Secured my first TVR - Here come the questions!
Discussion
Hmmm, that's not good. It had an MOT last May with only minor advisories.
In one sense I know that it's bad to have a bad chassis, but I also am not against totally doing a body off restoration on this car in time, so it could be worse if that is the case.
The owner before the dealer had it inspected by a third party and the report says "the vehicle in our opinion has a very good strong chassis, however it is recommended it is now treated with rust prevention and wax oil to prevent further decay"
In one sense I know that it's bad to have a bad chassis, but I also am not against totally doing a body off restoration on this car in time, so it could be worse if that is the case.
The owner before the dealer had it inspected by a third party and the report says "the vehicle in our opinion has a very good strong chassis, however it is recommended it is now treated with rust prevention and wax oil to prevent further decay"
well....it turns out it is the same car 
I'll be honest, I didn't get as good pictures as that, but I did see some of that from the underneath, and it does look bad in the pictures, but where I did test, it all seems to be surface corrosion. I will certainly get it checked but for £9k, a lot of the rest is good, and I don't think its as bad as those pictures make out in my opinion...
I'll be honest, I didn't get as good pictures as that, but I did see some of that from the underneath, and it does look bad in the pictures, but where I did test, it all seems to be surface corrosion. I will certainly get it checked but for £9k, a lot of the rest is good, and I don't think its as bad as those pictures make out in my opinion...
Classic Chim said:
I’d say the riggers are a pain but not a big problem. You need to remove at least one front wheel and check the chassis top tube ( circular) as it runs from front to back and specifically where it runs past the engine at the top wishbone pick up point or lugs,, if it is rotten there it will require body off and a lot more work to make safe.
I have no wish to upset you as today should be a very special day but I felt compelled to offer this advice. Look very closely indeed.
Hopefully this is a red Herrin but its often the case that chassis can be very poor if not looked after properly. To put this in perspective I’d estimate 80% of Chims on original riggers are rotten so it’s hardly the end of the road,,, check main tubing as that’s where the real problems lie.
Appreciate your advice, it's a shame if it is the case and has certainly taken the shine off the day but it is what it is, I will take it down to Str8six at some point soon and see what they say (unless there is another recommended garage in Bucks?)I have no wish to upset you as today should be a very special day but I felt compelled to offer this advice. Look very closely indeed.
Hopefully this is a red Herrin but its often the case that chassis can be very poor if not looked after properly. To put this in perspective I’d estimate 80% of Chims on original riggers are rotten so it’s hardly the end of the road,,, check main tubing as that’s where the real problems lie.
ill try to look at the positives, if I need new outriggers, or at worst a new chassis, then I'll have a chim with a brand new chassis, can't be a bad thing
ianwayne said:
At least you're willing to do stuff yourself! That rubber sheet in the door is attached to the top of the door frame behind the door panel, or should be. It is meant to be there, deflecting rainwater that gets in the door away from the electrical wires, sort of. You've already had the speaker out so to get the door panel off you have to reach a very long thin arm inside to get the nuts off. I replace the hardest to reach ones with wing nuts afterwards. Being an early model, you will likely only have 3 nuts in there (later ones have 4), one to the left as you look in the driver's door speaker hole, and 2 round to your right.
The door glass being slightly loose in the frames is common too, it is often very tight at the bottom. If it goes all the way down and up on battery power alone without the engine running, I'd be pleasantly surprised. The glass is bonded to a horizontal metal piece (may be unsecure) which in turn is bolted onto the window regulator drive. It's door panel off to get at it. This is what it is like with the long rubber piece removed. I bonded it back on again after because it annoyingly gets in the way:
Those 2 holes in the plate are what the glass runner bolts to.
Yes they are all carbon fibre effect targa top with canvas top. Don't break it, they're £hundreds second hand.
Speedo looks from the MoT history to not have been working for a couple of years. I saw another car that had the same mileage on MoTs for 6 years! Reflects badly on the owner IMHO. It may be the detector down by the rear diff but if it isn't, unless you can tap it like mad or even prise off the bevel edge and get it working, it's probably a send away job. But it hasn't stuck at an exact thousand so it may be a complete failure.
