Body Off - The Naked Truth

[ChimpOnGas]

dhutch said:

Looks great. Good work.

Thanks, but it's Alex Wheatley and Ben's work not mine, I'm just watching and paying the bill.

I'd love to be a bit more hands on but it just makes more sense for me to use the time to earn money doing what I do for a living, then use some of it to pay Alex for what he does for a living.

As long as everyone is happy with the deal it's by far the best arrangement

[ChimpOnGas]

SILICONEKID 357HP said:

Can you get to all the chassis with the engine and diff still fitted ?

I'm very happy with the job and Alex's attention to detail, indeed he's consistently exceeding my expectations for whats possible without me needing to spend the £8k plus people typically end up paying for a bare chassis job. I can't speak for others but the way I see it given the current market value of a good 4.0 litre Chimaera is around £13,500 it simply doesn't make any sense to spend two thirds of that figure restoring it's chassis, especially when the reality is its only ever going to add £2.5k to the car's resale value at best.

There I've said it and that's the Chimaera chassis restoration elephant in the room exposed for everyone to see, sadly there's no getting away from it... unless like Alun in this post you're doing a lot of the work yourself, them's the facts folks!

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

It's also why the body on outrigger replacement exists, no one would be doing the job this way if the cars were worth a bit more money

With this sort of work striking the right balance between cost and quality is not easy, on the quality front my opinion is the Alex Wheatly chassis restoration process runs a bare chassis restoration a very close second especially when I consider the number of years it buys me, and for a full £6k less it starts to look like a no-brainer. I'm not a rich plumber like you Daz so in my world six grand is a lot of money, follow this post and look at what I'm getting for the money, now compare it with your typical £2k outrigger replacement job, finally ask yourself if the Alex Wheatly full body off process my car is receiving is worth paying just £500 more for?

The reality is when it comes to the sub £20k classic car bracket no one is making money out of being in the restoration game, the car restoration business model really only starts to make financial sense when the cars you work on are worth £50k up and the repair/restoration side of the business is also supported by buying and selling cars. This is why we've seen a huge increase in so called Porsche specialists in the last 10 years, when the market value of air cooled 911s started to nudge £50k the customer base shifted and everyone and their dog was suddenly a highly experienced Porsche specialist. For the record and from what I've seen with my mates getting arse raped with poor quality overpriced repairs on their air cooled Porsches if you're interested in becoming a classic Porsche specialist all you need is a fancy website and a Porsche sign over your door. Hey presto you're a classic Porsche specialist, now sit back and watch all the 'Tim Nice But Dim' city boys que up at your door gold card at the ready.

Restoration is a highly labour intensive and time consuming business so if you want to specialise in restoring cars at the lower end of market you'll need to have a steady stream of customers who have a special emotional connection with their car that's strong enough for them to overlook the completely irrational commercials associated with restoring it, unless that is you're happy to work for £5.00 an hour. Either that or you'll need to work fast and incredibly smart, this is how Alex Wheatley is able to offer such remarkable value for money. When Alex recently proved he can single-handedly remove the body from a Chimaera in 6 hours the commercials shifted, suddenly the business model makes sense as does restoring the chassis of a £13.5k Chimaera.

Hats off to Alex, no wonder he's stacked out with work and TVR owners are beating a path to his door.

[ChimpOnGas]

High temp paint to protect this top rails.



In preparation for the marriage - Suspension bolts, cable ties, and fuel lines still to be done.

[ChimpOnGas]

SILICONEKID 357HP said:

Porn ?? Love it ! and I mean the chassis .

Did you remove the engine and is it sprayed ?

Body off, engine in situ and brush painted Daz.... but we'll prepped and two coats of industrial marine grade two pack paint skilfully applied for excellent longevity at a realistic price. I got lucky with buying an very early face lift Chimaera built in late 1996 so right at the end of the silver/grey chassis period, for the record the silver/grey chassis finish was paint not powder coat.

Jason Clegg who runs Str8Six and worked at the TVR factory in period once told me the silver/grey chassis was first phosphate primed before being top coated, its also clear had TVR prepped the welds properly before priming it would have been a really good job, however its worth keeping in mind I did get 23 years out of my silver/grey chassis before the body was removed.

