a note to factory
Discussion
Having owned a number of tvr's all of them being utterly and I Mean utterly reliable. I traded in for a
porche(the dark side)several thousand pounds of parts later doing all my own work it runs as it should. I now realise porsches are no where near as reliable as people are lead to believe and speaking to other owners I am not alone.
If I buy a cerbie (which the wife is in favour), say a 98 r and i get a problem with the motor that could be fixed if I could get the parts and relevant torque info, will i be shunned away from the local parts department in the direction of black pool. Ive heard allsorts of horror stories of charges for crated engines to factory. is this no longer true?
And will a cerbie be able to withstand long high speed 130mph dashes down the autobahn for several hours.
With no leaking oil unbearable cabin heat when there has been an accident without the light front ended ness that my Chimaera used to suffer when going into a headwinds. Funny it used to be fine if there was no wind> no matter what the speed.
for me the tvr is a nicer car than the porche but the porsche is more rounded.
To sum up the best cars change character with you
tired and they cosset you, fast road and they turn hard
edged. corners and they don't wallow at low speed they don't crash. Exhaust wail and crackle when cracking on but don't resonate when cruising.If TVR make the cars a little more driveable in the above areas , porsche ferrari and no one could touch them.
Is the cerbera for me?
porche(the dark side)several thousand pounds of parts later doing all my own work it runs as it should. I now realise porsches are no where near as reliable as people are lead to believe and speaking to other owners I am not alone.
If I buy a cerbie (which the wife is in favour), say a 98 r and i get a problem with the motor that could be fixed if I could get the parts and relevant torque info, will i be shunned away from the local parts department in the direction of black pool. Ive heard allsorts of horror stories of charges for crated engines to factory. is this no longer true?
And will a cerbie be able to withstand long high speed 130mph dashes down the autobahn for several hours.
With no leaking oil unbearable cabin heat when there has been an accident without the light front ended ness that my Chimaera used to suffer when going into a headwinds. Funny it used to be fine if there was no wind> no matter what the speed.
for me the tvr is a nicer car than the porche but the porsche is more rounded.
To sum up the best cars change character with you
tired and they cosset you, fast road and they turn hard
edged. corners and they don't wallow at low speed they don't crash. Exhaust wail and crackle when cracking on but don't resonate when cruising.If TVR make the cars a little more driveable in the above areas , porsche ferrari and no one could touch them.
Is the cerbera for me?
I would be interested in any responses as well.
My cerb is currently under investigation, and Ive been reliably informed that engine rebuilds must be performed by the factory. Although In my case my good friends are asking for permission to do the rebuild, hopefully this should offer a good saving. But as has been stated before an engine is just a bunch of parts that realisticly anybody with good mechanical knowledge should be able to repair, why should a TVR AJPv8 be any different?
My cerb is currently under investigation, and Ive been reliably informed that engine rebuilds must be performed by the factory. Although In my case my good friends are asking for permission to do the rebuild, hopefully this should offer a good saving. But as has been stated before an engine is just a bunch of parts that realisticly anybody with good mechanical knowledge should be able to repair, why should a TVR AJPv8 be any different?
I could be wrong here so please correct me if I am.
I understood that TVR (Engineering or Power) do virtually all engine rebuild work on AJP's as they want to ensure only people with the right experience of the engine fiddle with its internals. In the hope that it won't then go bang.
To make doubly sure of this I thought that they restrict the sale of AJP parts to a very small number of outlets - i.e. only those places that have someone very experienced with the AJP. Which I think means that most of the dealer network cannot do major surgery on the AJP, so its usually a back to Blackpool job.
Anyone know any better?
Its something worth knowing if you're about to take the plunge on a secondhand AJP Cerb.
I understood that TVR (Engineering or Power) do virtually all engine rebuild work on AJP's as they want to ensure only people with the right experience of the engine fiddle with its internals. In the hope that it won't then go bang.
To make doubly sure of this I thought that they restrict the sale of AJP parts to a very small number of outlets - i.e. only those places that have someone very experienced with the AJP. Which I think means that most of the dealer network cannot do major surgery on the AJP, so its usually a back to Blackpool job.
Anyone know any better?
Its something worth knowing if you're about to take the plunge on a secondhand AJP Cerb.
I'm also thinking of moving up ( and down in torque 
) from a Griff to a Cerbie.
Obviously there are the dealers and many respectable independents able to attend to the old Rover lump but what is the situation with the AJP engines?
