C service, & upgrades ?
Discussion
Morning all.
Still in early days of S1 ownership, but enjoying myself immensely. Car is great with no obvious faults, FSH, and relatively low miles (31k). Next service due in a few months is a C, which leads to a couple of questions.
As far as I can see from service history, car has never had a head gasket change. It does not lose any coolant, and header tank is nice and unpolluted. However, how much of the labour involved in changing the gasket is already being done in a belt change service ? and is it worth doing the gasket upgrade during the service as a preventative measure if it only adds a few quid (relatively speaking) to the bill?
Then, if the head is coming off anyway is it worth mildly upgrading the top end ? I certainly don't crave loads more power, but if a bit of head work or changing the cams would give another 20 bhp and a bit more top end urge along the lines of the Sport 135, again might now be the economical time to do it ?
Two separate questions I guess, but I would value your collective wisdom!
Still in early days of S1 ownership, but enjoying myself immensely. Car is great with no obvious faults, FSH, and relatively low miles (31k). Next service due in a few months is a C, which leads to a couple of questions.
As far as I can see from service history, car has never had a head gasket change. It does not lose any coolant, and header tank is nice and unpolluted. However, how much of the labour involved in changing the gasket is already being done in a belt change service ? and is it worth doing the gasket upgrade during the service as a preventative measure if it only adds a few quid (relatively speaking) to the bill?
Then, if the head is coming off anyway is it worth mildly upgrading the top end ? I certainly don't crave loads more power, but if a bit of head work or changing the cams would give another 20 bhp and a bit more top end urge along the lines of the Sport 135, again might now be the economical time to do it ?
Two separate questions I guess, but I would value your collective wisdom!
just compare the price here www.dvapower.com - you are probably looking at about £1K fitted for a mild upgrade, and oil/belt change in on the deal
a C service at a specialist is about £500
for a *proper* head job, not a pre-cast 135 style head, there is tens of hours of work that go into it, so even at £20 an hour, its many hundreds of pounds
if you just want some cams in there, then £500 + labour - see DVAs site above
lots of choices and options, personally just get a C service and save up for upgrades ...in my own experience, doing things piecemeal for 10-15bhp here and there, only leads to doing more upgrades, and doing things twice, or 3x even ...so save up for what you want in the first place - if you really want a 180bhp reliable Elise - save up a few grand and either change cars, or get the K upgraded with DVA etc .....
a C service at a specialist is about £500
for a *proper* head job, not a pre-cast 135 style head, there is tens of hours of work that go into it, so even at £20 an hour, its many hundreds of pounds
if you just want some cams in there, then £500 + labour - see DVAs site above
lots of choices and options, personally just get a C service and save up for upgrades ...in my own experience, doing things piecemeal for 10-15bhp here and there, only leads to doing more upgrades, and doing things twice, or 3x even ...so save up for what you want in the first place - if you really want a 180bhp reliable Elise - save up a few grand and either change cars, or get the K upgraded with DVA etc .....
Thanks for responses gents.
So far I think you are saying preventative head gasket replacement with the upgraded item not a good idea.
Regarding performance upgrades, I take your point Bogie, but don't think I will become a serial upgrader. But if for example I look at the DVA site that you linked to, his 'stage 1' is just fast road cams and verniers, with a parts cost of about £500 all in, and fitting labour would be quite low if you already have much of it apart for a belt change. Now if there were people on here who had done that cam swap and said they really liked the difference it made to the characteristics of the engine, I'd do a bit more research but would seriously consider tacking it onto the service.
So far I think you are saying preventative head gasket replacement with the upgraded item not a good idea.
Regarding performance upgrades, I take your point Bogie, but don't think I will become a serial upgrader. But if for example I look at the DVA site that you linked to, his 'stage 1' is just fast road cams and verniers, with a parts cost of about £500 all in, and fitting labour would be quite low if you already have much of it apart for a belt change. Now if there were people on here who had done that cam swap and said they really liked the difference it made to the characteristics of the engine, I'd do a bit more research but would seriously consider tacking it onto the service.
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