The life of... SharkyUK's Trophy

[Supersonic]

Absolutely awesome project. Good luck with the next round of mods. Like alot of others I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

 

[Supersonic]

Just been thinking...

Did you ever get around to fitting a diff? (Apologies if you did, I may have forgotten).

 

[SharkyUK]

Absolutely awesome project. Good luck with the next round of mods. Like alot of others I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

Just been thinking...

Did you ever get around to fitting a diff? (Apologies if you did, I may have forgotten).

Thanks mate.

With regards the diff, I haven't yet had one fitted. It's still on the to-do list but won't be happening until the engine work has been completed. I'll probably be looking at the Quaife based on feedback I've received from people. I'm not after a 'full-on' race/track spec diff hence the Quaife should do the trick.

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

Thanks George. If you keep supplying the brakes then I'll keep providing the updates!

Ha thats a deal mate!

 

[Supersonic]

Thanks mate.

With regards the diff, I haven't yet had one fitted. It's still on the to-do list but won't be happening until the engine work has been completed. I'll probably be looking at the Quaife based on feedback I've received from people. I'm not after a 'full-on' race/track spec diff hence the Quaife should do the trick.

I'll be interested in what you think after you do as I've thought for ages that a well judged diff will make the Trophies truly fantastic, even largely standard ones. I'd love to be able to afford one but £1300 is alot of money.

 

[Jon.G]

I think there is another lad on ClioTrophy that has just bought a diff for his T.

 

[SharkyUK]

I think there is another lad on ClioTrophy that has just bought a diff for his T.

Thanks for the heads-up - might have to take a look...

 

[SharkyUK]

My Trophy has now come of age. Sadly I couldn't catch the 100k shot as I was driving down the M1 so I got the next best thing.

 

[Jon.G]

Christ, I never ever would of guessed it was that high! I always thought yours was pretty low miles.

You're only 4k behind mine

Car looks great for 100k.

 

[SharkyUK]

Christ, I never ever would of guessed it was that high! I always thought yours was pretty low miles.

You're only 4k behind mine

Car looks great for 100k.

That's it, see... I'm catching you up!

Strangely I get a few peeps sucking through their teeth when they hear the T has gone through the 100k mark... but I bought this car to be driven! To be fair she doesn't shape up too badly although I had a bit of paint flake off from the console area around the temperature dials recently. At some point the T will be getting a full re-spray, fresh trim and an interior refresh but this is a long way down the line as I'm more interested in function rather than form.

 

[SharkyUK]

So... today I said goodbye to the Trophy...

But thankfully it's only temporary whilst Fred and the BTM Performance crew do their stuff to it.

After a snowy drive up to Birmginham it was (as always) great to have a chat with Fred and Zoltan (my new Hungarian friend!) and to go over the work I'm having done. Basically I gave Fred a specification, a budget and will leave the rest to him. I know it's in good hands and I have a feeling this will be third time lucky. Following a brief walk around the car he already noticed a few issues with it and he also got a bit of a surprise when the bonnet was popped. But then again, so did I! I knew I had an oil leak or two but it had actually got even worse between the time I last popped the bonnet and by the time I dropped it off at BTM! It is a bit of a mess. But it's bloody annoying more than anything as this problem was supposedly fixed before. Twice. However, as I say, I feel a lot happier now that it will be fixed properly this time around.

With a bit of luck (and time) Fred said he might be able to send over photos as the work is carried out so hopefully I'll be able to provide a few updates along the way.

 

[Stefan.]

awesome!!! :approve:

 

[Tunst]

Any clues on what your having done or is it secret for now?

 

[SharkyUK]

awesome!!! :approve:

Cheers mate - I can't wait to get it back. But sadly I'll have to! I have a feeling it will be worth the wait.

Any clues on what your having done or is it secret for now?

I'm having a few engine tweaks, mate.

In a nutshell I'm going down the high-compression route with a completely forged engine rebuild courtesy of BTM. All components are going in new with uprated items and my Schrick cams are also being dropped in. The block is getting bored out as well along with a few other tweaks here and there.

 

[BIGASH]

Epic can't wait to see how this turns out! Paul going to map it?

 

[SharkyUK]

Epic can't wait to see how this turns out! Paul going to map it?

I'm quite excited myself, James! And yes - I'll be getting Paul to map it. Definitely worth the trek as far as I'm concerned.

 

[BIGASH]

Can't wait to see what it makes Good choice Andy 100%

 

[Fletcher]

Engine work sounds good Andy.

 

[SharkyUK]

Engine work sounds good Andy.

Cheers Fletch. As long as it comes back with the oil leaks fixed I'll be happy... oh, and a bit more oomph of course.

I'm glad I took the Trophy up to BTM yesterday as I would never have made it today. A good 20cm of snow fell overnight and it's still coming thick. I couldn't get the car off the driveway if I'd wanted to! LOL! Mind you, the Type-R isn't much better in the snow and we can't get up the hill to the main roads (despite being a fairly gentle hill) so I guess we're housebound for a short while.

 

[Rob]

Good work, the only thing that upsets me at 100k is that cars are so hard to sell..

I'm pretty sure I own the highest mileage 3.0 z4 in the country

 

[SharkyUK]

Good work, the only thing that upsets me at 100k is that cars are so hard to sell..

I'm pretty sure I own the highest mileage 3.0 z4 in the country

Cheers, Rob.

Luckily the mileage is not an issue for me as the Trophy is never being sold. But yes, I can imagine a high-miler can put some people off. Even a very well looked after vehicle. I remember my parents once owning an old Vauxhall Cavalier SRi. Having had it from new the bodywork eventually gave up after many years (despite being looked after) but the engine was still going strong. In fact, the engine was extracted from the car on 190,000 miles and used in another vehicle. What mileage are you currently on, Rob? Are you looking to sell the Z4 soon?

 

[Hixle]

Fantastic Andy! Really looking forward to the results

 

[Matt W]

Awesome. Can't wait to hear it when done and hopefully get a cheeky passenger ride

 

[Rob]

I'm at about 113k now! It seems that most with their zed's don't use them much!

I'm not really sure on selling up, I might rack up about 17k more then sell it, insurance is cheap this year so why not eh? I'm about to do a full rubbers re-fresh and new tyres so it should be superb for summer!

Keep up the miles, see if you can catch me

 

[Tim.]

Hope everything gets sorted Andy, and that it doesn't take too long. Mine was only away for a few days but it felt like weeks.

The first proper drive afterwards was right up there as one of the best, enjoy it! With all the upgrades I'm sure it'll be like a new car again!

 

[SharkyUK]

Fantastic Andy! Really looking forward to the results

Cheers mate - as they say, watch this space... albeit in a month or so! How are you getting on with the 500?

Awesome. Can't wait to hear it when done and hopefully get a cheeky passenger ride

No problem at all - you're more than welcome to a cheek passenger ride. Besides, I want to see what all this fuss is about the 200's... Apparently they're quite good.

 

[SharkyUK]

I'm at about 113k now! It seems that most with their zed's don't use them much!

I'm not really sure on selling up, I might rack up about 17k more then sell it, insurance is cheap this year so why not eh? I'm about to do a full rubbers re-fresh and new tyres so it should be superb for summer!

Keep up the miles, see if you can catch me

Fair play mate - a car like the Zed is meant for driving (and, obviously, the odd track day here and there!) Hence, it's good to see you're getting the most out of it. I have to admit I like the Z4's. I guess it can be fun in the bad weather months but ideal for the summer and rest of the year. For those glorious summer evenings (that we do get now and again) I guess such a car would be sorely missed. If insurance is cheap, and you're about to do a refresh, then yes - I'd probably go along the same route as you suggest. It's not exactly a hardship having to pootle/blast around in a Zed...

Is that a challenge?! I doubt I'll catch you up mate. Despite the Trophy being a daily driver most of the mileage is for fun (I only live 7 miles or so from work now). I'll give it a damn good try though!

Hope everything gets sorted Andy, and that it doesn't take too long. Mine was only away for a few days but it felt like weeks.

The first proper drive afterwards was right up there as one of the best, enjoy it! With all the upgrades I'm sure it'll be like a new car again!

Cheers Tim! It's going to take a while as Fred is busy with lots of work on but I knew that was going to be the case. To be honest I'm glad it's gone in now so I'll have it back for when the worst of the weather has passed. Once done and mapped... that first drive will be fun I know. Yes, I will actually miss the French shed (as you say, these little Frenchies can get under the skin) but it's a small price to pay for hopefully many, many more miles of driving enjoyment.

 

[Keith185]

Hope all goes well and you'll get it back soon, atleast it's in good hands now

Paint on dials flaked off in parts for me too, got new (second hand) one to fit but it looks like a pain in a** to do.

 

[SharkyUK]

Hope all goes well and you'll get it back soon, atleast it's in good hands now

Paint on dials flaked off in parts for me too, got new (second hand) one to fit but it looks like a pain in a** to do.

Cheers, Keith.

I'm in two minds at the moment regarding the flaking paint. My current mindset is to just leave it for now; it's annoying but hardly detrimental to the way the car drives. And it's the way that the car drives that is most important. But... it would be nice to get it sorted as the rest of the car is in pretty good shape. I've half toyed with the idea of maybe getting some sort of wrap done for the console parts (to complement the dials) but I have no idea how easy this would be and how good/bad it would ultimately look. I'm thinking of an interior refresh at some point in the future anyway so will no doubt having something lined up for then.

