Discussion
Just purchased my 1st TVR...i have been a porsche man for 5 years now getting into this a couple of points and questions how do i adjust the hand break? and the out riggers are good but could do with a good wire brush and a repaint and suggestions? i do no want to go the powder coat route just a good inhibitor
95 chiamera (i will learn to spell it) one day
95 chiamera (i will learn to spell it) one day
On the handbrake question, assume you are finding that its not very good and doesn't hold the car on a slope? If yes then 'they all do that sir', I used to have a Chim (I cant spell it either 
) and the handbrake never really worked properly. Got into the habit of leaving the car in gear, which I did in my 'normal' car too, much to my wife's annoyance when she jumped in... The Tamora is much better, so the habit is slipping..
) and the handbrake never really worked properly. Got into the habit of leaving the car in gear, which I did in my 'normal' car too, much to my wife's annoyance when she jumped in... The Tamora is much better, so the habit is slipping..Mine must be the exception, the handbrake on my 96 Griff works. Will hold it on a hill without having to use both hands.
The adjustment is on the cable underneath the car at the back; you'll need to reach up over the diff to find it. There are two knurled wheels one of the wheels is used to tighten or loosen the cable, the second wheel locks against the first one.
The adjustment is on the cable underneath the car at the back; you'll need to reach up over the diff to find it. There are two knurled wheels one of the wheels is used to tighten or loosen the cable, the second wheel locks against the first one.
Handbrake on my Chim holds the car firm too. On a single click. Unfortunately I don't know how to adjust it - sorry 
. I think it's in 'the bible' - Steve Heath's 'The TVR Griffith and Chimaera', 2nd Ed. is latest I beleive. You should buy this anyway if you are going to be doing any of your own work - see TVRCC website or try google.
On the outriggers there are many many posts on here. POR15 system seems popular. I went with a loctite rust inhibitor, epoxy mastic and finished off with Dinitrol. Extremely impressed so far, but time will tell. Allocate plenty of time for the job, if you want to do it right its worth it but not a pleasant or quick job! Then you'll be taking the body off next.....
Edited to add: I see it's your 1st post. Use the 'advanced search' feature, if you haven't been already. Goldmine of info!
. I think it's in 'the bible' - Steve Heath's 'The TVR Griffith and Chimaera', 2nd Ed. is latest I beleive. You should buy this anyway if you are going to be doing any of your own work - see TVRCC website or try google.On the outriggers there are many many posts on here. POR15 system seems popular. I went with a loctite rust inhibitor, epoxy mastic and finished off with Dinitrol. Extremely impressed so far, but time will tell. Allocate plenty of time for the job, if you want to do it right its worth it but not a pleasant or quick job! Then you'll be taking the body off next.....
Edited to add: I see it's your 1st post. Use the 'advanced search' feature, if you haven't been already. Goldmine of info!
Edited by winters on Friday 8th May 09:08
Its fiddly to get right,as i found that one side would hold tight,but the other would allow the wheel to rotate,after much faffing i managed to get the handbrake to hold solid on 3 clicks,perfectly safe on a slope now and no problems with the recent mot......95 Griff 500
Still leave it in gear though
Still leave it in gear though
jamiethetruth said:
Just purchased my 1st TVR...i have been a porsche man for 5 years now
I'm more interested in the fact that you jumped to TVR from a 5 year sojourn with Porkers! Nice one that man! How are you enjoying it? Permagrin in place yet? My BiL has a Boxster and I found it rather bland compared to my Chim (and slow!).Well done and welcome to the fold (don't worry about the handbrake, adapt your attitude!)
