Tales from the workshop
Discussion
Dear admin, would an ad-hoc series of ramblings about a classic workshop over the past 40 odd years be of interest ?
I have access to lots of photos and stories of past heroes and famous and infamous stars of the past and also the variety of current classic and race cars that come through the workshop .
I have access to lots of photos and stories of past heroes and famous and infamous stars of the past and also the variety of current classic and race cars that come through the workshop .
Just so I don't confuse anyone the stories don't come from my workshops but from a very good friends . They date back late 60s as the earliest, when they were run by my mates father . Through to the present time , including when I worked for him 15 or so years ago .
It includes cars in films ,music videos,prizes in magazines . Cars that weren't what the owners thought they were .
Cars owned by famous people and infamous people .
It includes cars in films ,music videos,prizes in magazines . Cars that weren't what the owners thought they were .
Cars owned by famous people and infamous people .
https://exclusivecarregistry.com/details/ferrari/3...
Owned in the past by the workshop owners father who purchased it for £7500 . Originally it was red .
Would be interesting see what it sells for .
Owned in the past by the workshop owners father who purchased it for £7500 . Originally it was red .
Would be interesting see what it sells for .
Lots of tales about cars sharing identities in the past with dodgy dealings.
This involves another Jag Xk , it had a restoration then got exported to Australia.
Some enterprising person had a chassis plate made up and copied the registration and built up another car .
All this came to light when the original legitimate car returned from Australia, another twist was while in Australia it had another "Restoration" more accurately it had every bodge known to man performed on the car .
Two XKs both with the same chassis number.
This involves another Jag Xk , it had a restoration then got exported to Australia.
Some enterprising person had a chassis plate made up and copied the registration and built up another car .
All this came to light when the original legitimate car returned from Australia, another twist was while in Australia it had another "Restoration" more accurately it had every bodge known to man performed on the car .
Two XKs both with the same chassis number.
Another not quite Kosher car turned up when I worked there.
Even from a distance it looked "wrong "
It was supposed to be an early flat floor convertible E type manual RHD .
Recently arrived from the USA and bought by an exited owner who insisted that he had acquired a "bargain".
The car was booked on to have seat belts fitted,they were not required when it was originally built .
Suspicion was highlighted when drilling the mountings for the belts when treble thickness metal was found where it shouldn't be.
So the oracle was consulted , a book listing every Jag chassis giving it's configuration and the market it was destined for .
It certainly wasn't an early flat floor ,nor was it a convertible,or RHD
It originally was a LHD hardtop
This happened pretty often with cars that were exported back and forth.
Even from a distance it looked "wrong "
It was supposed to be an early flat floor convertible E type manual RHD .
Recently arrived from the USA and bought by an exited owner who insisted that he had acquired a "bargain".
The car was booked on to have seat belts fitted,they were not required when it was originally built .
Suspicion was highlighted when drilling the mountings for the belts when treble thickness metal was found where it shouldn't be.
So the oracle was consulted , a book listing every Jag chassis giving it's configuration and the market it was destined for .
It certainly wasn't an early flat floor ,nor was it a convertible,or RHD
It originally was a LHD hardtop
This happened pretty often with cars that were exported back and forth.
Edited by grumpy52 on Friday 24th March 11:46
Not all the tales come from classic workshops.
A guy that was none too bright was the general labourer in a Ford dealership back in the days of the 3ltr Capri. He took a fancy to a brand new demonstrator on the forecourt and hid the spare keys and took them home. In the dead of night he returned to work and had the car away .
The police found the car and him at the weekend when he was spotted standing in the road with paintbrush in hand painting the car . When asked why he said I like blue and this one was white.
Also the tale of a London BMW dealership that got hit one night and a transporter full of new and unregistered cars was loaded up and they were gone ,never to be seen again.
The dealer's insurance excess was so high the didn't even claim for the cars . Remember that when you look at your insurance when renewing it . Another reason why the main dealer rates are so high .
A guy that was none too bright was the general labourer in a Ford dealership back in the days of the 3ltr Capri. He took a fancy to a brand new demonstrator on the forecourt and hid the spare keys and took them home. In the dead of night he returned to work and had the car away .
