The life of... SharkyUK's Trophy

[dann2707]

Thought this was Andy's thread?

Andys £40k down I'm sure 3 posts in his thread won't hurt his feelings.

 

[Iain C]

Ah man is this still on going. This is crazy. I thought you where just going to put a stock engine in.

 

[SharkyUK]

December 2017 - End of Year Update
Well, it's not been a great end to the year. In fact, it's been a f**king awful year [or three] in terms of the Trophy (as you lovely people already know). As a result I don't really have much of an update to offer right now other than, perhaps, a rather appropriate, "Bah Humbug!"

I will start by saying thanks to @NorthloopCup for contacting @steveboyslim on my behalf, and a massive thanks to him for so generously offering to look at my engine over the Christmas break. Despite the offer I have not been able to arrange removal of engine from the car in time and, consequently, have been unable to get it over to Steve. Steve, thanks for the offer and I will be in touch in the New Year to see if/when you might be able to fit me in. I know you're a busy guy, and I certainly don't want to take the piss, but I do hope we can arrange something sooner rather than later. Thanks again and enjoy the Christmas break fella!

Jesus Andy, just been catching up on this thread.
You've been properly run through the mill mate!

Thanks for catching-up on the thread, JP. Hopefully 2018 will mark the return of Trophy #165. Right now I'm exhausted and feel like I couldn't care less for the car!

Just read all the updates & really dont know what to say.

Other than, when it does actually finally work, just sell the f*cking thing, its a boosted Clio, it will break as soon as you start to use it in any way properly. They all do. The only one that doesn't fail all the time is the Trophy that the bloke built/fixes himself. You HAVE to be a mechanic to run one in my opinion, purely as they are financial disaster area, as you've found out. And yours doesn't even work yet.

Hell, I'm miffed that i've put a few grand into my R53, £40k is completely & utterly bonkers.

Good luck.

Yay for optimism! LOL!
I don't think there's really all that much to say mate. I know there will be niggles and issues along the way and it will always be a high-maintenance car; but I went into this knowing that would always be the case. I'm just royally pissed that I still haven't got a car to even start breaking down on me yet.

Good luck? Thanks buddy - I'll take it!

Have been in and out of this thread probably from page 1. Only yesterday did I take the time to piece together, fair play for sticking at it.

With the way Trophy's are going I'm surprised with what appear to be very good detailing skills and an eye for perfection you don't go back to complete OEM!

Hope it works out, will keep an eye on this!

Thank you for sticking with the thread mate - I hope 2018 will have happier updates / more pics for you to browse through. Whilst certainly possible, it would be a bit of a pain to put back to standard now given the changes that have been made [in view of the other modifications being made or that have already been made]. Due to the extensive changes and history it would never be a 'cherished' Trophy for anyone else other than myself. I don't really have interest in this car in terms of how it might appreciate or how it might be a future investment. I will never, EVER make money back on this thing anyway! LOL! I just want to drive it and enjoy it a mile at a time.

Wow, what a shambles and I feel sorry for you! £40k is mind numbing!

How much of an idiot can you be to leave a very expensive (or any) engine outside?!

I've lost track of the timeline, but which of the failures was it who left it outside?

To clarify, the engine was left unbolted on the mounts [in the car] but the car was left outside (unsecured) and exposed to the elements. Being left in a somewhat grassy and leafy little area next to the workshop it soon became full of snails, spiders nests, green mould, etc. and - worst of all - water found its way into the engine block. Hence the problems we're now experiencing. I hope the turbo, etc. is ok. Everything is (was) brand new and - after three years - I suspect any warranty has expired on those parts. Not that there was any ever paperwork or invoices to back up these purchases either. I know for a fact there will be no paperwork so I'm pretty much left high and dry and hoping for a positive outcome. This happened at SJM sadly.

Surely in a project there's some serious homework before taking on such feats, what you actually want from the car.... There's so much more to say but hate typing out long paragraphs but in the same scale that phrase speechless springs to mind.