With the body lifted while we found it did need new outriggers because they'd started to rot in the corners, 95% of the chassis was completely sound requiring just some localised de-rusting, intensive pressure washing revealed 98% of the silver/grey finish remained perfectly intact. If the silver/grey finish was going to fail it would have done so in the 23 years it had been in service, the thinking being if it can survive those 23 years it would effectively continue to hang on pretty much indefinitely.

As TVR's coating remained intact over such a large percentage of the chassis that 23 year old silver/grey finish effectively became our time proven primer coat, once keyed it made for great base to apply the two coats of 2k marine grade epoxy mastic paint which is way tougher than what TVR gave the chassis from new. With new outriggers fabricated from thicker gauge seamless tube in place, double coated in the bulletproof Jotamastic 90 paint system and then shielded from stone chips with laser cut stainless steel outrigger protectors I think it's fair to say we should expect it all to last a lot longer than 23 years.

A full chassis strip and shot blast is undoubtedly the most complete solution but it is a very expensive approach unless you're doing the work yourself, and is it really necessary? I'd argue the approach we've applied to my chassis restoration is a sensible one that's in keeping with the market value of these great cars while not skimping on quality. We've extended the life of my chassis by at least 30 years and probably a lot longer than that, this is a very long time indeed so I honestly think a full chassis strip and shot blast was completely unnecessary in my case.

The best chassis to restore is one that's still in very good condition, we caught mine in time then restored it to far higher standards using better materials than those used by TVR 23 years ago, in a world where people have become used to throwing things away rather than repairing what they have what we are doing here is the perfect demonstration of environmentally responsible car ownership. Forget your hybrids and electric vehicles with their batteries made from cobalt mined with child labour in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a car that will be thrown away in 10 years time. If you really want to be an environmentally responsible car owner what you should be doing is taking a 20 year old car and restoring it so it gives you another 20 years or more of service, this way you're using way less of the world's valuable resources and polluting far less even when you take tail pipe emissions into account.

Car restoration is the ultimate expression of true recycling, it's such an environmentally responsible practice we really should receive grants from the government to fund this kind of work. But of course governments don't want to encourage the restoration of vehicles, they want us to keep buying a new car every 10 years so they can cream off the taxes, but the truth is if you really want to be a genuinely environmentally responsible car owner you should make your car last 40 years or more ..... not go buying a brand new one every 10 years!

I can 100% guarantee if you really sat down and did the environmental impact calculations properly with everything included, my 23 year old low carbon LPG powered TVR would prove itself to be massively greener than a brand new Prius! Don't ever let anyone tell you your TVR is killing the planet, whats really killing the planet are all those millions of new cars being produced every year.

[ChimpOnGas]

Thanks chaps, it'll look even better with the new suspension bolts in place, all the cable ties fitted and the fuel pipes/hoses reinstated. Alex also tells me the heat insulation kit from Central TVR will be fitted tomorrow along with all the other jobs that make sense to complete with the body off. With a fair wind the chassis will be ready to be reunited with the body by the end of the end of this week, that leaves next week to complete the rest of the work and give the car a good shake down, Alex has said he'll look to deliver the car back to me in the south on Saturday the 7th March.

The weather we've had during the months the car has been away has been Biblically wet, I can't remember a winter where we've had so much rain so it does seem this was the perfect year to restore my chassis. This shocking weather has meant losing the use of my TVR has been a lot less painful as I doubt I'd be using it much, I do still miss driving the car though so roll on the 7th March when hopefully the weather will have started to improve and I can get on with enjoying the 30 plus years of new life we've given my TVR chassis.

[ChimpOnGas]

It's amazing how adding a set of wheels changes everything, of course there's a lot more progress here than just bolting the wheels back on, it's all getting frighteningly close to receiving the body.







And talking of the body, here's the Central TVR heat insulation panels going in.









Its all moving forward at pace, Alex Wheatly doesn't hang about

Edited by ChimpOnGas on Thursday 27th February 18:58

[ChimpOnGas]

Matthew Poxon said:

That looks absolutely fantastic, another great project with the usual CoG value add that should see you right for another 20 years.

Thanks Matthew, I'm following your amazimg engine build post with interest too

We've had the wettest winter in living memory so we definitely chose the right year to take our TVRs off the road, roll on the summer when we'll both be back enjoying our cars

[ChimpOnGas]

Spunagain said:

Hi Chimpongas,
Thanks for sharing! Do you know - does the Jotamastic 90 require breathing apparatus when brush painting? I don’t seem to be able to download the data sheets on my machine.

