Basic Chimaera info. needed
Discussion
I'm at the start of the process of buying a Chimaera and want to understand the history of the model and it's updates. Can somebody give me or point me in the direction of a brief history of the Chimaera. The kind of things I'm thinking of is changes to the grill, rear lights, position of door openers, gearbox type change etc.
Also I note alot of cars for sale have speaker system upgrades and battery conditioners, does this mean I should expect poor sound and a regular flat battery?
quote:Bob, I bought my Chim 500 last year and went through some of your questions then. The info I was given was that it was better to go for a 1997 onwards car as the build quality and general reliability was improved at this point. I'm sure some out there will have personal cases of reliable pre 97 cars, but this is what I was told by several main dealers. Also, there were a few updates at this point such as door openers under the wing mirror, better fan switches + others I'm sure. Since then, there has certainly been another upgrade which has affected the rear light cluster design (+ other bits I'm sure). If you are interested in buying a Chimaera then it would be worth getting hold of Steve Heath's manual as it has a section on what to look for when buying a Chimarea or Griff. Also it is a useful manual to have once you own your chimp. Good luck with your hunt for a car - I'd recommend the 500 - what a blast ! It has more grin factor than anything I have driven so far. Phil
I'm at the start of the process of buying a Chimaera and want to understand the history of the model and it's updates. Can somebody give me or point me in the direction of a brief history of the Chimaera. The kind of things I'm thinking of is changes to the grill, rear lights, position of door openers, gearbox type change etc. Also I note alot of cars for sale have speaker system upgrades and battery conditioners, does this mean I should expect poor sound and a regular flat battery?
quote:You got it in one. Most TVRs suffer flat batteries after 2-3 weeks (if the alarm's on) and I don't know of any that has a radio that works. So... get a trickle charger and don't use the radio, apart from that go for it! Rich...
<clip> speaker system upgrades and battery conditioners, does this mean I should expect poor sound and a regular flat battery?<clip>
quote:ok here goes (based on memory, so subject to potential errors): Chimp introduced '93: front grill is single piece black mesh below bonnet, rear light off Ford Fiesta behind perspex cover. Door buttons in rear wings are Vauxhall Cavalier/Calibra boot locks with keyholes. Interior: dial surrounds are black - some TVR gauges, lots of black plastic buttons. Engines 4.0, 4.0HC (and 4.3?) Sometime in '95 - Engines replaced by newer "Serpentine" Rover units, 4.3 dropped. Door buttons get covered - remote central locking introduced. Additional air vents below dash (at front of centre console) and centre console re-designed (door opening knob moved). All gauges TVR. Early '97 - 4.0HC replaced by 4.5, 5.0 introduced. New front grill is open with single horizontal slat (a la Cerbera) and bumper strip at rear is body coloured. Later in '97 - Door buttons removed and replaced with under wing-mirror buttons. Interior dials surrounded in brushed aluminium - other aluminium buttons / dials replace black pastic ones Mid '98 - New rear light cluster (Lucas units off some tank or other) and revised boot (more pronounced lip at rear) Late '99 - New windsreen wipers, new boot hinges (opens up full 90 degrees now) Now - new light covers, new seats clear indicator lenses etc... I'm sure there have been 100's of other modifications but I was too busy driving to notice them.
The kind of things I'm thinking of is changes to the grill, rear lights, position of door openers, gearbox type change etc. Also I note alot of cars for sale have speaker system upgrades and battery conditioners, does this mean I should expect poor sound and a regular flat battery?
Paul
no problem, there have been many model changes so it would be very difficult to get all the facts straight. I'm not even going to try. Fact is pretty well every single Chimp is unique, and the spec at times seemed to change from one car to the next.
For anyone looking to buy a Chimp, just make sure you test drive a few as you can get good ones and bad ones. After testing a few you will know the difference! And its not like it would be a chore really, would it?
Edited by philshort on Tuesday 20th February 22:00
One more thing. Philr was told by several dealers that the quality improved in 97. I was told pretty much the same thing in 96 when I was buying a new 500, and the year before that I was told that the quality had improved in 95 - when I was looking at buying a 95 4.0.
I suppose the quality would improve year on year as the lads up in Blackpool got the hang of screwing them together, but I would be very surprised if there was a quantum leap in quality at any point in time. Possibly the reverse as production peaked on the Chim in 97/98, and the pressure was on to crank out the cars.
Best advice for any prospective TVR purchaser is to buy one from an enthusiast (join the TVRCC first!) and buy one at least 12 months old so all the inevitable wrinkles have been ironed out by someone else. Oh, and make sure it was actually used for the 12 months, you want at least 10,000 miles up so any major problems have already been identified and sorted.
Edited by philshort on Saturday 17th February 19:23
I agree with Phil on this. My '97 Chimp was pants when I bought it (18 months ago with 4000m), leaked like a seive, smelled like a sewer, chocolate rockers and a dozen other odds and sods. Now it's sorted, if I sold it the person that bought it would get one that had been brought up to the standard it should have been in when it left the factory.
As far as radio reception goes, the 'all you need is the sound of the engine brigade' obviously never drive through town, on motorways or find themselves in traffic. You definitely need some 6x9s in the back and possibly an amp as well. As far as radio 4 goes, it might be worth trying a different frequency as radio 4 operates on at least 3.
My current issue is that the wiper motors do not seem to be supressed so when it rains they interfere with reception.
Thanks to everbody who responded, it's good to know there are people out there able to help. I'm now a lot wiser. I had heard that at some point in the evolution there was a gearbox change, maybe from a rover unit to something else?
One more daft question. What are 6x9s? are we talking inches?
Thanks to everbody who responded, it's good to know there are people out there able to help. I'm now a lot wiser. I had heard that at some point in the evolution there was a gearbox change, maybe from a rover unit to something else?
One more daft question. What are 6x9s? are we talking inches?
6x9 inch speakers - in the rear bulkhead. Mine has a pair of 7x10 Kenwoods - these pump out enough bass in such a small space to make the lack of anywhere to place a subwoofer academic. I upgraded the speakers, fitted two amps in the boot, a 12 CD changer, and a Pioneer "wood" head unit. You can still hear the music at 100mph top down. And my 500 is decatted, so it is pretty loud itself.
The gearbox change was to a T55 box, back in 99 I think. Not sue what was in there before hand.
You should know that there is a knack to getting reverse in the T55 box - you need to engage 5th, blip the throttle (clutch in obviously) then whip the lever back into reverse. Try to shove in straight into reverse and you will either get a false neutral (embarrassment) or a nasty graunch (more embarrassment). As far as I know they're all like that.
Battery conditioners are essential if you don't use the car every week. The alarm seeems to drain a healthy battery in two weeks. If you forget to connect the conditioner and you come back to a flat battery, you will need to jumpstart toget some current back into the battery before the conditioner will do its thing again - they won't charge a flat battery I have found.
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