 

[Fred@BTM]

i just found the spec of the old YS engine and all the build photos, we're not a million miles away.......................................

 

[SharkyUK]

i just found the spec of the old YS engine and all the build photos, we're not a million miles away.......................................

Ooh, really? You do realise I'm even more excited now... I even allowed myself a little grin hearing that! Without wanting to massage your ego too much I'm sure it's going to get back to me in a much better state than it's ever been. If it's anywhere near what the YS engine made then I'd be over the moon.

 

[SharkyUK]

January 2013 - Monday 21st

So I got a call from Fred at BTM today explaining how he was checking a few things over on the car prior to taking out the engine in the near future. It would seem a few issues have been identified already. The first issue is something that should perhaps be a concern to others who are running a filter similar to the one shown below (this is a second-gen filter that comes supplied with the K-Tec DTH ITB kit). In a nutshell it is poor. Very, very poor. The truth be told it's not much of an improvement over the first (poor) design but this really takes the biscuit. I don't like bad-mouthing anyone (especially businesses that have been helpful in the past) but I think people should at least be aware of potential problems that can, in turn, lead to other problems. And problems that can end up costing a LOT of money to fix / put right.

So, here we have the filter as removed from my car a few hours ago. The important thing to note here is that this car and it's components has been looked after meticulously - including cleaning and spraying of the filter, etc. It's not degraded through lack of care, attention or abuse! You can clearly see that the foam has all but disintegrated away. This explains the large build up of black crap that I regularly see when cleaning the bodies.

Here's what a decent filter should look like.

And again, for comparison, here's my filter photographed from the opposite side.

And again, a decent filter for comparison.

I'm glad it's going and to be replaced by a decent item (in some shape or form).

With the filter removed they decided to run a routine compression test. I'd explained beforehand that the car was down on power and not running properly. It was when they tried to remove the spark plugs that the next issue became apparent. The plugs had been torqued up incorrectly! Speaking to Fred the plugs should be torqued to around 20NM and mine were... get this... 81NM! Ouch. That's almost enough torque to secure your wheels to your vehicle. Suffice to say, Fred had fun getting those out.

On to the compression test itself. It's not exactly healthy. I can't remember which cylinders produced which readings but suffice to say they ranged from 9-bar to just over 11-bar. Not good when really they should be 13+ bar. It will be interesting to see what state things are in when the engine comes out and it's pulled apart.

Incidentally, the need to fit a better filter does cause issues with DTH ITB kit. There is simply not enough room to fit one given the angle at which they are bolted together. I don't fancy having a cut taken out the bonnet so we're discussing a few options at the moment as to what to do next and where to go. :evil:

Thanks to BTM for the images and updates and more to come as and when I hear more...

 

[Keith185]

You must have smashed a thousand mirrors and walked under a dozen ladders in a past life Good that things are getting found and rectified now and soon you'll have a very healthy Trophy

 

[Flat Eric]

This is an interesting read. Fingers crossed all goes to plan without any major hiccups. My cars with Fred for a while too. I do miss it. But it'll be worth the wait.

 

[SharkyUK]

You must have smashed a thousand mirrors and walked under a dozen ladders in a past life Good that things are getting found and rectified now and soon you'll have a very healthy Trophy

I tell you what, Keith... I'm starting to get paranoid what with one thing and another! LOL! But you are right - all the problems will finally get sorted and it will (maybe for the first time in a very long time, certainly in the lifetime that I've had the car) come back in a very healthy state. I'm quite excited by the prospect to be honest. And being a grumpy, old sorta guy it takes a lot to get me excited these days.

This is an interesting read. Fingers crossed all goes to plan without any major hiccups. My cars with Fred for a while too. I do miss it. But it'll be worth the wait.

Thanks fella. It's in good hands, definitely. What are you having done?

 

[Flat Eric]

Thanks fella. It's in good hands, definitely. What are you having done?

New track rod ends, ball joints, wishbones if they need doing, polybushed dog bone mount, service
Should freshen up the front end hopefully.

 

[BIGASH]

That filters shocking Andy! Glad it's all getting sorted though will be a peach when done

 

[Joe#]

I was looking at the pictures earlier on the BTM Facebook page actually. At least you no about it now, looking forward to see how the new engine does

 

[Fred@BTM]

4,3,2,1 were
9,10,12,11

f**king 81nm on a spark plug (well that's what my snap on digital torque wrench said! I don't normally use it to undo things but after using a 2ft breaker bar to undo the first plug i thought i would check!)

 

[mitch1503]

who changed the plugs and done them to that amount?