Modifying your car? Please think carefully about what you're doing

[Country Bumpkin]

We have had a car on one of the ramps in the workshop, it has been modified and it has won shows. I can't say what the car is, who owns it or anything like that except that it is not a GTO.
It came to us for a mechanical problem which needed fixing.
The reason for this post is just to get your brains working on the way you modify your pride and joy and to actually step back and think about things and their disaster potential.
Here's a short list of some of the faults that we observed on inspection of the car, which in all fairness to the owner, he has been shown and has had them rectified.

The front metal brake pipes were routed through a small hole drilled in each inner wing lower seam, there is not enough room for a correct size hole and grommet which would allow movement to prevent it from rubbing and wearing through. The flexi pipe to the brake caliper was not fixed on either side by a spring clip into it's locator, therefore it was loose, accentuating the movement of the metal pipe through the small hole drilled into the lower wing.
The brake bias valve was just floating near the bulkhead as it was different than the standard one and wouldn't fit on the original locating point. Apart from poorly formed flares on the brake pipes, the bends were almost flat and the pipe would quite soon have chaffed through somewhere, causing the obvious loss of braking due to loss of brake fluid.

The battery had been moved to the car interior, just behind the passenger seat. It had no form of security strap and was just sat on the floor. In fairness, it was at least a dry cell battery. It doesn't take much to imagine this car in an accident and that battery going through the head of the driver or front seat passenger, or an electrical short and a fire through movement of the battery during normal driving.

The fuel tank has been changed to an aluminium one and now sits in the boot, the car is a hatchback and has no rear seats or interior.
The fuel lines are braided but run through an un grommeted metal hole in the floor. The fuel tank neck had been J.B. welded, that means that it has not been welded just stuck together with a plastic metal and the cap didn't fit correctly anyway. The interior of the car stank of fuel, a lot !
Hopefully i don't need to explain the potential problems associated with that lot.

The engine oil cooler pipes were cable tied up but still contacting the driveshafts. The turbo oil feed pipe ran alongside the manifold. The waste gate actuator vacuum pipe was melted through as it had laid on the downpipe.

Incorrect bolts were fitted everywhere, most were not even tight. The job card was a page and a half of safety advisories.
There is so much more but i hope that by now you can see what i'm trying to get across to you.
Ironically the owner had not scrimped on parts financially, the car has uprated everything, it was just fitted by Stevie Wonder.

Please, if you are modding your car, do it properly. Think of the consequences of your actions not how cheap you can do it and that it must be o.k. 'cos your mate with the I.Q. of a hearth rug said it was a good mod. If you have doubts about what you are doing, stop and ask people who do it for a living with a good reputation to match or search the internet. There is a downsdie to internet based advice though, let's say for instance that the owner of the above car was giving the advice, how many people would read it and think it was the way ahead ? Most of the professional garages are happy to give you some advice but please be aware that they have a living to earn. So don't be on the phone every five minutes or try to get a complete car mod list in one phone call, as it may end in a polite decline to help any further.

Trust me, i have seen worse than the above too. What is even more alarming is that some of these cars have even passed a M.O.T. in their modified state.

Enjoy your car, enjoy modifying it but don't mod if you can't afford to do the job properly or don't have the correct knowledge and equipment.

[pgarner]

christ some of that stuff just seems scary
things such as cable tying stuff to driveshafts, the fueltank im not even going to comment on

[speedy]

im surprized the car didnt fall to bits let alone pass an M.O.T. its a shame that there are many garages that do things on the cheap side just to get busniuss.its such a shame.

[waynne]

Wow! I shudder to think how many similarly badly modified cars are out there!

[RSmith]

MODS! Can we have this story sticky-d or made into an article because I think everyone needs to read it. Best story ever.

[pgarner]

stuck

[prevtec]

good story, and good advise people should take on board
otherwise its a metal casket

RIP

[Poddy]

i don't understand how it could have won shows

[Country Bumpkin]

Originally Posted by Poddy

i don't understand how it could have won shows

Because judges at shows don't crawl around underneath cars looking for how it's all put together. To be honest i really don't understand how some of these judges come to the conclusions they do anyway, but that's another discussion.

I have seen lowered cars where the springs have been gas axed, even in situ on more than one occasion.
Some of the "modifications" are mind blowing on some of the cars out there.

[lutonmatt]

i have seen some sites as well
once had a merc in and had some big old wheels on it and did look wrong on the motor
but to fit them he cut half the top ball joint nut and thread off with a grinder so he could fit the wheels
and then wonderd why i would not pass the mot on it


but as for the mot's on these motors half the mods people do to there motors dont come into the mot test is sily really as its all saftey

seen a lot of cut down springs i always like that fail they do it to save money but really it saves nothing

[dpsubaru]

these are crazy mods, certainly something to think about but cant understand what goes through some peoples heads - metal rubbing against metal, something is going to break sooner or later!

[rocketman]

thats good advice and i hope a lot of people read it safety first

[ans]

good advice,if you are going to do it do it right,dont cut corners

[gummy]

some people just think,that,ll do and they make do!without thinking about it or the consequences!!!.

[T9 man]

Originally Posted by gummy

some people just think,that,ll do and they make do!without thinking about it or the consequences!!!.

Well I'm certainly not one of them! If the car needs it then it will definitely have it, simples!

[old-git]

Stripping Cosworths to sell has thown up some scary mods. I bought a Sapphire that had a Quaife ATB diff fitted. Hooned around for a week until the tyres hitting the arches drove me mad. When I got under the car to remove the rear axle I discovered that over half of the CV bolts were coming undone, a couiple were over 10mm out! I only used a ratchet on 2 of the 24 bolts!

An RS Sierra I bought had all the correct bits - A1000 fuel pump fitted into a well made aluminium box, Aeroquip hoses and fittings everywhere - looked good. When I came to take the fuel tank out the union fitted to the tank was held on with araldite!!!

Number one rule. If you buy a modified car, check it over VERY carefully before driving it.

[gummy]

yeah if its no good cutting corners,peoples life could depend on it!,the person bodging it would survive,an inocent person would be the casualty.

[BlueCruiser]

in new zealand, if a cop finds something wrong with your car the will put either a pink or green sticker on ur windscreen, pink is for a dangerous modification (worst one ive seen is a screamer pipe sticking out of the bonnet) and green is for something less serious like in adequate certification for exhaust noise. as for cut springs, thatd be a definite pink sticker.
been in a car with cut springs, went around a corner and the spring in the front passenger side (i was the passenger) popped out and made a hell of a noise.
have also seen a driveshaft fall out of a van on a motorway.

[capperz]

This is certainly an eye opening post. I got lucky with my car as I brought it off a mate with only a few Mods and I got him to drive it to the garage I work at to have it checked before I bought it. And every mod I do I get the MOT guy at work to certify it as safe.

[gen2T3]

thair are certanly dodgy people out thair my nomber 1 thought when buying a used car for any purpouse or reason is why are thay selling the car to beguin with luckly my car is new off the shop floor and safe thairs nothing wrong with a used car in general iv had manny an all have had thair miner issues but nothing that drastic