UK 3.2 Turbo hits the road
02-27-2012, 05:59 AM
#572
Burning Brakes
According to Pauls post over on the GB forum it was just a case of a general lack of funds due to other commitments over a car that was not getting much use combined with a decent offer from someone who wanted to buy the car for its engine.
02-27-2012, 11:01 AM
#573
Drifting
The circumstances involved in removing and selling the engine I found curious, obviously no ones business but Diver's and the garage concerned but it was posted on a public forum.
02-27-2012, 02:02 PM
#574
Burning Brakes
People are in and out of that yard all the time and plenty of chit chat. I am assuming the forum post had no bad intent but lets just say the garage involved clearly still need to work on their communication skills.
02-27-2012, 02:19 PM
#575
Drifting
I wanted some parts for my turbo last year, 3 times I rang and was assured someone was calling me back but they never did, twice I emailed them and heard nothing. Edit to add Jon at JMG has contacted me and explained the situation and also given me some very helpful advice.
Last edited by blade7; 11-16-2012 at 01:53 PM.
02-29-2012, 06:57 AM
#577
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Wow, what a journey! Over the last couple of evenings, I have read thru all 39 pages.
I wonder if anyone ever shed any light on the brake failure? My 944T is not a track car but I have been tempted to at least try it on the track.
I wonder if anyone ever shed any light on the brake failure? My 944T is not a track car but I have been tempted to at least try it on the track.
04-14-2012, 08:31 AM
#578
Advanced
Seems to be a lot of misinformation on this thread and seeing as we are being accused of poor communication I thought I should clear up the fog a little.
LIL has NOT been broken up.
A couple of years ago, LIL suffered an engine issue that we had predicted would happen if the exhaust was not upgraded, ironicly, the issue raised its ugly head at the end of a 200 mile journey down to us to have the exhaust upgraded and a service.
The engine was stripped, parts replaced (which took months to have custom made again) and the car serviced, MOT tested and ready for the exhaust upgrade if Paul had funds (with a strong recommendation!).
We were working on our own 3 inch exhaust, but it was working out more expensive to manufacture than a fabspeed system and a couple of manufacturing issues made the whole thing uneconomically viable, so we ditched that plan after making a couple of systems, the fabspeed systems are great value and I do not know how Joe can get them made as such a keen price.
Once it was ready, Paul was getting involved in a new business, so understandably was jittery about the additional cost of an exhaust on top of his £4000 bill, so it was agreed that the car would stay here until his new business was up and flying or another plan was found.
We did not make Paul pay his bill or for storage for the last couple of years, or re-mot testing and servicing the car every year while it has been here.
Over the last couple of years, Paul had shown interest in selling the car, a few people were interested, but no one actually came through with the money.
Eventually LIL failed the UK MOT test due to corrosion a couple of months ago, which brought things to a head, we could not keep maintaining the car and replacing the sill for free, so a deal was done with Paul to buy the car and a deposit paid.
The engine was removed to check its health on the engine dyno.
Meanwhile, another customer Alan, purchased one of our 2.8 Turbo engines to replace his 2.5 standard engine which we had already mildly tuned to 380 BHP and 400 Lbs of torque, the 2.8 Engine was installed into the car, but before it left, Alan noticed the 3.2 engine being unloaded following the dyno health tests and it was agreed that he would buy it.
Alan continued to run in the 2.8, which part of the deal will be removed and refunded (its now headed for a very interesting 944 Turbo Cup car previously owned by an F1 team owner) and the 3.2 will be installed in the next week.
LIL has been completely paid for, there is no sculduggery in why the engine is not staying in LIL, yes it is going into another Baltic Blue 944 Turbo, but this one is a Turbo S which has been restored over the many years that Alan has owned it, which is also corrosion free.
Someone had gone onto another forum and said they had seen LIL's engine was removed, the car was broken up and the engine had just been installed into another car. Unfortunately, what he had seen was LIL without an engine, another baltic blue one that had just received an engine, and talk that this car was going to be having LIL's engine. However some confusion has crept in somehow.
The future for LIL?
LIL has corrosion in the drivers side sill and many of you will remember it had an accident on the passenger side on a track some years ago, which was repaired with all new genuine panels, but even still, his has a checkered history and some issues. Who would want to buy a car returned to standard, which had been used with a seriously powerful engine, had been in an accident and had corrosion repairs?
At the moment, my plan for LIL is to use it as a test bed for tuning experiments and as a fun road and track car for myself, to take the strain of fun driving away from my super low mileage spotless white 944 turbo which is too good to enjoy to the full.
I keep hearing people have made enquiries to use us and never heard back, I would love to know more, as I keep investigating this and would love to find who at JMG needs to be beaten with a short stick!
We did have a period where a previously great technician for years (although militant) went off the rails causing us problems a couple of years ago, which once that was dealt with the family business was dealt with the passing away of first my wife and then my father in 2010, so for a good year between 2010 and 2011 50% of the staff here were in the throws of grief and other distractions other than the business, which did cause customer care issues.
In the past we have also been guilty of being a victim of our own success, generosity, sympathy and enthusiasm.. This manifested itself in us working on cars which were too far gone, working on customers projects at "mates rates" who didnt always follow our advice or even give us prompt authorization, just because we were enthusiastic about their project, which just leads to chaos and again loss of customer care.. So, the last year has been one full of regrouping the business, sorting out problems and building the foundations to go forward.
Lastly, the brake failure is still a mystery, she had new brakes, lost no fluid and the recovery driver at the track commented that it had a good firm brake peddle and we could find no faults. The only old part on the car was the master cylinder, which was changed as a precaution, other than that, its still a mystery.
Anyway, a long post, but I thought it needed to be cleared up in a concise way.
LIL has NOT been broken up.
A couple of years ago, LIL suffered an engine issue that we had predicted would happen if the exhaust was not upgraded, ironicly, the issue raised its ugly head at the end of a 200 mile journey down to us to have the exhaust upgraded and a service.
The engine was stripped, parts replaced (which took months to have custom made again) and the car serviced, MOT tested and ready for the exhaust upgrade if Paul had funds (with a strong recommendation!).
We were working on our own 3 inch exhaust, but it was working out more expensive to manufacture than a fabspeed system and a couple of manufacturing issues made the whole thing uneconomically viable, so we ditched that plan after making a couple of systems, the fabspeed systems are great value and I do not know how Joe can get them made as such a keen price.
Once it was ready, Paul was getting involved in a new business, so understandably was jittery about the additional cost of an exhaust on top of his £4000 bill, so it was agreed that the car would stay here until his new business was up and flying or another plan was found.
We did not make Paul pay his bill or for storage for the last couple of years, or re-mot testing and servicing the car every year while it has been here.
Over the last couple of years, Paul had shown interest in selling the car, a few people were interested, but no one actually came through with the money.
Eventually LIL failed the UK MOT test due to corrosion a couple of months ago, which brought things to a head, we could not keep maintaining the car and replacing the sill for free, so a deal was done with Paul to buy the car and a deposit paid.
The engine was removed to check its health on the engine dyno.
Meanwhile, another customer Alan, purchased one of our 2.8 Turbo engines to replace his 2.5 standard engine which we had already mildly tuned to 380 BHP and 400 Lbs of torque, the 2.8 Engine was installed into the car, but before it left, Alan noticed the 3.2 engine being unloaded following the dyno health tests and it was agreed that he would buy it.
Alan continued to run in the 2.8, which part of the deal will be removed and refunded (its now headed for a very interesting 944 Turbo Cup car previously owned by an F1 team owner) and the 3.2 will be installed in the next week.
LIL has been completely paid for, there is no sculduggery in why the engine is not staying in LIL, yes it is going into another Baltic Blue 944 Turbo, but this one is a Turbo S which has been restored over the many years that Alan has owned it, which is also corrosion free.