I think this might amuse you all on the subject of handbrake..... The other week i went to see a friend in my pride and joy 52 plate tuscan, the roof was off. i had parked on the drive which has a slope running away from the house. i parked, handbrake on but not in gear. while waiting to go out after being there for some 15 mins my i pod was in my pocket so i thought i would pop outside and put it in the boot........ upon opening the steet door my eyes poped out my head, she was on the move backwards down the slope which lead to a walled area!!!!!! i managed to jump in and stop her before she reached the wall.......... now how close was that!!!!!!! handbrake on and in gear always now.
jamiethetruth said:
Just purchased my 1st TVR...i have been a porsche man for 5 years now getting into this a couple of points and questions how do i adjust the hand break? and the out riggers are good but could do with a good wire brush and a repaint and suggestions? i do no want to go the powder coat route just a good inhibitor
95 chiamera (i will learn to spell it) one day
It's not Chimaera you want to learn to spell (sorry couldn't resist that) 95 chiamera (i will learn to spell it) one day
Seriously though the thing with the Griffs and Chimaeras is not to adjust the handbrake too tight, they actually work better if yo leave it a bit of slack so you need 3 or 4 clicks on the ratchet to set it. Because the lever is high on the tunnel this gives you more leverage but unfortunately most dealers and mechanics thought that because it was hard to set they would tighten the cable simply making the issue worse Regards the chassis there are lots of threads on here about wire brushing it, painting it with POR15 and even lifting the body! Personally I just clean it, touch-up with white Hammerite and Waxoyl every couple of years. Edited by RichB on Tuesday 26th May 21:39
RichB said:
jamiethetruth said:
Just purchased my 1st TVR...i have been a porsche man for 5 years now getting into this a couple of points and questions how do i adjust the hand break? and the out riggers are good but could do with a good wire brush and a repaint and suggestions? i do no want to go the powder coat route just a good inhibitor
95 chiamera (i will learn to spell it) one day
It's not Chimaera you want to learn to spell (sorry couldn't resist that) 95 chiamera (i will learn to spell it) one day
"...if yo leave a it..."
Spelling!!!I believe that the brakes are self adjusting, but the adjustment part seizes up, a tip I have used in the past with auto adjustment brakes is to apply the foot brake then work the hand brake up and down a few times, this sometimes works,in freeing off the adjuster or at least taking up the adjustment, last year when I took my chim in for its MOT it just passed on the hand brake performance (I had not used the above tip before I went)
this year when I went I worked the handbrake for about 5 minutes before I took it in, the tester remembered the car and commented before the test how bad the handbrakes are on this type of car,
when it came to the handbrake test (yes I was a bit nervous thinking it might fail) and this time the tester said how good the handbrake was working,the brakes had not been touched between the two test apart from visual examinations, so it appears to work.
Phil
this year when I went I worked the handbrake for about 5 minutes before I took it in, the tester remembered the car and commented before the test how bad the handbrakes are on this type of car,
when it came to the handbrake test (yes I was a bit nervous thinking it might fail) and this time the tester said how good the handbrake was working,the brakes had not been touched between the two test apart from visual examinations, so it appears to work.
Phil
I agree with the applying the footbrake before raising the handbrake,makes a big difference to the ammount of pull you can get,and therefore how well it holds the car,as for the mot,only way to test the car is by moving the car and applying the handbrake whilst the tester sits with a taplow meter registering braking force....the pass must be marginal due to the design of these systems,at a standstill they are borderline,add a little movement then thats when it struggles,mine seemed to pass ok ..... hope he didnt roller brake test the car?
rigga said:
I agree with the applying the footbrake before raising the handbrake,makes a big difference to the ammount of pull you can get,and therefore how well it holds the car,as for the mot,only way to test the car is by moving the car and applying the handbrake whilst the tester sits with a taplow meter registering braking force....the pass must be marginal due to the design of these systems,at a standstill they are borderline,add a little movement then thats when it struggles,mine seemed to pass ok ..... hope he didnt roller brake test the car?
The test was carried out on rollers I did question the use but was told it was ok, they did a few cars with LSD, (but what it did show was a marked improvement over last year, I may not have explained what I meant correctly on my post above, yes you can apply the foot brake to give you some more pressure on the pads, but what I was meaning was to take up the adjustment internally in the calliper, if somebody has a handbrake that is not very good they might like to try it.
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