My Cerbera repair/engine rebuild etc.
Discussion
Hello, I figured I should post up about my Cerbera. I bought this thing here in Western Australia a few years back for $40k, which was either a massive ripoff or a bargain depending on how you feel about troublesome British cars. It's given me bulk grief but I expected that. Overall I don't regret it, I figure I'll hand on to this thing for a few years. It'll be another year or so till it's all sorted anyway. I did a write up/comment on a TVR related vid on youtube. It took a while so I've just pasted it here.
It has been by far the most maintenance intense vehicle I have ever owned. Some of the problems stem from being driven on wet, salted British roads. Many owners in the UK don't have undercover parking. Mines saving grace was that the previous owner replaced the chassis in 2007. This meant I only had to deal with corroded discs, calipers, oil lines,the oil cooler, radiator and wheel bearings.
I've also rewired the fans and headlights (they don't get enough voltage stock, so you have to use the original wires to trigger relays fed straight from the battery) One of the headlights was out, and fell to pieces when I tried to install a new bulb, so I had to replace all 4 if I ever wanted to change a bulb. I replaced all the fuel lines and the pump, plus replaced the original tiny wire that feeds the fuel pump from the fuse box. I replaced all the suspension bushings, which were the original rubber style that have to be incinerated with a blow torch to remove.
The discs looked like they had been used as boat anchors.
An electrical gremlin stopped it from starting for a week.
The coils are located in the valley of the engine, so when it got hot it would missfire, so I relocated them to the inner fenders. This did improve things. But it will still foul plugs if you let it idle too long in the shed.
The alternator is also located in the valley, driven by a pulley attached to a shaft driven by the cam chain. The seal on that shaft let go, filling the valley with oil. Replacing the alternator belt with a new one from a TVR shop meant I had to die grind the alternator to get it to clear the throttle bodies.
Replacing the master cylinder means removing the entire pedal assembly via the driver footwell. I actually cheated here and cut the hole in the engine bay larger so I could unbolt the pedal assembly, move it backwards and twist and wriggle the booster out. If you think it's a tight fit to sit in the seat, try fitting into the footwell head first.
The power steering pump, oil pump and water pump are all driven by a shaft thats driven by gears on the front of the motor. My power steering pump came loose and disengaged from the drive dog. Reinstalling it is engine out, so I removed it and fitted an electric pump. The local hydraulic shop couldn't match the weird British fittings, so I had to find the right bloke at the right shop who was willing and able to braze the original fittings onto new hoses to suit the electric pump. The pump is now where the windscreen washer reservoir was, and the original power steering reservoir is now the windscreen washer reservoir.
A local mechanic the previous owner paid to fix the clutch snapped a socket drive in the oil fill plug, so it has to be filled from the blanked off mechanical Speedo drive. The carpet in the boot nearly all peeled off. The fuel filler and the tank don't quite line up, so even with a new piece of hose joining the two a full tank and right turns cause a smell of fuel in the car.
Its latest trick is the O2 sensors constantly show lean, meaning the ecu constantly add fuel. Two new sensors, same problem. With ignition on and the engine off they show readings, start it up and they flatline at zero. I worked out that it wasn't getting a full +12v to the lambdas. I ended up running a 12v feed straight from the electric power steering pump to the lambdas. Turning on the power steering now turns on the lambdas. So yeah, it's been a bit more than I expected, but I actually find it very comfortable to drive (and I'm 6 2), and down a long twisty road I wouldn't want to be in anything else. And a baby seat fits in the back just fine!
It has been by far the most maintenance intense vehicle I have ever owned. Some of the problems stem from being driven on wet, salted British roads. Many owners in the UK don't have undercover parking. Mines saving grace was that the previous owner replaced the chassis in 2007. This meant I only had to deal with corroded discs, calipers, oil lines,the oil cooler, radiator and wheel bearings.
I've also rewired the fans and headlights (they don't get enough voltage stock, so you have to use the original wires to trigger relays fed straight from the battery) One of the headlights was out, and fell to pieces when I tried to install a new bulb, so I had to replace all 4 if I ever wanted to change a bulb. I replaced all the fuel lines and the pump, plus replaced the original tiny wire that feeds the fuel pump from the fuse box. I replaced all the suspension bushings, which were the original rubber style that have to be incinerated with a blow torch to remove.
