Hi folks. I just bought my first 20v turbo yesterday. It has 75k on the clock and hasn't had a full service for a while - 8k and 18 months - so I thought I better get someone who is sufficiently knowledgeable to give it a good looking over and full service. My question is, who in the vicinity of Glasgow has the necessary expertise and will leave me my shirt?

The car has no obvious problems and just gave us a fabby day out touring Argyll - haddock chowder in Oban for lunch and lots of fun on the roads.

If there are Scottish gatherings, where do they get posted?

Cheers, Jethro

Kelvin on here use Kinning Park Auto, 97 Vermont Street G41 1LU Tele. 0141 429 6411.Think hes had quite a bit done without any problems and at a reasonable price, could pm for details.

The guy I use is more a mate and takes the car for at least a couple of weeks, but he has done alot of favours for me, if I was to go elsewhere it would be to the above

Also check the coupe list


Ill see if I can find the link for the meets


Oh and welcome

Keep an eye on this


There is the big coupe meet coming up and there seems to be quite a few Scottish guys going down,If you want to see roughly 30 coupes parked together get your name down

Welcome to the forum and Coupe ownership Jethro.

I do indeed send my car to the place Sparkyman just mentioned. The guy you should speak to is Manni. They are not a coupe specialist so to speak but they have alot of experience working on my car...so if you are looking for a good looking over and service, just give them a go and let him know Kelvin sent you and he shall take good care of ya car

Off and on myself, Sparkyman, and H2ypr meet up in the glasgow area just to while our time away sorting out the cars and have a wee chat. There is ofcourse larger coupe meets as well as mentioned by sparky.

Thanks for the responses guys

I will indeed get in touch with Manni

Hopefully I will also encounter you guys before too long. From the number of areas and posts on this web-site, and some of the scary headings, there might be a bit to say about these cars.

Still - 48 hours and the grin is still in place!

Jethro

No bother Jethro...just give a shout if you need anything

Hey Kelvin. Good to meet you at the workshop last night. The guys there did seem very friendly and the workshop had a good feel to it - well organised but definately a working environment - nothing out there just for show. Anyway, we'll see how the old girl gets on with them and how she feels after the service.
I nearly followed what you were saying about the intercooler you are getting fitted - does it improve the running? increase power output?
The performance from the standard engine seems pretty good so I'm not sure that I'll be looking to change much on mine, but I'm always interested to know what can be done and what difference it might make.
Cheers for now
Jethro

Kelvin. U are convincing someone to mod??

Ross

Hi Kelvin

I'm moving to Glasgow this week and will be needing a timing belt done in the next month or so, has Manni ever done one ?

Ta

Haha yes Ross, I'm doing gods work..but i still think you've scored more brownie points with the God of Mod than I have

It was good meeting you as well Jethro. Improving the cooling on the car doesn't exactly increase your horsepower but it allows you to up your boost safely. If you're free during the weekends then you can always meet up with me and the guys for 'show and tell' . If possible, try to avoid meeting Ross as he will brain wash you to get 'More Powerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!'

Stoopid_name.. i'm looking to get my timing belt done as well, i'm very sure Jack (head mechanic there) is very capable of doing it but since they are not a coop specialist, it would cost more than sending it to say, Motormech.

Obviously petrol money for Motormech would pay for quite a few hours labour up here but then there's a bit of a risk having someone do it for the first time.

I was planning to find a good garage and give them the 'How to' do the belts readme that one of the other forum members has written, it covers the way the specialists do it.

Actually having someone on the west coast with experience of this kinda thing would be great for the other fccuk guys as it's not really available at the mo.

This has been mentioned and im wondering if we can come to a solution.

What is the max that you would pay for a cambelt change ?

Ross

Good question, the way I'd look at it is if we could get them done up here for a price that makes the down south specialist price+petrol+time look unattractive.

If a mechanic had experience of doing two or three up here surely their hours shouldn't be much more than a specialist, though perhaps they couldn't get the parts as cheap, not sure, thoughts anyone ?

I suppose what I'm saying is rather than one person taking the big first time hit we could get a mechanic to do several cars at once and average the hours out. I don't really want to say 'group buy' here as it's probably a bit complicated or a least has too many variables for that.

I've been thinking about my cambelt change options for ages now and so far the 'specialist down south' option has always been the best option..for now.

If we could get someone with experience in it then great..but the problem is there aren't many in our area that does have the experience with the coupe hence the pricing being abit high. When a garage is inexperience they will always take more time to do it compared to a specialist..nothing to do with them not being capable.

Like what Ross mentioned..how much are you willing to pay? Motormech and the likes charge £400 + VAT all in..wherelse my mechanic wants £500 just for labour.

and another thing,..no mechanic is going to read the how to guide that you hand to them..unless you want them to charge you for the time reading it

Stop being such a bunch of big girls and change them yourselves.

Actually I was going to give it a go but am just about to move to flat and I think this is slightly bigger than a kerbside job

What's a full belt kit ? about £200 iirc

not having to use petrol and my time to go south is worth £200, easy.

I had actually resigned myself to coughing up about £700 for mine but obviously wouldn't if I didn't have too.

Actually I wonder if walking him through the how to doc would reasure him isn't a total nightmare ?

Possibly he's just looked up the Autodata hour guestimate which probably is based on the way Fiat dealers do things.

Yeap Autodata is listing the cambelt change as something rediculous like 16-17 hours?

I would like to appoint Mattb as our official Cambelt Changer..scottish division

I'd easily change it for you, although my work carries no warranty/guarantee/assurance of competency.

Once you let a decent mechanic in on the technique to do it, it's not going to be a complicated job for them.

How much you wanting for that job Matt?

While I'm happy enough to potentially destroy my own engine (particularly as it'd already chucked the aux belt into the cambelt) I'd not be keen on potentially destroying yours....

i have a mechanic who is about to do my cambelt/clutch..he is dropping the engine to do this to be fair as this is the way he feels is the quickest when doing both at the same time..il let ya know the results/bill....iv nevr had any problems with this guy before and he seems keen to have a go at anything....2.5 v6 vauxhall engine into mk3 astra for instance......

Thanks for informing Matt

Biggbn..do let us know on the outcome

As mentioned to Kelv tonight, im gonna ask my mate 2morrow and see what he would take. His quote would be for labour only.

Ross

Jeeez! Cambelt sounds like a big, expensive job. The garage said my clutch was getting to the end of its life - how much work is that going to take? and if there is an engine out requirement does it make sense to do cambelts at the same time? (last changed 27K ago)?

Jethro

Jethro, i was reversing your car for the guys the other day and the clutch does indeed need a change..was very heavy. Your friction plate is probably alright but your release bearing is soon to go..at the moment its not making any noise yet is it?

Yeap cambelt is a big job at would probably be best to get it done together with your clutch.

thats what my tame mechanic suggested...tho cambelt or clutch arent engine out jobs, he reckons he will ultimately be quicker, and easier, for him to drop the whole lump and do both with the engine on the floor...which is what im gettin done.....my hearts in my mouth at the thought of such major surgery, but this guy has never let me down, and, despite his workshop and general wizened oily demeanour suggesting he would be more at home in the shire with the other hobbits, i trust him...

How much biggbn?

well im gonna get the parts...and he reckons about ten/twelve hours labour???....ball park figure, but he is £25 an hour...it might take him longer, he might be done quicker..(doubt it...)..but i trust him not to rip me off....i aint even starting amassing the bits n bobs yet, but as soon as i have em all i will let you know the outcome/price..gbn