If I can help in any way

On each occasion there has been an idea, homework and a plan. I've not gone into any of the projects blind but - alas - the execution has been somewhat lacking. Sadly that is an area I really don't have the skills, experience and tools to muddle through. I put my trust in 'specialists' and it hasn't worked out. There really wasn't much else I could have done my end fella (other than choose someone else who might have fared considerably better!)

Thanks for the offer of help.

Mick will never disappear, there’s too many idiots like you funding his Apple addiction 😂:wink:

F**k you. Next!

He went to the right place every other time. No offence to Mick, was always helpful to me in the past.

Fair point buddy
At least Mick is professional, meticulous, organised and talks to me about what's going on! That's a x1000 times improvement already! I'm sure Mick will be the guy that comes through for in the end once we know more about the engine.

The trouble I found, especially in the Renault scene as it's fairly niche, the people who you'd really want to work on your cars aren't interested in Joe Public. There's no money in it and far more backlash.

The trouble IS the Renault scene... LOL! I knew I should have stayed Jap. Thank goodness for the Type-R.

Thought this was Andy's thread?

No worries mate, I appreciate the note and that you have my thread's interests in mind. It has gone off in a few different directions but I'm cool with that. I'll re-focus the thread once progress starts again and have worthy updates to share. And pics. Lots and lots of pics! Thanks Scott!

Ah man is this still on going. This is crazy. I thought you where just going to put a stock engine in.

Yep - still going fella. Well, the thread is still going whereas the car hasn't even started yet (as it were). I hadn't planned on fitting a stock engine back in it but... hindsight and all that. As said, it is what it is and I'm determined to see it through now.

 

[davo172]

So for most of the work you have no invoices ! ? Wow !

 

[dann2707]

Can we see the cost of work broken down so far? Massively intrigued as to where the dollar has gone

 

[davo172]

Can we see the cost of work broken down so far? Massively intrigued as to where the dollar has gone

Australia ! ?

 

[SharkyUK]

So for most of the work you have no invoices ! ? Wow !

I don't have ANY invoices for anything mate. Absolutely nothing.

Can we see the cost of work broken down so far? Massively intrigued as to where the dollar has gone

I may well release the breakdown of costs once the project is finished, but not until then. To put things into perspective, the ECU / dash and loom itself cost over 3 grand alone just in parts.

 

[imprezaworks]

It’s only money

Merry Xmas

 

[SharkyUK]

It’s only money

Merry Xmas

Should have spent it on coke and hookers...

Merry Christmas fella

 

[Thrust-Rated]

Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year Andy. What are the plans over the upcoming months? Any more progress?

 

[SharkyUK]

Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year Andy. What are the plans over the upcoming months? Any more progress?

Hi, Chris.
Sadly, Christmas and New Year weren't great as I was quite ill over the festive period. As a result I had to cancel various visits to see family and friends and will hopefully rearrange those in the next 2-3 weeks! I always get ill when I slow down and take time off work. 😧 I hope you had a good 'un! :smile:

The plans are quite simple at the moment - the engine needs to be taken out of the car and transported over to Steve. He can then cast his eye over it and carry out any work / repair / etc. that is needed. Of course this very much depends on the availability of Mick (Diamond Motors) and Steve himself as I expect both gentlemen have busy times ahead. I'm not really planning much beyond that because it's quite a crucial part of the overall build! I just hope the news is good as I really don't want to be hit with yet another large bill. Especially for something that was not my fault and was purely down to the negligence and f*ckwittery of someone who just didn't / doesn't give a damn.

 

[haimsey]

2018, the year it gets finished! Aside from being ill, all the best for this year.
Ever thought of a justgiving Page? Sure there’s plenty on here would slip you a tenner or more!

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

2018, the year it gets finished! Aside from being ill, all the best for this year.
Ever thought of a justgiving Page? Sure there’s plenty on here would slip you a tenner or more!

