Thinking about buying a chim.

[blade7]

Hi, I've been thinking about buying a chim as they seem good value but I'm a bit concerned about spares, mainly bodywork and suspension, are these parts available in the present TVR situation, also I'm located in the Cambs/Beds area anywhere localish to pop along a have a chat with owners. Cheers.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

http://www.offord.com/home.html

[Zippee]

Where abouts in Cambs are you? I'm in St Neots and would be more than happy to meet up and discuss ownership etc...

[HRG]

Suspension, every part is available I've just replaced the wishbones and shocks on my Griff, and everything was ordered straight from stock

[WazzaL]

Stop thinking and start looking!

I was worried when I started thinking about getting one. But parts (and upgrades) are readily available.

[L33]

If you buy mine, all suspension, bushes and wishbones have already been replaced so you wouldn't need to replace them anyway

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/404942.htm

Joking aside, everything is still very much available or repairable.

[Chimjunkie]

I had my eyes on L33's Chim if my car was not going to be repaired and the insurance wouldn't sell back to me. Tidy car. A good Takara upgraded 500 will give speed6 engined cars a good run for their money! There are many people offering replacement body parts too. Dave Hillis (aka PlasticMan on PH) is one of the best.

[blade7]

Thanks for the replies, OMC is only about 5 miles from me and I drive past quite often but no disrespect whatsoever to them (never even met them) I would like to buy privately really. L33s car does sound outstanding but it's a bit beyond what I had budgeted for a weekend toy, pity it does tick all the boxes. Zippee, I'm just outside St.Neots myself, when the weather improves I'd like to meet for a chat and maybe pick up some buying info.

Cheers.

[Zippee]

blade7 said:

Zippee, I'm just outside St.Neots myself, when the weather improves I'd like to meet for a chat and maybe pick up some buying info.

Cheers.

Not a problem, send me a PM when/if you want to meet up for a lunchtime beer and a chat. Saturdays are best for me but let me know whenever.

[blade7]

Not a problem, send me a PM when/if you want to meet up for a lunchtime beer and a chat. Saturdays are best for me but let me know whenever.
[/quote]

Will do.
Further to a bit of research I'm a bit concerned about the cam wear and cylinder cracking business, is there a particular engine that is less prone to these problems or should I really be looking for low mileage or a rebuilt engine ?.

[S6 Devil]

The 400's seem to have less problems with the cams or so I was advised by Fernhursts when I asked. This is a great sorted car:
http://pistonheads.com/sales/428570.htm

[Zippee]

blade7 said:

Further to a bit of research I'm a bit concerned about the cam wear and cylinder cracking business, is there a particular engine that is less prone to these problems or should I really be looking for low mileage or a rebuilt engine ?.

Cams can wear out around 60k but this is not an exact science. Mine is on just under 57k and has no sign of cam wear at all. The cylider cracking is also quite rare and there are a lot of Chims with mileages touching 100k that are still going very strong.

Remember the RV8 is a proven engine and has been tried and tested in Range/Land rovers, kit cars, Morgans and plenty of others - it really is a strong engine providing it's looked after and treated well (warmed up properly etc).

Most parts on the Chims and Griffs are from donors such as Fords, Vauxhalls & Range Rovers anyway.

[blade7]

Thanks S6, not in love with green and it's a bit over budget too though it does look a nice car.
The cam itself is not my real concern just the result of it knackering the engine if it fails, interesting reading on RPi engineerings site. I was passing OMC today so dropped in, first time I've sat in and looked close at a chim, nice.

[cmr2payne]

What sort of age and price range as you looking at ?

[HRG]

The engines are strong, but if a component does fail it's a convenient excuse for an upgrade

[blade7]

cmr2payne said:

What sort of age and price range as you looking at ?

Hard to say really, they seem to start around 7k and various ages, if I found a good car at that price I'd go for it, but I suppose at that price unless it was a bargain it would need work. On the other hand if I found an amazing car I could go to £10k, I'm buying it mainly for the noise, I've got a bike to go really fast.

[blade7]

HRG said:

The engines are strong, but if a component does fail it's a convenient excuse for an upgrade

I wouldn't mind buying one with a broken engine, for the right dosh.

[cmr2payne]

i have one for sale in the classified http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/353399.htm. email me if your interested.

[blade7]

cmr2payne said:

i have one for sale in the classified http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/353399.htm. email me if your interested.

Thanks. The blue chim looks good.

[cmr2payne]

Blue chim, is my 5ltr which i have just Tarakaed, not for sale, only selling my red one off :-). email me if your interested