Discussion
I am looking to buy an early (93/94) Chimaera which will be my first TVR. Been reading up and seems chassis rot is something I need to take seriously. I looked at one Friday which seemed ok but then it was waxoiled so inspection was difficult. However the one I fancy has not long had the outriggers replaced and then all waxoiled by an indie.
Any comments abou this.. are the outriggers the only/major/one of the problem areas and should this make me feel better (they are after all replaced) or wary (has the rot set in). Or am I being overly paranoid?!!
Any comments abou this.. are the outriggers the only/major/one of the problem areas and should this make me feel better (they are after all replaced) or wary (has the rot set in). Or am I being overly paranoid?!!
You should be a little wary, though I wouldn't get paranoid over it. The outriggers are just in a place which makes them easily corrodable if not looked after properly. Take a screwdriver with you when you look at the car and scrape off a bit of waxoyl to see the condition of the actual metal - primarily around the wheel wells and behind/on top of the bits under the doors... If they've been replaced recently then there shouldnt be a problem but its worth checking so you don't have to spend hours scraping off rust and repainting later!
You're being overly paranoid - the central section of the chassis seem to be well protected from corrosion - the wishbones and outriggers are the trouble spots for obvious reasons. If the outriggers and wishbones have been replaced properly I would see this as a good sign not a concern. BTW The age of the TVR is no indicator of the likelihood of chassis corrosion - early cars very often have the best chassis IMO.
Jay
Jay
Thanks for the comment, thats reassured me somewhat. The outriggers on this particular car are replaced by an independant TVR dealer so I guess its been done to the right standard. No mention of wishbones tho so shall be checking.
Interesting comment about chassis condition of early cars often being better than later cars, as wondered if I should try and up the budget and get a later one...
Interesting comment about chassis condition of early cars often being better than later cars, as wondered if I should try and up the budget and get a later one...
I wouldn't worry about the age of the car, if the chassis is in good nick, check the electrics and all the usual bits and get a feel for the engine and the car in general to make sure its not a 'Friday afternoon special'. If it has a lot of bills with it, then its likely that any niggles have been sorted out already, and a high(ish) mileage shows that its been used and is therefore probably a better runner. Mine had done around 3k miles in 3 years when I bought it, so had spent a fair bit of time in the garage on an accumate despite being a daily driver for the original owner and I did find that a lot of things needed oiling, the throttle cable was stiff and took a while of use to free back up etc. In short, buy on condition rather than youth and dont be afraid of mileage and bills and it probably means that you will encounter less yourself!
Thanks, thats really helpful. The car in question has a wad of bills totalling 000's, new rad, clutch etc etc and has done 51k with fsh - tvr main dealer and indie. It's averaged around 3k over the last 5 years when the last owner had it. front end is pretty stone chipped but guess thats easily sorted and seems to drive well - no clunks etc.
I guess my next dilema is whether its worth putting £3-4k extra to get a younger one or to put the money into a maintenance fund for future bills etc as I've not got an unlimited budget
I guess my next dilema is whether its worth putting £3-4k extra to get a younger one or to put the money into a maintenance fund for future bills etc as I've not got an unlimited budget
Sounds like its been pretty well looked after, personally if it looks good then i'd have that one and keep the extra money for the 'oh shit' fund or for mods... The stone chips can be sorted out with a front end respray (search the forums for plenty of places that come recommended) and then you could either save the extra money or do a fair bit to the car... For £4k you could uprate the shocks, brakes, engine breathing, and exhaust and still have plenty left for unforseen problems, or save a bit more and you could get it supercharged... 
Edited by thenick on Sunday 1st July 12:51
Edited by thenick on Sunday 1st July 12:51
jeff19750 said:
Thanks for the comment, thats reassured me somewhat. The outriggers on this particular car are replaced by an independant TVR dealer so I guess its been done to the right standard. No mention of wishbones tho so shall be checking.
Interesting comment about chassis condition of early cars often being better than later cars, as wondered if I should try and up the budget and get a later one...
Just a thought but how about contacting the indie that did the work - find out from them how bad the chassis was before the replacements and what work they needed to do (if any) to the rest of the chassis. If an owners gone to the expense of having the riggers done then I doubt they'd have scrimped on treatment for the rest of the chassis.Interesting comment about chassis condition of early cars often being better than later cars, as wondered if I should try and up the budget and get a later one...
Also, with regard to the budget - get the best car you can afford - that won't always be the newest. A slush fund of a couple of grand is a good idea.
A good idea is to show the cars your interested in on here as the TVR community is pretty small theres a good chance someone here will know the car.
thenick said:
Sounds like its been pretty well looked after, personally if it looks good then i'd have that one and keep the extra money for the 'oh shit' fund or for mods... The stone chips can be sorted out with a front end respray (search the forums for plenty of places that come recommended) and then you could either save the extra money or do a fair bit to the car... For £4k you could uprate the shocks, brakes, engine breathing, and exhaust and still have plenty left for unforseen problems, or save a bit more and you could get it supercharged...
From experience is a budget £1-1.5k annual running costs a reasonable figure with maybe a couple of grand in the "oh shit fund"??Edited by thenick on Sunday 1st July 12:51
Edited by thenick on Sunday 1st July 12:51
Yes, introduce yourself to you local TVRCC region.
They're likely to know the cars history if you are looking locally.
They will be able to tell you what they really think of the independent who did the work. Some have better reputations than others.
They may have someone who will come with you and look at the car.
Fester
They're likely to know the cars history if you are looking locally.
They will be able to tell you what they really think of the independent who did the work. Some have better reputations than others.
They may have someone who will come with you and look at the car.
Fester
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