Griffith Project

[hoganscrogan]

Well I've decided to take the plunge! After flirting with 911, Ferrari Lotus I am now in the process of sourcing a £15k-ish Griffith.

Idea
Best handling Griff around. Rollcage/bar uprated susp. Tamora style buckets with race harness (fiance's idea) for light road use and hard trackday use (got a new mini cooper for day2day)

Question
Had a good read of the site over many months and just have a couple of questions.

Power Steering: Really want this but also want a 4.3BV anyone done the upgrade? (seen other post but nothing confirmed by them)

£15k really max I want to spend - is the realistic?

[jeffgleed]

No

[Nobby]

Yes.

[jeffgleed]

I can't see anyone picking up a good 4.3BV, kitting it with a grands worth of bucket seats and race harness, 1-1.5 Grands worth of Suspension bits plus £500 quids worth of setting up (if you are actually serious), a roll bar, uprated brakes (if you are serious) and generally sorting the car for £15k max. Plus the running costs are going to be high if you are a serious about driving fast. I may be wrong but getting a 10yr old Griff in tip top condition is an expensive hobby without adding trick bits as well IMHO.

[hoganscrogan]

Nope - 15K for the car then mods on top! Would only be doing 3-5k miles a year anyway. Moneys not a problem really but I wanted to set some limits thinking £3k+ for mods. Idea is that if it's old susp. will need some work anyway so might as well do it right.

It's a replacement (left in USA) for the ladies Chevy Nova (350-400bhp - with drum brakes all round)

>> Edited by hoganscrogan on Monday 8th April 14:03

[GarryM]

quote:
Chevy Nova (350-400bhp - with drum brakes all round)

Eeek!

Griff sounds like a great idea albeit expensive. Your £15k will stretch to an early 500 which has a stiffer chassis than the 4.3. The extra power will be pretty handy too! £5k for suspension, brakes, roll bar and seats should do it. What a car! (Don't like to think of the cost of keeping it going though)

[hoganscrogan]

Chevy was great....until you wanted to slow down, or steer round a bend

Am going to upgrade the Griff gradually, susp. first then whatever other bits I feel need doing. Did all 500's have power steering BTW?

ALSO I'm coming from an S2000 (have driven a 4.0l Chimp with PAS)

>> Edited by hoganscrogan on Monday 8th April 16:08

[GarryM]

quote:
Did all 500's have power steering BTW?

No. PS introduced in late 95 I think as an option only - about £1000 then so many don't have it. Many here don't believe in it anyway.

>> Edited by GarryM on Monday 8th April 16:25

[TivHead]

Power steering on a 4.3 is a no no, as its a pre-serpentine engine.

Handling on standard Griffs is going to be a country mile better than the Chevy, so why all the upgrades straight off?
Before you take the plunge, test drive a few power steer and non-power first. When I was looking a month ago, all I was interested in was a power steering Griff. Now I'm in love with my non-power steer 4.3, the sound is just awesome

Good luck buddy

Ged

[powelly]

Bought my 500 in february with no PAS, spent the whole of February thinking 'oh-oh... big mistake..', even spoke to David Batty at the Garage in Surrey, discussed a PAS upgrade with refurb parts for @ £600, but he said.. 'give it time before you decide..'

Now, one month later my forearms are a little firmer, I'm totally happy with no PAS and am beginning to really get to grips with the extra power in the 500..

Who needs a gym?

Craig

[hoganscrogan]

Chevvy was my ladies car I've been spinning 'round in an S2000.

[Marshy]

You mentioned Tamora-style buckets in a Griff. I'm wondering if the Tamora seats would fit a Chimeara... Sat in Tamora at the weekend, and the seats, while firm, are so much more supportive (esp. in the lumbar region) than the standard Chimaera ones.

Anyone know if they would fit... and how much they cost?

[shpub]

quote:
No. PS introduced in late 95 I think as an option only - about £1000 then so many don't have it. Many here don't believe in it anyway.

Usually owners who really don't drive their cars hard...

PAS has a quicker rack and enables opposite lock to be applied and removed far quicker than a non-PAS car and this means you can get the car onto the edge easier. As for the feel argument, a set of competition seats and full harness gives far more feel than anything else.

If I was doing this I would go for a 500 as it is a better car all round to start with. 4.3BV are great cars but apart for the noise factor tend to be a little over rated shall we say and a sorted 500 will make mincemeat of them in the right hands.

As for upgrades I would go for rollbar/brakes/seats and harness, and then suspension. Cost would be around the 5k mark. For the engine I would go for a big plenum, jag air flow and a Mark Admas re-chip for around the 2-3 grand mark. Hotter cam if you have the money will then take a 500 to 300 bhp genuine without sacrificing its ability to be an everyday driver.

Basically what has been done or in progress for my Griff 500 shopping trolley.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[jeffgleed]

quote:
You mentioned Tamora-style buckets in a Griff. I'm wondering if the Tamora seats would fit a Chimeara... Sat in Tamora at the weekend, and the seats, while firm, are so much more supportive (esp. in the lumbar region) than the standard Chimaera ones.

Anyone know if they would fit... and how much they cost?

I don't know about the Tamora seats but I think Zertec (or Leven) make similar sports seats for around the £1k mark

[JonRB]

Zertec do a lovely set of "Monaco" seats for £1000 for the pair. I heard a rumour that Steve Heath was having a set fitted?
I'm quite keen on a set myself, but wouldn't mind sitting in them first!

See www.zertec.co.uk/8.htm for pics / info

[gazzab]

I had a non-pas chimp 450. Didnt find it at all hardwork.
Drove pas cars and found the feel to be not nice.
I have a cerb now and I dont like the PAS but it is much better than the griff/chimp version.

[Marshy]

quote:I don't know about the Tamora seats but I think Zertec (or Leven) make similar sports seats for around the £1k mark

I know about the Zertec seats - my issue is that those have a fixed backrest. I also love the look of the Tamora ones in particular. Hey ho.

[Grant Tuscan]

Hogans... Great idea doing a more 'focused' Griff. It might be worth talking to Steve Howard from Thames Valley Racetech (01189 723153) as he's already done a very track orientated Chimera for a customer. Race seats, AP Brakes, Roll cage, Striped out carbon-fibre interior, adjustable suspension, Engine tune, Stack Dash etc etc. He could also do you a carbon-fibre rear diffuser/undertray ala Tuscan Challenge cars, which would help with the rear end getting light at speed. (and look V cool!).

My old Griff 500 didn't have PAS, It was fine, and I had also upgraded to wider 235 tyres on the front.

[Marshy]

Hmmm, interesting. Are there any pictures of the diffuser? I'd love to see what a Griff or Chim looks like with one. Evil, hopefully

[apache]

yeah, I'd be up for that