High Lift Cam on later 400s
Discussion
Lurked for many years. Probably my first post!
So I was looking to buy a Chim 500 as I really miss the one I had circa 2009. (1998 R non-PAS in imperial blue with magnolia and stealth cam upgrade). But prices have strengthened considerably since then where my budget hasn't !! So I've been working through the pros and cons and various logical and emotional and financial arguments of the different engine/facelift options.
Clearly the most common and least costly to buy option is a 400 (240bhp quoted) with prices building with the middleweight options (HC, 4.3 450) all about 275-285 quoted. To the heavyweight 500 at a quoted 320 Bhp and people asking serious premiums.
It's seems to be accepted widely that none of the cars are likely to be that close to those quoted figures (my 500 dyno'd at about 280 pre cam change). But those figures do give a useful reference in terms of performance differences rather than absolute BHP. So I'm probably happy getting a 275bhp car that actually produces 240. But I'm not happy buying a 240 car which barely makes 200. This brings me to the point if the post (finally):
someone posted that 400 HC mods were added to ALL later Chim 400 cars at the time they dropped the HC from the range. (The logic being if all 400s are HC then no need to differentiate). That suggests that if I buy say a 1999 400 I'm actually buying a 400HC with the power benefits of that. (Maybe not 275 but comfortably over 200).
Does anyone know THE FACTS on this??
P.S. PLEASE Please please do NOT let this deteriorate into a discussion of what "HC" actually stands for!! That's not the question here!
Cheers all.
So I was looking to buy a Chim 500 as I really miss the one I had circa 2009. (1998 R non-PAS in imperial blue with magnolia and stealth cam upgrade). But prices have strengthened considerably since then where my budget hasn't !! So I've been working through the pros and cons and various logical and emotional and financial arguments of the different engine/facelift options.
Clearly the most common and least costly to buy option is a 400 (240bhp quoted) with prices building with the middleweight options (HC, 4.3 450) all about 275-285 quoted. To the heavyweight 500 at a quoted 320 Bhp and people asking serious premiums.
It's seems to be accepted widely that none of the cars are likely to be that close to those quoted figures (my 500 dyno'd at about 280 pre cam change). But those figures do give a useful reference in terms of performance differences rather than absolute BHP. So I'm probably happy getting a 275bhp car that actually produces 240. But I'm not happy buying a 240 car which barely makes 200. This brings me to the point if the post (finally):
someone posted that 400 HC mods were added to ALL later Chim 400 cars at the time they dropped the HC from the range. (The logic being if all 400s are HC then no need to differentiate). That suggests that if I buy say a 1999 400 I'm actually buying a 400HC with the power benefits of that. (Maybe not 275 but comfortably over 200).
Does anyone know THE FACTS on this??
P.S. PLEASE Please please do NOT let this deteriorate into a discussion of what "HC" actually stands for!! That's not the question here!
Cheers all.
There's a really nice 500 for sale for under £14k right now
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
There's also a 400 supercharged at Neil Garners
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
There's also a 400 supercharged at Neil Garners
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
QBee said:
There's a really nice 500 for sale for under £14k right now
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
There's also a 400 supercharged at Neil Garners
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
Both good cars. Any reason why the graph on that SC one is so bumpy? And could you ever get used to that colour?http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
There's also a 400 supercharged at Neil Garners
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
Mine is a 2000 400 and as far as I don't have the facts haven driven 2 other 400's mine feels very similar to one of them which was a healthy oneating as is mine and slightly more responsive than one that was mechanically fairly reasonable and both were a bit older at 96 and 97 so based on that I'd doubt it's HC but wouldn't say for sure.
A good 430 BV if you can find one of the remaining 5 or 6 should be around 10k - 12k and were quoted at 300 BHP on the nose.
A good 430 BV if you can find one of the remaining 5 or 6 should be around 10k - 12k and were quoted at 300 BHP on the nose.
We all know what HC stands for, (for those who don't its Hairy Chest)
Standard 400's did not have pocketed pistons therefore could/did not run high lift cams. 400 HC's and 450's have pocketed pistons. All have double valve springs though.
The only way to know for sure if yours has a factory high lift cam would be to whip out a plug and use a bore scope or inspection camera to check if you have pocketed pistons.
Standard 400's did not have pocketed pistons therefore could/did not run high lift cams. 400 HC's and 450's have pocketed pistons. All have double valve springs though.
The only way to know for sure if yours has a factory high lift cam would be to whip out a plug and use a bore scope or inspection camera to check if you have pocketed pistons.
bobfather said:
AV8 said:
The only way to know for sure if yours has a factory high lift cam would be to whip out a plug and use a bore scope or inspection camera to check if you have pocketed pistons.
Good tip, thanks AV8Just thinking logically. Not that TVR always did, but the 400 HC model was stopped in '96/7 and replaced with the 450, so it would be strange of them to reintroduce post '99, but then I read somewhere that they deleted the 400 from the range in 98/9 and mine is a 2000 400 and this is what it says on the plenum and on the V5C so who knows where these sources of information comes from? Some people have said the last run of chims were 450's only and others have quashed this claim saying they have a 2003 500 etc.
bobfather said:
Just tried this, unfortunately my snake-cam is just too big to fit in the spark plug socket. I can see the top of the piston but not the edge that has the pockets
The pockets are quite small and could be hard to see at the best of times. I have an inspection camera from Aldi which cost about 80 quid which is great for that type of thing.The Chimaera was supposed to be fazed out during 2000 but the car was still being produced in small numbers until 2003 because customers demanded one.
Most being 450 at this point but again maybe some people wanted a different spec.
You'd assume any late 400 would be HC but that's just a guess.
Most being 450 at this point but again maybe some people wanted a different spec.
You'd assume any late 400 would be HC but that's just a guess.
bobfather said:
latham91 said:
Can't resist having a look - just bought a 7mm usb endoscope for £8 on ebay to check this out....
Mine is 14mm, just too bigWhat year is your car??
The pockets are very subtle, see here
Edited by bobfather on Tuesday 20th September 18:29
My cam is an M256.
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