The police found the car and him at the weekend when he was spotted standing in the road with paintbrush in hand painting the car . When asked why he said I like blue and this one was white.
Also the tale of a London BMW dealership that got hit one night and a transporter full of new and unregistered cars was loaded up and they were gone ,never to be seen again.
The dealer's insurance excess was so high the didn't even claim for the cars . Remember that when you look at your insurance when renewing it . Another reason why the main dealer rates are so high .
For a while in the 80s I worked part time for a car hire company that did a lot of high end cars , Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini etc . We had branches dotted all over the country including Heathrow and Gatwick airports . The villains had a method of stealing passport, driving licence and gold card credit cards ( American express or Diners club ) in the Mediterranean holiday resorts . This was in the pre internet/ computer age and immediate alerts . They would hop on a UK flight preferably to Gatwick and on arrival rock up to our hire desk and book the best we had available using the recently stolen licence and credit card. ( High end cars could only be hired via a company arrangement or certain credit cards ) The cars were then driven to a container or a ferry and then disappeared often to the middle east or North Africa.
This often happened before the people who have lost their license and cards had realised they were a victim.
In these cases none of the stolen cars were ever recovered.
The other scam was with the bread and butter cars , people would hire one the same as they owned but had just damaged the engine or running gear . They then reported it stolen, stuck it in a workshop somewhere and remove the bits that they needed then dump the remaining body and burn it .
Gatwick lost a high end car every couple of weeks and us at Heathrow lost one each week .
We also had a system where account customers could leave cars in the airport carparks and leave a location message on our answer phone. They were supposed to leave the keys above the sun visor.
So many didn't do either and we often had calls from the carpark management or airport police about cars being left for weeks.
This often happened before the people who have lost their license and cards had realised they were a victim.
In these cases none of the stolen cars were ever recovered.
The other scam was with the bread and butter cars , people would hire one the same as they owned but had just damaged the engine or running gear . They then reported it stolen, stuck it in a workshop somewhere and remove the bits that they needed then dump the remaining body and burn it .
Gatwick lost a high end car every couple of weeks and us at Heathrow lost one each week .
We also had a system where account customers could leave cars in the airport carparks and leave a location message on our answer phone. They were supposed to leave the keys above the sun visor.
So many didn't do either and we often had calls from the carpark management or airport police about cars being left for weeks.
RichB , it's amazing how many vehicles arrived for an expected simple job can end up with a major rebuild.
On the other hand I was given the job of a blowing exhaust manifold on a Mk2 Jag .
Already diagnosed by the owner, several of his club friends and another mechanic.
I checked it over and fixed it in two minutes. Plug no 6 was missing it's seating washer .
So often people fail to check the basics or obvious . Even more common these days with mechanics/ technicians that rely on diagnostic tools instead of close inspections.
On the other hand I was given the job of a blowing exhaust manifold on a Mk2 Jag .
Already diagnosed by the owner, several of his club friends and another mechanic.
I checked it over and fixed it in two minutes. Plug no 6 was missing it's seating washer .
So often people fail to check the basics or obvious . Even more common these days with mechanics/ technicians that rely on diagnostic tools instead of close inspections.
My early years in the trade were as a radio installer based in a Chrysler dealership which was part of the Dutton For Shaw group.
One of our sister dealerships was across the road and were Jaguar,Rover and Triumph dealer . I spent many hours over the road fitting various bits of kit into mostly new cars .
The younger mechanics in the workshop thought it was great fun to shoot cars off the ramps as they descended .
As ever in these circumstances things were getting out of hand . I witnessed the final outcome .
While still about 3 ft off the ground the car revs up the reverse lights glow but the car only moves slowly due to wheel spin but fast enough to reach the end of the ramp and keep going and breaking it's back hanging off the ramp . A brand spanking new 4.2 Jag XJ6 due to be handed over that evening to its owner.
A P45 joined the mechanic as he left that day .
One of our apprentices was caught using an air ratchet to install spark plugs on a Hillman Imp , he wondered why they weren't getting tight . He had stripped all the threads . He was banned from using air tools .
