Ok - what did I miss?!!!

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XAF

Active member
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Messages
1,056
What did I miss over the 1.7 engine rebuild? How come it was deleted and Ed thought he’d offended people? I thought it was great letting us know how involved it was
 
Hi,

We spoke yesterday on the phone and he said he'd let me know that night about which tappets were needed. Later that night he came across the thread. I'm not sure how he found it or why he was looking for it. Last night he sent some very heated texts telling me it was out of order to have complained about how long the project was taking on this forum and to share personal info about his life on this forum. I tried to explain to him that I hadn't meant to cause any offence and diffuse the situation but he was very upset.

So I spent 40 minutes or so deleting mentions of his name and anything that might've caused offence and then asked the admins to delete the thread entirely. I tried explaining to his wife on FB as well but I've received no reply from her. I think I've unintentionally caused offence and lost their trust. Truth be told I wanted to help them out financially during an uncertain time for them and get a sweet car out of it at the end.

Maybe I was naive in thinking the project would be done quickly, but after 4 months I'll admit I was getting rather fed up. I know I had mentioned the delays several times but I genuinely hadn't thought I'd said anything insulting on the thread. I can understand him not wanting his personal life shared online and I think that was where the main issue lay.

He told me not to bother with the tappets as they were time consuming to fit and he no longer felt like doing them and that the current one's were in more than serviceable shape. He'd only suggested them to help make it the best possible engine. He understood the project was being done on a tight budget and let me know he would finish the rebuild but it would be finished when he had spare time. He wasn't going to give me a time frame as he didn't want to cause any further disappointment. He said he'd let me know when the cams arrive and then once the project was completed. When we spoke on the phone yesterday he said it should only take him 1-1.5 days work to get the engine rebuilt

Truth be told I have every faith in him and his abilities and I know he's saving me a small fortune compared to getting it done at a workshop. His wife had warned me his time keeping wasn't the best, but that he always did a good job with his mechanics and bodywork projects.

I don't like confrontation and having lived with an anxiety disorder for over a decade this whole situation has left me with a fair amount of tension and all sorts of "what if" questions.

Having paid upfront for the labour costs and parts at this point though I've sunk over £3700 in the project and I'm over 2k into my overdraft. Receiving £3 daily charges from my bank and I won't be out of the red until the end of January with no money spare for myself from now until then. £15 a week for food. Driving at 55 mph top speed in the Focus to save as much fuel as possible and doing as much overtime as possible at work to make ends meet. I'm currently paying 2 lots of road tax and insurance each month and my Focus is plagued with all sorts of issues that I don't have money to fix. All the chips are down - I've sunk all I can into this project and after last night it seems they think I'm a "see you next Tuesday". I could be overthinking it - it's something I excel at and it rarely does me any good.

In hindsight I should've waited to save more money. I'd been impulsive. Similarly I'd probably been impulsive posting every update on this forum whenever I came across them. I often speak what's on my mind without thinking. I'm not sure if something I said was taken out of context or if I'd genuinely been rather obtuse with the things I'd said and shared on the thread.

I genuinely hadn't meant to cause any offence with keeping a journal of the project going, but it seems that I have unintentionally caused him a lot of upset.

The balls in his court. All I can do now is continue to wait.

Ed
 
Ah, I can see the complication.

To be fair though, if I was in your shoes I’d be getting a little frustrated too. It’s not you who is dragging their heels... That said, I don’t recall you ever being disrespectful.

In my experience, aggression in these circumstances is a sign of deflection. There may be genuine reasons and complications for sure, but clear and honest communication makes sure everyone knows the position. At the end of the day, YOU are the customer after all.

Let’s just hope it’s gets sorted soon and both of you can move on as when it’s all said and done, you just want your car back.
 
I would agree with XAF on this.... I too would be getting a little aggravated/impatient with setbacks like this. The one thing I hate most is lack of communication. It isn't hard to give someone a quick ring/text to let them know whats going on... no excuses saying 'I didn't have time to contact you'... everyone stops for a cuppa or a fag!
It seems nowadays that basic communication has virtually disappeared - with technology today there is no excuse.

I've read all of this project through and as far as I am concerned there wasn't any slagging off and no pointing fingers. I'm not aware that the guy doing the work was named or his address was given out so can't see that anything 'personal' was written about him.
I read this project as exactly what it was... a project thread showing the ups and downs of someone modifying their car... no different really to anyone else on this forum.

These comments aren't aimed at anyone... just thinking out loud! I hope the project gets completed to what you would expect and everything sorts itself out. :eek:k:
 
I also enjoyed the thread and didn't think there was anything out of order in it (apart from the car). :eek:k:

Then again, I have a long history of unintentionally upsetting people on the internet so I'm not sure how valid my opinion is. :lol:
 
After spending £3700 I would expect some sort of project roadmap, realistic timescales and better communications rather than 'it'll be done when it's done', even if you were saving money!

Nothing I saw warranted the reaction got, so don't be too anxious about it! :eek:k:
 
Hi all,

Thanks for the replies. Having had time to reflect on everything I can see why he was upset. He didn't know about the forum thread and it can't have been a nice feeling to read about gripes I hadn't said to him directly. Yes in an ideal world there wouldn't have been delays - but it is what it is. At the end of the day I know he wants the rebuild itself to be of high quality and whilst what I said might not have seemed offensive to some - the main point is, it did upset him and that was never what I set out to do.

I still look at the situation as him doing me a massive favour with this rebuild project at such a good price. I know he's a good guy and a real Ford enthusiast and it was genuinely never my intention to upset the man with my forum posts.

I've had some replies now. I know that once the cams are delivered, the rebuild itself shouldn't take too long. I spoke to Chris @ LMS who said that the cams are machined by Newmans and should arrive any day now. He will chase them tomorrow.

I also asked him about the 58mm knife edged throttle body they do. He said they no longer do them as it's a struggle to source the Mondeo throttle body, but if I find one I can send it to him to be machined. So that will be next on my agenda.

This whole situation recently shook me up a bit, but I know the project is in very capable hands. Yes there's been delays, but at the end of the day I will be getting a car with a new lease of life and a great foundation for a long term project.

Ed
 
We've been chatting tonight about cars. Different one's he's owned and where I'd like the project to potentially end up.

Such a relief. It's made me very happy :grin:

Ed
 
£3,700, a favour!? Keep your chin up it will be worth it when you finally get to put the loud pedal to the floor!!! :-D :grin:
Glad you are back on talking terms, never really understood the need for replacing the tappets. I have never come across a 1.7 engine that needed them replacing especially as the new cams are being ground from blanks.
 
Chris @ LMS said the throttle body needed is from the Mk1 Mondeo 2.0 litre silvertop engine. Can't see any on eBay.

Part no - 958F-WA according to an old post on this website.

I might need to ring around some local scrap yards to see if I could potentially find one.

Ed
 
J said he might have a spare 130 spec throttle body from a 1.8 xr3i which he said is what I'd need. Let's see if he's willing to part with it. :cool:

Ed
 
Found one on eBay. £40. Bought it as a back up in case J can't find or doesn't have the one required. I can always sell it if needs be.

I'll have to wait a month or 2 before I could send either to LMS to be machined, but at least I know I've got it.

Ed
 

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