Barry

There are loads of crate engine suppliers out there, literally hundreds. I can get you a 7-800 bhp LS engine on a pallet tomorrow if you want, complete with ECU, loom and mounts. The problem is they aren’t marketed well. People in their particular area of the car scene will know about them. It isn’t worth the manufacturer spending money outside this circle to advertise their engines. The majority of people will buy the SRT and just drive it, at most they will change the wheels. Most modifiers like to build and modify their own engines. These crate engines are for rich guys who have never got their hands dirty in their life. They probably still have a nanny to wipe their poop and wash their clothes at 30 years of age. They just want to throw money at having the fastest car in the village. They see something online, pay for it then pay someone to fit it with no other knowledge than 1,000 bhp y0. Also a good point made about the blown diffs and trannys. The kind of people who will buy this will be like, wow, 1,000 bhp, and give no consideration to the rest of the drivetrain. I think the phrase is “daddy’s money”. Met a few of these guys here already and I have no time for them but if I know someone is genuinely interested I will talk to them all day. Top gear fans, nuff said.

Dodge have released a new 1,000 bhp 426 crate engine called the Hellephant. The name comes from the nickname for the original 426, the elephant, because it was so huge. And to celebrate they have rebuilt a 68 Charger with the engine. I would be happy to have this parked outside my house. Always preferred the Charger over the Challenger. It’s a shame they ended up turning it into a 4 door family bus.

I rebuilt a DB5 in 2012! Still have the original Aston Martin workshop manual for it! Poorly built British crap but pretty as heck.

2 guitar greats and what makes them great is that they play from the heart rather than from a sheet. Gilmour is one of my favourite guitar players ever. There’s so much feeling in it. I’ve learned a few pink floyd songs, a few dire straits songs too, but sometimes it’s better to just listen to something and enjoy it rather than try to emulate it. I’m a massive bob Marley fan. I can listen to him all day, but I never want to play any of his songs because I feel that will take the magic away. Some things are just meant to be appreciated and not emulated. I used to teach guitar. So many people thought they could buy a guitar and become Glenn Tipton from Judas Priest in 2 weeks then gave up. Guitar is a lifelong thing. If you want to be good you have to practice for years. If you want to be David Gilmour or Mark Knoplfer you have to have an amazing mind and do your own thing, bit stil practice is key.

Here’s one to start you. 1957 Mercedes 190SL. The smaller brother of the famous Gullwing Mercedes. Once left to rot in fields, now sought after by collectors all over the world. Was lucky enough to be in a team rebuilding one a few years ago, never realised how special it was at the time, just thought meh it’s not a gullwing. Oh to be young and ignorant again!

Anyone who knows about motorsport knows WRC hero Sebastian Loeb. This year he is entering the Dakar rally as a privateer. Well it’s supposed to be a privateer entry but he still has red bull backing. Now that Peugeot have given up on the world rallycross championship it’s nice to see him finding a seat. Due to the rule changes this year, instead of using the 3008 DKR Maxi, he is using the narrower 3008 DKR. A lot of familiar faces are entering this year. Nani Roma in the Mini, Stephane Peterhansel in another Peugeot 3008 and Carlos Sainz. Mikko Hirvonen will also take part, driving a Team X-Raid Mini buggy. I think it’s a shame that the paris Dakar rally was cancelled in 2008 due to Mauritanian terrorists and is now run in South America. How can it be the Dakar rally when it neither goes to Dakar or comes from Paris? The South American rally would be a more appropriate name.

As per the title Me personally, I’d love to be able to balance twin carburettors. I can set up a 4 barrel on a V8 and make it run sweet but trying to balance twins melts my brain. I guess it’s a byproduct of being a child from the golden age of EFI. Another thing I would love to learn is automatic transmission work. I’m from a country where everything is manual and when I came here I got dropped off at the deep end. After some time, I can tell you it’s an electrical problem, your torque converter is faulty or your valve block is jammed etc but I couldn’t take your transmission apart and rebuild it. Seems to be a pretty specialist thing in uae with some people doing nothing all day long but fixing slushboxes.

