Skip Brown

[Crossle 0]

Five times I've phoned them, spoken to a very nice lady, told her what I want them to do, listened to her tell me all about the various engine options they offer, and then sat and waited for them to come back to me with a price.

 

How hard can that be?

 

Six weeks since my first call, and a different excuse every time for why she's not got back to me with the info I want...

 

Anybody else dealt with them recently? A few years ago they were THE place to go for Pug engine conversion work!

[quat-fro 1]

Nope. Never spoken to them but that does seem a bit odd - No company should not be embracing work coming their way, it's bad for business!

 

What do you want done exactly?

Edited June 4, 2010 by quat-fro

[omega 82]

if they cant tell you after six weeks do you really want to give them your car?

the alarm bells should be ringing

[jord294 92]

replied to via 309oc

[Crossle 0]

What do you want done exactly?

 

This: Skip Brown Cars 1.9S (GTI-S) Conversion | by Andrew as per the item in the engine tuning articles page...

 

 

the alarm bells should be ringing

 

They are...

 

Hence my post!

[feb 47]

I have been visiting SBC at least once a year during my 205 ownership and never had any problems with their work or attention to detail. Not cheap but you get what you pay for.

If they can't return your call because they are busy that can only be positive in these days. You might feel annoyed but keep trying and you won't regret it

Edited June 4, 2010 by feb

[Crossle 0]

I have been visiting SBC at least once a year during my 205 ownership and never had any problems with their work or attention to detail. Not cheap but you get what you pay for. Keep trying and you won't regret it

 

They have (had?) a very good reputation, but it makes me wonder if they're winding down for retirement?

[wardy18 33 1 Cars]

Reminds me of a certain company who' screwed me over on an engine since October last year, full of false promises and an excuse everytime I called! Not worth your money, time and effort!

[CosKev 16]

This: Skip Brown Cars 1.9S (GTI-S) Conversion | by Andrew as per the item in the engine tuning articles page..

 

Its alot of money for what you get

 

16v conversion is the way to go

[Anthony 1,003]

This: Skip Brown Cars 1.9S (GTI-S) Conversion | by Andrew as per the item in the engine tuning articles page...

I actually own that car now. Works well and does exactly what it says on the tin

 

Only thing I would say (in case you'd not already guessed yourself) is that the power figures in that article are somewhat on the optimistic side, and on a realistic rolling road you're not going to get close to that in my opinion. The car in the article got 145hp at the flywheel on the Emerald rollers, which are reasonably accurate from what I've seen. On the road, it revs more like a 1.6 and pulls strongly all the way round to the limiter, but is still happy enough bumbling along in traffic or cruising along on the motorway.

 

If you want outright power, than a 16v conversion is the way to go, but if you want to keep the original engine but improve it somewhat, you could certainly do far worse than the SBC GTi-S engine.

[quat-fro 1]

This: Skip Brown Cars 1.9S (GTI-S) Conversion | by Andrew as per the item in the engine tuning articles page...

 

Forgive my laziness, could you post a link up as there are a lot of articles there and none match when I do a search!

[Anthony 1,003]

Forgive my laziness, could you post a link up as there are a lot of articles there and none match when I do a search!

It's on the main site, not the forum - click here for the article

[marksorrento205 80]

Funny this as I have left Del an engine spec for an mi someone wants building and I am stil awaiting the phone call with the price etc. Shame as they have always been spot on to say the least in the past when I have used them for parts etc. They must be busy rallying or something?

[McDude 33]

I think the road car work is not their core business and last time I was there they were busy running Citroen C2s for the Rally Ireland team.

 

I paid for the GTi-S or roadspeed conversion - it is expensive, but it is stunning. A really strong torquey, smooth engine. Kind of like the original 8v, just better across the range. Their work really is excellent. I'll not get into the 16v versus 8v argument here, but if you like your beer cold and your steaks bloody, then stay 8.

 

I din't have many problems with them getting back to me, but if they are away for a rally then they can be a bit out of touch for a while.

[McDude 33]

Just re-read the initial post - yes they are a bit vague as to how much things will cost. I think the problem here being that it depends how knackered your engine is to start with.

 

Are you just after the engine conversion or are you going down the suspension route too?

 

I can vouch for it all being fantastic work, but it definitely is not cheap.

 

PM me if you like and I can dig out what I paid.

[JonnyGee 0]

been down fairly recently and del is always a really really great help,remember we are in the rally and racing season so prep work will be very busy,if u can your best bet is to go in and chat as u know they are there and everything is always clearer face to face.

[woodsy 0]

As said i would go in and speak to them as i go there once a year to get my mi setup on rr and theyre very honest and reliable. 2 Customers of mine i sent there are made up aswell, 1 customer had 1 + 2 suspension conversion and my mate had full roadspeed engine done with carbs and made 145 on the rollers.I spoke to del last week and she did say they where busy but they always are.