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Disapointing mods to your car.

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Old 24-12-2018, 08:41 AM
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Glenn_
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Default Disapointing mods to your car.

Just want a bit if banter on here.

So have any of you done any mods to your cars over the years which when you did them you either hated them or the mods were pointless.

Here's 2 examples I've done.
No1... my old Ford Puma 1.7 16v. I fitted a 2ltr mondeo throttle body to it then I had to bore out the inlet manifold. A few months after doing this I had a play against another puma which looked standard and it pulled away from me ha ha.


No2.. fitted solid steering rack bushes to my saff. Horrible mod. They might be ok for a track/race car but for on the road I could feel every bump in the road. I've now changed these to poly bushes.

Last edited by Glenn_; 24-12-2018 at 08:44 AM.
Old 24-12-2018, 09:15 AM
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St3V3_C
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That air filter and exhaust that was supposed to make my escort turbo 200bhp
Old 24-12-2018, 09:19 AM
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Glenn_
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Was it a cone filter??
Old 24-12-2018, 10:29 AM
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STEVEST24
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Similar exhaust woe, fitted stainless twin exit exhaust to my Mondeo, when rolling road tested with another Mondeo with new standard exhaust, we got same bhp!, heyho but it did look good!
Old 24-12-2018, 10:46 AM
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cossynut2
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Swapping the amber front indicator lenses on my 2wd Saff for clear 4X4 ones which was the "IN " thing in the 90's and then having a hard time locating the new old stock ones which are back on it now!
Old 24-12-2018, 11:00 AM
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Glenn_
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With exhausts for the price of them I've noticed that your lucky to get over 5 bhp from what I've seen in the past.
Old 24-12-2018, 11:01 AM
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Glenn_
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Originally Posted by cossynut2
Swapping the amber front indicator lenses on my 2wd Saff for clear 4X4 ones which was the "IN " thing in the 90's and then having a hard time locating the new old stock ones which are back on it now!
I defo like 2wd saffs with the correct lights.
Old 24-12-2018, 11:54 AM
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tosh
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I think we’ve all done that one wanting to make it look more modern! Now they are worth more we want originality
Old 24-12-2018, 12:02 PM
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tosh
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I fitted some flashing Night Rider lights in the front grill of my black 1.6 escort back in the late 80s, it was then able to go 500mph and jump over broken bridges.
Old 24-12-2018, 12:09 PM
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RichieST
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20" wheels on my old mondeo, cost about 2 grand, made it handle like absolute shite, had to drive everywhere avoiding even the slightest bump or hole in the road. It looked good though lol.

It was that bad I actually enjoyed driving the wife's Hyundai i20 she had at the time 😂
Old 24-12-2018, 03:45 PM
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Glenn_
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Was it that bad Ritchie?mine's ok on 19s.
Old 24-12-2018, 04:04 PM
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cossie2
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Twin plate clutch and short gear ration box on my cossie.....was the worst mods for sure...and ut t38 turbo....if i think hard for sure i would find some more..
Old 24-12-2018, 04:29 PM
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gcfcos
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Removed the cat on my e36 drift car thinking it would improve performance only for it to be as flat as a fart after
Old 24-12-2018, 07:30 PM
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Glenn_
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Originally Posted by gcfcos
Removed the cat on my e36 drift car thinking it would improve performance only for it to be as flat as a fart after
I removed the cat on my old sierra hatch back and that was defo quicker.
Old 24-12-2018, 07:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Glenn_
I removed the cat on my old sierra hatch back and that was defo quicker.
I think my bmw must have seriously relied on back pressure lol
Old 24-12-2018, 07:45 PM
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Cosworth management onto a Rs turbo engined cabrio. Nothing but trouble wanky old shite.
Old 25-12-2018, 04:00 PM
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fuzzy
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the mods that have caused me most disappointment is fitting Cosworth engines to a couple of different cars. not because the engine itself was a let down but the so called specialists doing the fitting have been bunches of mongos
Old 25-12-2018, 04:10 PM
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2Litre
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Fitting Escort Bosworth wheels to my 3 door. Worst handling by far.


Tim.
Old 25-12-2018, 04:12 PM
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Mtech Pads and Discs onto my type R, theyre the worst things I’ve ever bought and have made my brakes absolutely pish, can’t wait to remove them.
Old 25-12-2018, 07:33 PM
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Twin pinstripe kit in Racing Red from Halfords for my Capri, promised an extra 50hp but failed to deliver on those claims 🤔
Old 25-12-2018, 08:22 PM
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steppy
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Originally Posted by studabear
Cosworth management onto a Rs turbo engined cabrio. Nothing but trouble wanky old shite.
seriously?? put it on the Mrs rs turbo a couple of years back now without issue and the car gets driven hard

worst mod has to be the extra gauges, oil pressure and boost became an obsession to look at

Last edited by steppy; 25-12-2018 at 08:24 PM.
Old 25-12-2018, 09:07 PM
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studabear
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Originally Posted by steppy
seriously?? put it on the Mrs rs turbo a couple of years back now without issue and the car gets driven hard

worst mod has to be the extra gauges, oil pressure and boost became an obsession to look at
Yeah it was shocking. Horrendous on fuel and so unreliable. In the end I cut the loom in half and threw the ecus and loom away.

A certain tuner will come up with all the answers that it was installation issues but he even looked at it and tuned it and a hour later it was misfiring as soon as it hit 4k.

Cost me a bomb and some to replace it all again.

All in the past now though. I have a modern decent ecu and a decent tuner
Now resulting in a very fast reliable and economical Zetec turbo escort.
Old 25-12-2018, 10:55 PM
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steppy
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Originally Posted by studabear
Yeah it was shocking. Horrendous on fuel and so unreliable. In the end I cut the loom in half and threw the ecus and loom away.

A certain tuner will come up with all the answers that it was installation issues but he even looked at it and tuned it and a hour later it was misfiring as soon as it hit 4k.

Cost me a bomb and some to replace it all again.

All in the past now though. I have a modern decent ecu and a decent tuner
Now resulting in a very fast reliable and economical Zetec turbo escort.
oh shit that's not good it sounds like you had a right nightmare on your hands.

Sounds like you did the best thing binning it under the circumstances, luckily i have none of those faults the Mrs car has spot on fuel consumption etc and reliable so we're both happy

Last edited by steppy; 25-12-2018 at 11:00 PM.
Old 26-12-2018, 07:22 AM
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Originally Posted by Glenn_
Was it that bad Ritchie?mine's ok on 19s.
Yes it was horrendous! It had 18s as standard, I put 19s on it that I trashed with a pothole, so decided 20s would be a good idea 😂

I've got the mondeo tit x sport 19s on my focus now, looks pretty cool.
Old 26-12-2018, 07:37 AM
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Glenn_
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Originally Posted by Adam-M
Mtech Pads and Discs onto my type R, theyre the worst things I’ve ever bought and have made my brakes absolutely pish, can’t wait to remove them.

I put a set of these Mtech discs on my mk3mondeo I used to own. They were fine for the first 100 mile then they felt warped to me afterwards.
Old 26-12-2018, 12:28 PM
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rog
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Huge mono block 6 pot Brembos on my saph, was a fucking pain in the ass to get wheels to fit properly and the brakes were actually too good because the car is so light, got sick of trying to make it better and eventually sold them and put on 4 pot AP’s instead.
Old 26-12-2018, 03:51 PM
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Glenn_
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Rog how is the saff coming on? Is it any where near completion.
Old 30-12-2018, 06:22 PM
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In the early 80's I fitted fur on my dashboard only to find the flies loved it, fitted side pipes only to find the girlfriend kept burning her legs when she got in and out, chain steering wheel was just nasty, I had GT8 bucket seats that my Dad got stuck in, more recently I had a Mondeo with limo tint that I couldn't drive when it was dark as the visibility was horrendous, to name but a few
Old 30-12-2018, 08:34 PM
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Originally Posted by fuzzy
the mods that have caused me most disappointment is fitting Cosworth engines to a couple of different cars. not because the engine itself was a let down but the so called specialists doing the fitting have been bunches of mongos
yep can relate to that, had an 85 b Reg 2.8 Ghia X Granada back in the early nineties, it was a lovely smooth car to drive but I modded it and had proper numpties do it, first place it was at the fella was a proper dosser and had to pick the car up and start all over again, second bloke I was introduced to via the MK2 Granada oc, another prick, the place was called Ashford motorsport in kent, he ended up in Dover after someone burned down his unit in Ashford, proper rip off merchant, ask Steve Cossie4i about him, he knows him all too well, I don’t think he is trading anymore but if he is ffs never go there.

