Discussion
Just thought I would add my pennies worth to a recurring subject.
After a tricky MOT pass, the guy who gamely helps me look after my R500 said I should get it hooked up to a laptop and have it checked by someone who knows what they are doing; something about ECU, sensors blah blah..
With the annual trip to Le Mans coming up, I thought it might be time to go to Minister and have them scare me with tales of doom. So off I went.
They put the laptop on and said my engine was fine, spot-on the spec. They did object to the fact that my radiator was leaking coolant all over their floor (must have picked up a hole on the way) but they kindly fixed that with one they had 'out the back'.
When asked why I had brought it in, I told them the comments I had received, plus the engine was 'getting on'. 'How many miles?' they asked. '21,000 on this engine' was the roundabout reply. (Currently 29,000 miles on the clock, but had a refresh at 8k when I got it).
This left them aghast; the fact that an R500 engine would do 20k miles+ and that any fool would do the miles in it (aeroscreen etc)
Well, to all those who bang on about R500s, refreshes and blow-ups, mine has dutifully done a number of Euro tours, some extensive UK tours and a decent bag of national and international track days. It still goes like stink and never fails to please.
That said, having seen the Minister guys go mental at the mileage I will finally succumb to common sense and book it in when I am back from Le Mans.
And if you see a mango R500 on the side of the road on the way to/from Le Mans, and swerve past bits of twisted black metal on the road, then you know a refresh is required every 21k miles.
Me, I am hoping it is every 22k.
After a tricky MOT pass, the guy who gamely helps me look after my R500 said I should get it hooked up to a laptop and have it checked by someone who knows what they are doing; something about ECU, sensors blah blah..
With the annual trip to Le Mans coming up, I thought it might be time to go to Minister and have them scare me with tales of doom. So off I went.
They put the laptop on and said my engine was fine, spot-on the spec. They did object to the fact that my radiator was leaking coolant all over their floor (must have picked up a hole on the way) but they kindly fixed that with one they had 'out the back'.
When asked why I had brought it in, I told them the comments I had received, plus the engine was 'getting on'. 'How many miles?' they asked. '21,000 on this engine' was the roundabout reply. (Currently 29,000 miles on the clock, but had a refresh at 8k when I got it).
This left them aghast; the fact that an R500 engine would do 20k miles+ and that any fool would do the miles in it (aeroscreen etc)
Well, to all those who bang on about R500s, refreshes and blow-ups, mine has dutifully done a number of Euro tours, some extensive UK tours and a decent bag of national and international track days. It still goes like stink and never fails to please.
That said, having seen the Minister guys go mental at the mileage I will finally succumb to common sense and book it in when I am back from Le Mans.
And if you see a mango R500 on the side of the road on the way to/from Le Mans, and swerve past bits of twisted black metal on the road, then you know a refresh is required every 21k miles.
Me, I am hoping it is every 22k.
LRdriver II said:
Weeeeeell it is Minister...
they just want to flog you a 10k rebuild bill.
Not true Carsten. Provided there's not major wear, it'll cost Steve around £2,200 + VAT for a refresh, which is basically a top-end overhaul. IIRC this includes new valves and springs too. They endoscope it to look for bore/liner wear too.they just want to flog you a 10k rebuild bill.
Fair enough, they aren't the cheapest, but they were a chunk cheaper than Ratrace/Protune for my SLR rebuild and had the previous owner of my R500 gone to them for his first rebuild, rather than an outfit with a dodgy name, he needn't have had the second rebuild which was caused by the poor quality of the £8k first one!....
Steve, Stewart seems to be the R500 expert there - see if Graham Fuller can put him on the job.
rubystone said:
LRdriver II said:
Weeeeeell it is Minister...
they just want to flog you a 10k rebuild bill.
Not true Carsten. Provided there's not major wear, it'll cost Steve around £2,200 + VAT for a refresh, which is basically a top-end overhaul. IIRC this includes new valves and springs too. They endoscope it to look for bore/liner wear too.they just want to flog you a 10k rebuild bill.
Fair enough, they aren't the cheapest, but they were a chunk cheaper than Ratrace/Protune for my SLR rebuild and had the previous owner of my R500 gone to them for his first rebuild, rather than an outfit with a dodgy name, he needn't have had the second rebuild which was caused by the poor quality of the £8k first one!....
Steve, Stewart seems to be the R500 expert there - see if Graham Fuller can put him on the job.
