Information & Advice Please !!

[PAS]

Morning !!

To cut a long story short ... been looking (with blinkered vision) at Cerberas for the last 3 months, driving as many as possible, finding out as much as I possibly can, etc.
Eventually found one, put down large deposit, was due to pick up the keys on Friday ... all fell through Thursday afternoon due to various reasons ... the main one being a large car maker reducing contractors rates across the board, by enough to make me think twice about spending 25k on a new toy.
After spending all week looking forward to picking up my first TVR, you can imagine my disappointment!!

Not to be deterred from my thirst for a TVR .... I am now looking a Chimaera's, in the region of £17-18k

I went to see 2 examples yesterday, one 96P the other 97P (the car must have had a facelift in the interior etc between the 2).

If you have any advice on what to look for, and watch out for, and the differences (apart from the obvious) between the 4.0, 4.5 or 5.0 etc it would be appreciated.
As you can imagine, money is burining a hole in my pocket now.

(By the way this car will be my everyday car)

(Also if anybody knows of any tidy examples (97+) at reputable dealers, let me know ... I have a Part Ex)

Cheers, am going to start trawling through the archives now ....

PAS

[simpo one]

What happened to your deposit?

[antonyb]

I bought a 97P Chim 400 from Adrian Blyth in very nice condition... excellent service and all, for around that money. See my profile. I use it as my everyday car and it is left outside in my drive and at the station. I am having some resealing work done in the engine bay area (clutch plate and accelerator cable) as I have had a bit of water ingress during the recent heavy rain, but nothing serious. Buy yourself a Leven Tech cover and you should be fine!

I have never looked back. Best decision I've made for some time!

[rude girl]

Talk to Rob Ingleby - check out www.findasportscar.co.uk.

[RobM]

is the roof water tight?

occasionaly, but they all do that sir, From now on, know know as, TADTS

do the carpets have watermarks on them?
TADTS , sometimes ...

are the wipers working on every setting?
DOUBLE TADTS WITH CHEESE

is the handbrake a bitch to pull up (i think this might come as standard)
TREBLE TADTS with cheese, relish and a free coke.


BTW, all these probs dont matter at all, cause car goes like iced-shit off shiny shovel....

and most important of all... will it do multiple donuts at 7000 revs?

nope, 4k revs is all thats needed

Apart from all that ! I had same thought with my 1st chim, almost 4 yrs ago. Round about then, there was this serpentine engine, btr differential & t5 box thing. That is to say, the preffered combo was the serpentine engine, btr diff & t5 box, as during that time there was a crossover with gkn diff( which had some limited slip problems ) and rover box ( which has reverse next to 1st and ate itself occasionaly. t5 has it next to 5th ) and something that wasn't serpentine engine. Anyway, the top tip is, if you get one with the door open buttons under the wing mirror, then it has all the good diff, box, engine stuff. Although, you can get one with door open on the rear wing that has all three, but you'll have to make sure seller is telling the truth. If you see what I mean.

>> Edited by RobM on Wednesday 4th December 00:37

>> Edited by RobM on Wednesday 4th December 00:39

[K3NJW]

I just had my Chimaera serviced by Richard Moore at Moore racing, in Milton Keynes, and he provides a service to travel out and inspect any car you may be interested in. Obviously charges depend on distance, but I'm sure he won't be the only independent offering such service. Incidentally his service, for half the price of TVR dealer was also twice as good. My car may not now have a full TVRSH but it goes better !!

[The Jiffle King]

Not an expert at this, but did look at 12 before buying my chim recently, and went with a bloke who worked on the landrover assembley line (where they used the v8) and his tips were: (to add to the others on this thread)

Ensure that the front bar of the chasis is straight (I saw 3 that were not)

A few stonechips are ok, if there are none, why has it just been re-sprayed? (might be a valid reason)

Does the V8 tick over nicely when stood still

Do both fans kick in at 90 (I saw at least 4 where either only 1 or neither worked)

Check how the doors hang, Have they scraped against the inside due to being badly hung

Oh and check how the hood attached to the car. Most I saw were dreadful with the glue coming away.

Hope this helps

[rthierry]

I've got the best advice of all...
buy mine!

www.pistonheads.com/ads/displayAd.asp?advertId=6394

[shpub]

Just uploaded a Chimaera buying guide (5 page PDF) to my website that gives a brief history, production numbers and things to look for. Go to FAQ section. Should help you.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[Lusso275]

Im currently looking to buy my first Griff, is there such a thing as a simple buyers guide with what to look for etc?

[shpub]

Lusso275 said: Im currently looking to buy my first Griff, is there such a thing as a simple buyers guide with what to look for etc?

Yep just uploaded the Griff buyer's guide. www.tvrbooks.co.uk and go to the FAQ section.

Steve

[Hut49]

I enjoyed the first sentence of the "Steering" section on page 4 of the Chimaera guide. They all do that, sir!

Hutch

[shpub]

Hut49 said: I enjoyed the first sentence of the "Steering" section on page 4 of the Chimaera guide. They all do that, sir!

Thanks I'll change it. Too close to reading the material.