Became a Cerbera owner yesterday!
Discussion
Yep, I've joined the ranks of the mad...
Bought ebay item 161456546738 yesterday (not an ad as it's now on my driveway!)
I was impressed with the detail in the listing and the seller's openness to questions. The car didn't miss a beat on the 300 miles back to Wiltshire last night.
Mad as I may seem, this was the first Cerb I've ever looked at closely, never mind been driven in or driven! I've been a DeLorean nut for several years so I'm used to taking a supposedly unreliable car and making it good - including body-off chassis restorations and a lot of electrical gremlins (but which rarely leave you stranded).
First impressions are of a car very similar to my old Venturi 300 in terms of performance and appointment, but much much prettier on the inside.
Questions...
The main thing that seems up the creek is the power steering which the owner assured e was normal. It feels chuffing heavy when moving sowly, I also felt the usual tight-loose-tight of a dodgy joint. Can anyone confirm before I start digging that the wheel should be more or less easy to turn on the spot, or are they notieably heavier than a modern car?
Bought ebay item 161456546738 yesterday (not an ad as it's now on my driveway!)
I was impressed with the detail in the listing and the seller's openness to questions. The car didn't miss a beat on the 300 miles back to Wiltshire last night.
Mad as I may seem, this was the first Cerb I've ever looked at closely, never mind been driven in or driven! I've been a DeLorean nut for several years so I'm used to taking a supposedly unreliable car and making it good - including body-off chassis restorations and a lot of electrical gremlins (but which rarely leave you stranded).
First impressions are of a car very similar to my old Venturi 300 in terms of performance and appointment, but much much prettier on the inside.
Questions...
The main thing that seems up the creek is the power steering which the owner assured e was normal. It feels chuffing heavy when moving sowly, I also felt the usual tight-loose-tight of a dodgy joint. Can anyone confirm before I start digging that the wheel should be more or less easy to turn on the spot, or are they notieably heavier than a modern car?
Stunned Monkey said:
The main thing that seems up the creek is the power steering which the owner assured e was normal. It feels chuffing heavy when moving sowly, I also felt the usual tight-loose-tight of a dodgy joint. Can anyone confirm before I start digging that the wheel should be more or less easy to turn on the spot, or are they notieably heavier than a modern car?
Even though I've not had this problem, apparently the steering UJs are the usual culprit. Sadly there is no alt part, you do need the TVR specific part costing approx £35 each.Nice looking car!
Welcome to the madhouse!
The tight-loose-tight-loose feeling is characteristic of the steering UJs going 'square' rather than a power steering problem. The UJs are accessible from the drivers side wheel arch and there are 2 of them. The top one is in line of fire from all the road crap and is usually the first one to go. Its a fairly straightforward if slightly fiddly job to change them.
Workshop manual and wiring diagrams are available on http://www.tvr-cerbera.co.uk or http://www.thetvrsite.com/
If the performance is similar to your Venturi 300 - then you need to drive it harder!
The tight-loose-tight-loose feeling is characteristic of the steering UJs going 'square' rather than a power steering problem. The UJs are accessible from the drivers side wheel arch and there are 2 of them. The top one is in line of fire from all the road crap and is usually the first one to go. Its a fairly straightforward if slightly fiddly job to change them.
Workshop manual and wiring diagrams are available on http://www.tvr-cerbera.co.uk or http://www.thetvrsite.com/
If the performance is similar to your Venturi 300 - then you need to drive it harder!
Ok, I took the car out today and there's definitely something squiffy with the PAS. one minute it seems okay, the next it's gone. It seems to assist at slow speeds but really hates me trying to spin the wheel faster. Reckon the pump is kaput?
Based on a quick hunt around the TVR specialist websites, it looks like this one
http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/forged-unive...
And if they do it, it's definitely a generic part from something
depending on which side the large spline lives, the intermediate shaft can be changed for something muuuuch cheaper. Alternatively, you can get super fancy equivalents from Borgeson
One of the reasons I got rid of the venturi was interior ergonmics. It basically didn't have any...! Loving the Cerb for that reason, but I wish it had an armrest on the door...
ukkid35 said:
Even though I've not had this problem, apparently the steering UJs are the usual culprit. Sadly there is no alt part, you do need the TVR specific part costing approx £35 each.
I'm very familiar with this failure as it's a common DeLorean problem too - and they didn't use UJs with bearings! They're all from the same British stable, still in use today on thigs like Range rovers and Jags.Based on a quick hunt around the TVR specialist websites, it looks like this one
http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/forged-unive...
