Country Bumpkin
Track Warrior
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.
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.