removable hard top on my 'new' Chimaera

[chrisg4.5]

I have just made rather an impulse buy - divorce ahead when she finds out - of a Chimaera, which I hope to collect this weekend. I have been a happy Cerbera owner for six years and fancied an addition to the family... This was as I say a sudden, you-are-a-long-time-dead purchase, so I didn't go into things in much detail first. I notice that my new car has a "removable hard top" and in studying pictures of it alongside pictures of other Chimaeras, I see it does look quite different. Can anyone give me the five minute idiot's primer to the various roof configurations of these cars? If I had a fiver for every time I'd been asked if the roof came off the Cerbera I'd have, ooh, at least £30 by now - it doesn't and I am new to all this wind-in-the-hair (what hair?) business.

[JonyTVR]

I believe there is a company that makes these, centre peice removes as normal but the back is solid and has quick flip style release mech? Chims never had a hard top from factory I believe.

[JonyTVR]

Is it like this one?
http://www.steve-edwards.com/tvr_grp_projects.php

[chrisg4.5]

No, it isn't made to look like an integral hard top, body-coloured; it's more like a piece of rigid cloth, if that makes sense. The rear portion of the roof still folds down, I believe (I hope it does) but isn't that way in - for example - this picture..

[pwd95]

Sounds like every other TVR convertible since 1980.

[chrisg4.5]

Do you know, I was starting to wonder if that was the case and I was being a bit of a wally? But the dealer's spec has this "removable hard top" thing as though that were a feature, and in the gallery of others for sale on PH, they look, well, sort of different with the top down.. Still, grateful for the input, chaps.

[ralphy12345]

There's a guy called Roger Morris who makes a collapsable Surrey roof, it replaces the hard targa part. Perhaps that's what you are getting?

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

R

Edited by ralphy12345 on Wednesday 13th April 03:38

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

I suspect it's the standard roof, and the dealer's spec is just alluding to the fact that the Chimaera is a "targa" style convertible. The hard part of the roof is made of Kevlar I believe (though this might be total bks), and stows in the boot. The rear section folds down by pulling the middle of the two metal support struts, which causes them to collapse. Then you simply smooth the plastic window as it folds down, to avoid creases.

You can drive the car in three configurations:

1. Roof fully on
2. Roof off, and rear section folded down
3. Roof off, and rear section "up" (as illustrated in your photo)

When the roof is on, it's held in place purely by the compression from the two metal struts, which have an over-centre action to hold everything up.

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Wednesday 13th April 06:28

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Wednesday 13th April 13:25

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

[Deleted, because the post I was replying to has been removed.]

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Wednesday 13th April 13:23

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

[Deleted, because the post I was replying to has been removed.]

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Wednesday 13th April 13:24

[LordGrover]

... and back on topic.

It sounds to me like the standard rigid targa panel with the cloth removed and painted the same as the body.

[V8 GRF]

LordGrover said:

... and back on topic.

It sounds to me like the standard rigid targa panel with the cloth removed and painted the same as the body.

Yep that's what I thought.

[lestershaw]

anyone taken the cloth off of the targa, i have a spare one i am going to take the cloth off, but i have very little time and it looks a b*****r of a job,
Thanks
lester

[V8 GRF]

lestershaw said:

anyone taken the cloth off of the targa, i have a spare one i am going to take the cloth off, but i have very little time and it looks a b*****r of a job,
Thanks
lester

I assume you're planning to paint the panel?
The cloth is easy to take of, it's just the time removing the glue and getting a decent finish on the fibreglass underneath, Hours of elbow grease and spray filler/primer

[lestershaw]

Thanks, Dave and Spend
i usually start work at 5 am and get home at 630 pm, and i get two weekends off in 3 so as you can see time is precious. i cant afford hours priming rubbing down etc, rather than do that do you think it will be quicker to re cover, maybe even more cost effective to send it out to be done?
i have a cunning plan for my roof and rather than look a fool now, i would rather wait till i am done before i look a fool lol ( its a spare roof just in case :-)

[V8 GRF]

lestershaw said:

Thanks, Dave and Spend
i usually start work at 5 am and get home at 630 pm, and i get two weekends off in 3 so as you can see time is precious. i cant afford hours priming rubbing down etc, rather than do that do you think it will be quicker to re cover, maybe even more cost effective to send it out to be done?
i have a cunning plan for my roof and rather than look a fool now, i would rather wait till i am done before i look a fool lol ( its a spare roof just in case :-)

I'd get quotes for both, a professional sprayer should be able to do it quite quickly I imagine. You just need to consider that the roof with paint will then be more liable to scratches and thus needs to be handled more carefully,

[LordGrover]

This is the chimp bit. You're getting it confused with the Griff section.

[chrisg4.5]

Wow, what an intro to the Chimaera world! (Although I see there've been some deletions..) So, I guess I have a bog standard roof, then... Looking forward to Saturday all the more.

[spend]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

...this might be total bks...

:yippee: an accurate & articulate contribution at last

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Your personal opinion of me matters, spend, and I will cry myself to sleep tonight.

(Oh hang on a minute, that might be bks as well...)



Edited to add: I must admit, I'm surprised that even the useful contributions you made to this thread have been moderated, or did you remove them yourself?

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Wednesday 13th April 14:12