BumbleBee rejuvenation

One or two of you already know that on the occasion of our Carlisle Christmas dinner, Joe at FCSS took down the Bee for some investigation as well as a service - to be followed up by a long-awaited Flea mapping session, several attempts at which have had to be aborted in the last couple of years.

Just as well.....the "lively ride" down was immediately tracked down to wear on the wishbones.

Not the end of the story though!



Replacement oil cooler pipes and rad

New wishbones and droplinks

New Valeo radiator

2 x T1R's at an amazing price

Full service,

Replace and fit new rear eiffel towers, all POR 15'd

Undent driver's floor well where some tool had jacked it up

Reform corroded jacking point

Replacement bush in gear selector cable

New front discs

plus a few other bits and bobs thrown in.....

Really pleased with this


Then Joe arranged the uplift down to Flea's where the most important discovery was that of major overboosting and audible detonation in the saloon......

This was all sorted, hopefully before major damage done, and while it's maybe lost a wee bit of its manic kick for a second or two the power surge is much smoother and longer, mapping at 262bhp/255sq/ft and boosting at a healthy 1.7 bar

Good to meet up with the master at last - cheers Leighton

An added bonus was clocking 380 miles going home before the fuel light thought about blinking - this was a first by tens of miles!

When I picked it up from the well-known den



it looked like this, thought it had been mapped in a field
but I had to admit that's what the roads were like




Magician at work



Now washed and clean again, raring to go

Excellent Like a new car again now

Congratulations, it must feel like a different car now?

Good stuff Simon, I'm very pleased for you. I have a feeling you had one big smile on your face when driving home eh?

Hopefully next year Joe will be working his magic on my beastie.

1.7bar and only 262bhp , you sure it's not 1.2bar Eds ?

bet you needed to take out a 2nd mortgage for that lot

Yes well worth the trip for Bee, it's in pretty fine fettle now all round!

Boost is now 1.3bar, but it was previously boosting up to 1.7bar!! I rarely hear Coupe engines detonating inside the cabin when driving, but Simon's was shockingly clear to hear!

A few other things taken care of and noted for checking/maintaining in the future, but all in it's a very nice Coupe that certainly attracts the attention.

Thanks for coming down Simon, and it was really nice to finally catch up in person

I don't know why but I always think of Dr Who when I see Leighton

Well worth the money spent on your car Ed, it's a bit of an icon on here Enjoy the new car ...... they are like new cars after Leighton has done his stuff

Oops sorry I misheard that Leighton, got it the wrong way round! I did think it was rather a lot as Nismo pointed out....


My daughter and partner (whom some of you've met at Carlisle) are finally tying the knot next autumn so as an early wedding present they have jumped at the chance of an expenses-paid trip to Assen for Viva Italia and the thrill of "tracking" for the first, and maybe only time they'll get this opperchancity. So having the Bee in good nick is mighty important!

Nice result . Allways nice when a coupe has just been re mapped.

Just make sure the brake shims are in fine fettle befor going on track Simon.

^^^ for the unitiated the first (and only) time I met Joe was at Spa - on answering his enquiry into how our trip had been I mentioned a slight ticking noise from the o/s/f.

Before I could say "check your oil" this good Samaritan had the wheel off and the offending slipped shim sorted!

Not tempted to Assen this April then Joe

Best to you both

Yes very tempted Simon. But it's the distance and Gills work,as she has to be back for Monday morning.
2000 klm round trip from a Friday night to Sunday morning.