Second hand ones are often on ebay too.
15psi oil pressure at idle isn't unusual, there are threads on here about oil pressure senders under-reading too. 10 psi on a hot engine at idle is common.
Rubber seal for door and targa section comes off a roll. TVR Parts do it all or you may try other trimmers. When I changed mine, I didn't bother pop riveting the ends on like thay do at the factory. I found it unnecessary.
What you think is the hood coming away at the sides may just be the Velcro sections coming away that the hood inside edges stick to in the up position. A common thing.
The dashboard isn't original I think. There was an aluminium dash option from about 1999 I think (I had a W reg Chimaera with a factory one). Some prefer the wood look. I don't personally. Mine is carbon fibre effect wrapped on my current '96 car because the veneer had split badly.
Not my cup of tea those seats but somebody may do you a swap.
Looks like a lot of the minor issues could be easily fixable. Thanks for this informationThe door glass being slightly loose in the frames is common too, it is often very tight at the bottom. If it goes all the way down and up on battery power alone without the engine running, I'd be pleasantly surprised. The glass is bonded to a horizontal metal piece (may be unsecure) which in turn is bolted onto the window regulator drive. It's door panel off to get at it. This is what it is like with the long rubber piece removed. I bonded it back on again after because it annoyingly gets in the way:
Those 2 holes in the plate are what the glass runner bolts to.
Yes they are all carbon fibre effect targa top with canvas top. Don't break it, they're £hundreds second hand.
Speedo looks from the MoT history to not have been working for a couple of years. I saw another car that had the same mileage on MoTs for 6 years! Reflects badly on the owner IMHO. It may be the detector down by the rear diff but if it isn't, unless you can tap it like mad or even prise off the bevel edge and get it working, it's probably a send away job. But it hasn't stuck at an exact thousand so it may be a complete failure.
Second hand ones are often on ebay too. 15psi oil pressure at idle isn't unusual, there are threads on here about oil pressure senders under-reading too. 10 psi on a hot engine at idle is common.
Rubber seal for door and targa section comes off a roll. TVR Parts do it all or you may try other trimmers. When I changed mine, I didn't bother pop riveting the ends on like thay do at the factory. I found it unnecessary.
What you think is the hood coming away at the sides may just be the Velcro sections coming away that the hood inside edges stick to in the up position. A common thing.
The dashboard isn't original I think. There was an aluminium dash option from about 1999 I think (I had a W reg Chimaera with a factory one). Some prefer the wood look. I don't personally. Mine is carbon fibre effect wrapped on my current '96 car because the veneer had split badly.
Not my cup of tea those seats but somebody may do you a swap.
thanks all for your advice and words.
I think you're right, I've bought into the TVR Dream, warts and all. I keep telling myself that I did buy this as a project. Sure, it might be slightly more of a project than expected but that's ok. Unfortunately body lifts would have to be done by someone else as I don't yet have the facilities, so it may be expensive, but if I can hire a lift and some space then I can probably do it myself.
Plus this car has some nice parts on it already, and I think it would restore to a nice level. I plan to make it as close to mint as possible over the years, I'll just have to pad the wallet out a little more to get going!
I think you're right, I've bought into the TVR Dream, warts and all. I keep telling myself that I did buy this as a project. Sure, it might be slightly more of a project than expected but that's ok. Unfortunately body lifts would have to be done by someone else as I don't yet have the facilities, so it may be expensive, but if I can hire a lift and some space then I can probably do it myself.
Plus this car has some nice parts on it already, and I think it would restore to a nice level. I plan to make it as close to mint as possible over the years, I'll just have to pad the wallet out a little more to get going!
yeah I'll have to get a picture to show what I mean about the hood, I'm sure it's fixable but as I'm new I don't know what is right and what isn't.
and yes there is an aerial added to the roof. I don't like this, and will remove it by probably getting a new hood completely when I come to that part of the fix up
and yes there is an aerial added to the roof. I don't like this, and will remove it by probably getting a new hood completely when I come to that part of the fix up
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