Behave yourself ffs. Lets not start that on what has to be one of the few decent forums left.

Andy comes across a nice guy but that hardly warrants a whip round, does it?

 

[neil1987]

This thread has certainly got me through some horrific night shift, Andy i'm sorry for what you've been through you seem like such a nice guy, but im sure it will be worth it in the end, I hope 2018 brings you lots of luck and your trophy sitting on your drive, if your ever down as far a Devon drop me a line you deserve a cuppa or too and id love to see the car in the flesh !!!

 

[SharkyUK]

2018, the year it gets finished! Aside from being ill, all the best for this year.
Ever thought of a justgiving Page? Sure there’s plenty on here would slip you a tenner or more!

Thanks mate. It certainly won't be rolling over into 2019, I can tell you that for sure!
As for the JustGiving page... nope! I know there are generous folks who may well chip-in a few quid but it's not something I'd do and I would never take other people's hard-earned. I'm just happy that folk are interested in what's going on and keep on checking back in here from time-to-time. I'm lucky in that I have the funds to do this (I'm not minted though, not by any stretch - a lot of saving!) and it's not really about the money now (as strange as that may sound). I'm just desperate to see the project finished so I can enjoy it. Cheers fella!

Behave yourself ffs. Lets not start that on what has to be one of the few decent forums left.

Andy comes across a nice guy but that hardly warrants a whip round, does it?

It won't be happening mate. I appreciate it was said in terms of perhaps being able to help me out in some way, but I'd never take money from folks. There are far more deserving causes out there that would benefit from a few quid as and when folks can afford to give.

This thread has certainly got me through some horrific night shift, Andy i'm sorry for what you've been through you seem like such a nice guy, but im sure it will be worth it in the end, I hope 2018 brings you lots of luck and your trophy sitting on your drive, if your ever down as far a Devon drop me a line you deserve a cuppa or too and id love to see the car in the flesh !!!

Hey, glad I've been able to help in some small way mate! Thanks for sticking with the thread and the kind words. Absolutely, if I'm in your neck of the woods then I'll give you a shout so you can stick the kettle on. Deal.

 

[Clio_fool]

So it's going to be a CSF Taxi this August then? Now there's a challenge!

 

[leeds_182]

Just read as much of this thread as I could without getting a serious headache.

Gutted for what you’ve been through with the car mate, I’d of given up years ago.

Having been on here for more than 14yrs now you really see the flavour of the month tuners come and go;

It was all Hill Power when I started, then GDI were the daddies, Ktec were the best, North west performance were the go to guys, Tdf were hero’s, angelworks, Btm, sjm, clioturbo, ddc.....

I think the only ones that retain a decent customer base are the ones that stick to the cambelts and oil changes! Taking on any big clio build looks light a nightmare for the customer and also the tuner.

2 years for an engine, it just beggars belief.

Good luck for 2018.

 

[Tony Hunter]

Fkn hell Andy, I keep popping into this thread to see how things are Going, nowhere by the looks of it!
Can' believe it was in such a state after being down South.
You really need to get Steve to look at the engine for you, he ain' bad .

 

[mitch1503]

Jeez, been following this thread on and off over the years, such a shame to see how you have been royally shafted by the Fan boy Specialists!

Having been down to Mick from County Durham the other month with the 250 i can honsetly say there will be NO problems with anything he does, £40K is mental money on a clio but i suppose at the time you dont really think of how much it is overall until you look back.
Think its going to be something that spends most of its time tucked away in the garage once its done, certainly can't see you ever parting with it as you'l know its worth next to nothing in the grand scheme of things if you were to sell

Hopefully the engine turns out to be all ok, as for no invoices i wonder how many things they massively over charged you on but suppose all that's in the past and you just have to look ahead to the future now

 

[SharkyUK]

So it's going to be a CSF Taxi this August then? Now there's a challenge!