same Granada I had 15 merc 5 spoke melbas on it initially but opted for some 17 oz volcanoes, god awful wheels, looked shit and wasted my money,
Old 30-12-2018, 08:43 PM
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Originally Posted by gcfcos
Removed the cat on my e36 drift car thinking it would improve performance only for it to be as flat as a fart after
was it mapped after, if not I would expect it to drive badly, the ecu would be looking for the cat to make a difference.
Old 30-12-2018, 09:02 PM
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Worse mod was that shitty coil pack conversion for the l8 ecu always over heating the ecu and got to have been the worse ever design in fitting just always looked like a nasty after thought
Old 30-12-2018, 09:17 PM
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studabear
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Originally Posted by Jay,
Worse mod was that shitty coil pack conversion for the l8 ecu always over heating the ecu and got to have been the worse ever design in fitting just always looked like a nasty after thought
I had a similar problem with L6 ecu, even fitted a cooling fan to the ecu. Eventually went back to a dizzy before fucking the whole system off altogether.
Old 30-12-2018, 09:23 PM
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Originally Posted by studabear
I had a similar problem with L6 ecu, even fitted a cooling fan to the ecu. Eventually went back to a dizzy before fucking the whole system off altogether.
Same here until I giot a proper ecu to do the job then run k20 cop
Old 30-12-2018, 10:24 PM
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I ran wasted spark from msd on a L8 never had any issues .
Old 30-12-2018, 10:51 PM
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Worst mod/decision was to start again with my rst and get rid ov all the rot and fkd up jobs folk had done over the years ....

at was 9 year ago lol
Old 31-12-2018, 02:39 AM
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Letting a guy in northampton work on a couple of my audi based projects, biggest waste of money going. Had parts stolen, ended up just selling all the cars on in bits in the end was a complete waste of time/money.

Flamer kit on one of my mk4's, never worked right and actually popped bigger flames when I had it removed.

side exit on a 1.8t passat, box seperated from the front section on the oxford ring road and apart from deafening noise it went a bloody hell of a lot quicker like that.

Let I think it was pts tuning in luton have a go at my rs turbo convertible to set it up. Never worked right afterwards and ended up selling it at a big loss shortly afterwards.
Old 31-12-2018, 08:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Caddyshack
was it mapped after, if not I would expect it to drive badly, the ecu would be looking for the cat to make a difference.
No it was only a £500 banger that I welded the diff on for drift nights at our local banger track. Was still good fun though
Old 31-12-2018, 08:31 AM
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Glenn_
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Some nasty mods have gone on with you lot.

I wonder why some people had problems with the cool pack conversion and others didn't??
Old 31-12-2018, 09:09 AM
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steppy
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Originally Posted by boeb
Worst mod/decision was to start again with my rst and get rid ov all the rot and fkd up jobs folk had done over the years ....

at was 9 year ago lol
this is scaring me a little, I started the one for the Mrs this year, I'm 260 hour's into the cutting and welding, the worst bodge to date is the sunroof drains, some fantastic person many years back slung some sills on and cut through the drain plastic pipe so it was high up and dumped water everywhere in the a pillars and the cavity for the inner sill this mixed with having no hole for water to drain out of was the road to disaster, to combat this I'm welding a sleeve into the bottom of the a pillar to run the drain through to exit at the hole at the bottom of the wing under the kit so it dumps straight out

Last edited by steppy; 31-12-2018 at 09:11 AM.
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Old 31-12-2018, 11:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Rsmat
I ran wasted spark from msd on a L8 never had any issues .
i changed my L6 ECU to an L8 ECU on my 2wd Saff with new engine/fans/fuel pump wiring looms plus MSD baby board for Siemens injectors, MSD wasted spark ignition and all been spot on..


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