fuzzys cosworth touring-garage excuses

Post Sun Aug 28, 2005 12:46 pm

is it just me or do all garages talk crap and have no concept off time? i put my 325i touring in to Ace Performance in Carnwath,Lanarkshire on the 17 june to have the cosworth engine fitted with them telling me it would take 3-4 weeks. 11 weeks on and its still not finished with me having every excuse from the bumper book of excuses for the delays. this week ill be expecting a plague of locust as the latest! youd think that the fact that its costing thousands of pounds theyed be a bit more helpfull and just get it finished as its not far away now. maybe im just fussy but if im told 4 weeks i expect it to take just that and not 3 times longer! has anyone else had similar problems wiyh garages as i think they should be named and shamed to help other people make informed choices before they pick garages to work on their cars . i feel a bit better now ive got that off my chest!!!!

Post Sun Aug 28, 2005 12:58 pm

I dropped my car into the Bodyshop on 17th of Jan, and have only had it back a month or so

Annoying isn't it

Ian.

Post Sun Aug 28, 2005 5:14 pm

i waited 6 months just to get mine painted, and it was a mate who was doin it!

Post Sun Aug 28, 2005 9:08 pm

Im curious as to why you decided to use this company?

I know you're a bit short on options north of the border. But I would have checked the companies rep before giving them thousands of pounds of work.

Post Sun Aug 28, 2005 9:29 pm

hi mate, the company was recommended to me by someone else, they ve done work for me before and have been bang on for time and cost,they rebuillt my cossie engine at a higher spec. problem is they seem to be changing direction to repairing and powdercoating alloys for a quick turnover. ive also found in the past that once youve used a garage a couple of times for big jobs ,they tend to get lazy and take you for granted! i learn by my mistakes, its the last job they do for me!!!!

Post Mon Aug 29, 2005 10:05 am

fuzzy wrote: ive also found in the past that once youve used a garage a couple of times for big jobs ,they tend to get lazy and take you for granted! i learn by my mistakes, its the last job they do for me!!!!

Ain't that the truth?!?!? I've had the same problem getting stuff done for me. You tell them what you want done and they say "If you know so much about it, why don't you do the job yourself, we don't want it"!
...... And it's not only garages. I took a pair of seats to an upholsterer in April. He came highly recommended by several people. He still hasn't done the bloody things. I'm going back over there this week and if he hasn't done them I'll have them back and boy, will his name get blackened!

As soon as I get my garage clear enough to get a car in, I'm going back to doing all my own work (where possible) and I've found a real "old school" garage who I'll use for any stuff I don't have the facilities for. The only other time my car will go to a garage will be for MOTs - and I always use the same place for that, been going there for years.

Post Mon Aug 29, 2005 10:52 pm

as im still a newbie, im wondering what that 731 club is all about?

Post Mon Aug 29, 2005 10:55 pm

welcome newbie
731 is a head no

what do u drive??

Post Mon Aug 29, 2005 11:02 pm

thanks mate, im driving a 330-340 bhp cosworth powered touring with 17 inch alpinas and m-tech bodykit, not everyones taste in engines i know ,but it takes all sorts! i had the cosworth engine in my garage, i blew the engine in my 325 touring so it was only going to end up one way!!! it would have been a waste not to have used it.

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 7:38 am

fuzzy wrote:as im still a newbie, im wondering what that 731 club is all about?

731 is a cylinder head casting number for a 320i engine. The "club" is just a tongue-in-cheek thing between a couple of guys here - me and 320Touring.
Oh! .......And welcome to the 'Zone Fuzzy

Post Thu Sep 01, 2005 6:43 pm

hi zoners,just had this weeks excuse for the car not being finished, garage says they tried everything to get the cosworth clutch cable ( cossie gearbox) to work with the bmw pedals but couldnt weld on any brackets to the pedal as the pedal is to close to the bulkhead and there is no space,so they are having to refit the original bmw hydraulic clutch system and weld a mounting bracket inside the belhousing to carry the original slave cylinder, which obviously required the removal of the prop and the gearbox-hence the extra delay. we had words this morning and they now promise to have it done in 7 days,im not holding my breath!!! is there anyone out there whose familiar with the cosworth conversion who could confirm this latest excuse or is it more bollocks?

Post Thu Sep 01, 2005 7:02 pm

what they could have done is remove the clutch pedal and weld it outside the car, then refit, or use a sierra top section with the stock lower and pivot mountings ??

work yeah, but less than pulling the box again

I smell BS dude

Post Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:51 pm

that was pretty much my idea as well, and im just a stupid joiner!!!! i think your right ,bullshit indeed !!! hes always been good in the past so im giving him the benefit of the doubt again... but the good will is wearing a bit thin, ill see what happens next week.

Post Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:00 pm

is there anyone out there whose familiar with the cosworth conversion who could confirm this latest excuse or is it more bollocks?

i put the complete cosworth running gear into a mk4 escort,
but i'd have converted the pedal on the bmw to take a cable.
and what's more, i'd have done it by breakfast time!! :lol:

Post Sat Sep 10, 2005 2:57 pm

hi folks i was down at the garage on thursday to check on progress,everythings in and fitted except an oil feed for the turbo ,connect up the downpipe to the exhaust and to put all the trim back together inside the car,he says theres about a days work in it left so im bound to get the car back this week,its a very tight fit with not even enough space at the front of the engine to get your fingers down,but its looking good and i cant fault the quality of the work done,hopefully i can post some pics on next weekend!!!

Post Sat Sep 10, 2005 4:05 pm

good news at last then M8

get those pix up ASAP

must admit I thought ther'd be loads of room up front as the engines 2 cyls shorted than the M20

Post Sat Sep 10, 2005 4:07 pm

Sounds good. Maybe that's the way. Keep turning up and inspecting the work.

Post Sat Sep 10, 2005 4:15 pm

ant wrote:must admit I thought ther'd be loads of room up front as the engines 2 cyls shorted than the M20

I was thinking the same thing... Guess the cossie gearbox could be longer?

Weight distribution's gonna be a bit off if it's got a 4-pot sitting that far forward surely? Still can't wait to see the pics though!!

Post Sat Sep 10, 2005 4:16 pm

Sounds good. Maybe that's the way. Keep turning up and inspecting the work.

agreed,
it's the squeaking door that gets the oil first!

Post Sat Sep 10, 2005 4:26 pm

yeah ,id have thought the bmw 6 pot would be much longer than the cosworth 4 pot but its surprisingly tight with only 5mm between the inlet plenum and the brake servo, the wide intercooler and rad at the front make it even tighter

Post Sat Sep 10, 2005 9:53 pm

Post Sat Sep 10, 2005 10:12 pm

pics wll be posted as soon as i get it back from the garage!!! i should have taken a camera with me on thursday, but to be honest after all his previous excuses i wasnt expecting as much to have been done!!!!!