Project 'shafted' (Spec-C content) pic heavy!

[kin quick]

Hi guys, I haven't posted much since joining your site as I've been going through quite a lot of rubbish caused by a particular dealer from Manchester (won't go into it on here as I've had enough of having to deal with him and his fanboys causing trouble and constantly lying).

Little intro to set the picture, I've been on the Scooby scene since I got my first Scoob in September 2002, I bought my first (and last) brand new car, a Bugeye WRX with a whole 4 miles on the clock and was chuffed to bits!

Day I got it......









It stayed pretty standard except for a Forge dump valve (I'm an Essex boy and couldn't help it!) until the warranty ran out 3 years later.
I spent the next 4.5 years messing around with it and making it the best car for my needs. I completed 90k miles in it which included various trackdays, a CATD training day at Milbrook (fantastic by the way) and a few trips to the Germany WRC, which included a couple of cheeky ring laps (would have been rude not too!). The only problems I ever had was blowing the 5-speed box up at around 40k and the turbo actuator getting stuck open and making me think the turbo had gone.

It ended up looking like this....







After a fantastic 7.5 years with the car, I decided I fancied some more POWER and looked at my options, it became apparent that I needed a 6-speed box, hubs and bits, a 2nd hand STi8 engine to re-build and then all the ancillaries, turbo, heads, mapping etc.. or I could be really stupid and get a big loan for something newer and better out the box.

The stupid option won! I originally looked for a blobeye Spec-C but as soon as I laid eyes on this, I knew I had to have it, after speaking to the dealer on numerous occasions, firing off lots of emails and PM's I viewed the car and all seemed well, 2 weeks later I drove back up to Manchester to PX my Bug and que BIG loan and BIGGER smiles....

Dealer pictures....






On the journey home from Manchester we had some lovely weather which caused the trip last 6.5hrs!



Day after I got it home I gave it a good wash, polish, claybar and wax













Stupidly loud RCM Team Ice full exhaust



And one very happy bunny!!




Ross

[kin quick]

The car took a while to get used too, for a start it had almost 100bhp more than my EcuTek'd Bugeye, it was also the first time I had used a 6-speed box and the 'funky' diff. I was originally scared of stacking it but once I got some confidence I really started to enjoy it!

After a while I got lucky (in my opinion) and found a 2nd hand set of RA wheels on Scoobynet with Yoko ADO7's with tonnes of tread left. I also stuck some mudflaps on for good measure..









For the next 6 months and 5kmiles, all was well in Scoobyland, then it all went a bit sh1t really!

Whilst cruising on the M25 on my way to Bruntingthorpe to attend the Asda charity day last year with the WR1OC, I got approximately 20 miles from home and had a massive loss of power and plumes of white smoke out the back of the car. Pulled over and couldn't see anything wrong, I natually thought a head gasket had gone (bearing in mind I bought the car with 11k miles on the clock and it now had 16k miles).

Got it low loaded home and went to the Asda day with a mate and spent all weekend with the raving hump so got rather drunk!

After the weekend I contacted RCM as the car had been serviced and modified by them for the previous owner. I was just after some advice, but when I explained what car it was, they instantly remembered it and told me the previous owner had loads of work done by them, got it mapped elsewhere, then it had blown up!!! He then got another engine put in by someone else (don't know who or what engine they used) and the car had loads of issues and never ran properly. The dealer which I had bought the car from had then bought it from the previous owner at a knock down price due to the engine issues and had 'fixed it' and sold it on!

Obviously I was not very happy with this, the dealer had more than enough chances to tell me the history of the car, he had advertised and sold it as an immaculate and original 2006 Spec C with 11k miles on the clock!

After contacting the dealer he told me that RCM were lying and it was only a £40 sensor, but during the same heated telephone conversation he then let slip that he had 'spent £2k replacing the pistons'!!

So I now have a car which has been totally miss advertised and sold, I have no clue what state the engine is in, or even what engine is actually fitted to it!