This is the problem with buying cracked software. The process - The dealer has the new software. Eventually a few unscrupulous technicians will make a copy after a few weeks/months and pass it down to the hackers who will crack it and make it commercially available. This process takes time. This cracked software will always be behind the latest software due to the chain of supply. Anyone who says they are selling the latest version online is a liar. They are selling the latest cracked version. I always had access to new Mercedes software but for everything else I used cracked software but for me it was ok, I was mostly working on older cars that were out of warranty and the information was all in the public domain. These days I only use Launch software, which many people will say falls into the same boat. I never understood the concept of buying a car with built in sat nav. It needs constant updates and eventually becomes obsolete and makes the display messy. What’s the point these days when everyone has google maps on their phone? If you want cracked software I can take you to a guy in Sharjah who sells the latest versions and he will even install it for you but it will always be a step behind the proper dealer software.

Oh yes, even if the traffic light is red and the green man is showing, I will never cross the road if a AD plated car is approaching. I don’t know what it is but they have no road discipline. It’s like once they cross to another emirate, they think the law doesn’t apply to them. Another pet hate, people sitting in the car with babies on their knee or young children bouncing around all over the car. I know some people believe god will protect them and they will go when it’s their time to die, but god helps those who help themselves.

Get a 3D 4 wheel alignment done after you get it lifted. If you don’t reset the geometry, it will eat through tyres and bushings.

What’s your pet hates on the road? My personal bugbear for the day, it’s bad enough when someone cuts you up without indicating. When they indicate at the same time as cutting you up it really causes problems in my ECU. Indicators are to signal your intention to do something, something to warn people to be aware and make the necessary adjustments, not a switch to be flicked as you start to move. Secondary hate goes to the people who speed up and block other people from changing lane, unless it’s someone trying to cut the queue at the lights, then it’s well deserved. You might think the person trying to switch lanes is slowing you down but in reality it probably adds 1 second to your total journey time. Is arriving 1 second later home really worth being an inconsiderate selfish a-hole and collecting bad juju?

What is the coolest supercar ever? In your own opinion. For me it’s the Ferrari F40. I borrowed a book from the local library about cars when I was a kid and saw it. Ever since then I’ve had the poster on my wall. My family were dirt poor when I was growing up and I begged and begged my dad to buy me a toy one. He saved for 12 months until I got it and I felt like king of the world. I saw one in al quoz a few months ago outside cafe rider and I was shocked how small it was in real life but happy I had actually seen one. If I ever get to drive one, I will happily die in a ball of fiery flames. now that I’m older, I appreciate the Ford gt, Porsche 959, Lamborghini Diablo, Jaguar xj220, mclaren f1, but the f40 will always be my hero. Whats yours?

Not so much nice, more corrupt. One of the owners liked to take computers and stuff off the newbies deliveries before they went out. Noobs being noobs, everyone was like ok boss. Nobody saw a problem because the company was letting them drive and build their experience. The insurance would pay for it anyway, right? Well one day the insurance company decided to investigate and close the company down. Many of the workers got screwed and lost 2 months salary. There were huge protests at the place, police involved etc. The details are available online. I won’t post them on an open forum but if anyone wants I will share the link by DM. I got lucky, I got a cushy job managing the machinery in a recycling plant and got out literally a week before all this happened. Bonus twist - the recycling company got fined millions for illegally burying waste and got shut down. Sometimes I was sent with the cat loading shovel to drop some waste up the hill but I never thought anything of it, it’s just what I was asked to do. Again, I got lucky and got out just before the shit hit the fan. Non public links also available for the naysayers.

That looks like it has been bad for a while. Don’t ignore your grease nipples friends.