Cheers
Spunagain.

Acording to Jotun no breathing apparatus is required, although it is recommend Jotamastic 90 should only be applied in a well ventilated area which is common sense really. Of course I'm not applying my Jotamastic 90, Alex Wheatly is, so I'll let him comment on the vapors it gives off. However, I have used similar 2k finishes in the past and have suffered some really nasty side effects, when I sanded and sealed the wood floors in my last house I used a professional 2k varnish, we applied two coats and when finished my friend helping me threw up outside and I had an insane headache with serious dizziness.

No way could we have worked a minute longer, we just got the second coat down before we both felt very ill indeed. However we were working in a confined space with little or no ventilation and applying the varnish over the large surface area of the floor, this unventilated environment and large surface area would have have meant vapor production and volume would have been way greater than brush painting sections of a chassis in a large workshop with a high ceiling.

All I can say is two component paints are not to be messed with, so if you're planning on using Jotamastic 90 you may wish to take further advise and listen to what Alex has to say if he chooses to pass comment here?

Above all..... Be safe!

[ChimpOnGas]

Here's the safety data sheet for Jotamastic 90 paint (component A).

https://www.jotun.com/Datasheets/Download?url=%2FS...18880__Jotamastic%2090%20GF%20Comp%20A__EukGB.pdf

Jotun say Jotamastic 90 is a flammable liquid that gives off flammable vapors that also cause serious eye damage, it causes skin irritation and may cause an allergic skin reaction plus damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure, hearing organs of all things

It's harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects, in terms of personal protective equipment Jotun say to wear protective gloves, eye and or face protection. The paint should be kept away from heat, hot surfaces, sparks, open flames and other ignition sources then go in to say do not breathe vapor and to wash hands thoroughly after handling.

Sounds perfectly safe to me

The component B (the hardener) is even worse

https://www.jotun.com/uk/en/b2c/technical-info/tds...

If any of the above links don't work every data sheet for all Jotun products are available here...

https://www.jotunprofessionals.com/me/en/b2b/produ...



But remember what our painter used to say when I was in restoration.... If it smells bad and makes you puke.... that's the good stuff

At the end of the day Jotamastic 90 is a mix of two industrial grade chemicals designed to be used by trained professionals, it's not just any old paint you can buy at B&Q or Screwfix and is not intended to be sold to or used by the general public. This is hardcore stuff that gives long lasting results, risk wise if you're spraying it things get a lot worse too, that's why our painter used what I called the space suit, it was a full body suit with sealed hood system that was fed with fresh air drawn from outside the booth.

He hated it as it restricted movement and sight, but he was shooting the old skool 2k paints at the time which are full of highly carcinogenic isocyanates, I believe these super toxic formulas we were using in the early 90's are banned now or at least a paint shop's chemical license means its use is severely restricted these days, I'm long out of the game but a few years ago I was told there's now a quoter that forces paint shops to use 95% waster based paints or what out painter called 'fish friendly children's water colour paints'

While this was long before the health and safety obsession we have today really gathered momentum our painter still used that air fed hood, he told me a fellow painter and close friend never bother with it and died of respiratory failure at 48, when they opened him up his lungs were full of cancer and this was a guy who never smoked a single cigarette all his life

I believe this was the original guy who coined the phrase.... If it smells bad and makes you puke.... that's the good stuff!

Edited by ChimpOnGas on Sunday 1st March 17:29

[ChimpOnGas]

J-2 said:

Hi Dave what a superb thread I have really enjoyed reading it. I noticed from the pictures of your chassis that you have omitted the brackets for a roll over bar, when I had my outriggers replaced I did not have them fitted as I considered them to another dirt trap did you come to the same conclusion.

John

Thanks John, I believe the brackets are off because so are the ARBs themselves.

Alex is very thorough indeed, he's literally painting everything

[ChimpOnGas]

Ah right John, you'll be meaning these things then?



Never gave them a second thought to be honest

I have no idea what they are or why Alex deems them unnecessary, roll over bar related you say

Perhaps someone can shed some light on their purpose, as you say John they just look like mud traps to me

[ChimpOnGas]

Classic Chim said:

ChimpOnGas said:

Ah right John, you'll be meaning these things then?



Never gave them a second thought to be honest

I have no idea what they are or why Alex deems them unnecessary, roll over bar related you say

Perhaps someone can shed some light on their purpose, as you say John they just look like mud traps to me

Yes they are the lugs you connect a roll bar too.
I too decided to leave them off my new riggers.
I’m never going to add a roll bar and do hope anyone in future wouldn’t either as other than some rigidity which is negligible they are dangerous without a helmet on or a clever design hoop.
Just takes up valuable room in the space behind you. I’ve never turned a car over yet,, a cart yes, right on top of another competitor that closed the gap too late and rode me up a tyre Barrier until I flipped on top of him!
I hope my car has a happy comfortable life from now on and not used in such anger

If you look at it a big impact would see the rigger tubes fail and render the Bar near useless.
All imho and others might disagree.

Couldn't agree more, in my opinion you're right on every point.

[ChimpOnGas]

Chimaera ownership a hobby Alun, we both have the same car so we share the same hobby, with Pistonheads being the platform we choose to discuss our hobby and as all Chimaeras tend to exhibit the same foibles it's inevitable we end up doing the same stuff, I think the synchronised timing thing is more of a coincidence however we've probably owned out Chimaeras for a similar number of years so perhaps this is why we tend to get involved in the same upgrades at a similar time .

My TVR care policy is a simple one..... fastidious maintenance combined with sensible upgrades that improve my driving pleasure while enhancing reliability and dependability, the objective being not only to keep the car in perfect running order at all times but also to make it better than when she left the factory in every respect without spending disproportionally large sums that are completely out of sync with the car's market value.

Examples of this are:

1. When the car started exhibiting the infamous hot start issue I studied the problem and identified the real reasons the problem exists, I sorted the immobiliser wiring mistake made by TVR, uprated all the high amp wiring and main earths, fitted a fresh starter motor and a quality battery giving better than new starting and reliability

2. Frustrated by being locked out of the 14CUX making the car more difficult to tune than if it was running a carb, I went with an open source engine management system that also solved the car's costly fuel economy by swapping 23mpg for the petrol cost equivalent of 50mpg. This while improving the cars drivability and engine refinement and at the same time giving me a system I can tune when ever I want with no costly and difficult to source discontinued components to worry about like the Lucas stepper motor, air flow meter, narrow band lambda sensors ect ect.

3. When it came time to refurbish my suspension I went with all new and much developed MK4 Bilsteins, a quality German TuV standard suspension package developed specifically for our cars that delivers better than new ride quality and handling for £1,000 all in.

4. When my front calipers were sticking and needed refurbishment I took it one step further and installed the Brembo brake upgrade instead as it was only a little more expensive than the standard caliper refurbishment for better than new braking performance

5. When it came time to restore my chassis I chose far better materials and paints than those used by TVR originally, I studied where and why the corrosion issue exists in the first place and addressed it with shields to protect my new thicker wall outrigger tubes from stone chips and the accumulation of mud/general road muck that rots out the outrigger corners

These are just five examples, there are many more of course but the objective always remains the same, keep the car impeccably maintained and when it comes to fixing or replacing something make it better than TVR did it when they built the car in 1996. The maintenance thing is always going to be ongoing with any car but neglect it at your peril with a 23 year old TVR, keeping up with the maintenance on such a car is challenge enough for most but I have chosen to take it to the next level by trying to develop the car into something better than when the first owner paid over £30k for it.

My Chimaera handles better, stops better, drives a lot smoother and is a faster car too; at the same time its way way more economical than it was when new, it's also much more reliable and dependable and now it's chassis is going to be way longer lasting than when it left Bristol Avenue way back in 1996. Car maintenance is like a race, it's inevitable things will break and wear out so the idea is you fix and replace them before they leave you on the side of the road, in my Chimaera maintenance race I'm just trying to get even further ahead of future issues by making whatever I fix or replace better than when it was new to deliver a longer service life, better performance and dynamics, and vastly improved reliability.

This is easier said than done with a 23 year old TVR as mostly what happens to owners of these cars is the problems start to get ahead of their far from comprehensive maintenance program, and or their often insufficient maintenance budget gets stretched to breaking point, this is usually when people get fed up and sell their Chimaera. The things I've chosen to do to my car are not really about adding a ton of power, fitting a supercharger or a turbo is exiting stuff but it's never going to add reliability, quite the opposite in fact. I've chosen to put my money into things that mean I can use and enjoy the car more, because the more I'm driving it the more it repays me in driving pleasure, but the best thing about TVRs for me is there's huge scope to develop them into the car they really should have been from new, but sadly never were.

