Make that two
 

'8s sitting lifeless on the drive, it's true. Although Ben as far as I'm concerned has fixed the car as it's driving okay now and pulling like a train, he found some damage when working on the engine, caused by the dimwits that put the S8 engine in. Advice is not to drive it and may be able to take something of the other engine to make one good one.

I say something a lot as don't understand the technicality of it much. Ben will give us some more of the techy details.

For the time being I need to find a car to drive around in. Cheap to insure,run and realiable would be nice. Don't really care what it is as long as it has MOT and preferably under £300.

Big thanks to Ben who spent his day working and trying to set up a new unit then came home and started working on my car in the freezing cold and tried to refuse to take a penny for all his hard work!

Sorry to the person on this forum who was very keen in taking the car on from me and had arranged to view it!

Aw FFS! That is truly 'teh sux'!

Fingers crossed you can engineer a cheap fix from the dead engine.

Is it really driving OK mate...? It bloody shouldn't be! :Confused:

What's happened is that whoever fitted the gas system secured the injection nozzles into the holes they drilled in the inlet manifold with their teeth, with small nuts bolted from the INSIDE and didn't loc-tite them - 2x nuts had come adrift and damaged inlet valves.

I just feel sorry for ya matey, such rediculous bad luck!

If she really is driving ok then worth doing a compression test and seeing if she'll continue but it ran pretty bad and was chuffing into the inlet manifold when u left me buddy

I really feel for you Amar. Total bollox of a job to use nuts on the inside of an inlet manifold. Would the head off one engine fix the other?

really sorry to hear your havin problems again amar. all i can say is if i get all six numbers on the lottery this weekend then i will give you my s8 with a full tank of v-power +++

Strewth! That's a tough one, another really tough one. Sorry for your Amar

You really didnt deserve that mate, especially after everything else
All I can say is that when the Karma finally cuts in you should get some seriously good luck as payback
Fingers crossed for you and let me know if I can help :(

ah what a bummer - really feel for ya and can't believe the saga continues for you.

Hope to see you at ADI.

Oli

That's insane :-( when I had a look I thought that they had been overtightened as u would think m6 nut going through the engine would of destroyed it

Really sorry to hear that Amar....

Who did the conversion, and does anybody else have a car that was done by them?

That seems like an absolute bodge job, last place I'd want to put nuts, I'd have thought that they'd have tapped a thread in the manifold, but then they'd probably have left a pile of swarf, if the above is anything to go by.

Surely that conversion clearly isn't fit for purpose....

Good luck mate..

Crap news mate :(

That is poor. Should just drill and tap them in.....

Suffice to say I would say the inlet manifold was swapped over from the previous engine in all honesty..... Not the people who fitted the S8 engine :(

Thanks for the replies fellas, it helps to share this pain with the forum.

Failed its MOT today, on emissions due to it running lean which is a result of the bent inlet valves. Passed on everything else though.

The most obvious thing to do would be to take the head of my green S8 and put it on to the blue one. I've been looking into this and its 5 hours to take the head of the green one and 11 hours to take of and refit it to the blue one, not to mention it needs to be skimmed. I couldn't get through to Ben so this quote was given to me by Unit 20 in Cheshire.

So I'd be looking at about a grand then, lucky I have a perfect head eh?

Anyway, I'm seriously fed up. If someone wants to make me an insulting offer to take the car of my hands complete with the head from the green car please do. I still haven't got a clue how I'm going to get to work later today (I've got a training event at 3PM in Coventry) I just cannot be without a car and this blue one is my only means of transportation.

I've been looking at Ford Focuses for sale about £6/700 and have decided this will most likely be my next car as they are cheap to buy/run and look fairly modern still.

Dave from A8 Parts who I have to say has always been a real gent was kind enough to offer me an A8 engine at discount which may work out cheaper then replacing the head.

So what should I do? Does anyone want to buy a 40 valve AQH with bent inlet valves but I'll throw in my AVP head as well so it should be perfect, then I'll buy the A8 engine?

My head hurts. Ideas/suggestions please. I've only got a £1k slush fund at the moment and really don't want to go into it. Its going to be drained by the £40 return taxi journey to and from work Mon-Fri.

Depends how badly the head is damaged Amar?

Might be worth actually taking the head off the blue one, checking it and myabe just new valves?

No cash unfortunately unless you were interested in a Mitsi Evo 6?

I'll give you 500 notes and take a chance on it. That insulting enough? If not i'll straight swap you my Landy and take the pair off your drive for you.

Must be something we can do to keep the labour cost down Amar, don't fancy taking the head off yourself, i'm sure someone on here would give advise if you get stuck. If not what about an 8 party on your drive, bring a spanner or something.

There are whole cars on autotrader for just over a grand got the older engine and gearbox in i know but surly there is something can be done.

Whats happened to the BMW?

they must of way over quoted on those hours :Confused:

i could do the work, we can have a chat saturday if u like :D

Agree that sounds like a lot...i was quoted less about half for my 3.7 QS mate...

Piecing together the info, with what I know of the history I can see how the garage has maybe done what they've done, but its no excuses for a pi55 poor job on their count.

The original S8 donor of the AQH engine had a prins LPG system fitted originally, and this was removed (professionally, by yet a different garage before a8parts got it) and must have had the original LPG injector holes plugged up (which is normal and quite ok) successfully as we drove the car on Petrol briefly before dismantling it.

The engine then got shipped to bozo and co who obvously removed the sealing plugs, but i'm guessing the prins injectors must have been fatter, or a different thread to the BRC that was on the original blue A8.