And if they do it, it's definitely a generic part from something
depending on which side the large spline lives, the intermediate shaft can be changed for something muuuuch cheaper. Alternatively, you can get super fancy equivalents from BorgesonTanguero said:
Welcome to the madhouse!
The UJs are accessible from the drivers side wheel arch and there are 2 of them. The top one is in line of fire from all the road crap and is usually the first one to go. Its a fairly straightforward if slightly fiddly job to change them.
Workshop manual and wiring diagrams are available on http://www.tvr-cerbera.co.uk or http://www.thetvrsite.com/
Got it, thanks!The UJs are accessible from the drivers side wheel arch and there are 2 of them. The top one is in line of fire from all the road crap and is usually the first one to go. Its a fairly straightforward if slightly fiddly job to change them.
Workshop manual and wiring diagrams are available on http://www.tvr-cerbera.co.uk or http://www.thetvrsite.com/
Tanguero said:
If the performance is similar to your Venturi 300 - then you need to drive it harder!
The Venturi pushes 310ft-lbs at 2500rpm compared to the speed 6's peak at 5000. At road-legal speeds, the accelleration (at least to my bum) seems very similar, though I agree it'd run out of puff higher up in the revs with "only" 280hp - but you just knock it up a cog and keep surfing the torque wave. It's also a similar weight to the Cerb. Just checked Wiki and we're talking 4.4 vs 5.2 secs to 60. One of the reasons I got rid of the venturi was interior ergonmics. It basically didn't have any...! Loving the Cerb for that reason, but I wish it had an armrest on the door...
Englishman said:
There are a number of other Cerb owners in Wiltshire if you want to compare notes, all on here.
Excrement! I'm in Melksham... anyone else wanna say hi? Ain't google grand?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TVR-STEERING-PUMP-GRIFFI...
...led me to this...
http://www.lrdirect.com/QVB101110-supplied-by-brit...
...and even this...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Range-Rover-P38-PAS-Stee...
Look about right to you guys?
How much of a beggar is it to change out on the speed 6? I've heard the V8 is a nightmare...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TVR-STEERING-PUMP-GRIFFI...
...led me to this...
http://www.lrdirect.com/QVB101110-supplied-by-brit...
...and even this...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Range-Rover-P38-PAS-Stee...
Look about right to you guys?
How much of a beggar is it to change out on the speed 6? I've heard the V8 is a nightmare...
K4TRV said:
Small world........in a Tamora at Bowerhill....hi!!
Hi! I'm off Spa road near the Giffords surery... you may have driven past our house the other day - the wife said she saw a TVR...Warwick67 said:
What you describe is exactly what my Cerb felt like shortly after I got it, fixed it with new UJs. Personally i'd start with the cheaper bits..... good luck
Noted, cheers. Wouldn't explain the speed thing though? Turning the wheel slowly is fully assisted). The joint(s) defo need doing, but I don't think they're the root of the matter... I live to be proved wrong though! Also as per my link above, a pump is only a tenner more than one UJ Stunned Monkey said:
K4TRV said:
Small world........in a Tamora at Bowerhill....hi!!
Hi! I'm off Spa road near the Giffords surery... you may have driven past our house the other day - the wife said she saw a TVR...
I doubt it, but see my Profile for what it is? Small world........in a Tamora at Bowerhill....hi!!
Hi! I'm off Spa road near the Giffords surery... you may have driven past our house the other day - the wife said she saw a TVR...
Doesn't get too many miles on its own, usually its on the trailer behind the M/Home on its way to a Sprint/Speed Hillclimb?!!
However, early tomorrow, TVR Power are having a look at its starter motor following the 4.3 upgrade, so a nice drive up to Coventry!!
Joining the TVR Club? Local meet last Wed of the month near Derry Hill?
Trev
Stunned Monkey said:
K4TRV said:
Small world........in a Tamora at Bowerhill....hi!!
Hi! I'm off Spa road near the Giffords surery... you may have driven past our house the other day - the wife said she saw a TVR...Warwick67 said:
What you describe is exactly what my Cerb felt like shortly after I got it, fixed it with new UJs. Personally i'd start with the cheaper bits..... good luck
Noted, cheers. Wouldn't explain the speed thing though? Turning the wheel slowly is fully assisted). The joint(s) defo need doing, but I don't think they're the root of the matter... I live to be proved wrong though! Also as per my link above, a pump is only a tenner more than one UJ As tangero said check the uj's first, the one behind the road wheel
I regularly clean out with a screw driver and spray some penetrative oil on to free up. The steering is relatively heavy and turning circle cumbersome with lots of lock required at low revs and low speed, lightens up and much less lock required as revs and speed increases.