The dealer wanted to take the car to his mechanic in Manchester and said that if it was found to be his mechanic's fault, then he would pay for the repairs, but if it was my fault, then I would have to pay for it. I did not agree with this, if his mechanic had done something wrong then he would never admit to this and blame it on me no matter what the issue was! Plus if this was the same mechanic that had already worked on it, then there was something wrong with his work. I also didn't want him to take the car to Manchester because then he would have all my cash AND the car, I maybe silly but I'm not stupid!

I nominated a Subaru specialist near me and after a lot of protesting he agreed he could do a full engineers report on the engine.

The engine was taken out of the car and on a visual inspection it was found that

1. Split in inlet pipe next to turbo
2. Broken and bodged brown and black engine loom plugs
3. Speaker used for intake temperature sensor
4. NGK5 spark plugs in cylinders 2 & 4
5. NGK7 spark plugs in cylinders 1 & 3
6. Compression test showed no compression in cylinder 2
7. Scope shows scoring on wall of cylinder 2
8. Wrong crank pulley

The dealer then agreed that the specialist could take the engine apart for pictures and a full report.

During this time the specialist had a family member pass away and after 5 weeks, the engine was still sitting on his stand in the workshop. The dealer was kept up to date with the issues.
I finally decided to take the engine elsewhere and with the agreement of the dealer I collected it from the first specialist and drove it straight to the agreed second specialist.

Upon stripping the engine, these are the pictures I took...

Wrong screw for dip stick


Wrong crank pulley


Running rich


Speaker wire on charge temp sensor


Brown loom plug


Black loom plug


Cylinder 2


Sump pickup with metal parts


Sump full of metal (crap picture)


Leaking headers


Damaged gudgeon pin stopping piston from being removed


Cylinder 2 damage




Every single bearing scoured




Cracked ringlan


Piston 2 - no surprise!

[SpecB]

Lovely looking car - will be brilliant when rebuilt (correctly). Theres a few good builders that people on here have used so if you need any info/contacts let us know, as for the dealer - (3 letters starting in P ending in M by any chance) - good luck getting them to sort it but only settle for cash/payment for the work to be done elsewhere!

[kin quick]

After the full report with pictures (there are many more) was sent to the dealer, he immediately said that I had ragged it to death and ran it low on oil, which is total rubbish. I have maintained my Bugeye myself and thats the last thing I would ever do!

He then went back and forth offering me second hand engines and then a brand new crated one, but all these offers rapidily dissapeared. He then said I had taken a different engine to the second specialist than was originally in the car when sold - again, total rubbish.

The first specialist had not taken any details or pictures of the engine which I had specifically requested so I had no proof to show it was the same engine that came with the car.

The dealer continued to mess me around so I threatened court action which he seemed to be scared about. After getting advice from my solicitor and after he had spoken to the dealer and sent him a letter to which the dealer did not bother replying too, I was advised that I needed a witness statement from the first specialist to show he had taken the engine out and it was the same engine I took to the 2nd specialist.

I never got anything from the first specialist so had no evidence to produce. This meant that I was pretty well stuck, even though the first invoice from the original specialist pointed out the exact same issues the 2nd specialist had found before spliting the engine!

Basically, the dealer had totally shafted me and the first specialist had a big part to play in this!

So what do I do now??

I could put a second hand engine in the car and hope it never fails, or I could save up and get a new engine built.

After a few months saving I gave the go ahead for a fully forged 2.1 engine to be built using Lateral components.

Wiesco over sized pistons
New 2.5 crank
Fully honed and chemically cleaned block
ACL race bearings
ARP studs
Lateral H-beam rods
Fully rebuilt, re-shimmed, skimmed heads
New oil pump
etc...

During the engine build I done a few small bits myself such as....

DEI wrapped headers, up pipe and down pipe






Painted the tow hook


Crackle blacked the header tank and spent a lot of time cleaning parts such as the sump, and engine bay (technically I didn't actually do this myself)

[kin quick]

Originally Posted by BlueBugEye

Lovely looking car - will be brilliant when rebuilt (correctly). Theres a few good builders that people on here have used so if you need any info/contacts let us know, as for the dealer - (3 letters starting in P ending in M by any chance) - good luck getting them to sort it but only settle for cash/payment for the work to be done elsewhere!

