Just bought myself a Chimaera
Discussion
After the faux pas of the Chim/Chimp post I thought I'd start over and say I am now the proud owner of a 1996 Chimaera. Well, I say proud owner, I literally just won it on eBay and am yet to pay and collect the car (just waiting for the seller to call so i can arrange that).
The car has only done 20,000 miles from new and looks immaculate so I am a very happy bunny. It's a beautiful bright red 4.0. Not the HC I'd originally wanted but this was too pretty and too original to pass by.
Hopefully I will be able to collect it later this week.
The car has only done 20,000 miles from new and looks immaculate so I am a very happy bunny. It's a beautiful bright red 4.0. Not the HC I'd originally wanted but this was too pretty and too original to pass by.
Hopefully I will be able to collect it later this week.
Edited by Julesprivate on Wednesday 17th October 18:37
Great car, it looks like a late 1996 model to me which offer the best of both worlds.
Late 96 cars got the nicer facelift grill, boot, rear valance & bigger 5.0 litre brakes.
Yet they also benefit from the earlier silver/grey finished chassis which is typically more durable than the flaky & peeling white powder coat finish that arrived in 1997.
When looking for my Chimaera I saw several 97/98 cars with the white chassis, every one was peeling dreadfully trapping water with the inevitable terminal corrosion setting in as a consiquence.
Conversely my mate has a well used mid 80's Wedge (so at least 10 years older) with the silver/grey chassis finish & it's still in great shape.
This is what an ex-factory worker told me when I raised the topic of chassis corrosion.
Up to 1996 TVR outsourced the chassis finish (silver/grey colour) to a company that knew what they were doing.
These earlier chassis were phosphate primed before the finish was applied, the chassis were then properly baked at a sufficiently high temperature to correctly set the coating.
In early 1997 TVR bought the process in house, the change from silver/grey to white signifies this changeover point.
TVR bought the oven & equipment from a local powder coater that had gone bust but they didn't buy the expertise, they then spent the next 2 years learning how to apply powder coat properly.
1997 & 98 were the practice years, a lack of phosphate priming and a failure to bake the coating at a high enough temperature resulted in very early coating failure.
By 1999/2000 TVR seemed to get the hang of the process so the white chassis from that point on are significantly more durable.
However an earlier silver/grey finish is not a ticket to the eternal chassis, they all trap road muck so they all rot.
It's just that the silver/grey chassis do seem a lot better than the 1997/98 early white ones.
Welcome to the fold, looks like you got a good one
Late 96 cars got the nicer facelift grill, boot, rear valance & bigger 5.0 litre brakes.
Yet they also benefit from the earlier silver/grey finished chassis which is typically more durable than the flaky & peeling white powder coat finish that arrived in 1997.
When looking for my Chimaera I saw several 97/98 cars with the white chassis, every one was peeling dreadfully trapping water with the inevitable terminal corrosion setting in as a consiquence.
Conversely my mate has a well used mid 80's Wedge (so at least 10 years older) with the silver/grey chassis finish & it's still in great shape.
This is what an ex-factory worker told me when I raised the topic of chassis corrosion.
Up to 1996 TVR outsourced the chassis finish (silver/grey colour) to a company that knew what they were doing.
These earlier chassis were phosphate primed before the finish was applied, the chassis were then properly baked at a sufficiently high temperature to correctly set the coating.
In early 1997 TVR bought the process in house, the change from silver/grey to white signifies this changeover point.
TVR bought the oven & equipment from a local powder coater that had gone bust but they didn't buy the expertise, they then spent the next 2 years learning how to apply powder coat properly.
1997 & 98 were the practice years, a lack of phosphate priming and a failure to bake the coating at a high enough temperature resulted in very early coating failure.
By 1999/2000 TVR seemed to get the hang of the process so the white chassis from that point on are significantly more durable.
However an earlier silver/grey finish is not a ticket to the eternal chassis, they all trap road muck so they all rot.
It's just that the silver/grey chassis do seem a lot better than the 1997/98 early white ones.
Welcome to the fold, looks like you got a good one
Congratulations and welcome to the loony bin 
ChimpofDarkness said:
Great car, it looks like a late 1996 model to me which offer the best of both worlds.
Late 96 cars got the nicer facelift grill, boot, rear valance & bigger 5.0 litre brakes.
Yep, sorry that original post was a typo and i did indeed mean 1996... Thanks for the comprehensive info too!Late 96 cars got the nicer facelift grill, boot, rear valance & bigger 5.0 litre brakes.
ChimpofDarkness said:
Great car, it looks like a late 1996 model to me which offer the best of both worlds.
Late 96 cars got the nicer facelift grill, boot, rear valance & bigger 5.0 litre brakes.
Yet they also benefit from the earlier silver/grey finished chassis which is typically more durable than the flaky & peeling white powder coat finish that arrived in 1997.
It's just that the silver/grey chassis do seem a lot better than the 1997/98 early white ones.
Welcome to the fold, looks like you got a good one
Very true but even the silver/grey ones need work. Some time in the future they all will![url]Late 96 cars got the nicer facelift grill, boot, rear valance & bigger 5.0 litre brakes.
Yet they also benefit from the earlier silver/grey finished chassis which is typically more durable than the flaky & peeling white powder coat finish that arrived in 1997.
It's just that the silver/grey chassis do seem a lot better than the 1997/98 early white ones.
Welcome to the fold, looks like you got a good one
welcome to the fold, if you want to come along to TVR Meet, costwold 3 counties meet up on the second wednesday of the month at the beckford inn between tewkesbury and evesham or last sunday at the puesdown inn on the A40 cheltenham to oxford road
Enjoy the car, hopfuly ill get to see it one day
cheers Rob
Enjoy the car, hopfuly ill get to see it one day
cheers Rob
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff