Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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I won't disclose as Simon will tell his missus who will tell my missus and then I'll be making a post in GC showing off my 5 year old 3 series diesel. 
I didn't go all the way to Stafford for corners to be cut tbf, biggest expense is the unexpected replacement of ARBs/links which I'm still annoyed about but I should be able to absorb that by selling off my existing stuff.
Once this is done, suspension shouldn't need touching for a long time other than occasional alignment checks.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Ben G
Member
Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
User status: Offline
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I gotta be hones here. My first though was ££££'s. Either the garage are trying to rip you off or they want stuff perfect and will not compromise on quality.
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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It's not going to be cheap, however I've signed off on all the stuff they've done or are doing after phone conversations and email exchanges with pictures etc.
With regards to the anti roll bars, I'd noticed in the past that they catch on the control arms when the car is jacked up but it never occurred to me that it would be an issue whilst driving. They gave me a choice of just leaving it alone, replacing just the front ARB or doing the lot.
I couldn't have one orange bar and one silver one... Could I?
His first day with the car was just road testing and inspecting stuff, once done he sent me a shopping list with all recommended actions which I could choose from. All prices include labour were quoted at that time and I'm paying for completion, not hourly rates which may vary due to issues.
I'm happy with their service, Simon has spent ages on the phone with me and I'm confident that corners are not being cut which I've been unable to say for most other places I've had this car at. Only regrets are buying those CDF bars earlier in the year, after seeing comparison photos they're nowhere near right 
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Liam
Member
Registered: 19th Jan 06
Location: Stafford
User status: Offline
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Chevron are about 5 mins down the road from me, always see different scoobies there!
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Wrighty
Member
Registered: 28th Feb 04
Location: Howden
User status: Offline
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didnt you already know something could be bent from the last alignment session? was this mentioned to chevron prior to the car going in?
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Wrighty
didnt you already know something could be bent from the last alignment session? was this mentioned to chevron prior to the car going in?
That was an issue in the rear, and ended up being the local alignment place screwing up... Camber bolts max positive and top mounts max negative...
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Oli_p
Member
Registered: 4th Jan 08
Location: Staffordshire
User status: Offline
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they're very thorough at chevron, fairly sure I saw cannon fodders scoob there aswell when I went past the other day.
They said the same to me about the BC's aswell, they used to be a dealer for them few years back but had a few issues with them so have taken a disliking to them now
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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Well mystery solved it would appear.
After much head scratching today they realised that my front control arms are actually different. ("What? You mean one is left and one is right?" was my response)
Apparently there are about 6 different control arms available for newage imprezas and at somepoint this car has had a prang, I knew that from bits of overspray in the engine bay and stuff like that but it looks like a control arm has been changed, with an incorrect one.
Almost identical to look at, but the difference is in the castor angle.
Luckily he had one knocking about, so customised that to match my other one (additional castor) and now everything is lined up straight.
Going to see if I can duck out of work to collect tomorrow, can't wait much longer.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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taylorboosh
Member
Registered: 3rd Apr 07
User status: Offline
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Cat d scooby imo - scoody?
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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 You got me there.
I'm thinking my buckled wheel discovery is related too, understeered it into a curb or something - would never have happened in an Evo.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Wrighty
Member
Registered: 28th Feb 04
Location: Howden
User status: Offline
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why did he have one control arm lying around and have to customise it and not just do the same the one that's already on the car? or fit the correct part instead of an incorrect part? seems odd to me
im sure you will notice the allignment changes on your nice long m-way drive home anyway 
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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The stock ones were being modified as part of the work they were doing, so the standard one he had lying around would need machining to match the "correct" standard one which had already been modified... Or something like that.
Will have a car full of alloy wheels so not much spirited driving to be had tomorrow... Plenty of miles to munch though
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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taylorboosh
Member
Registered: 3rd Apr 07
User status: Offline
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Im just kidding, i like your dedication... Bored of mine now
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by taylorboosh
Im just kidding, i like your dedication... Bored of mine now
Need to drive it more, but I guess doing the same list of mods to each car does get boring. This is my first time for most of everything and not sure I'll do it again on another car, but this one will hopefully be around for a while yet...
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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taylorboosh
Member
Registered: 3rd Apr 07
User status: Offline
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Have my eye on something on ebay... Think i will miss this one though...
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djgritt
Premium Member
Registered: 1st Nov 07
Location: Dorset Drives: Focus ST / Hyundai i20N
User status: Offline
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John-D in buying car, throwing money at it for 6 months then selling shocker.
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BeetleGav
Member
Registered: 27th Jun 10
Location: lancashire, nelson
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by djgritt
John-D in buying car, throwing money at it for 6 months then selling shocker.
Shocker
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taylorboosh
Member
Registered: 3rd Apr 07
User status: Offline
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Be reet
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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After three hours of trains, I arrived at Chevron at about 10 : 00 today.
Car was still in the workshop, Simon having a final tweak on the damper settings for the road setup.
I had a quick chat with him (basically slagging BC off ) and then we jumped in the car for a shakedown, him driving.
I'm still not sure whether I enjoyed it or whether I was terrified After a gentle plod around some twisties he said "right, I won't be silly - just going to lean on it a little bit".
He was taking sweeping bends at what I thought was just about the limit of grip, then he would start "sawing" at the wheel to try and unsettle the rear  Eventually he found the tipping point and had us sliding around a couple of fast kinks... cool as a cucumber I was
Really enjoyed his "test drive", these cars are sooooo capable in the right hands. When it was my turn, I just found a tractor to tuck in behind and passed the time by asking him loads of questions 
Got back to the workshop then he spent over an hour with me, talking everything over and giving me a run down on how to prep the car for a track day. The car is currently setup on full soft on both ARBs (they're the same size at each end, previously was 22mm front and 24mm rear) and I've got instructions to put front to stiff on a track day, and bring the rear gradually stiffer until the understeer is just about dialled out in dry conditions.
Damper rates are set very soft for the road, so been told what increments (and rebound/comp ratio) to increase by when I get to the track.
Final thing to change is front camber, he's set the car up so I can just slam the camber plates into the max negative position to be perfect for track camber, then I've got a scribed mark to aim for on my "road" setup. Rear camber remains untouched.
The car feels so settled now whilst going in a straight line, it sounds daft but the car felt very nervous at ~100mph+ (at Cadwell ) but actually felt a bit more stable at 80-90mph whilst turning. Now the car feels solid as a rock, doesn't pull into dips (tramlining?) and the feedback is IMMEDIATE when you apply the tiniest bit of lock. I think the increased castor causes this, but the steering input:response ratio seems to improve the more lock I apply.
As for the bad bits...
He really didn't like the BCs, he managed only 30mm droop at the rear when he normally aims for 50, the car had 15mm when it went in...
End result is a bit of wheel hop at the rear when really hooning.
Also my rattly rear topmounts, he says he witnessed a bit of play in the bearings so on my behalf he's going to chase BC for a replacement.
The final bit, he's not particularly happy about my gearbox's soundtrack
He reckons it's just a couple of bearings worn out on the centre shaft somewhere, but without 18-20 hours of stripping and rebuilding he can't say for sure. I think I need to budget for my gearbox to be dismantled early next year before I add to my collection of BHP enhancements.
Over all, happy boy - I knew the gearbox wasn't quite right - but performance wise we both agreed the box feels fine, and probably will remain "fine"... but "fine" doesn't quite cut it.
[Edited on 18-12-2013 by Kyle T]
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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SXI - Matt
Member
Registered: 8th Jul 07
Location: Leicestershire Drives: Corsa C SRI
User status: Offline
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Your OCD is another level, but also very sensible! Did you plan on it costing this much or is it getting a bit annoying the cost wise now?
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Simon_16v
Member
Registered: 14th Aug 06
Location: Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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It won't get annoying, during a discussion Kyle said it's a car he plans on keeping for some time.
That and he is made of money
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Wrighty
Member
Registered: 28th Feb 04
Location: Howden
User status: Offline
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wouldnt have cost SO much if he bought some of the right parts in the first place
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Wrighty
wouldnt have cost SO much if he bought some of the right parts in the first place
Pretty fair comment! I've got buyers for all but one part of my CDF gear now, I'll be about £50 down in total after switching to new whiteline stuff because Simon @ Chevron sold me them at cost... plus labour, of course!
quote:
Originally posted by SXI - Matt
Your OCD is another level, but also very sensible! Did you plan on it costing this much or is it getting a bit annoying the cost wise now?
It's not getting annoying, I'd say 95% of my costs so far have been on the hunt for performance and not maintenance - however that will change in the next couple of months when I get my gearbox dismantled 
So much of what I've done to this car is wasted on me, as I saw first hand on tuesday morning when somebody else was driving it - but I want to turn a good car into a really good one and I'm enjoying that process. I will do as much track time as I can next year and I'm just trying to pass the winter atm...
Spoke to a couple of specialists now about gearbox work, looking like about 8-900quid in labour to drop it, dismantle it, rebuild it and re-install it. Obviously will then be costs of parts if something is found to be fault and then the oil to fill it up.
If I go down that route, I'll seriously consider uprated clutch and lightened flywheel to save on the labour costs there - even if my clutch can handle my power ambitions it would be a good opportunity to draw a line under it.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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BarnshaW
Member
Registered: 25th Oct 06
User status: Offline
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this is costing you a fortune mate, probably should have a good think about it all before lugging all that money into it, one of the reasons i gave mine up in the end, they are money pits, brilliant cars but like all owners will tell you they will keep your wallet empty and inevitably always need something doing.
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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Thanks for your concern, but I'm not doing it for an investment... Its a toy and with any luck is a keeper.
It was pretty cheap to buy considering it's performance and at 15miles per day its hardly a huge drain month to month.
I really wanted a Cayman S before this car and I'm probably approaching Cayman money with the amount I've spent on this, but it would cost me significantly more to fiddle with a Porsche and run on a track in terms of consumables etc.
I'll keep spending as long as I enjoy it, then I'll try something else. Depends on whether my circumstances change or how my attention span lasts.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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