But yea.. a couple of grand for a refresh sounds about right..
Sure, I guessed it was tongue in cheek, but saying that,I do know people who wouldn't use them, just as they wouldn't use certain Honda/Elise engine builders either 
Also bear in mind that an engine builder may not always have been able to build engines with the components they wanted to use; clients can sometimes suggest a compromise on cost grounds...naturally, if that engine builder was then to then have the opportunity to correct these shortcomings when they have an engine in for a rebuild, they would do that...
Also bear in mind that an engine builder may not always have been able to build engines with the components they wanted to use; clients can sometimes suggest a compromise on cost grounds...naturally, if that engine builder was then to then have the opportunity to correct these shortcomings when they have an engine in for a rebuild, they would do that...
Murph7355 said:
Superb.
You must post on what they find when they rebuild it.
Also, any special treatment? Regularity of oil changes, type of oil etc?
In answer to a few responses (and without any technical know how):You must post on what they find when they rebuild it.
Also, any special treatment? Regularity of oil changes, type of oil etc?
I take people as I find them and Minister appeared to be a nice bunch of guys. They all stopped work to come and look at the car (partly because of the mileage, partly because it is chassis no.1)
The guy who built the engine originally (Peter I think) was still there. I wouldn't be afraid to let him have a go rebuilding it.
They quoted about £2.5 for the refresh.
The limiter is on 8,600. I drive it as fast as I can, especially on track days, but have always considered myself a sympathetic driver. I warm it up/cool it down relgiously etc.
Engine oil change once twice a year, with the Mobil Motorsport stuff. It rarely/never needs a top up.
S.
Out Run said:
Murph7355 said:
Superb.
You must post on what they find when they rebuild it.
Also, any special treatment? Regularity of oil changes, type of oil etc?
In answer to a few responses (and without any technical know how):You must post on what they find when they rebuild it.
Also, any special treatment? Regularity of oil changes, type of oil etc?
I take people as I find them and Minister appeared to be a nice bunch of guys. They all stopped work to come and look at the car (partly because of the mileage, partly because it is chassis no.1)
The guy who built the engine originally (Peter I think) was still there. I wouldn't be afraid to let him have a go rebuilding it.
They quoted about £2.5 for the refresh.
The limiter is on 8,600. I drive it as fast as I can, especially on track days, but have always considered myself a sympathetic driver. I warm it up/cool it down relgiously etc.
Engine oil change once twice a year, with the Mobil Motorsport stuff. It rarely/never needs a top up.
S.
Yup, nice guys, never ripped me off, always produced top notch work with no compromises but happy to work with the customer. Minister always rev limit the R500 to 8600 now. Too many engine (and gearbox) failures at 9200.
Worth noting that rebuilt engines with the later bearings, later cam pulley etc could probably safely go to 9200 now but I'm not so sure that the extra 600 rpm makes a huge difference in most situations, but Peter T could probably enlighten us here.
Worth noting that rebuilt engines with the later bearings, later cam pulley etc could probably safely go to 9200 now but I'm not so sure that the extra 600 rpm makes a huge difference in most situations, but Peter T could probably enlighten us here.
Yes i have had my engine extensively modified in the lubrication department, new freelander oil ladder with larger oil galleries, oil trackways enlarged and smoothed out to take out all casting flashes, reworked block oilways and new crank bearing feeds. My engine produces 260 BHP and i rev it to 9700 RPM. It was balanced by Vibration free and is turbine smooth at this RPM. Dave Andrews is thw wizard who carried out the build and the engine is very sweet.
Peter T said:
Yes i have had my engine extensively modified in the lubrication department, new freelander oil ladder with larger oil galleries, oil trackways enlarged and smoothed out to take out all casting flashes, reworked block oilways and new crank bearing feeds. My engine produces 260 BHP and i rev it to 9700 RPM. It was balanced by Vibration free and is turbine smooth at this RPM. Dave Andrews is thw wizard who carried out the build and the engine is very sweet.
Peter, what crank are you using?rubystone said:
F355GTS said:
rubystone said:
but saying that,I do know people who wouldn't use them
If you'd done what I told you to and given that car a wide berth, you'd never have had all the troubles... 
F355GTS said:
...but it wasn't the Car that was the problem, it was the Engine which was not the one that came in the Car but one supplied by a Company mentioned on this thread
If it's the car I think ruby's talking about I'd also have run a country mile. There was something very wrong with the way it was treated...Gassing Station | Caterham | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff