My first TVR (95, 4.0) - some concerns
Discussion
Just bought my first TVR - a 1995 Red Chim 4.0. 36k miles – checked out by D.Batty. Great car, serious smile fodder, but have some issues am not sure about.
1.Most worrying is the swerve to the right the car makes when braking - worse the higher the speed - what is likely to be causing this?
2. How accurate are the speedometers? Sure that mine is reading higher than the car is travelling, unless everyone else is doing 100!
3. It is one hot mother of a car. I presume being stuck in traffic on a hot day is one to avoid!
4. Can power steering and a/c be fitted to a 95 model - or not worth it? Live in London and wife has to park it!
thanks
Stig
1.Most worrying is the swerve to the right the car makes when braking - worse the higher the speed - what is likely to be causing this?
2. How accurate are the speedometers? Sure that mine is reading higher than the car is travelling, unless everyone else is doing 100!
3. It is one hot mother of a car. I presume being stuck in traffic on a hot day is one to avoid!
4. Can power steering and a/c be fitted to a 95 model - or not worth it? Live in London and wife has to park it!
thanks
Stig
quote:
Just bought my first TVR - a 1995 Red Chim 4.0. 36k miles – checked out by D.Batty. Great car, serious smile fodder, but have some issues am not sure about.
1.Most worrying is the swerve to the right the car makes when braking - worse the higher the speed - what is likely to be causing this.
thanks
Stig
I had this small problem through mostly lack of use and no lubrication to the caliper sliding pins, easy job though, remove each front wheel, undo caliper pins allen key required for this, and lubricate sliding pins with copper grease until they pass in and out with ease, also remove and clean up front pads sides and backs with a wire brush, place a bit of copper grease to the backs of the pads and replace.
Also under inflated or worn tyres can cause this.
Sounds like a caliper has gone shouldnt be that expensive to replace as they are ford parts anyway cheaper to buy from fords than t.v.r as regards pas and aircon its not worth the money and hassle, about two grand to have air con fitted and from what other people have posted on here not much benefit either as with pas send the wife down the gym to work on her biceps,i live in south london as well so plenty of gyms to choose from, enjoy your ownership i still cant prise myself away from mine to get back in my range rover.... enjoy
quote:
1.Most worrying is the swerve to the right the car makes when braking - worse the higher the speed - what is likely to be causing this?
have the brakes been upgraded recently?, if so there may be a disk caliper mis-match or maybe air in the system which needs bleeding,wrong pads etc etc, anyway it doesn't sound very safe so i'd get it looked at sooner than later imho.
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2. How accurate are the speedometers? Sure that mine is reading higher than the car is travelling, unless everyone else is doing 100!
yep, that speeds about right for most TVR owners!!!
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3. It is one hot mother of a car. I presume being
stuck in traffic on a hot day is one to avoid!
yep,a tropical interior, sounds right.
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4. Can power steering and a/c be fitted to a 95 model - or not worth it? Live in London and wife has to park it!
yes it can be if you want it too, ££££ though.A few owners on here have fitted their own so it might be worth asking around on here for more info.
heliox
quote:
How accurate are the speedometers? Sure that mine is reading higher than the car is travelling, unless everyone else is doing 100!
..were you surrounded by TVRs?
Hope you manage to sort out the callipers and enjoy your purchase - surprised DB didn't pick up on the brake problem but perhaps it was just a static look over.
I found that my first couple of days in my Chim I was detecting all sort of things I thought were imminent cash-consuming disasters about to happen. I got used to the car's idiosyncracies after about 150 miles. Most annoying at the beginning were the back end rattles and clunks. These seemed to be worse when the exhaust/rear suspension components were cold. Once everything had heated up most rattles disappeared or I tuned them out/drove round potholes and manhole covers etc.
Now I've done around 1500 trouble free miles, about 1400 with the top off. It's just great fun and wished I'd taken the plunge years ago.
Happy motoring Stig!
Hutch
Many thanks for your advice Guys, will get the Calipers checked out ASAP. Agree with Hutch that I am being sensitive to all knocks and clunks - of which there seem to be a few!
Sounds like a/c is a waste of money - just have to regard as a free sauna when in traffic!...and will see if wife can join a gym to aviod PAS- te he he!
This is an excellent forum, glad to be joining this brotherhood of TVR owners! Is certainly the most fun car I have ever owned - and likely to own. Used to driving Turbos - Saab and Fiat Coupe - great cars but power delivered rather suddenly and through front wheels. I love the effortless accel of the Chim, just need to avoid getting speeding points!