I guess you either get TVR ownership as all us long term owners do, or you buy one to scratch an itch and then sell it on a couple of years later after getting a bit frustrated with it, these short term owners with their short term view of TVR ownership are the guys in the pub telling everyone how unreliable TVRs are, the truth is in almost all cases these people weren't let down by the machine they almost certainly let the machine down by not maintaining it correctly and or trying to run the thing on a shoestring.

I've owned my Chimaera for 11 years now and I fully expect to keep it for another 11 years, this is why it's worth doing the things I've done to improve it, for example the LPG thing paid for itself a long time ago and now simply delivers half price Chimaera motoring with no downsides, on the flip side it wouldn't make much sense to go LPG if you're only planning on keeping the car for a couple of years. The chassis restoration covered in this post future proofs another known weakness these great cars suffer from, everything else I've done to the car just makes in nicer to drive, a little faster, better handing and way more reliable and dependable, but all of it is only worth investing in because I intend to keep the car for many more years.

The irony is when I come to sell in 11 years time its new owner will enjoy a properly developed and dependable TVR that drives way better in every respect than when the car was brand new, in the mean time it's my opportunity to squeeze as much pleasure out of it as I possible can while always keeping three steps ahead of the maintenance race

[ChimpOnGas]

crosseyedlion said:

J-2 said:

Hi Dave what a superb thread I have really enjoyed reading it. I noticed from the pictures of your chassis that you have omitted the brackets for a roll over bar, when I had my outriggers replaced I did not have them fitted as I considered them to another dirt trap did you come to the same conclusion.

John

The original brackets are a complete dirt and rust trap. They also risk not faring well with a verticle point load, risking pulling the adjacent seatbelt mount away from the body of the car, which could be very nasty. If any of my customers wanted a roll bar, id be tying it into the corner body mount plate/seat belt reel area just rear. There is far more strength at this point.

Basically I see the original mount and all I see is potential for a very nasty situation.

Thanks for sharing Alex, up until the other day I had no idea what the brackets were for, I'm never going to fit a roll over bar so I'm pleased you've omitted them and like you say they're just another dirt trap.

I'm relieved the Jotamastic 90 didn't prove too toxic too,

Thanks again, Dave.

[ChimpOnGas]

I'm working on the principle of...

"its ready when Alex says its ready"

You can't rush perfection

[ChimpOnGas]

Well this is the last time we'll see this for a long long time.







She's ready to get dressed once more.

[ChimpOnGas]

Exactly Alun, its a logical division of labour thing.

• I earn my money doing my job, which is what I do best

• I then use the money I've earned to pay Alex to do his job, which is what he does best

• Best of all we're both doing our jobs at the exact same time making progress far more rapid

This way I'm not spending the next 20 weekends of my life struggling in my small garage with just a tiny inspection pit and axle stands, as I live inside the M25 and given the price of property here I consider myself lucky just to have a garage with a pit, no large workshop and four post lift for me I'm afraid, I can only dream of such facilities

If I'd taken on this work myself I could easily see six months passing as I tried and failed to match what Alex can achieve to a far higher standard within a couple of months, when I first connected with Alex Wheatly in the summer of last year we planned the work to take place over the worse weather months of 2020 when I knew I wouldn't be driving the car much, as it turns out we've had the wettest January and February since records began so the car would have just been sat in the garage going nowhere, as a consequence I've lost little or no use of the car.

As I said when I started this post, the idea behind my chassis restoration was to showcase how for not much more money than most TVR specialists charge for a basic 'body on' outrigger replacement, Alex Wheatley will give you all this.....

