Hi All
The 74 TVR is in fact a 2500M. Its beautiful! Silver-grey with a black
vinyl top. Much thanks to John Forrester, Steven Jackson, Ray Haines and
Rolf who responded quickly with some good advice and info. I may be
contacting you guy's for some more. Please feel free to comment on the
following.
I test drove the car and took it to a friend of mine who owns a garage.
He gave it a good look. Heres the result....
- Compression 180 140 160 160 150 150
Said the 180 troubled him. Car would probably need
rings and such in the near future.
(The car does puff some blue smoke, uses a lot of oil,
and hesitates a bit under heavy acceleration)
the 180 cylinder probably not firing when pushed???
- That was the only really bad news.
- The frame and underside are excellent
- Needs new bushings on front stabalizer (are right apart)
- Distributor shaft has some play.
- Needs new starter solenoid
- Needs one new U-joint in back.
- Body and trim are in pretty good shape, and paint is ok for now.
- Will need new tires, still has the original ones. 58000 miles.
- Electrical had the usually list of problems. Some things work, some don't,
some work sometimes.
The only thing that really worried me was the engine. I am confident I can
do the other things the car needs. I really want to buy this car but I am
worried about paying a lot for a car that will need the engine re-done. I am
not sure I can tackle this one. With this known problem, is it reasonable to
make an offer a few thousand lower than what he is asking? What should I do?
My mechanic friend said it is in great shape otherwise, said if I don't mind
putting oil in it regularly and replacing the plugs often that it would be no
problem to drive for some time. Should I avoid it altogether knowing the
engine has some problems? Or is it not a big deal? Any advice would be
greatly appreciated.
Tom (The TVR is soooooo beautiful, and felt sooooo good on me) Beatty
PS: Its taking all my willpower to keep from just cutting the guy a big cheque
and driving home my baby!
PPS: My wife even said that as long as I am confident that we can handle this
financial commitment and we can still have our traditional pizza night
every friday, she will ok it! I LOVE HER!
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