Sounds like a/c is a waste of money - just have to regard as a free sauna when in traffic!...and will see if wife can join a gym to aviod PAS- te he he!
This is an excellent forum, glad to be joining this brotherhood of TVR owners! Is certainly the most fun car I have ever owned - and likely to own. Used to driving Turbos - Saab and Fiat Coupe - great cars but power delivered rather suddenly and through front wheels. I love the effortless accel of the Chim, just need to avoid getting speeding points!
you'll find the speedo over-reads considerably, but massages your ego well. gets worse as speed increases.
Try to borrow someone else in another car or use a GPS to calibrate. I used GPS.
in my 94 chim
indicated 90 = actual 77 ish
indicated 100 = 86 ish
indicated 130~= 115ish
Not tested on roads, of course.
At 30-50 it over-reads by approx 5-6mph, or at least that is the rule of thumb that I use.
I have neither PAS or Air. Just get used to the former (and keep the tyre pressures up) and take the roof off for the latter. this isn't california!
R
>> Edited by yum on Sunday 15th September 22:14
Try to borrow someone else in another car or use a GPS to calibrate. I used GPS.
in my 94 chim
indicated 90 = actual 77 ish
indicated 100 = 86 ish
indicated 130~= 115ish
Not tested on roads, of course.
At 30-50 it over-reads by approx 5-6mph, or at least that is the rule of thumb that I use.
I have neither PAS or Air. Just get used to the former (and keep the tyre pressures up) and take the roof off for the latter. this isn't california!
R
>> Edited by yum on Sunday 15th September 22:14
Stig, there have been a few topics here on speedo reading high/low. This is an electronic instrument and the transponder is at the dif/propshaft. The gap betreen sender/receiver is critical and may need adjusting on yours. Get it done at the next service - until then leave your ego in boost mode! 
As for a/c it's a personal choice, but after-fit will cost about £2K and most people will think you're mad (including me).
Roar on.
As for a/c it's a personal choice, but after-fit will cost about £2K and most people will think you're mad (including me).
Roar on.
There's a tyre speed spreadsheet on my website which allows you work out the speed vs revs based on tyre size.
As for braking this vould be tyre pressures, geometry, bent chassis, stuck callipers, air in the hydraulics, duff brake pads for a start.
Retro fitting A/C on a 95.... may not be possibel as the car may not have the aircon compatible heater box. 2K otherwise.
As for PAs this is also around 2K from a dealer. Main problem is tracking down a rack as they are like golddust!
Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
As for braking this vould be tyre pressures, geometry, bent chassis, stuck callipers, air in the hydraulics, duff brake pads for a start.
Retro fitting A/C on a 95.... may not be possibel as the car may not have the aircon compatible heater box. 2K otherwise.
As for PAs this is also around 2K from a dealer. Main problem is tracking down a rack as they are like golddust!
Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
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quote:
.....bent chassis.....
Christ Steve, I'm all for completeness, but ease the poor guy in gently. He's only just bought it!!!
Stig - whilst technically Steve is correct, I'd start with the lowe level stuff first!! I am als assuming that Dave Batty would spot a bent chassis!!!
The question gets asked so I give you the answers. What do you want me to do? Give an age of ownership rating to a reply! I forgot to include, bent wheel, knackered steering rack and others. Basically anything to do with the suspension or brakes. I didn't include the tie rod ends cos the car doesn't have them but on the Wedges these are a number one suspect.
PS Wouldn't be the first time that a bent chassis has been missed as they can be difficult to find in some cases. If the car was pulling to one side under braking, I would have thought this would have been picked up on an inspection unless it had just recently happened.
Steve
Again Many thanks for your responses. Looks like a/c and PAS are out - just thought I would check!
I do hope the swerving when braking is not as serious as some of you guys think. Fingers crossed Mr Batty would have spotted anything too nasty, could do without a huge bill to begin my ownership!
cheers
Stig
I do hope the swerving when braking is not as serious as some of you guys think. Fingers crossed Mr Batty would have spotted anything too nasty, could do without a huge bill to begin my ownership!
cheers
Stig
quote:
quote:
.....bent chassis.....
Christ Steve, I'm all for completeness, but ease the poor guy in gently. He's only just bought it!!!
Stig - whilst technically Steve is correct, I'd start with the lowe level stuff first!! I am als assuming that Dave Batty would spot a bent chassis!!!
im sure he would if he'd been asked to carry out a chassis alignment & geometry check.
and how many people do that before they purchase their new pride and joy, eh.?
valid point indeed Mr Heath
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