Well... let's not get ahead of ourselves here...

Having been on here for more than 14yrs now you really see the flavour of the month tuners come and go;

It was all Hill Power when I started, then GDI were the daddies, Ktec were the best, North west performance were the go to guys, Tdf were hero’s, angelworks, Btm, sjm, clioturbo, ddc.....

I think the only ones that retain a decent customer base are the ones that stick to the cambelts and oil changes! Taking on any big clio build looks light a nightmare for the customer and also the tuner.

2 years for an engine, it just beggars belief.

Good luck for 2018.

Yep - I've fallen foul of a few now!
Thanks for taking a browse through the thread and your reply. Hopefully 2018 will be the the 'fresh' start I've been waiting several years for.

Fkn hell Andy, I keep popping into this thread to see how things are Going, nowhere by the looks of it!
Can' believe it was in such a state after being down South.
You really need to get Steve to look at the engine for you, he ain' bad :wink:.

It's not good mate - you can probably imagine how pissed off and let down I feel. I was offered help, I took it in good faith. It then went sour. And in turning sour it also ended up costing me even more time and money for things that were totally avoidable and completely out of my hands.

Yeah - Steve ain't bad at all! He'll be able to sort it when he's got the time, I have no doubt. And I also know that Mick will look after me as well.

 

[SharkyUK]

Jeez, been following this thread on and off over the years, such a shame to see how you have been royally shafted by the Fan boy Specialists!

Having been down to Mick from County Durham the other month with the 250 i can honsetly say there will be NO problems with anything he does, £40K is mental money on a clio but i suppose at the time you dont really think of how much it is overall until you look back.
Think its going to be something that spends most of its time tucked away in the garage once its done, certainly can't see you ever parting with it as you'l know its worth next to nothing in the grand scheme of things if you were to sell

Hopefully the engine turns out to be all ok, as for no invoices i wonder how many things they massively over charged you on but suppose all that's in the past and you just have to look ahead to the future now

Hi mate - thanks for following. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the fanboy specialist hype.

Yeah, I talk to Mick regularly (pretty much everyday, even if only to trade insults!) and will be seeing him next weekend with a bit of luck. I don't have any issues in that regard; he's already proven himself [to me] to be leagues ahead. Thorough, professional, properly planned, meticulous, tidy, everything as it should be. As for the car itself, it will indeed be a weekend and fun toy. I have no plans to run it as a daily. Even so, I do plan on using it as often as possible - which I'm looking forward to thanks to the superb range of roads and driving routes I have available in my local area. Of course, I also plan on attending the odd track day when I can as well. And shows. Lots of shows and meets. As I've always maintained, Trophy #165 is a keeper and I have no intentions of selling it. Certainly not now with what I have invested in it! Sure, it's a Trophy but there's not much of a market for heavily modified Trophys. It's lost value in terms of originality and, hence, won't be much use to a collector or investor. As you know, money spent on mods is immediately wasted money as well so I don't think the car would sell if I offered it up for, say, £25k!!! She's staying.

In terms of costs, I haven't been massively overcharged on anything really mate. Despite no paperwork I have obviously had to provide the money to purchase the various items. I've kept the spreadsheet of those costs and, to be fair to those parties involved, they have managed to get many parts at trade prices or, at worst, the so-called 'going rate'. I don't feel ripped-off in that respect as I feel I got fair prices on the parts. The problem is now that those parts are 'old' and out of warranty and I have no comeback if any prove to be faulty or damaged.

 

[davo172]

What's the latest Andy ? Any updates ?

 

[SharkyUK]

What's the latest Andy ? Any updates ?

Not much to report I'm afraid. I met up with Mick the other weekend and chatted a few things over but, sadly, I haven't been too well of late. As a result I've not yet been able to sort out getting my engine to Steve. I'm hoping to sort something over the weekend though.

