Well, I bought it!
Discussion
I bought myself the Chimaera that I've had my eye on, from what i could tell the chassis looked sold, as explained you can't really tell unless the body is off, unfortunately that isn't an option while giving the car the once over, i got it cheap so inherited some issues which is fine to a point, I wanted something I could tinker with. engine is a little lumpy, so had stepper motor out and gave it good clean, sort of helped i think, its hardly been driven and I know that doesn't help with those i don't think, I have next week off so in between entertaining the kids, I'll change the plugs etc.
The passenger door switch under the mirror doesn't work, but it opens from the inside, any pointers as to how to get mirror glass out? I must say I thought Youtube would have been full of self help tips for these cars, but virtually nothing so any tips off you chaps would be great and the other annoying thing is the power steering seems stiff, I know it was quite a tad weighted any way, but this feels not right, the fluid is nice and pink so that has been changed and there was something in the service history regarding the PAS, so I'll look into that too.
First job is to get it to the garage abd up on the ramp ASAP and get the chassis waxoyled
The passenger door switch under the mirror doesn't work, but it opens from the inside, any pointers as to how to get mirror glass out? I must say I thought Youtube would have been full of self help tips for these cars, but virtually nothing so any tips off you chaps would be great and the other annoying thing is the power steering seems stiff, I know it was quite a tad weighted any way, but this feels not right, the fluid is nice and pink so that has been changed and there was something in the service history regarding the PAS, so I'll look into that too.
First job is to get it to the garage abd up on the ramp ASAP and get the chassis waxoyled
What did you pay for it.
And yeah pictures or this thread is useless.
A body off is easy compared to getting the rack out and door cards off.
Your on a steep learning curve.
Well done and good luck.
To video the in’s and outs of most jobs would take hours
Better to search for it on here via google.
And yeah pictures or this thread is useless.
A body off is easy compared to getting the rack out and door cards off.
Your on a steep learning curve.
Well done and good luck.
To video the in’s and outs of most jobs would take hours
Better to search for it on here via google.
BritishTvr450 said:
What did you pay for it.
And yeah pictures or this thread is useless.
A body off is easy compared to getting the rack out and door cards off.
Your on a steep learning curve.
Well done and good luck.
To video the in’s and outs of most jobs would take hours
Better to search for it on here via google.
I'll try and sort some pics, but its a 2000 plate arctic silver, but yeah its ok, it's entry level lots of jobs to do, hopefully some I can do myself and i payed £7800, so a result, just cross fingers with the chassis. Someone has upgraded the brakes recently, seem brand new drilled and grooved discs front and rear, so thats one thing I don't need to doAnd yeah pictures or this thread is useless.
A body off is easy compared to getting the rack out and door cards off.
Your on a steep learning curve.
Well done and good luck.
To video the in’s and outs of most jobs would take hours
Better to search for it on here via google.
Hello & well done. Good price with leeway to spend a few quid on it.
My power steering was stiff . It seems ok now. Under the right front wheel arch to the rear , the steering shaft comes through. It has a universal joint there. They are prone to seize up to to getting thrashed with road debris etc. Mine was one such. I kept putting easing oil on daily & it now seems to be ok.
I have & still are doing youtube video's on the Chimaera. Including the erratic tickover. Look at the playlist & just look through any you are interested in. Hope this helps.
Steve.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqxEUtyoHqn...
My power steering was stiff . It seems ok now. Under the right front wheel arch to the rear , the steering shaft comes through. It has a universal joint there. They are prone to seize up to to getting thrashed with road debris etc. Mine was one such. I kept putting easing oil on daily & it now seems to be ok.
I have & still are doing youtube video's on the Chimaera. Including the erratic tickover. Look at the playlist & just look through any you are interested in. Hope this helps.
Steve.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqxEUtyoHqn...
Hello again Andy. Some say the mirror glass is on an adhesive backing & a heat gun softens enough to remove by hand. Not taken mine off yet so unsure about this comment. I will be on a video removing my current bx mirrors & have bought 2 Audi TT ones the early model. A few have fitted these & with work on the mounting seem very good. Hence me having a go. On these mirrors there is a lever at the bottom of the mirror glass & with a small screwdriver or flat bladed object this is pushed across , which releases the mirror Very awkward to do , but with patience it works. So not sure if the TVR mirrors have the same idea. Look up Citreon BX mirror glass replacement & you may get a result.(not tried myself).
Steve.
Steve.
Well done on the purchase. I was surprised it wasn't snapped up quicker as it seemed like a very decent Chimaera MK2 at a very good price. I was browsing the classifieds, so I think spotted the car you purchased. Looking forward to the new pics.
