, it's a similar but very different car.
The car is driving really well now the weather is good enough to get some heat into the 6 years old T1Rs, had good fun blatting through the cotswolds on the way up.
The car is driving really well now the weather is good enough to get some heat into the 6 years old T1Rs, had good fun blatting through the cotswolds on the way up.
Had my first TVR breakdown this evening, although a minor one. Went to restart after filling up.... Nothing. Not even a click from the starter solenoid. The fuel pump primes so not the immobilizer, and after 10 minutes of head scratching it finally decided to play ball. Pretty sure it's a sticky starter solenoid caused by the heat. Further investigation required!
Adam205 said:
Another delivery:
Brackets to fit Midilites with 278mm ST150 or 300mm ST170 discs. If anyone is interested in a pair let me know, I ordered a few extras.....
Hi - wondered how did you get these made / who made them? I ask as I have Wilwoods on mine (not same as yours), but they necessitated lock stops on the rack to stop the calipers fouling. I need some sort of bracket to move them around the hub a bit to reclaim my steering lock.Brackets to fit Midilites with 278mm ST150 or 300mm ST170 discs. If anyone is interested in a pair let me know, I ordered a few extras.....
Yes they have (just!).
I was hoping to get them on and tested this week but I have instead ended up with this....
The hot start issue doesn't seem to be the starter solenoid (dismantled it and its like new), which led me to track down the immobilizer.... What a mess! The original meta alarm has been replaced with a cobra system (although most of the meta system was still in there) but not particularly well.
Strange development, the fuel pump now won't prime. I assumed this was linked to the immobilizer issues, but it turns out it's already been bypassed. More digging required!
I was hoping to get them on and tested this week but I have instead ended up with this....
The hot start issue doesn't seem to be the starter solenoid (dismantled it and its like new), which led me to track down the immobilizer.... What a mess! The original meta alarm has been replaced with a cobra system (although most of the meta system was still in there) but not particularly well.
Strange development, the fuel pump now won't prime. I assumed this was linked to the immobilizer issues, but it turns out it's already been bypassed. More digging required!
Edited by Adam205 on Friday 7th May 22:11
Edited by Adam205 on Friday 7th May 22:11
EggsBenedict said:
Adam205 said:
Hi - wondered how did you get these made / who made them? I ask as I have Wilwoods on mine (not same as yours), but they necessitated lock stops on the rack to stop the calipers fouling. I need some sort of bracket to move them around the hub a bit to reclaim my steering lock.I'll be selling the rest at £100 a pair, but I want to get them fitted and tested before I put them in anyone else's hands.
A fair chunk of update so I'll do it a bit at a time.
While I was sorting the hot start issue (which I won't go into detail on) I decided to tidy up the mess that had been made when the original alarm had been replaced. I did this by employing my dad (electrical engineer and automotive wiring whizz) to replace the old connectors and taped joints with new. This is what had greeted me...
Stripped it all back....
And tidied. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before I put the dash back on. It's a massive pain so I'm not taking it out again!
While I was sorting the hot start issue (which I won't go into detail on) I decided to tidy up the mess that had been made when the original alarm had been replaced. I did this by employing my dad (electrical engineer and automotive wiring whizz) to replace the old connectors and taped joints with new. This is what had greeted me...
Stripped it all back....
And tidied. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before I put the dash back on. It's a massive pain so I'm not taking it out again!
I also decided to fit the new brakes finally, which is where things got a bit out of hand. On taking the driver's side front disc off, I found that the bearing was a bit grumbly. This was due to it having been replaced in the past but the original dust cap (holes and all) reused. It therefore was full of water.
On the rear the apparent leaking cv boot turned out to actually be massively over-greased rear wheel bearings, which was getting thrown everywhere.
I decided the best course of action was the change all 4 wheels bearings, and also the suspension bushes that were looking a bit tired in places.
And while it was all apart, why not get the wishbones powdercoated and hubs etc plated?
Oh and it would be rude not to include some new dampers as well...
Wishbones before....
Parts off to be zinc plated.....
New Bilsteins from Ben Lang, what he describes as the 'sport' spec with Tuscan S setup.
And the results:
On the rear the apparent leaking cv boot turned out to actually be massively over-greased rear wheel bearings, which was getting thrown everywhere.
I decided the best course of action was the change all 4 wheels bearings, and also the suspension bushes that were looking a bit tired in places.
And while it was all apart, why not get the wishbones powdercoated and hubs etc plated?
