New to forum: SR3 Gear Ratio for sale
Discussion
Hi, I have a 3:235:1 gear ratio for sale - anyone interested please call me on 07768478215. BTW: I am new to the forum, owned a SR3 1500 since Aug last year, blew the 1500 engine to bits on 2nd trackday, (conrod thru block). Then had a new 1400 Engine put in at a cost of £5.5k and the sump plug fell out on my first outing and dumped all 7 litres of oil, the engine builder didn't take ANY responsibility, said it was lock-wired (rubbish!!) and charged me another £1600 for a new crank and rods. I love the car when it works but so far it's been financial hell !!!
Cheers
Ali
Cheers
Ali
Still undecided whether to divulge their name. The guy blatantly knows his stuff but when it comes to customer service...!
He did not want to give ANY discount on the 2nd job, not even on the labour. He said it must have been me or the mechanic who removed the lock-wire. The mechanic only added running-in oil so had no reason to go near it and when I drained the running-in oil, I did it from the scavenge tank plug ! In my view it was not lock-wired by the engine builder. If I was in his shoes I would not have charged the labour at the very least, cr*p customer service and refusal to accept any potential responsibility and I won't go back there again... I will go to Powertec next time. Anyone else ever lost a sump plug ?
He did not want to give ANY discount on the 2nd job, not even on the labour. He said it must have been me or the mechanic who removed the lock-wire. The mechanic only added running-in oil so had no reason to go near it and when I drained the running-in oil, I did it from the scavenge tank plug ! In my view it was not lock-wired by the engine builder. If I was in his shoes I would not have charged the labour at the very least, cr*p customer service and refusal to accept any potential responsibility and I won't go back there again... I will go to Powertec next time. Anyone else ever lost a sump plug ?
No but not a million miles away. As I said, I have no doubt that he knows what he's doing but the fact that he charged be near enough full whack for the second job is awful customer service, I would not do that to one of my customers who just paid him £5.5k for a new engine, especially when he was the most likely cause of the sump plug falling out ! I just hope I have 5-10 trackdays without any major problems now otherwise it's up for sale, can't afford any more bills like that. Can anyone recommend any other Engine specialists for future refreshes, etc ?
Andy Bates at AB Performance has been recommended by others when I asked the same question, 01449 736633 sales@abperformance.co.uk. Others have recommended Powertech for the 30 hour gaurantee they offer.
Nick
Nick
cheers Nick, hopefully I will never have to call him but you never know. I didn't realise Poiwertech gave a guarantee, i thought that because they are fairly highly tuned no one would guarantee them. A 30 hour guarantee sounds like a no brainer to me - think i will go there next time.
mine is the standard Radical MBE ECU so I presume that would be ok.
P.S. Has anyone tried the throttle blipper systems for downchanging, the most difficult thing I find about driving Radicals is going from flat out in 6th and then changing down 4 cogs to 2nd in a short space of time for tight corners. Well timed blips whislt concentrating on braking, apex etc is not the easiest - any recommendations, do's don'ts ?
P.S. Has anyone tried the throttle blipper systems for downchanging, the most difficult thing I find about driving Radicals is going from flat out in 6th and then changing down 4 cogs to 2nd in a short space of time for tight corners. Well timed blips whislt concentrating on braking, apex etc is not the easiest - any recommendations, do's don'ts ?
Hi Alistair,
You need to name the engine builder. You are not on your own in having expensive engine refreshes, and any problems shortly after are disregarded by the engine builder, and invoices raised to cover their incompetance.
I feel as 'club racers', we need to stick together and single out those who take our money, mess up and then take it again!
You can help others by your bad experience.
Regards
Darcy Smith
You need to name the engine builder. You are not on your own in having expensive engine refreshes, and any problems shortly after are disregarded by the engine builder, and invoices raised to cover their incompetance.
I feel as 'club racers', we need to stick together and single out those who take our money, mess up and then take it again!
You can help others by your bad experience.
Regards
Darcy Smith
I guess you are right, it was Extr*me Engines in Lincolnshire. I think he does quite a few Radical engines so I am sure he is well known (he was referred to me by a guy that raced). The most annoying thing is that when I spoke to him after the plug fell out I told him that he nust take some of the "potential" responsibility and therefore some of the cost, he replied "well if i don't all you will do is sl*g my name off" so he told me to send it up to him and he will take a look. As soon as he had it in his hands he suddenly decided that he did not want to take any financial responsibility and it took me 1.5hrs of arguing on the phone for him to knock a bit off the price, all he offered was a paltry £120 off the £700 labour charge and told me to "take it or leave it". I paid for 100% of the new parts. Customer Service, i don't think so !! He said he saw it as a "new job" even after probably making £1500 profit on the first job. If he had offered to waive the labour charge or even 50% of it, I would not be writing this now. If it was my business, I would have blo*dy well taken at least 50% off !!
Hi,
We bought a 'busa engine for our SR4 from Ex****e Engines. They stripped it and modified it to suit our car. The first time the car was driven, it showed up several gearbox problems. We contacted them and it soon became apparent that we were on our own. The engine was removed and returned to them, they could find nothing wrong. For this work we were given an invoice!
The unit was refitted back into the car and tested again, the problems were still no better.