Got it in one!!!!

Thanks for the advice, it's already been built and I'm currently running it in.

Apologies if this is a bit (very) long winded, first time I've done a project thread and I know everyone likes pictures

[Anger]

Can tell who the dealer is from the first pic

I remember following you on the MSOC tunnel run last year with the team ice on, have a video somewhere, it was the one when Tiny was in the RS

Can't believe how bad the bodge job was on the engine, hope you get it all sorted soon

[Jolly Green Monster]

Holy ****.

Hope all goes well from now on in

Simon

[kin quick]

Thanks guys!

The Team Ice was just bloody stupid in my opinion, it's now got a full Miltek system so I can stop perferating my ear drums and hopefully (finally) take it on track.


The car blew up last August and due to all the 'issues' has only been back on the road for around 4 weeks now. I'm having real trouble getting to like it again as all it's ever brought me is hassle, but in actual fact it's nothing to do with the car, it's all to do with the scum dealer who ruined it.

I had planned on doing a lot more whilst it was off the road such as having a few bits powder coated and made to look pretty, but to be honest I had real trouble building up the enthusiasm just to open the garage door, let alone do anything to it!

Everytime I mention anything on Scoobynet, it gets deleted rather quickly and I had major second thoughts about posting anything on here as I don't know if showing everyone how bad it was, is a good idea or not. But then I can't make the history of the car any worse and I'm sure this will probably get 'adjusted' or deleted at some point due to all his fanboys seeing it.

I've gone past caring now, got the car I've always wanted, but after all this ****, I really don't know if I'll ever gel with it and keep wishing I just kept my old Bugeye and modded it.

[Guy B]

Mate that is terrible, the more of these cowboy dealers that get shut down the better!! Glad to see that you made the best of it though

That is ****ing shocking stuff mate, I always thought the guy in Manchester was a complete ****head, one of the members on here nearly bought something from him a while back, I am glad that all fell through looking at the **** you have had to put up with.

I just hope that you can get back to the point where you love your scooby again. The only good thing is it's a blank canvas from here, so you can build something bespoke from the floor up. Good luck with it all fella

[Anger]

Don't think your find any of the modding team changing any thing on your posts mate and you won't find any fanboys on here

I nearly lost interest with my car after a well known companies 2.1 let go after less than 2000 miles, but in the end after thinking about and what it could be after rebuilding it, its giving me the passion to continue

[Scooby_Greg]

Great write up. Can't believe the state of the engine! Glad it's all getting sorted now - bodywork looks mint so it must be a very nice car again now...

[Lucky]

Look at it this way. What you have ended up with is probably better than a standard spec c. You now have a brand new custom built engine, in a stonking looking car ( I would say that!). At some point, we all end up having a rebuild in the quest for reliable power, now you have it. Keep hold of it and enjoy it is what I say.

[53WRX]

......

[Hongkongfooi]

crikey you have been through it all....keep going, the result will be worth it

[53WRX]

......

If you look through my build you can see ive had issues with engine builders. It makes you loose your interest in what should be your pride & joy. As you said though its not the car being unreliable. You need to bring that spec c to the Ring with us in a couple of weeks & give it a good spanking. Once it's made you smile you will get your enthusiasm back.
By the way fan boy's are not allowed!!!















Errr whats a fan boy?

Gutting to hear of your problems but as most have said, stick with it, you have a well sorted car now just needs to grow on you, which may be a while with what you've been through with it only way to get attached is to drive them enjoy it



How scarey to think that a certain someone was very close to purchasing an S204 from them and had also spoken with them about importing a couple of RA R's too As with everything, theres always two sides to every story but with reading your post, I know theres two people who are even more happy with the alternative routes they have taken

[Hongkongfooi]

Originally Posted by 53WRX

^ You still got those Turinis Fooi

oh yes....and still not kerbed

[53WRX]

......

[kin quick]

Thanks for the comments guys, to be honest I was a bit worried that this wouldn't go down too well but you have all made me feel a lot more positive about it so thankyou, much appreciated!!

I've really had enough of fanboys, and he seems to have quite a few bum lickers too!

The car should be pretty good once it's all done, it will just take a while for me to get my confidence back with it, at the moment I'm worried about every tiny little noise and am driving it like a complete fanny incase it goes wrong.

I work nights so will update the new bits asap, I've now fitted a KS3, carbon gauge pod and been having fun and games (fight) with a Setrab oil cooler.

The original oil cooler was obviously full of engine bits so I got a good 2nd hand core from the engine builder which split after around 6 miles, although I did have a bracket welded onto it which was directly above the split, you live and learn!

Got a 25row full kit with fire sleeve and a spacer plate so the pipes miss the headers (no oil modine on the Spec C's), will get some pictures during the week, it's all fitted now and seemed ok on the 150mile round trip to the London Motor Museum on Sunday with the MSOC.


Thanks again for the feed back guys!

PS - 53WRX FTW

[kin quick]

Almost forgot, while all this was going on, I won a Pistonheads free trackday at Silverstone, almost told them to give it to someone else, but then a good mate of mine said 'why not take the Focus' which I thought was a really stupid idea.........






oops

Pictures from the official photographer....

Silverstone, 23/01/11, Focus W537
http://www.capturedindigital.co.uk/s...ys/gallery.php


A short video from a Mini Cooper, his passenger gives me a lovely comment at the end! lol

http://www.youtube.com/user/MiniOneS.../0/WcidrFen4X8


Pictures my Dad took from Stowe








Was pretty greasey, no ABS (a good thing in my book) I had Goodyear Efficiancy tyres on the back, Dunlop Sports on the front, was in the slowest car of the day, did I enjoy it??

Too bloody right I did, sliding round almost every corner, over took a few cars which I had no right too, helped by driving a shed and having way too much commitment at times, used a whole tank of fuel in 147miles on track, normally get around 360!! Poor old shed did good

[ralliart didz]

all i can say is c...s,keep smiling fella as you got a nice car there.also them silver wheels are spot on.

[kin quick]

Originally Posted by Anger

Don't think your find any of the modding team changing any thing on your posts mate and you won't find any fanboys on here

I nearly lost interest with my car after a well known companies 2.1 let go after less than 2000 miles, but in the end after thinking about and what it could be after rebuilding it, its giving me the passion to continue

Thanks Anger, I didn't realise people thought that way about him on here, should have posted up earlier.

I bet that was gutting about the 2.1, sorry to hear about that, hope it all works out!

I'm amazed mine lasted as long as it did in that condition, I've also noticed that I've never seen the engine light come up, not even when it blew up. Any tiny little thing and my Bug used to pop it on straight away so I'll have to look into that, wouldn't surprise me if the bulb has been taken out or the wire has been cut - another nice little surprise

[53WRX]

......

[Spec'C'57]

Great write up Ross, get it up elsewhere.

Does the CEL light come on when ignition turned on?

Spec C 57 try newbies first mate & do your intro. Just so we know what your about

Originally Posted by Nige

Spec C 57 try newbies first mate & do your intro. Just so we know what your about

What Nige said

[Spec'C'57]

Originally Posted by Nige

Spec C 57 try newbies first mate & do your intro. Just so we know what your about

done chaps.

Originally Posted by Spec'C'57

done chaps.

Top man

[MIDLIFE]

"Can tell who the dealer is from the first pic"
Can somebody please pm me who it is, as it would be nice to know for future reference. Thanks in advance.

[Moley_WRX]

Should have bought a Datsun!!!

And get that gayboy out your engine bay!!!

[tbtstt]

Gutted to read the story so far, but hopefully you're at the turning point and you can fall back in love with the car again. It looks lovely, you just need the performance to match now!

I daresay that most of the posters on here would be glad to informed of a dodgy dealership rather than see it swept under the carpet or posts omitted.

Originally Posted by MIDLIFE

"Can tell who the dealer is from the first pic"
Can somebody please pm me who it is, as it would be nice to know for future reference. Thanks in advance.