I assume most main dealers are equipped to do the usual service, tappets and cosmetics but what if something goes bang or it's non-trivial? Is it back to Blackpool in a crate and the car off the road for weeks/months?
) from a Griff to a Cerbie. Obviously there are the dealers and many respectable independents able to attend to the old Rover lump but what is the situation with the AJP engines?
I assume most main dealers are equipped to do the usual service, tappets and cosmetics but what if something goes bang or it's non-trivial? Is it back to Blackpool in a crate and the car off the road for weeks/months?
dannylt said: Proactive - the ex Team Central in Birmingham can do rebuilds apparently. And a Cerbera has more torque than a Rover V8, just higher up the rev range. Therefore loads more power :-)
Danny
Not loads more torque though Danny, just some I would guess, and I bet it doesn't come in until 4K RPM plus. Anyway, I'm not arguing the engine characteristics cos having driven a cerbie I'm half sold already. The power delivery is excellent and no need to stop at 6K or so as in the Griff.
The cerbie may even be more manageable cos the Griff was a real arse to drive in the snow - it kicks out so much torque low down it is a real beast - at least you have more progressive delivery in the AJP.
My question was about the (maybe perceived) increased costs in running a Cerbie and the lack of qualified places to undertake less than minor repairs to the engine.
Hopefully the value of my Griff will rise and the cerbies will drop, may even be able to do a swap with cash offer soon
Thanks for the help
ches said: Revving a griff to 6k, what's the point it's all over by 4.5K, you might as well change up. (After thought) - those 3 snowy days we get every year should be much easier to handle if you swop.
>> Edited by ches on Friday 4th April 21:46
OK, so 0-60 I think you'll find the Griff is a match for you cerbie boys. Torque, Torque, Torque. I agree once the AJP gets in to swing in the higher revs you've gone; I've already mentioned my admiration for the repsonse and the cerbie in mid range.
Cut us humble Griff owners some slack!! At least ours don't sound like a bag of spanners!
But I still fancy a cerbie. One day
ches said: Revving a griff to 6k, what's the point it's all over by 4.5K, you might as well change up.
Err wrong. Changing up changes the gearing, so although the torque may be falling off, the effective torque at the wheels will drop much more. It's worth hanging on till at least 5500 to keep up the acceleration as you change down to the next gear.
On some cars, it's even worth revving beyond the power peak to make sure the gear change doesn't drop too far down the power band, e.g. on the AJP.
>> Edited by dannylt on Sunday 6th April 15:06
I'm sure someone must have a Rover one to compare.
The first one is pre Red Rose conversion, with 350bhp and 300lbft, this is typical for the best standard 4.5's. Has over 200bhp by 4500rpm, and has 200lbft by 2000, rising rapidly to about 4000rpm. Torque is held up all through the rev range.
The second is the first run after the Red Rose mods, was aborted early due rapid engine temp increase - but peak torque has lifted to 340lbft at the same place - 5000rpm. Over 4500rpm the head mods and higher compression really show - the whole torque curve is lifted by about 30 to 40lbft. Now has over 250lbft by 2000rpm.
The last one just captures the tail end of the rev range to get peak power - 400bhp at 7200rpm!
danny
The first one is pre Red Rose conversion, with 350bhp and 300lbft, this is typical for the best standard 4.5's. Has over 200bhp by 4500rpm, and has 200lbft by 2000, rising rapidly to about 4000rpm. Torque is held up all through the rev range.
The second is the first run after the Red Rose mods, was aborted early due rapid engine temp increase - but peak torque has lifted to 340lbft at the same place - 5000rpm. Over 4500rpm the head mods and higher compression really show - the whole torque curve is lifted by about 30 to 40lbft. Now has over 250lbft by 2000rpm.
The last one just captures the tail end of the rev range to get peak power - 400bhp at 7200rpm!
danny
dannylt said: I'm sure someone must have a Rover one to compare.
The first one is pre Red Rose conversion, with 350bhp and 300lbft, this is typical for the best standard 4.5's. Has over 200bhp by 4500rpm, and has 200lbft by 2000, rising rapidly to about 4000rpm. Torque is held up all through the rev range.
The second is the first run after the Red Rose mods, was aborted early due rapid engine temp increase - but peak torque has lifted to 340lbft at the same place - 5000rpm. Over 4500rpm the head mods and higher compression really show - the whole torque curve is lifted by about 30 to 40lbft. Now has over 250lbft by 2000rpm.
The last one just captures the tail end of the rev range to get peak power - 400bhp at 7200rpm!
danny
Cheers Danny, very interesting figures. I'm 95% sold now
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