 

[davo172]

Not much to report I'm afraid. I met up with Mick the other weekend and chatted a few things over but, sadly, I haven't been too well of late. As a result I've not yet been able to sort out getting my engine to Steve. I'm hoping to sort something over the weekend though. :smile:

Get well soon mate !

 

[gez 172]

We're all keen for updates!

 

[Marky_]

After this project was briefly mentioned at a meet I attended rencently-ish, I decided to have a read through. Good job I've had a few days spare!

What a story this has turned out to be. I can only echo everyone else's comments; you seem to the the nicest bloke in the world (you'd have to be or you'd have lost it years ago!) and really hope Mick & Steve manage to get it sorted once and for all.

I must have crossed paths with #165 several times back when I used to visit the Birmingham workshop years ago. Little did I know the story unfolding in front of my eyes at the time. It's been an enthralling read full of ups and mostly downs and I was hoping by the end of 70 pages you'd be enjoying thrashing it around. Alas it's not happened yet.

 

[SharkyUK]

Get well soon mate !

Thank you buddy. Getting there!

We're all keen for updates! :smiley:

Me too, mate... me too!

After this project was briefly mentioned at a meet I attended rencently-ish, I decided to have a read through. Good job I've had a few days spare!

What a story this has turned out to be. I can only echo everyone else's comments; you seem to the the nicest bloke in the world (you'd have to be or you'd have lost it years ago!) and really hope Mick & Steve manage to get it sorted once and for all.

I must have crossed paths with #165 several times back when I used to visit the Birmingham workshop years ago. Little did I know the story unfolding in front of my eyes at the time. It's been an enthralling read full of ups and mostly downs and I was hoping by the end of 70 pages you'd be enjoying thrashing it around. Alas it's not happened yet.

Hi mate, I hope you are well.

Thanks for taking the time to read through my project thread. I know it's a bit laborious at times when things have gone off-topic or there hasn't been much in the way of updates. At least you were able to spread the pain over a good few days! I appreciate the well-wishes and kind words. I also hope to be able to present you with something a little more interesting very soon, too. Due to ill-health and 'things just generally getting in the way' I haven't been able to get my engine looked at yet. However, there's a small chance that that might happen this weekend (i.e. getting my engine to Steve, although it's out of my hands at present).

Cheers mate!

 

[Mr R.]

Where's the engine got to go to mate, where is Steve's place?

 

[SharkyUK]

Where's the engine got to go to mate, where is Steve's place?

Hi mate. It's got to go from Mick's place (near Nottingham) over to Steve's place (near Cheshunt) in Herts.

 

[Marky_]

Hi mate. It's got to go from Mick's place (near Nottingham) over to Steve's place (near Cheshunt) in Herts.

Funny that. I'm planning on making a similar journey on Sunday. Let me know if I can be of any help :smile:

 

[davo172]

Funny that. I'm planning on making a similar journey on Sunday. Let me know if I can be of any help :smile:

Cliosport to the rescue !
That's What makes this forum so great people always willing to help each other !

Shame the people who have separated Andy from his hard earned cash over the years didn't seem to give a flying f**k about helping him !
When it's all down to them he is in the situation!!

 

[SharkyUK]

Funny that. I'm planning on making a similar journey on Sunday. Let me know if I can be of any help :smile:

Thanks for the offer mate, much appreciated. I think I'm just about sorted for the time being though... thanks!

Cliosport to the rescue !
That's What makes this forum so great people always willing to help each other !

There are some genuinely decent people out there. It's just finding them!

 

[davo172]

Thank you buddy. Getting there! :smile:


Me too, mate... me too! :tongueout:


Hi mate, I hope you are well.

Thanks for taking the time to read through my project thread. I know it's a bit laborious at times when things have gone off-topic or there hasn't been much in the way of updates. At least you were able to spread the pain over a good few days! :smile: I appreciate the well-wishes and kind words. I also hope to be able to present you with something a little more interesting very soon, too. Due to ill-health and 'things just generally getting in the way' I haven't been able to get my engine looked at yet. However, there's a small chance that that might happen this weekend (i.e. getting my engine to Steve, although it's out of my hands at present).