One of our sister dealerships was across the road and were Jaguar,Rover and Triumph dealer . I spent many hours over the road fitting various bits of kit into mostly new cars .
The younger mechanics in the workshop thought it was great fun to shoot cars off the ramps as they descended .
As ever in these circumstances things were getting out of hand . I witnessed the final outcome .
While still about 3 ft off the ground the car revs up the reverse lights glow but the car only moves slowly due to wheel spin but fast enough to reach the end of the ramp and keep going and breaking it's back hanging off the ramp . A brand spanking new 4.2 Jag XJ6 due to be handed over that evening to its owner.
A P45 joined the mechanic as he left that day .
One of our apprentices was caught using an air ratchet to install spark plugs on a Hillman Imp , he wondered why they weren't getting tight . He had stripped all the threads . He was banned from using air tools .
I did slip up occasionally,I did an engine swap on an early mini that had the rubber type driveshaft couplings . Finished off buy popping the front wheels back on , lowered the car to ground and went for a road test . A bit of vibration and noise that I put down to bulging driveshaft couplings clipping the bulkhead .
Back to my garage and slid a trolley jack under to raise the front and the wheels just flapped about . I had only put them on finger tight !!
The only other episode was road testing an XJ6 when all of a sudden the NSF wheel started clattering, I pulled over to the kerb with a final clatter . I was greeted with the sight of the hub cap and an impact socket laying on the ground. The mechanic had left the socket on a wheel nut ten banged the hubcap on .
Back to my garage and slid a trolley jack under to raise the front and the wheels just flapped about . I had only put them on finger tight !!
The only other episode was road testing an XJ6 when all of a sudden the NSF wheel started clattering, I pulled over to the kerb with a final clatter . I was greeted with the sight of the hub cap and an impact socket laying on the ground. The mechanic had left the socket on a wheel nut ten banged the hubcap on .
We were asked by a customer to look at a car that had just been to a local garage for rear suspension work .
On inspection the rear anti roll bars had large brass toilet fixing screws holding it on .
We had several occasions when customers tried to p/ex cars previously purchased from local garages that had been truly bodged by bodyshops in the past .
Including one job from an insurance company that was a classic cut and shut of two halves of different cars . We refused to touch it and when the insurance company got awkward about it we passed it to trading standards to deal with . Trading standards managed eventually to get the customers money back from the large dealership they had purchased the car from .The insurance company had to answer some very awkward questions about their attitude.
On inspection the rear anti roll bars had large brass toilet fixing screws holding it on .
We had several occasions when customers tried to p/ex cars previously purchased from local garages that had been truly bodged by bodyshops in the past .
Including one job from an insurance company that was a classic cut and shut of two halves of different cars . We refused to touch it and when the insurance company got awkward about it we passed it to trading standards to deal with . Trading standards managed eventually to get the customers money back from the large dealership they had purchased the car from .The insurance company had to answer some very awkward questions about their attitude.
One personal experience from when I wasn't working in the motor industry.
I had a company car only a few months old and due to go to Germany for a family holiday.
It goes into the dealers for a service, arrived home that evening and dropped my keys which bounced off my foot and under the car , on the floor looking for them and noticed oil dripping from the sump plug , I reached out to touch it and the sump plug is so loose it rattles .
I'm straight onto the dealers and exploded on the service manager. I could easily have tightened the plug but then the dealers would have just fobbed it off as one of those things . The company spent lots of money with this place as all the company vehicles were purchased from them and all the services and MOT work.
They turned up and fixed it ,no apologies or follow up calls .
Chats with my works manager revealed concerns about the standard of work from the dealer and if they actually replaced service parts.
The next service we marked all the components that were due for replacement.
The only thing that they changed was the oil . Plugs ,filters,belts etc were all just given a wipe over .
On collection we went straight to the dealer principal and confronted him with our evidence.
It all escalated into a police investigation and prosecution of several members of staff as they were scamming customers on a grand scale . Service manager,parts manager and a couple of technicians all lost jobs and one served some time .