Oh and it would be rude not to include some new dampers as well...
Wishbones before....
Parts off to be zinc plated.....
New Bilsteins from Ben Lang, what he describes as the 'sport' spec with Tuscan S setup.
And the results:
I also had the diff out while I was there to unsieze the drain plug. I can't bring myself to put grubby bits back on, so it also had a clean and paint.
I forgot to mention that all the bolts have been replaced with grade 8 / 10.9 zinc plated (or geomet where I could get them) to keep it looking this way for as long as possible!
I forgot to mention that all the bolts have been replaced with grade 8 / 10.9 zinc plated (or geomet where I could get them) to keep it looking this way for as long as possible!
Managed to get the brakes bled up and car back on it's wheels. Braided hoses and new calipers give a really impressively stiff pedal! There's still a small amount of air in the system so will give it a hot bleed once I've done the alignment.
I think that's up-to-date for the time being!
I'm trying the whole preventative maintenance thing and have bought a new fuel pump, dizzy cap, rotor arm and coil to go on, but that's boring stuff.
I think that's up-to-date for the time being!
I'm trying the whole preventative maintenance thing and have bought a new fuel pump, dizzy cap, rotor arm and coil to go on, but that's boring stuff.
Really impressed with this thread and your work on the car. You clearly have engineering skills way beyond mine.
But I am even more impressed with your writing - good grammar, correct spelling, no random apostrophe's where apostrophes don't belong
, no american spellings. It makes a refreshing change on PH - there's an awful lot on PH up with which I have to put, day after day. 
Emboldened by your work, I now have to pluck up the courage to try to fix the P0705 fault on my venerable Saab 9-5 auto. My local garage won't touch anything to do with automatic transmission. I hate transverse engines, everything is so buried and rammed up against other things. I have watched the Yoof-tube video, and he says it's only an hour's work with a set of long socket extensions. I am planning on allowing a full bank holiday weekend next month and a large box of Elastoplast.
But I am even more impressed with your writing - good grammar, correct spelling, no random apostrophe's where apostrophes don't belong
, no american spellings. It makes a refreshing change on PH - there's an awful lot on PH up with which I have to put, day after day. Emboldened by your work, I now have to pluck up the courage to try to fix the P0705 fault on my venerable Saab 9-5 auto. My local garage won't touch anything to do with automatic transmission. I hate transverse engines, everything is so buried and rammed up against other things. I have watched the Yoof-tube video, and he says it's only an hour's work with a set of long socket extensions. I am planning on allowing a full bank holiday weekend next month and a large box of Elastoplast.
QBee said:
Really impressed with this thread and your work on the car. You clearly have engineering skills way beyond mine.
But I am even more impressed with your writing - good grammar, correct spelling, no random apostrophe's where apostrophes don't belong , no american spellings. It makes a refreshing change on PH - there's an awful lot on PH up with which I have to put, day after day.
Emboldened by your work, I now have to pluck up the courage to try to fix the P0705 fault on my venerable Saab 9-5 auto. My local garage won't touch anything to do with automatic transmission. I hate transverse engines, everything is so buried and rammed up against other things. I have watched the Yoof-tube video, and he says it's only an hour's work with a set of long socket extensions. I am planning on allowing a full bank holiday weekend next month and a large box of Elastoplast.
Thanks for the multitude of compliments! I have a degree in automotive engineering and design race cars for a living so that probably explains my relative confidence with what I'm doing engineering wise. In reality I'm a practical person that learns from messing with stuff and getting it wrong, Mr B'child will vouch that not all of my projects over the years have been this plain sailing!But I am even more impressed with your writing - good grammar, correct spelling, no random apostrophe's where apostrophes don't belong
, no american spellings. It makes a refreshing change on PH - there's an awful lot on PH up with which I have to put, day after day. Emboldened by your work, I now have to pluck up the courage to try to fix the P0705 fault on my venerable Saab 9-5 auto. My local garage won't touch anything to do with automatic transmission. I hate transverse engines, everything is so buried and rammed up against other things. I have watched the Yoof-tube video, and he says it's only an hour's work with a set of long socket extensions. I am planning on allowing a full bank holiday weekend next month and a large box of Elastoplast.
Engines and transmissions are an area I tend to leave to the experts, although I'm tempted to have a go on this one. Everything is pretty simple and difficult to break on these old lumps! I'm definitely not methodical enough to have a go at modern auto boxes....
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