I regularly clean out with a screw driver and spray some penetrative oil on to free up. The steering is relatively heavy and turning circle cumbersome with lots of lock required at low revs and low speed, lightens up and much less lock required as revs and speed increases.
LOL, well those would be the exhausts I'm about to swap back off!
To be fair to him, he never claimed it had never broken down, only that it has been very reliable since... he did 400 miles in it last weekend. Also the reson he gave for selling was entirely plausible.
To be fair to him, he never claimed it had never broken down, only that it has been very reliable since... he did 400 miles in it last weekend. Also the reson he gave for selling was entirely plausible.
Tanguero said:
Nice and easy check is to put it up on stands at the front so both wheels are off the ground and turn the steering side to side. If it is the UJ you will feel it with no power assist.
Good call. Now to look up jacking points...Officially you jack at the outrigger corners but between the twist that puts on the chassis and the possibility of putting a jack through a corroded outrigger*, the idea of that makes my blood run cold.
I jack the front under the centre cross member where the 'towing' loop is and the back under the centre rear brace. Both need a block of wood to sit on the jack platform to lift it without fouling on the splitter or exhaust, but they don't twist the car and leave the weight hanging from one corner.
I put axle stands either under the main chassis rails or under the outrigger supports as close to the chassis rail as possible. In either position I put small rubber mats on top of the stands.
ETA - *Not that my outriggers are corroded any longer!
But they were and a jack folds a dodgy outrigger a treat.
I jack the front under the centre cross member where the 'towing' loop is and the back under the centre rear brace. Both need a block of wood to sit on the jack platform to lift it without fouling on the splitter or exhaust, but they don't twist the car and leave the weight hanging from one corner.
I put axle stands either under the main chassis rails or under the outrigger supports as close to the chassis rail as possible. In either position I put small rubber mats on top of the stands.
ETA - *Not that my outriggers are corroded any longer!
But they were and a jack folds a dodgy outrigger a treat.Edited by Tanguero on Monday 3rd November 15:13
Tanguero said:
Officially you jack at the outrigger corners but between the twist that puts on the chassis and the possibility of putting a jack through a corroded outrigger, the idea of that makes my blood run cold.
I jack the front under the centre cross member where the 'towing' loop is and the back under the centre rear brace.
Totally agree.I jack the front under the centre cross member where the 'towing' loop is and the back under the centre rear brace.
Do you have any pics of your rear lift procedure?
This is how I lift the rear now, it's so easy using an electric scissor jack, and even though it's not in the centre, the car lifts with minimal body roll.
I don't have any pics, but just I have a wooden block that goes up between the exhaust pipes so I can lift it by the cross-member just behind the diff. I hadn't thought of lifting where you do - it looks a lot easier particularly when the standard back box is on. I will give it a go next time!
Well an afternoon's crawling over the car was most fruitful...
Firstly the sports exhaust didn't just consist of the rear boxes. I discovered the ID of the connection on the loud pipes to be the same as the OD of the connection on the quiet ones. Grr. The quiet ones are powerflow silencers mounted more or less sideways on - does thaat sound correct?
Had the under-bonnet panels out to have a good look and the chassis does indeed look healthy, but not what you'd call clean given the gallons of waxoyl... PAS pump looks fairly accessible.
What I did find was a coolant hose, small ID, maybe half inch, right under the header bottle where it joins a hard line going into the car parallel with the valve cover - heater matrix? - rubber very perished where it's been getting the heat from the manifold. That'll need swapping out before long. I'll prolly switch to a pipe on that elbow.
Rear view mirror is all wobbly. Common problem, or are they really "all like that"?
The trunion on the lower steering UJ looks in good shape, but the top one is indeed covered in sheeeite.
Firstly the sports exhaust didn't just consist of the rear boxes. I discovered the ID of the connection on the loud pipes to be the same as the OD of the connection on the quiet ones. Grr. The quiet ones are powerflow silencers mounted more or less sideways on - does thaat sound correct?
Had the under-bonnet panels out to have a good look and the chassis does indeed look healthy, but not what you'd call clean given the gallons of waxoyl... PAS pump looks fairly accessible.
What I did find was a coolant hose, small ID, maybe half inch, right under the header bottle where it joins a hard line going into the car parallel with the valve cover - heater matrix? - rubber very perished where it's been getting the heat from the manifold. That'll need swapping out before long. I'll prolly switch to a pipe on that elbow.
Rear view mirror is all wobbly. Common problem, or are they really "all like that"?
The trunion on the lower steering UJ looks in good shape, but the top one is indeed covered in sheeeite.
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