HiAsAKite

K771*** silver 16v(?) spotted on A3 northbound in guildford today at 12.25- you flashed me :-)

Um, they're two coolant pipes (circa 1" diameter maybe?) that go into the bulkhead at the back of engine bay in the 'top middle'- ie look at the engine bay from the front and they should be at the back of the engine bay, at the back at the top. They are next to each other- you basically unplug them from the 'sockets' that sit in the bulkhead and plug them into each other so that engine coolant bypasses the heater matrix,,, ....the heater matrix itself is on the otherside of the bulkhead (ie the dashboard side rather than the engine bay side).. If I had a picture of engine bay I'd annotate it for you which would make it alot clearer.. In order to do the bypass, if I recall correctly you need: - something to act as a male-male 'conenctor' for the coolant pipes to connect together, - jubilee clips to seal it- Funnily enough, these are std issue in an AA patrol van..(and not Corrado specific).. Not sure where you can buy/make a connector- hopefully someone else will come forward?

Had this happen to me a few years back whilst driving- one minute enjoying the countryside, next minute steam pouring out the dash and engine coolant spraying over my leg.. ...as others have said- the matrix has gone.. You can bypass it in the engine bay (where the coolant goes through the bulkhead) which allows you to drive the car until you can get the matrix replaced (which is a dash out job)- - however you should ASAP get all the carpets out that have been contaminated and 'wash' and dry them out, plus dry to get as much of the coollant out of the dash/lower centre section- as otherwise it will sit there and play havoc with any electrics that are caught by it.... ...the glycerol in the collant is also hydrophilic and will absorb water out of the air, so until you get clean it it out will never 'dry' properly- if this has got into any of the electrics this may cause a problem for you - (in my case my immobiliser was soaked and needed to be replaced- it worked when dried with a het gun, but over a period of days would absorb moisture from the air back in and stop working until it was re-dried... All the best getting it sorted.. PS: GSF do replacement matrices-

PhilK and I had a 'scientific' test between my (std) VR with 160,000 miles on and his CupraR revealed that whilst the CupraR was quicker, there wasn't a huge amount between them... (maybe a 1/2 car length or so 10mph-70?)... Very subjective, and completely at the whim how gentle (or not) we felt like being with out gear changes but it gives an indication. - to see a real difference you need a big difference in power..

Fair enough- as said in terms of performance, they are absolute beasts, just make sure you go in with your eyes open with respect to the TLC/running costs they need. Also forgot to mention that they shoud all (including post 2001 speed 6 models) be registered as PLG with the DVLA, not petrol car, which means £185 road tax :-) They have pretty 'special' (in a good way I think) interiors too..

One other thing (forgot to add)- if it is a second car, you are over 25, limit the mileage to 5000 and have access to garage, classic insurance will be an option (eg with Hagerty, ManningUK or RH specialists)- think £200-£300 annual premium-

Yup- Chimaera 400 for the past year. There are a couple of others on here who own Chimaera 500's and Corrado's (JonRB for one)- do a search on Chimaera and it should pull them up. All I would say is do your research carefully- in nutshell its condition, condition, condition, and its the running costs you need to look at rather than the purchase cost- RV8 cars are 'relatively' cheap to run (Griffith, Chimaera) (eg budget £1K per year for 5000 miles+ keep a £2K emergency fund ready- which may not be used (I haven't needed it yet) S6 cars are reasonably cheap to run - however there is the risk of an engine rebuild being required (could be £4-8K depending who you speak to. S6 cars are the Tuscan, Tamora, T350, 4 litre Cerbera and Sagaris- AJP8 cars- flat-plane V8- relatively reliable (perhaps not quite as much as the RV8 engines) I'm told running costs are an order of magnitude greater than RV8 engines. Some early AJP8s had crankshaft issues, but I'm told this isn't an issue now.. AJP8 only features in the cerbera 4.2 and 4.5. AJP8 parts not as easy to get hold of as RV8 parts as these were a TVR only engine, and only featured in the Cerb. So in short- Cerbera's are expensive to run compare to other TVRs- (although cheap as chips for the performance- bear in mind you talking Italian and German exotica) - the AJP8 is probably the better engine to go for- however its condition condition condition. also- bear in mind chassis rust (in particular outrigger) may be an issue on all of the above cars - get it inspected by someone who knows what they are looking for- Hope that helps- nutshell, cracking cars, by on condition, and have your eyes open about the running cost, they are in a different league to most stuff, and if you are worried about the speed6 engine go for the AJP8 Seriously suggest you have hunt around http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?h=0&f=6&mid=27647 - and it may also be worth tagging along to some TVR meets - either through PH or through the TVR club- people are generally pretty helpful if someone shows a genuine interest in their car.. Whatever you do, do your research, and keep your eyes open about the running costs of these things. PS:- Cerbs have rather cool wing mirrors too :wink:

Welcome to the fold- any pics with the new grill and refurbed wheels?

Voted...although I suspect this vote may turn into a 'which owner has the backing of the biggest forum' battle... anyway- you're still out infront with 20% at the minute..

Mines on 234,000 Km (around 140+k miles) and hasn't missed a beat (had the chains done though)... As someone else said, sell it if you are looking for a change/need to get rid of it, but otherwise I'd keep hold of it..

Have them on my 93 VR too..

I do about 400-500 motorway miles a week in the VR commuting to Yorkshire and back, and keep the Chimaera for the weekend.. ...originally I had a mk8vGTI as the day to day car and the VR as the fun car, got rid of the golf, got the tiv and the sensible voices said swap the VR for something more 'sensible' (ie dull :( )... ...the voices I actually listened to said ' you've spent the last 4 years sorting this car out- use it and enjoy it!... :nuts: .'..

Cool- and welcome to the fold!

Crikey- my Tiv averages better than that mpg!

My water temp guage generally sits at around 100 or slightly over once the car's fully warm and has done for nearly 6 years. 100?- my water temp is usually a lot lower (80/90 deg).. I guess every car's a bit individual (or my gauge is out!)... My point was that 110 degrees water temp is the absolutely max you should see as that's when buzzers start to go etc.. and if gets that far your fans probably aren't working properly or something else is amiss.. 110 oil is different story- incidentally my oil usually sits around the 98-104 mark...

110 oil temp (ie of the MFA) is ok (its hot, buts ok if you're stuck in traffic or really hooning it).. 110 water temp (temp gauge) is not ok- your fans should be on full wack and your water temp buzzer should trigger around 110/111 degrees..

It should not get to 110 deg without fan... My fans currently do not work (getting them sorted tomorrow), and it gets to 110 when the warning light comes on- driving it normally however (even without fans) water temp stays around the 80-90 mark (even without fans)- just be prepared to switch off and let it cool down if the water temp gets too high.. If I recall the fans should be on by the 100 deg mark..

Could be a bargain...but. ...I would research into Cerbera running costs if I were, plus from what I've heard its the TVRs that don't get used that are troublesome ones........ No doubt someone will come on here who knows about speed 6 engines..

Have to echo the other comments about not seeming worth it... Especially when you factor the additional cost of taking the car apart to get the body, respraying it, and rebuilding it afterwards.... (none of which I suspect will be accounted for in the £1750 quote)

Personally I keep everything- I appreciate the point about engine work receipts prior to an engine swap, however it gives a prospective an idea of the continuous care and attention that the cars had

aha... it shouldn't vary with revs....obviously if you're under (severe) acceleration then this will act as if your pointing uphill which is what I was referring to... ..if its actually varying with revs (as opposed to acceleration) then I would be puzzled.....

yes. You may find if you're on a slope you'll get incorrect readings too..- i suspect its the fuel sloshing about in the tank. It shouldn't move a major amount however -perhaps 1/8th of the gauge..

Lovely colour mate.. and shockingly low mileage..:D

To give you perspective.. this sounds like this could be a better car (no crack windscreen etc)... £650-...(And I'm pretty sure its not the same one..)- just needs a bit of paint TLC...admittedly it doesn't have the engine work..still a bargain though.. http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=67075 Give you an idea of price for the one your mates been offered though..

That looks pretty cool in the retro way though.. ... shame its an auto I guess.. (he says, having no idea how good the auto boxes are in these)...