Wednesday is Pulsar day. :) Off to Spikeys

[Perrin21]

My one day off a week usually consists of a visit to the docs, a boatload of chores and some time in the garage cleaning my car. The past few weeks I met up with Spikey in Blackpool to look over a few niggles i had with my car. A small misfire at the top of the rev band, a few air leaks that needed finding and sorting and just some general maintenance here and there. Jonathan is a top guy, he has spent hour after hour on my car and done some excellent work. Last week i had a boost controller fitted and wanted the car setting up to run at 1.1 Bar Boost. Unfortunately for some reason the actuator spring in my forge actuator was too soft and the boost kept falling off shortly after hitting 1.1bar. After being told that the replacement spring (stronger) would likely require turbo removal i braced myself for a massive bill for what seems like a simple job. Luckily Spikey was able to get to the actuator and remove the spring (in 5 mins) without needing to remove the turbo and today he set it up with the new stiffer spring. Right on the money again with that one, the car now boosts to a perfect 1.1 bar with no tail off or fluctuation. Its freaking awesome. OK its not as hardcore as most Pulsars on here but as the boost increases over 0.7 theres a gorgeous turbo noise as it spools up for its extra go. Its just Wicked.

He also spotted that although the previous owner removed the air conditioning system, for some reason the compressor was still in place, without hesitation he offered to get it off and remove the mounting bracket also in order to save some weight and release some strain from the engine. This also required a new belt (£3) as the old one needed replacing anyway. An hour later it was off and on the scales lol for a weight check. Just under 2 stone removed including the bracket and bolts and he then spotted another pointless bracket that was just dead weight for the original intercooler. That went too.

I gotta say when i originally took my car to Spikey a few weeks ago for the misfire i never expected to turn up at a fully equipped garage and have someone willing to spend full days on my car for such a reasonable cost. The work he has done recently for me has been to such a high standard im thoroughly pleased with everything. Ive never driven a pulsar that drives so well. Im on my 2nd.

Work done so far by Spikey.

Misfire diagnosed and fixed (a possible nightmare turned out to be a quick fix that im certain nobody else would have found) Leaky Dump Valve.
Replaced Dump Valve (one off Spikeys race car, priced, cheap
Battery relocated to Boot (Fab job, 2 stone moved to the Back)
Boost controller fitted and set up 1.1Bar (required new actuator spring)
Yokohama Advan AD08 Tyres fitted, Balanced and better priced than everywhere else.
Air conditioning compressor removed incl brackets (2 stone weight saved)
Annoying ticking noise found and fixed (hub clips)
Upgraded 50mm Alloy radiator Fitted and working perfect

Ive also booked next wednesday for him to make a prototype Turbo elbow and downpipe and ill be posting up how good it is here. If its anything like the rest of his work it will be better than expected for the best price. I honestly couldn't have got my car into a position like this without his help. He is a credit to the forum and better than that he's a great friend

Thanks for everything Jonathan (Spikey) Your a mate. See you next week.

Spikeys garage is called Custom Auto Fabrication (odd name for someone so good at everything else Pulsar too) FY8 3LD go pay him a visit. Or there's pics of his work on Facebook . Look for Custom Auto Fabrications

 

[Georges Dad]

Mmm its good to know there's an experienced mechanic reasonably local if I do take the plunge and by another R!

PS how do you find the AD08's on the pulsar? I had them on my track clio and they were superb.

 

[jamesgtir]

all due respect to spikey, seems like a top guy.

 

[Perrin21]

Mmm its good to know there's an experienced mechanic reasonably local if I do take the plunge and by another R!

PS how do you find the AD08's on the pulsar? I had them on my track clio and they were superb.

First impressions are good, not done enough miles on them in the dry though yet. Been caught in the rain twice lol. Car needs handling setting up properly as I'm not happy with the settings from CPR

 

[fubar andy]

Car needs handling setting up properly as I'm not happy with the settings from CPR

So it was wasted money going there and you can't go back as there not there any more....

Stick to local boys who won't rip you off and do a much better job!

 

[Perrin21]

So it was wasted money going there and you can't go back as there not there any more....

Stick to local boys who won't rip you off and do a much better job!

Yup expensive lesson but it was done just after I bought it before we met on NW RR event.

 

[Mad]

Great stuff.

