I just got this update from Ian at SportMotive in Staffordshire. It may well be of interest to anyone looking to do a restoration of their Chimaera or trying to salvage a car from the dreaded 'Blackpool Rot':
Details from Ian
"I thought you might be interested to know that we are now producing jig formed complete outrigger sections which can be fitted and welded in with the body in situ, yes you read it correctly with the body in situ, there is now no need to lift the bodyshell off the chassis just to repair outriggers, or cut out sections of fibreglass to gain access to weld up the corners as we know some companies do. Our outriggers are the complete side section of the chassis right up to the main chassis beams so you cut off the complete old outrigger in one go, fit up the new outrigger bolt it to the body and then weld it on at the main chassis in the exact position you cut off your old outrigger.
There is plenty of access at the main chassis beams to weld the tubes of the outriggers and the outrigger is bolted to the body and the wishbone pick up points during fitting to ensure its held in the correct position.There are two tricky points on the chassis which needed a bit of lateral thinking to get around, one being the centre widthways tube which is obscured at the main chassis beam by the body mounting plate, in order to gain access to this tube and weld it completely we leave off the body mounting plate, this is supplied loose and is welded in after the tube has been completely welded. The next tricky tube is the rear diagonal which goes up from the outer corner of the outrigger to the upper wishbone pick up point, this tube has to be cut approximately 50mm from the main chassis and joined so we provide a smaller diameter dowl tube which fits inside the chassis tube to aid location of the new outrigger which is then joined on and fully seam welded.
We have now successfully completed outrigger replacement on four customers cars and are now supplying outrigger kits which consist of a pair of outriggers,a pair of centre body mounting plates, 2 dowls and all new nuts and bolts required for 995 GBP inc vat, we can also supply and fit the kit for 1500 GBP all in. We have chassis' and outriggers in stock available for viewing or purchase. Give us a call on 01782 333008 or 07976 560006 for more details or advice."