The discs looked like they had been used as boat anchors.
An electrical gremlin stopped it from starting for a week.
The coils are located in the valley of the engine, so when it got hot it would missfire, so I relocated them to the inner fenders. This did improve things. But it will still foul plugs if you let it idle too long in the shed.
The alternator is also located in the valley, driven by a pulley attached to a shaft driven by the cam chain. The seal on that shaft let go, filling the valley with oil. Replacing the alternator belt with a new one from a TVR shop meant I had to die grind the alternator to get it to clear the throttle bodies.
Replacing the master cylinder means removing the entire pedal assembly via the driver footwell. I actually cheated here and cut the hole in the engine bay larger so I could unbolt the pedal assembly, move it backwards and twist and wriggle the booster out. If you think it's a tight fit to sit in the seat, try fitting into the footwell head first.
The power steering pump, oil pump and water pump are all driven by a shaft thats driven by gears on the front of the motor. My power steering pump came loose and disengaged from the drive dog. Reinstalling it is engine out, so I removed it and fitted an electric pump. The local hydraulic shop couldn't match the weird British fittings, so I had to find the right bloke at the right shop who was willing and able to braze the original fittings onto new hoses to suit the electric pump. The pump is now where the windscreen washer reservoir was, and the original power steering reservoir is now the windscreen washer reservoir.
A local mechanic the previous owner paid to fix the clutch snapped a socket drive in the oil fill plug, so it has to be filled from the blanked off mechanical Speedo drive. The carpet in the boot nearly all peeled off. The fuel filler and the tank don't quite line up, so even with a new piece of hose joining the two a full tank and right turns cause a smell of fuel in the car.
Its latest trick is the O2 sensors constantly show lean, meaning the ecu constantly add fuel. Two new sensors, same problem. With ignition on and the engine off they show readings, start it up and they flatline at zero. I worked out that it wasn't getting a full +12v to the lambdas. I ended up running a 12v feed straight from the electric power steering pump to the lambdas. Turning on the power steering now turns on the lambdas. So yeah, it's been a bit more than I expected, but I actually find it very comfortable to drive (and I'm 6 2), and down a long twisty road I wouldn't want to be in anything else. And a baby seat fits in the back just fine!
mk1fan said:
Good to see you're having 'fun'.
Personally, I don't like the quad headlight set up on the Cerb but this is just my perversion.
I assume it has A/C. How does it cope?
It doesn't. The original compressor was dead. I adapted a BA falcon compressor to suit but destroyed it by putting liquid gas in it froman upside down container of legit aircon gas. I then got another compressor from a wrecker which after drilling and tapping holes in it I found out was a dud. So I need another compressor!Personally, I don't like the quad headlight set up on the Cerb but this is just my perversion.
I assume it has A/C. How does it cope?
First, kudos to you for maintaining and running a Cerb in Oz, without easy access to the resources we have here in the UK
I think I remember a guy on here who took his Cerb with him when he emigrated, he did seem to find the challenges that the Cerb threw up just a bit too much, I'm guessing it's his car you bought
If you have any advice, and or photos/videos showing how you replace the fuel pump feed, that would be very useful as that job is on my list
I much prefer the original rubber bushes (except on the diff) even though I track my car regularly, I've just had to replace the drag strut and front lower wishbone buses for the second time, which is fine by me as they are consumables
Can't remember how warm it gets in Perth, although I do remember it reaching 45C in Broome, but in Europe even during the summer heat wave this year, the coil packs do just fine in the V
However I am now using genuine Bosch, rather than the generics which did fail after a couple of years
The part that does not fair so well for me due to heat soak is the starter motor solenoid, which ended up taking out the armature (it spun up without engaging and could only be switched off by tapping or disconnecting the battery)
I have also been supplied with an alternator belt that was too short, with the right size belt no mods are needed
I've not had to tackle the brake master, but I have changed the clutch master, which required a helper and an S shaped ring spanner
There's no problem swapping out the PS pump with the engine in situ, I've done that several times for various reasons, you extract the pump from underneath, but assemble the coupling and Woodruff key from above
However leaving the coupling open to debris is not a good idea as I found to my cost, causing the Woodruff key to fail again (I now realise that this is what it is designed to do - act like a fuse)
A very generous PHer sent me a cover he made so that won't happen again
It took me a while to correctly align the fuel filler hose, the filler body above it, and the hose clips, but with a new cork seal it now works great, even on track with a full tank