For the non opening of the door, if it's the door switch, the part is obtainable from the bay of E for just under £10... 59-511 Itw Switch. Please double check to make sure it's the correct part.
If it's the wiring loom to the door that's causing the issue, they can be repaired. Just about to have it done it on mine in the next week or two.
For the non opening of the door, if it's the door switch, the part is obtainable from the bay of E for just under £10... 59-511 Itw Switch. Please double check to make sure it's the correct part.
If it's the wiring loom to the door that's causing the issue, they can be repaired. Just about to have it done it on mine in the next week or two.
It's Citroen CX that were the donors for the mirrors. You'll need to get the door panel off to access the door release wires if they're OK in the mirror shell. There's several threads on that, and need a very long arm if it has 4 nuts like some do. It depends on the year, some have 3, some 4:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=80...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=80...
M_A said:
Well done on the purchase. I was surprised it wasn't snapped up quicker as it seemed like a very decent Chimaera MK2 at a very good price. I was browsing the classifieds, so I think spotted the car you purchased. Looking forward to the new pics.
For the non opening of the door, if it's the door switch, the part is obtainable from the bay of E for just under £10... 59-511 Itw Switch. Please double check to make sure it's the correct part.
If it's the wiring loom to the door that's causing the issue, they can be repaired. Just about to have it done it on mine in the next week or two.
Yeah it was the one on Leeds? Well assuming the chassis is all good, I think it was cheap as there are lots of little things wrong with it and the repair to the wing and bonnet isn't a good one and it runs quite rough too, I'm working on that now, to see what I can findFor the non opening of the door, if it's the door switch, the part is obtainable from the bay of E for just under £10... 59-511 Itw Switch. Please double check to make sure it's the correct part.
If it's the wiring loom to the door that's causing the issue, they can be repaired. Just about to have it done it on mine in the next week or two.
Andy70 said:
pmc_3 said:
It could be the solenoid that isn't working rather than the switch or wiring, might be worth checking first.
Well the door opens from the inside, I realise it's cable operated, but isn't that connected to the solenoid?Yes, the cable is connected to solenoid but operates it manually.
If you need feedback from others on specific issues, ie switch, solenoid faults etc., you might be better off starting a new thread for each issue as many people will miss updates in old threads.
If you can find a copy of Steve Heath's Chimaera/Griffith book, aka as the 'bible', it's about as close to a workshop manual as you'll get.
Congratulations on your purchase.
Re pas, how many have you driven because some still think it's 'heavy' even with pas? I appreciate 'heavy' and 'stiff' aren't necessarily the same and I'm not suggesting yours isn't 'stiff' (as it were 
), just don't jump to conclusions as it might be normal. What tyre sizes/pressures on the front?
), just don't jump to conclusions as it might be normal. What tyre sizes/pressures on the front?TarquinMX5 said:
Re pas, how many have you driven because some still think it's 'heavy' even with pas? I appreciate 'heavy' and 'stiff' aren't necessarily the same and I'm not suggesting yours isn't 'stiff' (as it were ), just don't jump to conclusions as it might be normal. What tyre sizes/pressures on the front?
Yeah I've driven 1 and I had pas fitted with fully restored components by Dulford, so it was as new, yes it is weighted, but this is stiffer when i turn the wheel to the right, almost notchy, but not quite, it definitely isn't right, turning feels stiff rather than weighted), just don't jump to conclusions as it might be normal. What tyre sizes/pressures on the front?steviegtr said:
Hello & well done. Good price with leeway to spend a few quid on it.
My power steering was stiff . It seems ok now. Under the right front wheel arch to the rear , the steering shaft comes through. It has a universal joint there. They are prone to seize up to to getting thrashed with road debris etc. Mine was one such. I kept putting easing oil on daily & it now seems to be ok.
I have & still are doing youtube video's on the Chimaera. Including the erratic tickover. Look at the playlist & just look through any you are interested in. Hope this helps.
Steve.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqxEUtyoHqn...
Thanks for that link, I'll go through that when i got time, i was looking for specific titles, like you would with any other carMy power steering was stiff . It seems ok now. Under the right front wheel arch to the rear , the steering shaft comes through. It has a universal joint there. They are prone to seize up to to getting thrashed with road debris etc. Mine was one such. I kept putting easing oil on daily & it now seems to be ok.
I have & still are doing youtube video's on the Chimaera. Including the erratic tickover. Look at the playlist & just look through any you are interested in. Hope this helps.
