The life of... SharkyUK's Trophy

[Gray]

Do you have a receipt for the work carried out at TDF? If so, then you do have warranty... give the chaps a call, they're a friendly bunch.

 

[Lancs-Trophy]

Hey , Just like to say even when i had my trophy i looked at yours with envy as it just looked perfect , Although youve had and are having problems stick with it as you have done so much to just throw the towel in.

Keep with it

Leigh

 

[Sir_Dave]

I'm not sure if any warranty was given on the work TDF did to be honest. I don't think there was. All I remember is that they were extremely busy at the time they worked on mine and went out of their way to help and get it back to me.

One would imagine that their 'reputation' on here is warranty enough for you - they are flavour of the month after all.

Im sure they'll want to keep it that way.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Yeah I don't understand why you haven't just taken it back Andy! Regardless of the fact the work will be under warranty, I'm sure Matt will see you right. They're a very honest bunch

 

[SharkyUK]

Do you have a receipt for the work carried out at TDF? If so, then you do have warranty... give the chaps a call, they're a friendly bunch.

I do, mate. I'll be calling them asap and having a chat. I've spoken to them at length and spent a fair bit of time over there already; hence - I agree - they are a good bunch and extremely professional. Consequently, I'm sure they will be happy to help out. Thanks for the reply Gray.

Hey , Just like to say even when i had my trophy i looked at yours with envy as it just looked perfect , Although youve had and are having problems stick with it as you have done so much to just throw the towel in.

Keep with it

Leigh

Thanks Leigh. I can honestly say that over the last couple of weeks I have - for the first time- contemplated getting rid of it. But then I think of how much fun it is to drive regardless of the issues and how much I've spent on it... well, I won't be getting rid. I always said it will be a keeper and I'm a stubborn b&stard so... LOL!

One would imagine that their 'reputation' on here is warranty enough for you - they are flavour of the month after all.

Im sure they'll want to keep it that way.

Yeah, no doubt you're right mate. As I say, I've got nothing against TDF at all and will happily use them again in the future. I'm just struggling with the time (and dwindling funds) at the moment. But on the other hand I want this fixed sooner rather than later. I'll try and get some photos of the leaks (that are getting worse now funnily enough... not that I expected them to get better!)

 

[SharkyUK]

Yeah I don't understand why you haven't just taken it back Andy! Regardless of the fact the work will be under warranty, I'm sure Matt will see you right. They're a very honest bunch

I know mate - I don't doubt their honesty or commitment one bit. It's simply a case of struggling to find the time and 'resource' to get there and back. I've been working abroad / away for weeks at a time over the last few months. As a result I've found it difficult to find the time to make the 400 mile journey; I can't just "pop down the road" as much as I wish that were the case.

 

[Sir_Dave]

To be perfectly honest, they worked on the car, now the work they did has failed - it shouldnt really be your responsibility to sort it out.

Just get it stuck on the back of a lowloader & sent down there.

Have you actually spoken to TDF about it all yet?

 

[SharkyUK]

To be perfectly honest, they worked on the car, now the work they did has failed - it shouldnt really be your responsibility to sort it out.

Just get it stuck on the back of a lowloader & sent down there.

Have you actually spoken to TDF about it all yet?

I haven't spoken to Matt yet about the oil leak mate. I've left a message but obviously would prefer to speak to him directly. The 'additional' oil leaks are relatively new (they weren't obvious when I popped into Fred's a few weeks back) so obviously I'm keeping an eye on these and keeping the car use to an absolute minimum whilst I make arrangements to get this fixed. As much as I would like to stick it on a lowloader I don't think I can afford it at the moment. I did that when I accidentally broke Matt's 172 Cup and it cost me a small fortune. Sadly I don't have anyone with a trailer or mates who can do me a good rate on getting the car over to TDF. I might just limp it over and take it real steady.

The actual oil loss has been relatively small and I'm more concerned about the heavily breathing engine. It will be interesting to see what the compression / leakdown tests show on Saturday morning...

Actually, I have Matt's mobile so I'll try him on that rather than e-mail or TDF's workshop / office. Where are you based mate? Anywhere near TDF?

 

[chrispy.clio]

Just shows that the MIGHTY TDF are not so brilliant! Waiting weeks for new parts or receiving work which isn't up to scratch! Do a job right first time! Saves money and time! If your too busy then don't do the work!