So we're saying at this point they then made the monumentally stupid move to loosely bolt the injectors in from the inside instead of relying on threads ?

I'm no expert on engines, but surely they could have put the prins plugs back in place, then just drilled new holes and rethreaded for the BRC properly :Confused:

What a set of muppets.... :mad:

Just when I thought my luck couldn't get any worse, I was awoken by a call from Ben today to tell me the S8 was stolen from his unit at 4am last night, feel numb. :(

bloody hell, they must have been determined if they managed to move it ???? did they take anything else? :mad:

Fortunately, its a bloody rare colour, so selling it on is going to be an easy spot, and I'm sure everyone on here will have eyes peeled....

Amar. I really feel for you. That is absolutely gutting. They have cameras there maybe there is a chance of getting it back. So sorry mate.

Gutted for you too Amar :mad:
Let me know if I can help in any way
Its gotta be the stupidest theft ever taking a car that recognisable in a special edition colour and it has to be trailered everywhere as its got engine issues.
Keep your eyes peeled guys . . . . . :(:(

Oh mate. What the f**k can you say to that? All I can add is move fast, like Mike said video footage and police should be able to check road traffic cams maybe find what direction it’s heading in once you can see what they took it with (trailer or flatbed)

Worry is Amar they never going to sell it complete.

Aw FFS!

Fingers crossed you get some good luck soon!

Sorry to hear about that mate :(

Amar,

Really sorry to hear about that I'm just confused about it! Why, I mean 3 things its a rare colour, its a big car, it does not drive. Do they know what they have got themselves into?

They will stick out like a sore thumb buddy, i'm sure the authorities are on the case hunting them down as I type!

Best of luck mate and hopefully they don't damage the car in the process.

:tuttut::mad::Confused:

FFS Amar, it can't get any worse can it?

I'll keep my eyes peeled on this side of the country

I'm gobsmacked.....what a bizarre theft.

Unless they intend to (heaven forbid) part it out:Confused:...keep your eyes peeled guys. We need it recovered before they do anything stupid.

Feel for you mate.

Zip

man , that is terrible news, you really are having a bad spell mate. I'll keep my eyes peeled and if it comes up for sale someone on here will spot it..... Rotten thieving bar#@*+ds. :mad:

Got a funny feeling it'll be off to a container destined for the Eastern Bloc :(

Hope they get hold of it for you mate...

Was it still insured??

Thanks for the words guys, car stupidly wasn't insured. I just transfered the policy over to the new car.
Even if it is recovered it's going to be well and truly done for as Ben said it wasn't even flatbedded so goodbye gearbox and it's forever going to be known as a stolen/recovered. Not to mention what valuable bits they have ripped out. It's recovery back to my house had been booked for this Saturday. They were determined as there was smashed glass from my car at the scene.
I'd pay good money to find the people who did it. Don't know how I'll sleep tonight as this has consumed me all day, missed work etc...
Police have been around Bens and coming to my house tomorrow.

will it not be insured under the garages policy Amar ? Surely they must have insurance for this........:Confused:

Amar,

Gutted for you. Feckin robbing gits. Christ it pi55es me off.

This is the second time it's happened to you so do we have a lurker or lurkers scoping out the cars on here?

I'll keep an eye out for you.

Steve

so gutted for u bud,

horrible thought that some scum is in and around ur car :-(

Yeah that's one of the most horrible things. They could be doing anything to it and just ruining all the hard work and money I have poured into it. I already know they have toed it in a way that destroys the box etc so they aren't professional in any sense :mad:

Amar, I have no more words sufficient to express my sympathy for your truly appalling streak of automotive luck.
Carry one this way and you'll have enough material to write a book.
Here's to a speedy collaring of the thicko's who did this. I'm betting they're local and if your car was trailered it could well be nearby.

Nick that's my second laugh of today, first one was when I acidently sent a message saying 'someone stole my cat' when I meant to write car. Enough material to write a book :ROFL:

I've always wanted to write a novel to, maybe even a film?

I'll post whatever information I can, I had to think twice about posting this but thought it was important the gang knew encase anyone saw something/got offered any parts. Lets hope we can corner them.

I am seriously condering a gps tracking alternative...

Really like the simplicity and functionality of this one....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ3xT...layer_embedded

Amar, really hope you get some good news today mate. +++

I wouldnt give up hope on it. People dont travel miles and miles to steal cars, its just not practical, and they would have had to get it out of park to move it realistically at all, so its good for '30 miles and 30mph' which I guess is the distance the box can run without any cooling from the engine before the fluid gets too hot. With this in mind, the damage to the box from (im guessing) towing it behind something for not very far is probably not bad.

Broken glass is good too - Its way easier to replace a piece of glass, than to try and repair and repaint a crow-barred open drivers door in a special order paint (this is speaking from experience)

Stolen / Recovered flags only affect resale value, but as you want to keep it, thats not an issue, and the good thing about your unique situation is that its stolen, but you know they cant be ragging the ar5e off it as it doesnt drive.... - Thats usually the concern when your pride and joy is out of sight....

I hope that you track it down, and appreciate as its a very fresh police matter there may be details you cant (and shouldnt) share on here - but I truely hope she shows up soon in one piece...

Who knows....a relative may be taking you for a ride and you end up being featured on (a UK version of) 'Overhauled' with a brand new S8 lambo engine, 8-pot RS brakes and a set of coilovers!

Wishful thinking?!

Hope you get it back soon

Oli