Someone had gone onto another forum and said they had seen LIL's engine was removed, the car was broken up and the engine had just been installed into another car. Unfortunately, what he had seen was LIL without an engine, another baltic blue one that had just received an engine, and talk that this car was going to be having LIL's engine. However some confusion has crept in somehow.
The future for LIL?
LIL has corrosion in the drivers side sill and many of you will remember it had an accident on the passenger side on a track some years ago, which was repaired with all new genuine panels, but even still, his has a checkered history and some issues. Who would want to buy a car returned to standard, which had been used with a seriously powerful engine, had been in an accident and had corrosion repairs?
At the moment, my plan for LIL is to use it as a test bed for tuning experiments and as a fun road and track car for myself, to take the strain of fun driving away from my super low mileage spotless white 944 turbo which is too good to enjoy to the full.
I keep hearing people have made enquiries to use us and never heard back, I would love to know more, as I keep investigating this and would love to find who at JMG needs to be beaten with a short stick!
We did have a period where a previously great technician for years (although militant) went off the rails causing us problems a couple of years ago, which once that was dealt with the family business was dealt with the passing away of first my wife and then my father in 2010, so for a good year between 2010 and 2011 50% of the staff here were in the throws of grief and other distractions other than the business, which did cause customer care issues.
In the past we have also been guilty of being a victim of our own success, generosity, sympathy and enthusiasm.. This manifested itself in us working on cars which were too far gone, working on customers projects at "mates rates" who didnt always follow our advice or even give us prompt authorization, just because we were enthusiastic about their project, which just leads to chaos and again loss of customer care.. So, the last year has been one full of regrouping the business, sorting out problems and building the foundations to go forward.
Lastly, the brake failure is still a mystery, she had new brakes, lost no fluid and the recovery driver at the track commented that it had a good firm brake peddle and we could find no faults. The only old part on the car was the master cylinder, which was changed as a precaution, other than that, its still a mystery.
Anyway, a long post, but I thought it needed to be cleared up in a concise way.
04-14-2012, 09:50 AM
#579
Rennlist Member
Jon, of course you deserve a right of reply. I'm curious as to how you predicted an engine failure based on Paul's decision to stick with a stock exhaust for the time being? Unless the inner 'skin' of the OEM exhaust had collapsed to the point of major restriction, it seems odd that this catastrophic failure could occur? What were the symptoms of the failure?
04-14-2012, 01:34 PM
#580
Advanced
Restrictive exhaust systems always cause higher EGT's, incomplete exhaust gas extraction and the higher the cylinder pressure or power output the higher the risk.
An early telltale was Paul kept experiencing a bent electrode tip on number 4 plug.
It was always on the cards for the car to get a larger bore exhaust, just took a bit longer than with hindsight was than the engine could take.
An early telltale was Paul kept experiencing a bent electrode tip on number 4 plug.
It was always on the cards for the car to get a larger bore exhaust, just took a bit longer than with hindsight was than the engine could take.
04-16-2012, 10:34 AM
#581
Rennlist Member
Restrictive exhaust systems always cause higher EGT's, incomplete exhaust gas extraction and the higher the cylinder pressure or power output the higher the risk.
An early telltale was Paul kept experiencing a bent electrode tip on number 4 plug.
It was always on the cards for the car to get a larger bore exhaust, just took a bit longer than with hindsight was than the engine could take.
An early telltale was Paul kept experiencing a bent electrode tip on number 4 plug.
It was always on the cards for the car to get a larger bore exhaust, just took a bit longer than with hindsight was than the engine could take.
11-16-2012, 01:10 AM
#583
Rennlist Member
There's someone running around in a 3.4L turbo cab. I was going to do a 3.5L but that project has long since gathered dust.
11-16-2012, 01:16 AM
#584
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I'm just trying to see if there is any sense in sticking with the 944 base as the engine and not going to LS1...
What kind of reliable numbers can you get from a 3.5 and what bore stroke were you going to use? Were you going to use wet sleeves? What other mods?
11-16-2012, 07:02 AM
#585
Rennlist Member
There's a lot more to it than just outright cubic capacity.