Not only were they making ££s on the parts it also had an effect on performance bonuses so was classed as fraud.
I had a company car only a few months old and due to go to Germany for a family holiday.
It goes into the dealers for a service, arrived home that evening and dropped my keys which bounced off my foot and under the car , on the floor looking for them and noticed oil dripping from the sump plug , I reached out to touch it and the sump plug is so loose it rattles .
I'm straight onto the dealers and exploded on the service manager. I could easily have tightened the plug but then the dealers would have just fobbed it off as one of those things . The company spent lots of money with this place as all the company vehicles were purchased from them and all the services and MOT work.
They turned up and fixed it ,no apologies or follow up calls .
Chats with my works manager revealed concerns about the standard of work from the dealer and if they actually replaced service parts.
The next service we marked all the components that were due for replacement.
The only thing that they changed was the oil . Plugs ,filters,belts etc were all just given a wipe over .
On collection we went straight to the dealer principal and confronted him with our evidence.
It all escalated into a police investigation and prosecution of several members of staff as they were scamming customers on a grand scale . Service manager,parts manager and a couple of technicians all lost jobs and one served some time .
Not only were they making ££s on the parts it also had an effect on performance bonuses so was classed as fraud.
Maxdecel said:
grumpy52 said:
One personal experience from when I wasn't working in the motor industry.
I had a company car only a few months old and due to go to Germany for a family holiday.
It goes into the dealers for a service, arrived home that evening and dropped my keys which bounced off my foot and under the car , on the floor looking for them and noticed oil dripping from the sump plug , I reached out to touch it and the sump plug is so loose it rattles .
I'm straight onto the dealers and exploded on the service manager. I could easily have tightened the plug but then the dealers would have just fobbed it off as one of those things . The company spent lots of money with this place as all the company vehicles were purchased from them and all the services and MOT work.
They turned up and fixed it ,no apologies or follow up calls .
Chats with my works manager revealed concerns about the standard of work from the dealer and if they actually replaced service parts.
The next service we marked all the components that were due for replacement.
The only thing that they changed was the oil . Plugs ,filters,belts etc were all just given a wipe over .
On collection we went straight to the dealer principal and confronted him with our evidence.
It all escalated into a police investigation and prosecution of several members of staff as they were scamming customers on a grand scale . Service manager, parts manager and a couple of technicians all lost jobs and one served some time .
Not only were they making ££s on the parts it also had an effect on performance bonuses so was classed as fraud.
Wow ! That developed, aren't "incentive bonus schemes" a wonderful idea to enhance wages and workshop capacity.I had a company car only a few months old and due to go to Germany for a family holiday.
It goes into the dealers for a service, arrived home that evening and dropped my keys which bounced off my foot and under the car , on the floor looking for them and noticed oil dripping from the sump plug , I reached out to touch it and the sump plug is so loose it rattles .
I'm straight onto the dealers and exploded on the service manager. I could easily have tightened the plug but then the dealers would have just fobbed it off as one of those things . The company spent lots of money with this place as all the company vehicles were purchased from them and all the services and MOT work.
They turned up and fixed it ,no apologies or follow up calls .
Chats with my works manager revealed concerns about the standard of work from the dealer and if they actually replaced service parts.
The next service we marked all the components that were due for replacement.
The only thing that they changed was the oil . Plugs ,filters,belts etc were all just given a wipe over .
On collection we went straight to the dealer principal and confronted him with our evidence.
It all escalated into a police investigation and prosecution of several members of staff as they were scamming customers on a grand scale . Service manager, parts manager and a couple of technicians all lost jobs and one served some time .
Not only were they making ££s on the parts it also had an effect on performance bonuses so was classed as fraud.
Worked at a MD where one tech. always earned bonus, they continued to think highly of him despite a gearbox falling off post his clutch replacement.
About the same time a large northern group that did tyres and exhausts started to do MOTs , most of their failures were for the product that they sold . Lo and behold they were just generating work and sales .
This also dragged the national known company into the spotlight.
The suspicion on MOT testing has rumbled on for decades .
I'm lucky that my usual testing station has a relative as one of the owners and is used by many of the local one man garages.
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