a couple of n00b cerb questions...
Discussion
so being a maserati 3200 and a 4200 f1 veteran of 6 years, I am slightly familiar with captivating and shall we say somtimes trying cars.
I think i may have my heart now set on a cerbera 4.5
a couple of questions I have...
1) In in adverts I see "engine re build" quite alot... is this something that all the different engine configs will need? or are some more robust than others? at what point generally is it done??
2)I saw the wheeler dealers and saw the main bogeyman is the powder coated chassis on erlier models... is there a year where this is improved and not so much of a concern??
cheers
I think i may have my heart now set on a cerbera 4.5
a couple of questions I have...
1) In in adverts I see "engine re build" quite alot... is this something that all the different engine configs will need? or are some more robust than others? at what point generally is it done??
2)I saw the wheeler dealers and saw the main bogeyman is the powder coated chassis on erlier models... is there a year where this is improved and not so much of a concern??
cheers
Engine rebuilds are more common on S6 engines than AJP's, but I guess it's all down to how they are looked after. They need to be warmed up with gentle driving before spirited driving, don't thrash the engine from cold.
My early AJP has just been rebuilt after 21 years due to the brass valve guides being worn but otherwise was in good shape. I just took the route of whilst it was out and apart. S6 engines had some early reliability issues, a lot of these have already been rebuilt.
Not all engine rebuilds are the same. Take a good look at who did the rebuild.
There are some S6 engines rebuilt after 20-30K miles, others that went on for more. The good news is the rebuilds now and in the last 5 years seem to be completely on top of any issues and have made the engines reliable and can generate good power.
AJP engines, there are some early ones (1996) with small bearing cranks that snapped due to a manufacturing fault, but I would think these are past that now (24 years) or have been rebuilt. There are some AJP8 engines rebuilt after 50K, others that have done 150K. Again various upgrades and power gains are available for these to suit all pockets.
Chassis - some say there's better chassis than others, but in reality it's all about how and when it's been used, how it's been looked after.
The corners of the outriggers are dirt traps against the chassis at the top, where you cannot see them, so these are the normal places to rot out. It's a body lift off to do this properly, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Some of the early chassis repairs were bodged cheaply.
It's usually around £4-5k to do this, but when it's all apart it's tempting to replace lots when rebuilding. I spent a further £3k on parts replacing all fuel lines, brake lines, bearings, bushes etc etc.. you get the idea.
Parts are mostly all available, the club and other TVR owners are brilliant, and the car is so good to drive, but can be deceptively fast. You need to keep an eye on the speedo...
Have an emergency fund for if anything does go wrong, but I drove mine for 7 years before really needing to do anything major. Most of the cars now should be sorted but expect to pay good money for a good one.
My early AJP has just been rebuilt after 21 years due to the brass valve guides being worn but otherwise was in good shape. I just took the route of whilst it was out and apart. S6 engines had some early reliability issues, a lot of these have already been rebuilt.
Not all engine rebuilds are the same. Take a good look at who did the rebuild.
There are some S6 engines rebuilt after 20-30K miles, others that went on for more. The good news is the rebuilds now and in the last 5 years seem to be completely on top of any issues and have made the engines reliable and can generate good power.
AJP engines, there are some early ones (1996) with small bearing cranks that snapped due to a manufacturing fault, but I would think these are past that now (24 years) or have been rebuilt. There are some AJP8 engines rebuilt after 50K, others that have done 150K. Again various upgrades and power gains are available for these to suit all pockets.
Chassis - some say there's better chassis than others, but in reality it's all about how and when it's been used, how it's been looked after.
The corners of the outriggers are dirt traps against the chassis at the top, where you cannot see them, so these are the normal places to rot out. It's a body lift off to do this properly, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Some of the early chassis repairs were bodged cheaply.
It's usually around £4-5k to do this, but when it's all apart it's tempting to replace lots when rebuilding. I spent a further £3k on parts replacing all fuel lines, brake lines, bearings, bushes etc etc.. you get the idea.
Parts are mostly all available, the club and other TVR owners are brilliant, and the car is so good to drive, but can be deceptively fast. You need to keep an eye on the speedo...
Have an emergency fund for if anything does go wrong, but I drove mine for 7 years before really needing to do anything major. Most of the cars now should be sorted but expect to pay good money for a good one.
You'll find things escalate and you'll do things that are "easier" if we do it while something else is out.
I had a leaky water pump back in 2017.
I thought I'll have a new pump so took the engine out. While it's out, might as well get it checked over so had it rebuilt even though it was performing well beforehand.
While the engine was out, tidied up the chassis rails. Thought this would be easier with the body off, so now it's had a chassis rebuild too, along with bushes, pipes, lines.
In the end, a leaky water pump turned into a full on rebuild minus the gearbox and diff. The gearbox 5th gear failed last year, so that too has been done - the only original bit of car left is the diff (touching wood as I type this, please diff don't fail on me now).
I had a leaky water pump back in 2017.
I thought I'll have a new pump so took the engine out. While it's out, might as well get it checked over so had it rebuilt even though it was performing well beforehand.
While the engine was out, tidied up the chassis rails. Thought this would be easier with the body off, so now it's had a chassis rebuild too, along with bushes, pipes, lines.
In the end, a leaky water pump turned into a full on rebuild minus the gearbox and diff. The gearbox 5th gear failed last year, so that too has been done - the only original bit of car left is the diff (touching wood as I type this, please diff don't fail on me now).
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