During conversations with the engine supplier we were reminded several times that there was no warranty on competition engines, even though the unit was supplied and inspected by them. After many letters and unpleasentness we removed the engine again and sent it to Powertec. They quite quickly diagnosed the problem and fixed it for a nominal sum. This saga wiped out our 2005 season.
We have no connection with Powertec whatsoever, just satisfied customers.
Our engine refresh last year was carried out by Powertec, and the car did not miss a beat all year.
Regards
Darcy Smith
We bought a 'busa engine for our SR4 from Ex****e Engines. They stripped it and modified it to suit our car. The first time the car was driven, it showed up several gearbox problems. We contacted them and it soon became apparent that we were on our own. The engine was removed and returned to them, they could find nothing wrong. For this work we were given an invoice!
The unit was refitted back into the car and tested again, the problems were still no better.
During conversations with the engine supplier we were reminded several times that there was no warranty on competition engines, even though the unit was supplied and inspected by them. After many letters and unpleasentness we removed the engine again and sent it to Powertec. They quite quickly diagnosed the problem and fixed it for a nominal sum. This saga wiped out our 2005 season.
We have no connection with Powertec whatsoever, just satisfied customers.
Our engine refresh last year was carried out by Powertec, and the car did not miss a beat all year.
Regards
Darcy Smith
Hello chaps couldnt help putting in my 2p worth I had my stock engine done by our mutual friend Exxxxxm and it was ok. And as said previously he certainly knows his stuf about hayabusa engines but..... I paid 380 for a slipper clutch mechanism supplied and fitted by k to stop the starter motor exploding when i spin. At £300 per starter motor a good investment or so i thought. Having had 3 spins (yes i know i am crap)and exploded three starter motors I suggested to our friend that his slipper clutch mechanism dosent work properly.
needles to say i got short shrift for making such a suggestion and was given a 1001 reasons why it was my fault.
So how do i feel? Not sure really i am 100% certain that there is a design issue with the said item and was really looking for a "ok lets talk about it response" but that isnt what i got.
a man who clearly knows his stuff but needs a few lessons on customer service and how to build a good reputation
thats all i have to say
needles to say i got short shrift for making such a suggestion and was given a 1001 reasons why it was my fault.
So how do i feel? Not sure really i am 100% certain that there is a design issue with the said item and was really looking for a "ok lets talk about it response" but that isnt what i got.
a man who clearly knows his stuff but needs a few lessons on customer service and how to build a good reputation
thats all i have to say
Starter motor exploding is the least of your worries if you don't have a slipper clutch on the starter motor, and or don't dip the clutch at the start of a spin!
The engine crankcase's can be broken during a spin without this fitted. Neccesitating a complete stripdown & rebuild into a new set of cases, at a cost of approx £1.5-£2k I guess.
From memory if your doner engine was from 2003 onward it should already have the modified starter clutch fitted.
The engine crankcase's can be broken during a spin without this fitted. Neccesitating a complete stripdown & rebuild into a new set of cases, at a cost of approx £1.5-£2k I guess.
From memory if your doner engine was from 2003 onward it should already have the modified starter clutch fitted.
Top engine builder & all round nice guy, is Rob at Mistral Performance 01702 541421.
He will tell the truth about power output rather than the bullsh*t that alot of engine builders propogate!
No one make's a better performing Hayabusa engine (at any capacity) I have ever come across on the hill's.
Oh & his Suzuki K6 1000cc engine's are pretty good too. Chalking up 10 wins out of 11 events (I crashed on that one!)in the first season in the National hillclimb championship single seater 1100cc class.
He will tell the truth about power output rather than the bullsh*t that alot of engine builders propogate!
No one make's a better performing Hayabusa engine (at any capacity) I have ever come across on the hill's.
Oh & his Suzuki K6 1000cc engine's are pretty good too. Chalking up 10 wins out of 11 events (I crashed on that one!)in the first season in the National hillclimb championship single seater 1100cc class.
Top engine builder & all round nice guy, is Rob at Mistral Performance 01702 541421.
He will tell the truth about power output rather than the bullsh*t that alot of engine builders propogate!
No one make's a better performing Hayabusa engine (at any capacity) I have ever come across on the hill's.
Oh & his Suzuki K6 1000cc engine's are pretty good too. Chalking up 10 wins out of 11 events (I crashed on that one!)in the first season in the National hillclimb championship single seater 1100cc class.
He will tell the truth about power output rather than the bullsh*t that alot of engine builders propogate!
No one make's a better performing Hayabusa engine (at any capacity) I have ever come across on the hill's.
Oh & his Suzuki K6 1000cc engine's are pretty good too. Chalking up 10 wins out of 11 events (I crashed on that one!)in the first season in the National hillclimb championship single seater 1100cc class.
Hi al
yes the do explode every time unless you get the clutch in fast because with the car in gear when you are going backwards it spins the starter motor back wards and they just explode
but on the positive side i have had an sr3 for a year and had no problems before that i had a clubsport with no problems, my friend has had an sr3 for 7 years with just one engine rebuild. But you need the right people around you and good advice hence the benefit of this forum as you have peoples real experience for free!!!
yes the do explode every time unless you get the clutch in fast because with the car in gear when you are going backwards it spins the starter motor back wards and they just explode
but on the positive side i have had an sr3 for a year and had no problems before that i had a clubsport with no problems, my friend has had an sr3 for 7 years with just one engine rebuild. But you need the right people around you and good advice hence the benefit of this forum as you have peoples real experience for free!!!
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