I got my first truck driving job when I was 22-23. There was only one company in the area who hired noobs with no experience so that’s where I went. Being the new guy I got sent to all the far away places where nobody else wanted to go. I thought this was great because all I wanted to do was drive. One day I’m driving down one of the roads near the coast and there was one of those arch type bridges over the road. I slowed right down and thought about if I was going to fit through. A voice in my head said feck it, it’ll be ok so I put my foot down. Next thing I hear an almighty crash and the truck stopped dead in the road. I reversed back a few meters and got out to check. The whole top of the truck was pushed back about 3 feet. How I didn’t get fired I’ll never know. These days there are dedicated truck sat nav systems which will steer you away from low bridges and narrow roads.

I will resist the urge to make jokes about the Devel Sixteen. The classics hall at the last international motor show was nice. Buy again, it was mostly cars from Tomini showroom which you could call sales based. No heart or passion in it. I agree though, unless you’re into 4x4 and off-road, the car scene does suck here. There’s nowhere to go unless you want to shell out a few hundred every time for a few hours on the autodrome. The real fun is in street racing but you can’t get away with that here with all the cameras. Seeing Ferrari’s and Lamborghinis every day gets boring after your first month here. The only other thing you see is automatic lancers with crap body kits and replica wheels or automatic corollas plastered in TRD stickers, neither of which interest me. I even saw a special edition TRD lancer last week. Dubai is a very transient place. People come to make money, save and leave so it’s pointless modifying a car and putting your heart into it when you will have to leave eventually and sell it for a lot less than it’s worth. Things can go wrong for you overnight here and you just have to get on a plane and go. I was planning to stay here for a long time but the longer I stay, the more cynical I become and I’m at the point where I am falling into the same thing. I just want to grow my bank balance and get out. I love cars but owning a nice one in Dubai just doesn’t turn me on any more.

Flintoff is an ex cricketer, pretty good all rounder in his day. Hosts sports quiz type shows in uk. Nice guy but dull, not the sort of person you would expect to see on TG.

Beautiful car @sertac and I wish you good health to enjoy it. Far better choice than the E class. E class is nice but it’s an old mans car. The SLK is one of the prettiest cars on the market. Far classier than the American pony cars. As an ex Mercedes tech I’ve always had a soft spot for them. Super reliable. The supercharger delivers constant, reliable power rather than the instant, frantic, short lived power of turbocharged cars.

I will post it but it will be 14/15 November before I am back at the shop.

Good luck @vivian I’m sorry we never got the chance to meet. O/T if anyone is looking for PR in other countries send me a message and I can help you out. Genuine service, scam free. Can even arrange free IELTS training.

Hi @Aumio I can’t say if the video you posted will work for your car but if you google the procedure for your exact model you should find the correct procedure. I have the information you need on computer but the computer is at the workshop and I am working on an outside project and won’t be in the shop for a few weeks. I am sorry I can’t help you more right now.

It’s only rare because people accept it. And sadly it will never change.

When it comes to knowing about cars in uae, not many people are interested. It’s all about paying the smallest price. I have always had problems finding work as a mechanic here. It’s like oh, you’re white, sorry we can’t afford you. None of them even asked how much I wanted. I have done low paying jobs in shitty backstreet garages here but it’s hard to get into. The higher end garages have offered me jobs in the office. I’m not an office guy. Fixing cars is my passion. If I can share some of what I know online and help some people and try to cancel some of my bad karma then I’m happy.

Must be cheap at £5150, approx 25k dhs I don’t know the seller. Just spotted it online and thought some of you would appreciate it http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/206717/nissan-s12-sale

Very true points renwick. I have never talked about this before but I had a high paying job at home. I never thought to save, instead I lived the high life hanging out with millionaires every night. A few bad decisions and I lost my house and ended up sleeping on the streets for 3 months. Things can go wrong faster than you can ever imagine. I got lucky and got a free plane ticket to uae. Once I got here I worked my arse off and never stopped. There is no respite here. There is no chilling at the bus stop. If you mess up here you’re in jail. We aren’t at home now. The tension is real.