Steve.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqxEUtyoHqn...
With regards the erratic idling, its better since I cleaned the stepper motor, it just rides high, about 1500rpm and takes time to settle and tick over is a bit rough, was going to check the plugs earlier but couldn't get my socket over the plugs, I'll have to get another. Eventually I'd love to convert it to coil packs, I realise there will be opinions regarding this, but it has to be more efficient surely and more mappable with a better ecu maybe?
M_A said:
Well done on the purchase. I was surprised it wasn't snapped up quicker as it seemed like a very decent Chimaera MK2 at a very good price. I was browsing the classifieds, so I think spotted the car you purchased. Looking forward to the new pics.
For the non opening of the door, if it's the door switch, the part is obtainable from the bay of E for just under £10... 59-511 Itw Switch. Please double check to make sure it's the correct part.
If it's the wiring loom to the door that's causing the issue, they can be repaired. Just about to have it done it on mine in the next week or two.
There you go see, i was struggling to find it on ebay, i was searching... tvr door open switch, tvr mirror door release etc and nothing came up, thanks for that, I nearly got my self ripped off from a tvr parts supplier that wanted 16 quid or so, but get this 9 quid p&p what the f***k, so thanks very much for that, I just got to get the glass off nowFor the non opening of the door, if it's the door switch, the part is obtainable from the bay of E for just under £10... 59-511 Itw Switch. Please double check to make sure it's the correct part.
If it's the wiring loom to the door that's causing the issue, they can be repaired. Just about to have it done it on mine in the next week or two.
Andy70 said:
steviegtr said:
Hello & well done. Good price with leeway to spend a few quid on it.
My power steering was stiff . It seems ok now. Under the right front wheel arch to the rear , the steering shaft comes through. It has a universal joint there. They are prone to seize up to to getting thrashed with road debris etc. Mine was one such. I kept putting easing oil on daily & it now seems to be ok.
I have & still are doing youtube video's on the Chimaera. Including the erratic tickover. Look at the playlist & just look through any you are interested in. Hope this helps.
Steve.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqxEUtyoHqn...
Thanks for that link, I'll go through that when i got time, i was looking for specific titles, like you would with any other car....My power steering was stiff . It seems ok now. Under the right front wheel arch to the rear , the steering shaft comes through. It has a universal joint there. They are prone to seize up to to getting thrashed with road debris etc. Mine was one such. I kept putting easing oil on daily & it now seems to be ok.
I have & still are doing youtube video's on the Chimaera. Including the erratic tickover. Look at the playlist & just look through any you are interested in. Hope this helps.
Steve.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqxEUtyoHqn...
I could do with a new accelerator cable, mine is stretched and at the limit of adjustment and generally looks knackered and very stiff etc, but 100 quid off ebay, for a cable??? really? any ideas? apart from racetech as im off them as they wanted 9 quid postage for the mirror door switch, on your bike! oh, plus 18 quid for the switch, robbing b******s lol thanks to my new mate on here, i got the switch for a tenner off ebay, with FREEEEE postage!! happy days!
Couple of things.
I would test the solenoid first. The mirror is a pig.
In my mirror, the glass is glued to a plastic piece which is locked into the housing using a bezel system. To unlock it there is a tab under the mirror glass that you can just about see if you look carefully. It rotates.
So in a MY2000 car:
Tape over the paint at the bottom of the mirror so your screwdriver doesn’t scratch it the paint.
Long piece of tape, loose, between the top of the mirror and onto the glass to stop it falling.
Slide a thin flat-head screw driver in and rotate the bezel.
Glass drops out. For gods sake catch it as it comes out.
Heated glass has electric element stuck to the back.
Putting it back is the opposite but ten times more frustrating.
However I cannot remember whether you can get to the button this way - it’s been a long time.
Good luck.
I would test the solenoid first. The mirror is a pig.
In my mirror, the glass is glued to a plastic piece which is locked into the housing using a bezel system. To unlock it there is a tab under the mirror glass that you can just about see if you look carefully. It rotates.
So in a MY2000 car:
Tape over the paint at the bottom of the mirror so your screwdriver doesn’t scratch it the paint.
Long piece of tape, loose, between the top of the mirror and onto the glass to stop it falling.
Slide a thin flat-head screw driver in and rotate the bezel.
Glass drops out. For gods sake catch it as it comes out.
Heated glass has electric element stuck to the back.
Putting it back is the opposite but ten times more frustrating.
However I cannot remember whether you can get to the button this way - it’s been a long time.
Good luck.
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