1. Remove exhaust manifolds, fuel lines, brake pipes, radiator, fuel connections, seats, central console, engine bay wiring harness, ect ect ect

2. Completely remove the body from the chassis giving game changing access to do the job properly

3. Fully degrease the chassis

4. Cut out the old rotten outriggers

5. Thoroughly de-rust the exposed backbone which in my case turned out to just be a small amount of localized surface rust around some, but from all, of the original TVR welds

6. Neatly weld in new outriggers custom made to the car and fabricated from far superior thicker wall seamless tube

7. Remove all the suspension components deep cleaning/degreasing and de-rusting all 8 wishbones and rear uprights

8. Paint all 8 wishbones and rear uprights in two coats of Jotamastic 90 epoxy mastic paint

9. Rebuild restored suspension using all new nuts and bolts

10. Paint the new outriggers and de-rusted TVR welds with first coat of Jotamastic 90 epoxy mastic

11. Paint the entire chassis including the new outriggers front to back and top to bottom in a second coat of Jotamastic 90 epoxy mastic

12. Paint front uprights, front ARB, rear ARB and various brackets in black as original

13. Replace fuel hoses as required and fit all new cable ties

14. Reunite body with restored rolling chassis securing with all new nuts and bolts

15. Refit exhaust manifolds, fuel lines, brake pipes, radiator, fuel connections, seats, central console, engine bay wiring harness, ect ect ect

16. Fill and bleed coolant system, fill and bleed brakes

17. Complete laser wheel alignment

18. Drive the car for a few days to complete a comprehensive shakedown

19. Snagging - Address any squeaks, rattles, running issues and wiring faults revealed by shakedown

20. Deliver car to customer

All of this for only £TBC more than your typical TVR specialist charges for a body on outrigger replacement where full 360 degree welds can't be guaranteed without cutting holes in the car's floor and typically a chip prone powder coat finish is used, please contact Alex to discuss your requirements and he will explain his very reasonable rates.

To be clear whats been done here is not a full chassis strip and shot blast job, and the epoxy mastic has been applied by brush not spray painted. However, the process is clearly hugely more comprehensive and will be massively longer lasting than a body on outrigger job, and because of this I believe what I've ended up with delivers absolutely unparalleled value for money.

As I've said many times....

"If TVR's rasher pish poor efforts lasted 23 years, I see no reason why my new thicker wall outriggers and the entire chassis/suspension system painted in two pack industrial marine grade epoxy mastic won't last 30 years or more"

Being honest I can't wait to get the car back so I can get on with the fun bit...... driving the wheels of the thing

Edited by ChimpOnGas on Saturday 7th March 10:36

[ChimpOnGas]

crosseyedlion said:

Thanks for your kind words Dave.

However, to clarify to audience - that was on an offer I was running last year when you booked. It's still very competitive, but I urge anyone to contact me to find out current pricing.

Edited accordingly.

Dave.

[ChimpOnGas]

The body is back on


Before:




During:












After:

[ChimpOnGas]

Zener said:

The difference between working on Dave's or Alun's cars underneath and my rot free but Dinitrol'ed waxed chassis (not under seal) is this after I've finished , it was fine all them years ago but after 10 year plus its no longer a nice transparent beige colour , i come out looking like a miner if doing anything more than mild maintenance

Exactly Simon, working on my Chimaera was increasingly getting me down, I would always come out covered in Dinitrol and the situation seemed to get worse as the years rolled by, a few of the usual RV8 oil leaks will melt the stuff into into a filthy substance that sticks to your hair and skin like monkey poo

However, rustproofing treatments do work and there's no doubt the Dinitrol treatment I had applied to my Chimaera chassis 10 years ago did its job, I always knew I was really just delaying the inevitable chassis restoration although the comprehensive steam clean and two stage Dinitrol treatment made absolute sense at the time. I bough my TVR 11 years ago at 30,000 miles, it's 12 year old silver/grey chassis had been Waxoiled all it's life so was by far the best example I'd inspected. It also came with four new front wishbones that had been fitted the year before I bought the car, so while the silver/grey chassis Chims were definitely way better than the dreadful early white powder coated efforts, there were clearly still corrosion issues with silver/grey chassis Chimaeras if wishbones were only lasting 10 years or so and after only covering 30,000 miles!

When I started the search for my Chimaera 11 years ago there was no Facebook and the Piston Heads forum was far more active, despite the majority of Chimaeras being only 10 years old at the time horror stories of chassis corrosion were rife and contributed to the fact you could pick up a really good low mileage example for around £8k, I had a feeling the cars had hit their low point so in May 2009 I paid £7,900 for my 30,000 mile example which only 12 years before had been sold new for over £30,0000.