Nice looking white GTiR in the piccie. I havent seen it before. Out of curiousity, how wide can you go on the wheels with those arches.

 

[Spikey]

Im running 15x8 et0 so that makes it 50mm wider on each side. So 100mm overall wider track.

 

[Mad]

Im running 15x8 et0 so that makes it 50mm wider on each side. So 100mm overall wider track.

Thats good. Should make a noticeable difference. There are so many things I want to do to mine, widenening the track is one of them, just cant make my mind up which upgrade to do first. :doh:

 

[Spikey]

If you start with all the Suspension Upgrades first. like Anti roll bars and bushes then i would say that's a good start.

 

[campbellju]

Mark. The weather still seems to be pretty bad but glad you got something done.

I'd strongly recommend the castor mod but Spikey could do that for you. If you do that you'll also need to be able to adjust camber at the bottom of your strut. I think the BC's can do this already but if not you'll have to grind out the hole. After you've done the caster mod you'll need to re-do the tracking at the front or it will ruin your new tyres.

It's worth me doing a quick alignment check first in case CPR completely stuffed it up.

Also, look out for an adjustable rear ARB that Spikey could fit too. This weekend or next weekend I plan to do some suspension work on my other car so it might be a good time.

 

[Perrin21]

Mark. The weather still seems to be pretty bad but glad you got something done.

I'd strongly recommend the castor mod but Spikey could do that for you. If you do that you'll also need to be able to adjust camber at the bottom of your strut. I think the BC's can do this already but if not you'll have to grind out the hole. After you've done the caster mod you'll need to re-do the tracking at the front or it will ruin your new tyres.

It's worth me doing a quick alignment check first in case CPR completely stuffed it up.

Also, look out for an adjustable rear ARB that Spikey could fit too. This weekend or next weekend I plan to do some suspension work on my other car so it might be a good time.

I have the Camber bolts on the rear already. How does the castor mod work and what parts do i need? Are you referring to the drilling a hole method?

Also just ordered the adjustable Whiteline Rear ARB

 

[Perrin21]

Had a visit to Spikeys on Monday as my Whiteline Rear ARB has arrived. Fitted in about 45 minutes and WOW what a difference. The car no longer rolls around corners, it drives around them. It also seems to have much improved the ride quality and there is less pulling at the wheel. My car has BC coilovers and it has made a massive difference. Got it set up on the centre hole on the bar. Really impressed. Id highly recommend this upgrade to anyone who isnt completely happy with the handling of their car. The difference is worth every penny. Thanks again Spikey

 

[campbellju]

If you need camber bolts on the rear then I expect BC's aren't adjustable at the bottom of the strut. The caster mod is one hole but you might need to run more camber too as it limits what you can do with your top mount. Do a search on my name for castor mod and coarse camber mod. This helps with stability, power on understeer and camber loss in tight corners.

The rear ARB is a great start though. Leave the setting on the middle hole for the moment. Going too stiff without balancing the rest of the car can make for a twitchy drive.

For the moment leave the camber/castor mod until we've checked all the alignment on the car.

 

[Perrin21]

If you need camber bolts on the rear then I expect BC's aren't adjustable at the bottom of the strut. The caster mod is one hole but you might need to run more camber too as it limits what you can do with your top mount. Do a search on my name for castor mod and coarse camber mod. This helps with stability, power on understeer and camber loss in tight corners.

The rear ARB is a great start though. Leave the setting on the middle hole for the moment. Going too stiff without balancing the rest of the car can make for a twitchy drive.

For the moment leave the camber/castor mod until we've checked all the alignment on the car.

The car already has the camber bolts on the rear. Im interested in the front castor mod. Is that something you can do at your house?

 

[campbellju]

I was the first to do it at my house ;-) A the time though I didn't have another a Sunny in bits taking up garage space. Stu and I did Fubars car but to make the change and setup geometry just right took most of the day.

To be honest, I think too many changes too fast and tuning the car's settings in to what you prefer becomes more difficult.

Let's establish a baseline, understand how you prefer a car to handle and see what isn't working for you in the setup.

Setting up a car is easy when you know how and my "tools" cost about £50 so I'm sure you and spikey can work out the details if we need to do something like the castor/camber mod.

Another simple maintenance mod for your shopping list, new oem front arb bushes. Cheap , simple but can work wonders on our 20 year old cars.