Superlight brake upgrade (Chimaera/Griffith)

As part of the upgrades developed for 'Rosenrot' we are offering a brake kit that - unlike all others on the market - doesn't add significant rotating weight compared to the small 239.5 mm brake discs on early Griffiths and Chimaeras and will reduce unsprung weight even compared to these tiny early standard brakes! It consists of a pair of Wilwood Forged Superlite calipers bolted straight to the Sierra-sourced front uprights (no adapter plate or bracket to compromise stiffness of the assembly) and 280 x 24 mm Tarox billet steel discs mounted on custom aluminium bells with AP Racing mounting hardware. Total weight of the disc/bell assembly is 4.6 kg (OEM Ford 239.5 disc weighs 4.35 kg, 260 mm dics on later cars weigh 5.3 kg each); we've weighed the Ford Sierra Cosworth disc that is usually included in a brake upgrade of this size at 6.6 kg (if you look at the disc where it meets the bell it's obvious there has been no effort made to reduce the weight;  the braking surface is about 1.5 times as wide as the brake pad depth of the calipers it's normally used with...) . The four pot Forged Superlite calipers are much lighter than the standard cast iron Ford calipers and slider brackets at 1.9 kg each (four pot cast iron Sierra Cosworth calipers weigh closer to 5 kg each...). For brake pads we usually recommend Ferodo DS 2500 but we can advise and supply different compounds if desired.  

The very high quality disc/bell combination (probably one of the very best on the market in terms of materials and finish) however does significantly affect the price of the conversion. As an alternative for those who are willing to accept a 2 kg penalty in exchange for a circa 50 %

 saving on price, we can supply grooved Tarox discs or plain 'Group N' aftermarket discs to work with the same direct fit calipers.

Because of different Ford brake disc offsets having been used by TVR we would advise stopping by with the car or supplying a brake disc that came off the car.

Let there be light

The Mk3 front conversion with covered headlights not only looks good, but also opens the possibility to use any 'universal' 7" headlight unit (as per Golf Mk1 - which TVR used on the Mk3 Chimaeras - Jeep Wrangler and Land Rover Defender) including the latest LED upgrade lights.

We chose the Truck-Lite 7"LEDs for the following reasons:

They are E-marked and thus fully road legal (most of the Chinese copies are only ECE-compliant which means they may be sold in Europe but are only legal for off-road use)

Being a reflector unit rather than a projector lamp, they don't look like a Dalek and as such don't stand out like a sore thumb on a classic car like our Chimaeras

Excellent lighting performance and very solid build (actually they are 'mil-spec') at a reasonable price

Comes with an H4 plug for dipped and main beam and built-in position light (you only need to crimp on some blade connectors and you're good to go with the original TVR wiring harness).

The conversion involves cutting the area under and behind where the original Mk 1/2 headlight surrounds sit and requires a bit of care not to damage the surrounding bodywork. It can be done without any subsequent paintwork. The headlamp pods with the Perspex covers are then inserted and bonded with the body from underneath.  To match the 'smoked'/dark effect of the factory rear lights behind the Perspex covers and the headlights themselves, we chose to paint the headlight pods satin black rather than body colour. It looks jolly nice, doesn't it? 

Brake upgrade for 16" on Tuscan/Tamora

It's no secret we are not a big fan of the 18-inch wheel 'upgrade' with ultra low profile tyres on Tuscans and Tamoras. Sadly, about 95 percent of customers did take up the option back when the cars were new, which led to Peter Wheeler's famous quip when queried by Mark Hales on the subject: "I know. We spend lots of time setting our cars up, and then customers pay us good money to ruin them!" Of course, for people who can't live without the fashionable big wheel/ rubber band tyre look there's always the option of upgrading to SP12 wheels which at least deals with the high unsprung mass and incorrect offset issues, but there still is significant value in keeping the 16-inch wheels with 50/55-section tyres which helps calm down the razor sharp front end so it doesn't constantly threaten to overwhelm the rear, and generally provide a more feelsome and progressive experience.
There's one snag: the bigger 322 mm brake disc from the Cerbera 4.5, Tuscan S and Red Rose models doesn't fit inside the 16-inch Spider wheel. Well, it does fit, but then you'll have a hard time turning the wheel! To provide appropriate braking capabilities for cars with upgraded power and/or cars that are regularly driven on track, we have developed a 315 mm option which is about as big as you can go, using a Tarox billet steel rotor on alloy bells. At around 7.0 kg, this 2-piece disc combination is lighter than either the single piece 304 or 322 mm discs or the 322 mm AP 2-piece discs that were specified on early 4.5 Cerberas and Red Rose Tuscans. As seen in the pic, cars using the early AP Racing CP 5200 calipers and cast uprights can be upgraded too, provided you can get hold of the TVR C0936/0937 uprights (the ones we got from TVR Parts were the last pair they had in stock...).

Cerbera Brakes

Just delivered these 323 mm two-piece Tarox Cerbera 4.5 discs to Autobedrijf Post Uiterweer, that had a 4.2 Cerbie with the 4-bolt AP calipers and 291 mm single piece discs in that was in desperate need for a braking capacity upgrade... Hans Daalhuisen had a set of brand new six-bolt TVR/AP calipers to hand and we were in business. :)

AP stopped making the 2-piece discs for the Cerbera a long time ago when TVR went to single piece replacement discs (a lot heavier and not nearly as much heatsink capability). Last fall, the proper 2-piece discs including the alloy bells appeared in Tarox' 'Bespoke' catalogue. The Tuscan 'Red Rose' and Tuscan S, the Sagaris and the lesser spotted Red Rose T-car variants also use the 322/323 discs, so cars with the 304 mm discs and six bolt calipers are but an adapter away from taking advantage of these discs, too...

More useful TVR products from ACT

Given the number of duct tape repairs I've seen on Cerbera airboxes right where the intake hoses are supposed to find a secure connection, these new carbon fibre backing plates from Tim are sure to make a good few friends on our shores.

And now, V8S (and old school Morgan Plus 8) owners can finally swap that nasty corrugated intake hose for a smooth bore silicone item. :) Replacing the 90 degree (well actually it's more like 105 degrees, then 15 the other direction) intake hose with the corresponding ACT item (in black rubber or silicone depending on your preferences)on Griffiths and Chimaeras tends to liberate 3-5 horses on its own, so I would expect a small gain on this application too. You won't feel the difference from that alone, but together with a set of carbon superflare trumpets... cheapest 10-15 bhp/ 20Nm (over a very wide rev range) you'll find on a Rover V8-engined car. :)