I looked at a raft of 97/98 cars with their flakey white powder coated chassis, it was so demoralising I very nearly gave up on the idea of buying a Chimaera all together, fortunately I persevered and my persistence was eventually rewarded with the right car at the right money with a good chassis. The thing any prospective Chimaera should consider is if 11 years ago I was seeing one rotten 10/11 year old Chimaera after another they need to think long and hard about the condition of what's out there now 11 years later, it's not like this situation will have got any better and with lots of Chims receiving decidedly dodgy outrigger replacement work to rather suspect standards it's even more a case of 'Buyer Beware'.

Anyway, a year after buying my Chimaera and all too aware while I'd snagged one with a good chassis I wanted to make sure it would at least last as long as possible, so I decided the best approach was to rustproof the car while I saved up a war chest to get the chassis restored in the future, the plan was to buy myself 10 years or so while I got on with enjoying the car and improving it in other ways. I chose a company in Cheshire called Chassis Clean because their process while expensive was way better than anything else on offer and started with a full steam clean which removed all the old Waxoil and allowed me to review better what I'd bought.

The steam cleaning revealed a very sound chassis and the new front wishbones which were mint, but it wasn't perfect by any means as it was clear TVR hadn't prepped their welds properly before applying the silver/grey finish as there was patches of surface corrosion that I'd say would have broken out only a year or so after the car was made. Chassis Clean dried the chassis thoroughly after the intensive steam cleaning session, this was critical so as not to trap water under the two stage Dinitrol treatment, a day later with the chassis perfectly dry they hit it with 3125 wax followed by 4941 underseal.

My hope the Dinitrol treatment would buy me 10 years played out exactly as I planned and almost to the month, I'm really glad I invested the money with Chassis Clean to preserve the chassis but rustproofing waxes and unseals when softened with engine oil and or worse still ATF do get all over you when you work on the car so despite the fact they are proven effective I wanted to keep my chassis in a clean painted state following it's restoration. In summary, rustproofing treatments if applied correctly can buy you some time but they are far from being a magic bullet cure to a rotten chassis, the chassis needs to be in pretty good shape to start with, mild surface corrosion around the welds as mine had is fine but anything more than this and you really need to start replacing tubes.

It's important to accept you're really just buying yourself some time with these rustproofing treatments and ideally they should have been applied from new, the trouble is most of the Waxoild Chims you see have received a coating of the stuff to hide a multitude of sins and no amount of rustproofing wax is going to fix a rotten chassis hidden beneath. As these cars are now a good 11 years older than when I was viewing a succession of rotten chassis examples people need to be even more careful about what they're buying, indeed given what we know about Chimaera chassis corrosion and the fact most of our cars are 20-25 years old now I would go as far to advise people to walk away from anything that doesn't come with a fully photographic recorded body off chassis restoration and a clean un Waxoiled chassis.

To bring all this to life today with a real world example and some 11 years later, I've just been through my Chimaera hunting file I created when I was looking for my for TVR in 2009, I kept a record of some of the many of the Chimaeras I viewed back then.

While this 1999 example was the youngest I looked at, it was also by far the worst! Remember this car was just 10 years young when I inspected it but I'd never seen such a rotten chassis on a 10 year old car in all my days, it was worse than a Fiat, you could literally peel this Chimaera's chassis like a banana with the only 10 year old white TVR powder coat just falling away in sheets!





Fast forward to today and I've just run an MoT check on T715 JLA and it seems it made it through one more MoT before the car was taken off the road a year later in May 2010, maybe someone wrote it off in an accident but I'd say it's equally likely it failed it's next MoT on terminal chassis corrosion so was beyond economic repair, what a donkey! My point is if a 1999 Chimaera could get into that state within just 10 years of use, imagine how many completely rotten Chimaeras are our there now all skillfully disguised in a thick layer of Waxoil?

Conversely all this time later and I managed to get a solid 11 years of enjoyment out of my £7,900 Chimaera purchase before it was time for the body to be lifted and the chassis to be restored, I definitely bought the right car. However 11 years on and all those Chimaeras I looked at including mine are 11 years older now.... so they'll all be 111 years more rotten! All this means if I was out there looking for a Chimaera today I would only entertain one that's had a full body off chassis restoration with photos to support, I'd also be looking for one that wasn't covered in Waxoil.

These are the only ways you'll know you're getting a sound chassis, anything less and you really should assume the car will at least need its outriggers replacing at the very minimum so potential buyers must factor this in to their offer or better still walk away until they find one with a properly restored chassis!

Buyer Beware!