Cheers mate!

Did you manage to get the engine over to Steve the weekend Andy?

 

[SharkyUK]

February 2018 - Update #1

Due to ill-health and a slight mix-up in communications it has taken slightly longer for me to get the engine over to Steve. However, the good news is that it is on the way and will be with him this evening. Fingers crossed there are no major issues / damage as I really don't want the wallet to be taking another spanking.

A big thanks to Mick at Diamond for getting the engine out and over to Chip (who is kindly playing engine courier for me today). Big big thanks to those guys.

Talking of Mick taking the engine out, it was quite surprising to see the amount of wildlife and crap that came out of the engine block. Mick took an air hose to it and blew out some of the crap. He also noticed that the engine build wasn't quite as far advanced as he and I had expected. For example, the oil system. There's no provision yet been made for the oil pick up / return feed for the turbo. It's not a major thing but it begs the question, just WTF was going on over those 2-3 years I was without the car? It certainly seems that very little was actually done. 😧 Still very, very angry to be quite honest.

I'll report back when I hear more about the state of the engine from Steve.

 

[gez 172]

At least it's in safe hands now and the turn around should be pretty quick!

 

[Clio_fool]

Ooh actual progress[emoji106]. There's no point getting wound up about the past now mate, nothing good will come of it. Onwards and upwards now.

 

[fake ben taylor]

Jesus.

Back in the day I bought your dth ktec bodies, ran them for a trackday a month for a year, bottom end let go at the ring, broke car, have had a few different cars since and now back in a clio as a fun track car/runabout whilst I build my Z.

Sorry to see this still going on but it really is the problem with forums and flavour of the month tuners. All of them were raved about on here and all of them convinced you to do a a different totally epic forum busting build that they couldn't see through.
Clios just dont need to be that epic to be fun and enjoyed. If the new engine is no good just sling a stock one in and enjoy the bloody car. Cut your losses.

Fingers crossed for good outcomes!

 

[imprezaworks]

Amen

 

[SharkyUK]

At least it's in safe hands now and the turn around should be pretty quick!

Hopefully! It depends how busy Steve is and when he can get a chance to check out the state of the engine. At least it's in the right place for him to take a look!

Ooh actual progress[emoji106]. There's no point getting wound up about the past now mate, nothing good will come of it. Onwards and upwards now.

Let's not jump the gun here mate...
Just kidding, it is progress as far as I am concerned so let's see what comes of it... yep, onwards and upwards.

Jesus.

Back in the day I bought your dth ktec bodies, ran them for a trackday a month for a year, bottom end let go at the ring, broke car, have had a few different cars since and now back in a clio as a fun track car/runabout whilst I build my Z.

Sorry to see this still going on but it really is the problem with forums and flavour of the month tuners. All of them were raved about on here and all of them convinced you to do a a different totally epic forum busting build that they couldn't see through.
Clios just dont need to be that epic to be fun and enjoyed. If the new engine is no good just sling a stock one in and enjoy the bloody car. Cut your losses.

Fingers crossed for good outcomes!

Hi mate, glad to hear you were able to enjoy the ITB's for a while before the bottom end let go.
If this engine doesn't work out then the whole thing is being scrapped I think. If it does work out then I will only be spending on keeping it running and well maintained; no further modifications. I've got a Porsche itch that needs scratching!

Amen

Peace 'n' love bruh.

 

[steveboyslim]

Andy, met up with Chip collected engine Monday, engine was all good, bore scoped each cylinder all mint inside, looked at the bottom end with the scope via the turbo drain and sump drain, few cobwebs, blasted them with the air line all good there, fitted a new timing belt (you owe me £35) met Chip again tonight so your engine is back up north.

Steve
PS I have had that many phone calls I could not work out which number was yours