The lambdas did fail on my car while it was on the rolling road at Joolz, he guessed that was because I hadn't fitted NTK sensors, he was proved right
You're probably wise using a helper relay for the lights, I have found the control box joints can get hot enough to desolder themselves
Haven't watched your videos in full yet, intend to do so soon, thanks for sharing
I think I remember a guy on here who took his Cerb with him when he emigrated, he did seem to find the challenges that the Cerb threw up just a bit too much, I'm guessing it's his car you bought
If you have any advice, and or photos/videos showing how you replace the fuel pump feed, that would be very useful as that job is on my list
I much prefer the original rubber bushes (except on the diff) even though I track my car regularly, I've just had to replace the drag strut and front lower wishbone buses for the second time, which is fine by me as they are consumables
Can't remember how warm it gets in Perth, although I do remember it reaching 45C in Broome, but in Europe even during the summer heat wave this year, the coil packs do just fine in the V
However I am now using genuine Bosch, rather than the generics which did fail after a couple of years
The part that does not fair so well for me due to heat soak is the starter motor solenoid, which ended up taking out the armature (it spun up without engaging and could only be switched off by tapping or disconnecting the battery)
I have also been supplied with an alternator belt that was too short, with the right size belt no mods are needed
I've not had to tackle the brake master, but I have changed the clutch master, which required a helper and an S shaped ring spanner
There's no problem swapping out the PS pump with the engine in situ, I've done that several times for various reasons, you extract the pump from underneath, but assemble the coupling and Woodruff key from above
However leaving the coupling open to debris is not a good idea as I found to my cost, causing the Woodruff key to fail again (I now realise that this is what it is designed to do - act like a fuse)
A very generous PHer sent me a cover he made so that won't happen again
It took me a while to correctly align the fuel filler hose, the filler body above it, and the hose clips, but with a new cork seal it now works great, even on track with a full tank
The lambdas did fail on my car while it was on the rolling road at Joolz, he guessed that was because I hadn't fitted NTK sensors, he was proved right
You're probably wise using a helper relay for the lights, I have found the control box joints can get hot enough to desolder themselves
Haven't watched your videos in full yet, intend to do so soon, thanks for sharing
"First, kudos to you for maintaining and running a Cerb in Oz, without easy access to the resources we have here in the UK
I think I remember a guy on here who took his Cerb with him when he emigrated, he did seem to find the challenges that the Cerb threw up just a bit too much, I'm guessing it's his car you bought."
Cheers mate! Yeah that's the car. I think he had a bad run of issues with it there for a while. He has a Chimaera now!
"If you have any advice, and or photos/videos showing how you replace the fuel pump feed, that would be very useful as that job is on my list."
If you mean the wire on mine it was real easy, quicker than I thought. The wire ran above the fuel tank into the fusebox. It's just a standard spade type connector. I had some lying around so I just crimped it onto some fat wire and ran it. And I ran a fatter wire for the earth too.
"There's no problem swapping out the PS pump with the engine in situ, I've done that several times for various reasons, you extract the pump from underneath, but assemble the coupling and Woodruff key from above."
You are magician! I couldn't work it out.
"You're probably wise using a helper relay for the lights, I have found the control box joints can get hot enough to desolder themselves"
I was getting around 9v at the headlights with them on!
I think I remember a guy on here who took his Cerb with him when he emigrated, he did seem to find the challenges that the Cerb threw up just a bit too much, I'm guessing it's his car you bought."
Cheers mate! Yeah that's the car. I think he had a bad run of issues with it there for a while. He has a Chimaera now!
"If you have any advice, and or photos/videos showing how you replace the fuel pump feed, that would be very useful as that job is on my list."
If you mean the wire on mine it was real easy, quicker than I thought. The wire ran above the fuel tank into the fusebox. It's just a standard spade type connector. I had some lying around so I just crimped it onto some fat wire and ran it. And I ran a fatter wire for the earth too.
"There's no problem swapping out the PS pump with the engine in situ, I've done that several times for various reasons, you extract the pump from underneath, but assemble the coupling and Woodruff key from above."
You are magician! I couldn't work it out.
"You're probably wise using a helper relay for the lights, I have found the control box joints can get hot enough to desolder themselves"
I was getting around 9v at the headlights with them on!
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