This is the S204 that a certain someone was looking at Still for sale, even after being sold then not, then was, then wasn't etc etc

[kin quick]

Originally Posted by Moley_WRX

Should have bought a Datsun!!!

And get that gayboy out your engine bay!!!

Lol, I've heard that more than once!

Erm, yes i was that person.
Was as far as birmingham ready to look at the S204 the next day, and i called to say i was on way. Response was, oh sorry its just sold , some guy brought it overthe phone.
A week later i got a call to say its for sale again.

Thank fook it all went wrong for me, i had a lucky esdcape i guess.

I actually was interested in the Spec c you brought.

Really sorry to hear the crap you have had.

The car looks very very nice.

[MIDLIFE]

Originally Posted by thepieman

This is the S204 that a certain someone was looking at Still for sale, even after being sold then not, then was, then wasn't etc etc

Cheers

[kin quick]

Originally Posted by Crowman

Erm, yes i was that person.
Was as far as birmingham ready to look at the S204 the next day, and i called to say i was on way. Response was, oh sorry its just sold , some guy brought it overthe phone.
A week later i got a call to say its for sale again.

Thank fook it all went wrong for me, i had a lucky esdcape i guess.

I actually was interested in the Spec c you brought.

Really sorry to hear the crap you have had.

The car looks very very nice.

You got off lightly! I've heard of a few stories about him now such as an Irish Spec C that was for sale for a very long time due to issues, then he bought it for cheap and made a bucket of cash from an unlucky buyer.

Wish I knew all this last February

[Moley_WRX]

I definately think you should stick with is Ross.

You've got the car EXACTLY how it should be now, and if you sell it someone else will benefit from all the work and £££ you've put into it, and it'll be hard to find something as good as it is now.

[53WRX]

......

[kin quick]

The engine was built by FB Tuning in High Wycombe and I live in Essex so I didn't get chance to take any pictures of the engine build, although I was on the phone to Rich when he first fired her up and it was music to my ears!!

Rich completed the first 75 miles using mineral oil for the first 50 miles and then changing it for more mineral oil for when I picked it up.

A 'proper' engine


As the original oil cooler was full of metal parts from the blown lump I ran it without an oil cooler or modine until it covered 300miles keeping my eyes welded to the oil temp gauge to make sure it stayed under 100oC.

A new standard core was priced up and worked out approximately £550 after importing, duty and delivery and after seeing the standard rubber pipes and not being too impressed with the standard setup, I chose a full after market kit which included a 25 row Setrab cooler, 55inch braided Mocal lines, Mocal thermostatic sandwich plate, gauge sandwich plate (to lower the connections so they missed the cam covers) and 2metres of heat sleeve for a bit of extra safety!

I changed the oil for semi synthetic at 300miles and only drove it at night so it stayed nice and cool. After another 300miles I changed the oil again for fully synthetic and again after another 150miles when the oil cooler kit arrived.

Sandwich plate, gauge plate and pipes fitted with 2 layers of fire sleeve each


Space between the headers and oil pipes (crap picture but just over 1inch clearance)


Before the bumper went back on, 25 row was a bit tight hence it's at an angle to miss the bonnet catch. Fitted 3x rubber tap washers to all three mounting points for shock resistance


Pipe location


Bumper back on


Crackle black header tank


Heat lagging - cheapskate styleeee


Oil temperatures were absolutely fine on the 150mile round trip to the London Motor Museum, but in the evening they were pretty cold and after stopping to warm the engine up 3 times I realised that the 25row maybe a bit over kill, a 19row would probably have been the better option so for now I've covered the bottom half of the core with a piece of card which seems to have done the trick. I'll sort something more appropriate out as soon as I get chance!

Now done 1200miles without a problem and max reading on the KS3 is 19 (with a bit of fun involved) so will be booked in for a remap ASAP


PS - any feedback, good or bad, greatly recieved, I'm not a mechanic by any means, just someone who likes to 'have a go'

[kin quick]

Forgot I had this link, previous owner on the rollers with the full Team Ice sytem fitted..................hence I changed it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&h...&v=-H30_ApUgos

[Jolly Green Monster]

Very nice!

