that i could fit the kit in four hours and have a much improved mini as described by carl. unfortunately my happiness was soon turned to sadness as when it came to fitting of the kit it was not as straight forward as promised. I rented a professional workshop with ramps for the weekend to make my life easier, i started work on the friday night to get the majority of the car stripped (removing of the head etc) ready for the reconstruction along with the kit the following day. I went back to the workshop the following day to start the rebuild and hit problems straight away.1. when fitting crank shaft pulley to crank the locking washer did not fit through the machined hole int he pulley.
2. when fitting lower engine/gearbox mounting we discovered that it was hard up (preventing engine from turning over)
3. when fitting the intake pipe that had been special designed to fit with no problems didnt fit as well as it said because i ahd to modify using a larger hammer and lots of brute force.
4. space alacated for carb was so inadiquite it was impossible to fit the carburetor plus air filter
5. supercharger belt tensioner fowling engine breather leaving no room for breather pipe
6. exhaust manifold down pipe touching body causing exhaust to out of alignment
7. fan blade following specially designed crank pulley so had to trim (crudely) between 0.5 and 1 inch off blades
Being very out of pocket not only for the workshop but then having to pay for the toeing back to my home address. sunday i sent an email to jonspeed giving them my concerns about the kit and its problems. No sooner had i sent the email they had replied with the best intension's saying they would collect the vehicle and fit the kit free of charge and to ring him monday to arrange the pick up. I rang him monday morning to get a time for him to collect the car and still had not managed to get into contact till the afternoon, when he then told me he had no transport to collect my car but would still fix it free of charge if i could get it delivered up to his workshop. We came to a agreement that i would deliver the car after i had finished work wednesday evening around 7pm. My friend and i loaded the car and went up to jonspeed to find the place completely locked up with nobody around. i managed to get into contact with the 'stig' that then contacted carl directly and was down within 5 mins. When he arrived he was very apologetic and promised to get the job sorted within 24 hours (which i was very pleased about). I then left jonspeed very happy thinking my car would be up and running by the weekend. Friday came and i gave them a call confident that the car would be complete and running ready for pick up. The lady on the phone said the mechanics were waiting for one pipe and would be ready for collection for later in the day. she then said to ring before i left to make sure everything was ok. Later that day i rang back and was told that the car would be ready by the time i got there or possibly have to wait a short period of time (which i was very happy about). I then set out very happy knowing i would be getting my baby back and drive it home. When i got there the car was in the doorway with its bonnet off but then carl told me it was all done and then take it round the compound for a test drive. i drove it a little bit and was happy with the way it ran and sounded. They then placed the bonnet on and then i went on my way home over the moon that i had my baby back. This was short lived, as four miles down the road something went pop and when at half revs the car would make a horrible rattling noise that got worse on the way home but i could not return back to jonspeed, so pressed on home hoping it was something simple and that it would stop.
After getting home i called a friend of mine who is a top mechanic and has many mini's himself. We went down the road and got about half way when the car cut out, it would then not start for love nor money. pushed it up the road very annoyed after it had not done 30 miles and was already playing up. I removed the spark plugs as the engine sounded like it had no compression, to my horror i discovered that one plug was almost shut only open by thou if that, the others were the same. also i noticed that the head gaskets had been changed meaning they had removed the head for what reason? i regretfully rang carl that evening telling him the events that had happened since leaving jonspeed earlier that evening. he said not to worry and he said he would then collect the car first thing tuesday morning which true to his word the recovery man was their to take it away. Tuesday evening i had heard nothing about my car all day and decided to ring them to see what was happening with the car. i spoke to tony who informed me that my head was worped and that it would need machining down and a new starter motor fitting as well. He then said he would ring me the next morning with a price for the work. The next morning came and went and still no communication. I then again rang them and to my shock they wanted £300 + vat for the work to repair. I told him i was not happy with this and was coming to collect my car back on saturday after raising my voice i ended the conversation and the following hour i got my FIRST phone call back from them through out this whole ordeal, demanding they wanted £60 for the collection of the car. I then asked my friend who has more knowledge about cars to contact jonspeed to find out exactly what has happened to my car. During my friends conversation with carl (minisprint) he asked the reasoning for replacing the head gaskets, after this statement carl then became very aggressive on the phone in which he was told the vehicle would be collected on saturday carl then replied and i quote ' you had better bring your mates as i can be nasty' before this he had stated the car would be held untill the £60 for recovery was paid) the conversation then ended promptly and no more contact was made with jonspeed untill saturday.
Saturday then came and when i arrived my mini was no where to be seen, i went inside the shop to find carl in the office behind the desk. I then went up to the desk handed him £60 cash and demanded a receipt which he then placed infront of me. along with the receipt was a technical sheet about my cylinder head which ment nothing to me and i told him i was not interested. He then stated the head was not worped after all. I told him i just wanted my car back and that i would never have anything to do with him or jonspeed ever again.
to be continued
Edited by ker781g, 11 November 2007 - 05:19 PM.