 

[chrispy.clio]

I hope you get everything fixed ASAP!

 

[Silent_Scone]

Just shows that the MIGHTY TDF are not so brilliant! Waiting weeks for new parts or receiving work which isn't up to scratch! Do a job right first time! Saves money and time! If your too busy then don't do the work!

Brilliant enough to help save your cars arse, in case you didn't know

 

[Fred@BTM]

 

[Fred@BTM]

Just shows that the MIGHTY TDF are not so brilliant! Waiting weeks for new parts or receiving work which isn't up to scratch! Do a job right first time! Saves money and time! If your too busy then don't do the work!

calm down, who's to say its not just a faulty dephaser seal? I've had 2 leak through no fault of mine, and i have seen this car in question and the oil leak and it looks exactly like a leaking dephaser seal, TDF's fault?

Anyway, i'm off to listen to MC hammer "can't touch this" for the rest of the day

 

[Silent_Scone]

Everyone makes mistakes, it's how they deal with them that you want to look for

 

[Gray]

Everyone makes mistakes, it's how they deal with them that you want to look for

never a truer word said... especially in your case, or a certain 'racing' companies case LOL!!

 

[Silent_Scone]

oh no, it's very true aye..not in THAT case though

That was just so many mistakes I'd rather cut me losses

 

[SharkyUK]

I don't think there's any finger-pointing or blame needed; it's just one of those things that happens and - most importantly - I have spoken with Matt and it will be looked into and fixed as soon as possible. Matt called me back to discuss things and, as always, was very friendly and helpful.

 

[Silent_Scone]

See!!! how easy was that!

TDF aren't just "flavour" of the month they're genuinely an awesome bunch

 

[SharkyUK]

See!!! how easy was that!

I still struggle with this primitive telephony 'thing'. Telepathy is the way forward.

 

[bomber]

Sharky, just read the last 5 pages or so and sorry to hear about the problems you're having. As you know it could be any number of problems.

You said about costing a fortune getting the car to matts (his cup anyway), how much etc was that? Was it a flatbed van type of affair?

Good luck with the engine, I have all the faith in the world with Matt/TDF sorting you out

 

[Howell]

Had a quick browse through, lovely build shame about the bad luck! Will have a decent read over the weekend!

Did i pass you a few months back in llanelli?

 

[Nafoff]

I have also just read the past 4-5 pages too, sounds like proper s**t luck....
So where does your visit to k-tec feature in this? (the one i spotted you on)

I am not comparing them but it seems you have been going here, there and everywhere to get sh*t sorted, i don't understand why you didn't go to "the right place" right at the start.... Stick with matt and fred and it will get sorted

 

[SharkyUK]

Sharky, just read the last 5 pages or so and sorry to hear about the problems you're having. As you know it could be any number of problems.

You said about costing a fortune getting the car to matts (his cup anyway), how much etc was that? Was it a flatbed van type of affair?

Good luck with the engine, I have all the faith in the world with Matt/TDF sorting you out

Hi bomber - thanks for the reply. I'm sure it will get sorted soon. Well, I'm hoping so!

The truck was this one mate:

The guy that owns the truck was a massive help to be honest. He even hung around for several hours on the day we dropped it back to Matt to ensure I was ok for getting home (my Trophy was still being fixed). Incidentally it was a good job he hung around as my Trophy sprung a leak on the rollers and TDF needed to keep it longer, hence he drove me back to Wales! The recovery and the journey to/from TDF cost me in the region of £700.

Had a quick browse through, lovely build shame about the bad luck! Will have a decent read over the weekend!

Did i pass you a few months back in llanelli?

Thanks Howell... make sure you read it all as I will be asking questions... LOL! With respect to Llanelli, no - I haven't been that way in a long time. Or I don't think I have. It's been a long day.

I have also just read the past 4-5 pages too, sounds like proper s**t luck....
So where does your visit to k-tec feature in this? (the one i spotted you on)

I am not comparing them but it seems you have been going here, there and everywhere to get sh*t sorted, i don't understand why you didn't go to "the right place" right at the start.... Stick with matt and fred and it will get sorted

Hi mate. When you spotted me I was on my way to K-Tec to pick up my new filter and for them to balance the ITB's. It was literally a straight in and out job and didn't take long.