[kin quick]

About time for an update!

Apologies for not keeping this up to date, after this thread was posted on Scoobynet, the sh1t hit the fan and to be honest I lost interest in posting on any site for a while. The dealer slagged me off left right and centre and the 'so called' mods kept deleting and editing loads of posts from myself and friends To be honest it got totally out of hand and people can believe what they want to, the truth is on the net for all to see.


The car has now covered 3000miles without issue, it's running really nice and has had it's final map making 356/379 on the VF36, it pulls really well from low down in all gears and feels great! I'm still listening out for any noises and constantly checking the knock link for any abnormal activity but hopefully I'll get that out of my system soon!

I haven't driven it much since I got it back at the end of July, still trying to get my mojo back with it, having said that, I did take it out last week at 11pm and didn't get home till 6am, kept making excuses as to why I should go home and after almost 2 full tanks of VPower I had to give in and get some sleep!

I've now decided to do a Snetterton trackday in Feburary which (if nothing falls off) should finally help me get my head sorted with the car. I'm not too sure what the first things would be best to do in preperation for it, I've fitted a few Whiteline goodies over the last couple of weeks that I know definately work due to previous experiance with my Bugeye....

24mm rear adjustable ARB + solid droplinks
22mm front adjustable ARB + solid droplinks
Solid rear ARB mount kit
Front 6.5" 3-way speakers that actually do something

I'm now stuck as to what to do about disks and pads, I had the Performance Friction setup on the Bug and it was truely awesome on track, no fade after loads of ridiculous late braking corners and they were pretty good on the road too.

With Crimbo coming, I won't be able to afford the full PF setup for Snetterton so can anyone suggest a good/cheaper alternative that will work well on the road but won't fade too quickly on track??

I've been looking at the Godspeed grooved disks and orange stuff pads but have never used their disks or EBC pads before, any thoughts on these?? or any other options I should look at??

http://www.godspeedbrakes.co.uk/~god...id_product=142

I'll be changing the brake fluid for 5.1 before hand as it made a massive difference on the Focus in Janurary.

Taking it back to FB on Monday for a full check-up and oil change, also collecting a new Subaru scissor jack as mine decided to thread itself at the weekend whilst playing with the roll bars.

One last thing, has anyone used Advan AD07 tyres before?? I know the AD08's are supposed to be really good for track but the RA wheels I bought have the older version on them with loads of tread left, wondered if they were any good for track as thats what I'll be using??

Cheers

[AndyWRX]

Great thread mate, well toward the end anyway sounds like youv got a cracking car now

[simba]

great read mate

[Tomma]

Just read this and your thread on scoobynet...... horrendous!! how you've remained so civil through it i do not know, hat off to you!! He'll come unstuck one day!!

On the plus side you now have an awesome car that you know inside out, very impressive!!

[Tyler]

Stunning buddy!!!

[kin quick]

Thanks for the kind words guys, much appreciated!

Originally Posted by Tomma

Just read this and your thread on scoobynet...... horrendous!! how you've remained so civil through it i do not know, hat off to you!! He'll come unstuck one day!!

On the plus side you now have an awesome car that you know inside out, very impressive!!

I really appreciate that Tomma, thankyou
Moley said something similar when I called for insurance.

Whenever I read his replies I feel like he has made me look a complete joke and a lier and no one would believe me, he seems to have loads of fanboys sticking up for him including the moderators on Snet and it made me wish I hadn't said anything!

I was expecting a backlash of sorts but didn't realise it was going to make me feel like sh1t!


Anyway, just a quicky, went to a mates farm for the Brentwood Land Rover's fireworks do (I'm a bit sad like that lol). Whilst we set everything up during the afternoon I was asked if i wanted to have a play in the 16acre field.................





I haven't had as much fun in a car since I got my leg over in the back seat of a Talbot Sunbeam at 17

[kartingsteve]

Nice one mate good to see you up to full speed keep having fun.