My TVR Chimaera reborn!
Discussion
I have an old thread with a couple of pictures of my Chimaera when i bought her, but rather than update that I thought I would start a new thread.
I bought her as an unfinished project, mechanically she was nigh on perfect, with a newly refurbished chassis, new 4.6 V8 Developments engine with top hat liner cross bolted block, reground crank, pocketed pistons, stage three heads, 45mm inlet manifold & trumpet base, & a 72mm plenum, all matched for better breathing, a stealth cam & new oil pump. Obviously a new clutch had been fitted, but i don't know what make. Although a '94 car, it also had a T5 gearbox from a later car.
On top of that all the ancillaries, battery, starter motor, alternator etc were new. The radiator was re-cored, & new fans fitted also. The list doesn't stop there, as she also had Gaz nickel adjustable shocks, uprated larger front discs with AP 4 pot calipers, new brake & fuel lines, with the wheels, also new, being 17 inch Team Dynamics 1.2 Pro Race, shod with toyo proxies, 215/45 at the front & 245/45 at the rear. All completed with a full geo setup.
All the bushes were replaced, & Steve heath drop links were fitted. Finally a new Sigma alarm was installed in favour of the standard, often troublesome one. All the work was done by Dulford Automotive, near Exeter, & although I didn't know it then, over the coming months my car would need their expertise once again.
The downsides were that the body had seen better days, there were several stress cracks in various places, & quite a bit of crazing, & it was obvious that a serious body restoration was required. The interior was also shot, the dash veneer was more backing plate than wood, the stereo was kaput (big deal), the seats needed replacing or re-covering, & the carpets needed replacing.
The original colour of the car was Starfire mica blue, a Toyota colour, which was ok, but i wanted something a bit more special, & in the end I settled on Starmist blue, but with a hell of a lot more metalflake thrown into the paint mix. The results can be seen below. I also managed to source a pair of re-covered seats. I wasn't sure of the chocolate brown strip down the centre section at first, but once fitted they just looked right to my eyes, so they stay. I experimented with a new dash style as well. Most guys who replace the old dash fit a stainless dash, but i wanted to try something different so I re-covered it in blue alcantara, & I think it works well.
This is now up to date. I haven't had new carpets yet, got to save a few more pennies first, but it will be done before the winter.
And here she is.............
I bought her as an unfinished project, mechanically she was nigh on perfect, with a newly refurbished chassis, new 4.6 V8 Developments engine with top hat liner cross bolted block, reground crank, pocketed pistons, stage three heads, 45mm inlet manifold & trumpet base, & a 72mm plenum, all matched for better breathing, a stealth cam & new oil pump. Obviously a new clutch had been fitted, but i don't know what make. Although a '94 car, it also had a T5 gearbox from a later car.
On top of that all the ancillaries, battery, starter motor, alternator etc were new. The radiator was re-cored, & new fans fitted also. The list doesn't stop there, as she also had Gaz nickel adjustable shocks, uprated larger front discs with AP 4 pot calipers, new brake & fuel lines, with the wheels, also new, being 17 inch Team Dynamics 1.2 Pro Race, shod with toyo proxies, 215/45 at the front & 245/45 at the rear. All completed with a full geo setup.
All the bushes were replaced, & Steve heath drop links were fitted. Finally a new Sigma alarm was installed in favour of the standard, often troublesome one. All the work was done by Dulford Automotive, near Exeter, & although I didn't know it then, over the coming months my car would need their expertise once again.
The downsides were that the body had seen better days, there were several stress cracks in various places, & quite a bit of crazing, & it was obvious that a serious body restoration was required. The interior was also shot, the dash veneer was more backing plate than wood, the stereo was kaput (big deal), the seats needed replacing or re-covering, & the carpets needed replacing.
The original colour of the car was Starfire mica blue, a Toyota colour, which was ok, but i wanted something a bit more special, & in the end I settled on Starmist blue, but with a hell of a lot more metalflake thrown into the paint mix. The results can be seen below. I also managed to source a pair of re-covered seats. I wasn't sure of the chocolate brown strip down the centre section at first, but once fitted they just looked right to my eyes, so they stay. I experimented with a new dash style as well. Most guys who replace the old dash fit a stainless dash, but i wanted to try something different so I re-covered it in blue alcantara, & I think it works well.
This is now up to date. I haven't had new carpets yet, got to save a few more pennies first, but it will be done before the winter.
And here she is.............
)
Lovely car. Considering one as a replacement for the GTV if funds allow, and threads like this don't help. I do think they look better with the single headlamp setup as they look more in tune with the Chim's traditional lines, but that of course is personal preference. Will the car be at Chatsworth tomorrow? 
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