With respect to going "to the right place" at the start, hindsight is a wonderful thing. If I could do it all again then I would do it differently but I didn't have the knowledge and/or experience I have now. It's just proving to be an expensive, long and drawn out saga that hopefully will come to an end soon. Between 'em, Matt and Fred get my vote and my custom from now on.

Cheer for the reply mate.

 

[SharkyUK]

October 2011 (Update)

Time for an update...

Having had the ITB's balanced and a new two-piece filter fitted, things are finally looking up in that department. It's running a lot smoother, fuel economy seems a little better and (in my opinion) it just looks better. It also seems to be much better made than the "filter of death" I was running previous and it even sounds better. Here she is:

Please excuse the cr&ppy driveway shots but I'm trying to keep mileage to a minimum until I get the outstanding issues fixed.

Here it is again.

And again.

However, it's not all good as you'll no doubt know if you've had the time, patience and/or inclination to read my previous posts! First of all, the engine seems to be breathing very heavily. This is quite concerning and obviously I'm keeping an eye on it. I will likely fabricate a simply catch-can and cable tie the breather pipe into it to see just how much is expelled. In the meantime, here is how things currently look. The gunk and oil you see is from the last month or so (since I last cleaned it). As you can see it seems fairly bad (at least in my - admittedly inexperienced - opinion).

Hmm, ok - perhaps the image (above) doesn't seem that bad having just looked at it again but I can assure you the amount of oil coming out of the pipe is more than I've seen on any other healthy-running vehicle.

Also of concern are the oil leaks. These have become progressively worse (not that I'd have expected them to miraculously fix themselves) and thankfully a chat with Matt at TDF means that my Trophy will soon be back with them to be fixed. They have had my car before and know it well so hopefully the guys can do their stuff and she'll be back as good as new. But... I have a nagging suspicion that something else is not quite right but I can't put my finger on it. Here are a few shots of the leaks. Not particularly exciting but we're all petrolheads here... These were taken after a little bit of a mop up.

You can see the oil starting to pool in places. And it's making a mess on my driveway (albeit only a small amount).

As mentioned above, I feel that there's something not quite right when driving it. It handles better than ever (thanks to the damper rebuild recently) and fixed engine/gearbox mounts but the performance isn't what it was even a handful of weeks ago. Of course, this could well be related to the leaks and/or other issues...

Thankfully my good friend set aside an hour this morning at his family garage so I popped down to get a compression test done. I suspected I was down on cylinder pressure (as I was when all the problems started way back when) hence the visit to my mate's garage. We broke out the testing gear and the results were... disappointing... I think the following image and overlay I made shows the story of this morning:

To put the above into perspective, when the car left TDF last time it was running around 190 PSI across all 4 cylinders. I guess that's where some of my performance has gone then! I also found that my spark plugs (especially spark #2) were now swimming in oil. This was new as they weren't the last time I had them out.

Having dropped a small bit of oil in through the spark plug opening the engine was cranked again (wet test to see if maybe the piston rings were worn perhaps). This yielded a slight increase in pressure but it was hard to say whether or not this was coincidental; in the end proving inconclusive. I hope the pistons are ok otherwise I fear it is going to get even more expensive.

To finish this update, I'll post up a few images of the driveway showing my 'backup' car. It's some piece of Jap thing. Maybe if I ask nicely my good lady will let me borrow it for a while. Talk about a downgrade... (runs for cover!)

Roll on next week and making the arrangements to get the Trophy to TDF.

 

[Stefan.]

just been reading this, and it makes me want to sell my b/g 182 and buy a trophy haha kinda pointless i no...maybe i want to be abit more 'special' ha

 

[marc1330]

Glad you got your filter sorted Andy mine deffo sounds better than old one. have you cleaned your breather filter since having it.

 

[bomber]

I'll get the car to TDF for £350 cash hopethe rest resolves itself though!!

 

[Fred@BTM]

daft question, but the throttle was fully open when you did the compression test? because that seems VERY low

 

[Silent_Scone]

Not all the pictures loading here. Not suprised it's lost compression though from what you've been saying...... Edit: errrrm did you double check it :/

 

[Gaz_]

If its breathing its usually bottom end issues.............. Do tdf not do engines off the shelf? Sure i've read it somewhere!

 

[Sir_Dave]

Did you just do a compression check or a proper leakdown test on it?

 

[SharkyUK]

just been reading this, and it makes me want to sell my b/g 182 and buy a trophy haha kinda pointless i no...maybe i want to be abit more 'special' ha

If you do... just make sure you get one with a healthy engine! LOL!

