uklee70
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| posted on 5/12/12 at 06:58 PM |
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GTM Libra Everyday car?
Hi All
After a very emotional sale of the fiat 500 speedster.
I now have some cash on the hip
I'm looking for a more interesting car as my daily driver don't do many miles.
I have always loved the GTM Libra but i'm not a real fan of K series as an everyday thing. So an engine swap is in mind and I'm either
going to go down the VTEC route or as something a little different the Toyota engine in the elise the vvti 190 both 6 speed is there any other engines
i should be thinking of?
Has anyone on here have a Libra or know of one that's for sale?
I look forward to your replies
Thanks a very sad Lee
New toy / everyday car needed
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gottabedone
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| posted on 5/12/12 at 08:09 PM |
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Well it wasn't quite a Libra but my GTM Rossa was my daily driver for over a year. It was a 1400 K series with a 5 speed box. I soundproofed
it, waterproofed it  and had 205GTI seats in it so it was comfortable.
There's no reason why you cant. The footwells are quite big so as long as you don't carry a lot of bulky kit you'll be fine
Steve
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Simon
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| posted on 5/12/12 at 08:10 PM |
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Can't see the prob with the K series meself. Wife has one in her ZR (which we've had 8 years) and it's a great little engine.
If you insist on an engine change, I'd consider a diesel 
ATB
Simon
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andy o
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| posted on 5/12/12 at 09:09 PM |
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i see one every morning on my way to work all year round so it can't be a bad every day car
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rdodger
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| posted on 5/12/12 at 09:24 PM |
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I had mine for about 4 years and covered 25000 miles. 3 European tours and many track days.
K series VVC engine was faultless. They are if you have the later head gasket/dowels and in a mid engined car move the thermostat to the other side of
the engine. They don't like thermal shock.
I used mine some days. A few others use them daily. One guy I know used his as a company car and did more than 60000 in his. I can't see it
being much fun in this weather! It would get very dirty in the engine bay as the rear clam has little in the way of protection for the engine and the
inside of the rear screen gets covered if it's raining.
I loved mine and would get another. Look out for one with the Z Cars rear suspension that I had developed. It is a massive improvement.
Check out Team GTM for the knowledge or feel free to u2u with any questions.
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inkafone
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| posted on 5/12/12 at 11:43 PM |
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I had a Libra for 3 years and it's fine for everyday use. Most have been well built and have the factory recommended interior trim (auto
marine). The original rear suspension is good for road use although the ball joints used could benefit from replacing every 20 - 30k. I currently have
a Libra Spyder that's being re-fettled - Mk2 rear suspension (pillow joints) and VTEC engine. There's a couple of Libras on pistonheads
that are crying out for an engine upgrade and a Spyder VVC on Ebay. The K series engines are well designed & very economical especially the VVC
(met one of the original development engineers and he had a VVC in an immaculate metro which with his own designed exhaust cam and timing gave 180BHP+
with the standard ECU) - head gasket problems were mainly freelander & MGF - don't drive it hard from cold.
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swanny
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| posted on 6/12/12 at 03:59 PM |
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agree that there are some quite cheap libras with the 1400k series that would be ripe for an engine swap.
the membership secretary from the gtmdrivers forum had his for sale, he's used that as his only car for a few years but now has grandkids he
wants to ferry about.
if i had a libra i'd be using it every day. even the spyder would work at a push (no problems with my soft - top)
but i'd agree with the k series, properly maintained they can be fine. but they dont seem up to modern standard of fit and forget, in that they
seem to actually need checking on every now and again.
very pleased i bought mine.
paul
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uklee70
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| posted on 24/12/12 at 06:36 PM |
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Hi all I'm being mucked around by a guy on piston heads seems like he doesn't want to sell the car keeps saying he has other interested
parties
So I'm going to stop chasing him as he won't even let me view it.
But this leaves me on a search for a gtm. Libra and they seem to be a bit thin on the ground
I looking for a car that may need a little work as I am going. to do an engine swap
I have searched the web and come up blank does anyone know of one sale
Thanks for any help Lee
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inkafone
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| posted on 24/12/12 at 06:45 PM |
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Put a wanted ad on the GTMOC site - I think the membership secretary has one for sale. It's a good source of info and they're a friendly
bunch.
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Stott
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| posted on 24/12/12 at 07:11 PM |
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I see one in Caerphilly a lot with a gtm plate on it so he manages, it looks really cool and is such a change from seeing the eurobox's queueing
(I'm guilty of being in a eurobox)
[Edited on 24/12/12 by Stott]
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whitestu
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| posted on 24/12/12 at 09:28 PM |
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I've always liked these as well and considered replacing the Indy with one.
Stu
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