Glad you got your filter sorted Andy mine deffo sounds better than old one. have you cleaned your breather filter since having it.

Hi Marc. The filter is definitely an improvement so I'm glad that's now sorted. As for the breather filter, I have cleaned it several times since I had the conversion done mate. The breather pipe has also been cleaned. I hope yours is still running well.

I'll get the car to TDF for £350 cash hopethe rest resolves itself though!!

I might be in touch in that case... Cheers bomber, fingers crossed.

daft question, but the throttle was fully open when you did the compression test? because that seems VERY low

Fred, the throttle was open as far as it would go. However, my mate contacted me yesterday evening to ask if I wanted the test done again because he reckons the guage he used may be a bit faulty! So... I will get it done again in the next couple of days. Watch this space.

Incidentally, I was on the way home last night and took a detour through a rich uncle's private estate. Whilst I realise they aren't known for their top-end speed I struggled to get above 105-110 monkeys per hotel on a perfectly level bit of ground.

Not all the pictures loading here. Not suprised it's lost compression though from what you've been saying...... Edit: errrrm did you double check it :/

Sorry about the pics - it seems my server is having a bit of an off day. Hopefully they'll reappear very soon. As for double-checking the results, I will do so again. As mentioned in reply to Fred above, the guage may have been faulty.

If its breathing its usually bottom end issues.............. Do tdf not do engines off the shelf? Sure i've read it somewhere!

I'm hoping it's not a serious bottom end issue. In hindsight it would have been easier (possibly cheaper) to get a custom engine job done by Fred or TDF I reckon.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Depends how much you want to throw at it now dude. I grabbed a runner from a trader on here last year for 500 quid.

 

[Sam]

This is my favourite trophy. I love the pictures!

Keep up the good work.

 

[SharkyUK]

Did you just do a compression check or a proper leakdown test on it?

Only got the compression test done in the end mate. I was hoping to double check the results this evening but it's absolutely pi$$ing it down here and even my garage floor is getting covered in water. It can wait until tomorrow night!

Depends how much you want to throw at it now dude. I grabbed a runner from a trader on here last year for 500 quid.

I'm going to see it through to the end now mate - gone past the point of no return! It just means future plans will have to be put on hold indefinitely.

This is my favourite trophy. I love the pictures!

Keep up the good work.

Cheers Bonxy.

 

[rollerdan]

Hey dude just read the whole thread what an amazing write up! I also found the thread on the swfco website (south wales french car owners ) may i ask where abouts you are from mate . Im from carmarthen

 

[JackJack]

Bad luck with the car but great write up.

 

[chrispy.clio]

Big shame about the compression!

New filter looks good, at least that's one less thing to worry about now

I bet you'll be cracking out the champaign when the engine is finally fixed and healthy!

Fingers crossed

 

[SharkyUK]

Hey dude just read the whole thread what an amazing write up! I also found the thread on the swfco website (south wales french car owners ) may i ask where abouts you are from mate . Im from carmarthen

Bl00dy hell, mate... you must have been bored to read through that lot! Even so, thanks for taking the time to read and reply. I haven't been on swfco for a while and didn't realise I'd put a thread up on there.

Carmarthen, eh? I've been over that way a few times; a beautiful part of Wales and some pretty good roads, too. I'm from Rogerstone, which is not far from Newport and just off J28 of the M4. If ever you are over this way then give me a shout!

Bad luck with the car but great write up.

Thanks JackJack, glad you enjoyed the write up.

Big shame about the compression!

New filter looks good, at least that's one less thing to worry about now

I bet you'll be cracking out the champaign when the engine is finally fixed and healthy!

Fingers crossed

Yeah, mate - every cloud and all that! The filter is much better!

As mentioned above, I'm hoping to double check the compression due to a possibly faulty gauge but there is definitely something amiss all the same. It honestly feels like torque has all but gone. I don't mind being down a few horses but that lack of torque is, well, cr&p. I'm just hoping there aren't serious bottom end problems otherwise I might have to rethink a few things or hammer the credit card (which I don't really want to do).

I'll be doing more than cracking out the champagne once it's fixed, mate. I'll buy everyone who's replied in this thread a couple of pints. (But please don't hold me to that).

 

[SharkyUK]

Uh-oh... Time to clean the driveway.

The good news is that I spoke to TDF last week and the car will be with them very soon.