PROJECT CAR: ONE-OFF GT RACER TAKING THE FIGHT TO FERRARI
ISSUE 22 | JULY 2017
MORGAN MERRIER
£2.50 | WORKSHOPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
Why there are miles of smiles at Britain’s last family-owned car maker THE LATEST GEAR
We shine a light on the best inspection lamps you can buy PLUS: TORQUE WRENCHES RATED & FOUR PAGES OF NEW PRODUCTS
INVESTIGATION
Why do drivers of new cars rule out independents?
AWARDS
We want YOU to take part in our great survey CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE SUPPLIERS OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES YOU DO BUSINESS WITH
FIT PAGID AND WIN A WORKSHOP UPGRADE WORTH £10,000!* Pagid is a trademark of TMD Friction *Cash vouchers towards workshop tools and equipment purchased through Euro Car Parts Workshop Solutions.
02 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
Choose the UK’s biggest braking brand this summer and ramp up your business performance. We’re offering you the chance to win a gamechanging workshop upgrade worth £10,000. Plus, there’s hundreds of instant wins up for grabs for Pagid customers. For your chance to win, simply purchase Pagid products from Euro Car Parts and visit:
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EDITORIAL HEAD OF NEWS & FEATURES REBECCA CHAPLIN rebecca@blackballmedia.co.uk Twitter: @believebecca
CONTENTS. 40
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PRODUCTION EDITOR DAVE BROWN
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FEATURES EDITOR JACK EVANS
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SENIOR STAFF WRITER DARREN CASSEY
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STAFF WRITER SIMON DAVIS
simon.davis@blackballmedia.co.uk Twitter: @SimonDavisNZ
HEAD OF DESIGN GRAEME WINDELL
graeme@blackballmedia.co.uk Twitter: @graemewindell
Latest from the Fleet: Rebecca’s Thunderbird is finally on the move!
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Workshop Magazine Awards: A golden opportunity to shout about how wonderful you are!
Our Kev: A road sign came to my rescue when I found myself lacking a tool kit
ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER JON HICKEY
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MANAGING DIRECTOR ANDY ENTWISTLE andy@blackballmedia.co.uk Twitter: @CarDealerAndy CONTRIBUTORS Felicity Bestwick, John Bowman SUBSCRIPTIONS If you know someone who would like a FREE copy of Workshop Magazine, email the details to subs@workshopmagazine.co.uk and we’ll do the rest. DISTRIBUTION Workshop Magazine is distributed to a database of up to 10,000 service and repair sites, franchised car dealers, independents, car manufacturers and suppliers.
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New products: Four pages of the latest gear for your garage
Welcome
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IT’S been a hectic time since the last Workshop Magazine came out. I’m sure a lot of you made it to Automechanika in Birmingham so know exactly what I mean. The event itself was an incredible display of not only how much goes on in our industry but also the high level of innovation. Talking of innovation, this month we’ve got four full pages of new products that you’ll want to get your hands on as soon as possible to stay ahead of the curve. And once again Andrew Evans has been putting to the test some of the top products on the market so that you can put your cash towards the best – for this issue he’s been taking a look at torque wrenches and lights. Hopefully you’ve noticed the insert in your copy of the magazine this month, as we’re getting nearer to the closing date for nominations for the inaugural Workshop Awards. See page 16 for more details about some of the most highly acclaimed prizes. The cover feature for this issue is a smasher, particularly if you want to know more about how some
Made in Malvern: Morgan is a manufacturer that’s synonymous with quality and tradition of the coolest Morgans are hand-built in Malvern. Jack Evans took a trip to their workshop, met the team and left in one of their Roadsters! If you’ve been waiting to find out what happened next with my Thunderbird, it’s making a return in this edition! I don’t want to spoil the surprise, although it’s still not on the road. Things are looking up but it’s been another rocky road to get it a little bit closer to working like a normal car… If you’d like to know more about working on a GT race car, we’ve taken a look at a very special project car this time. Turn to page 28 to read Adam Weller’s fascinating interview with MacG technical director and lead driver Jonny MacGregor. Do get in touch with your feedback using my details on the left of this page. I hope you enjoy the issue!
Rebecca Chaplin, Head of News and Features WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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NEWS.
CUSTOMERS HAVE A RIGHT TO CHOOSE YOU, SO BE AWARE! INVESTIGATION REBECCA CHAPLIN finds out that independents often have more rights than they think when it comes to repairing newer cars. But there are tough decisions ahead as levels of technology increase, along with costs for garages.
I
t remains a common misconception workshop businesses the confidence to work on among many consumers and garages that cars that are under warranty. We caught up with independent workshops can’t carry out Wendy Williams, chief executive of the IAAF, at servicing and maintenance work on a car Automechanika Birmingham recently. that’s under warranty without invalidating that She told us: ‘This is a message for workshops all-important document. just to give them the confidence that they Research undertaken by Workshop Magazine can repair any car from day one, providing revealed that 22 per cent of the general public they use OE-matching quality parts and they didn’t realise they could take their new car to an adhere to the service schedule dictated by independent garage – in many cases because they the vehicle manufacturers. had been informed otherwise by a dealer. ‘There is still a shocking lack of understanding And if they hadn’t been told explicitly, it had and confidence among many garages about what certainly been implied. their rights are. We’ve really tried to spell A larger proportion were unsure out what their rights are and what and would take their car to a they can do. franchised garage to guarantee ‘One classic is “do I have to be that their warranty would not be VAT-registered?” Most garages affected and remain intact . will be but it’s not a requirement Fewer than half of those (42 to comply with the legislation.’ per cent) we asked were fully In fact, when we asked aware of their rights when it came garages why they thought they to having their car serviced. weren’t allowed to work on cars Worryingly, even some that were under warranty, this ‘One of the biggest independent garages were was a recurring theme. Another issues affecting the unsure about either their right to common misunderstanding independent sector is the work on these cars or what they is around the use of OE parts, ability to access vehicle needed to do to preserve their when they need to be of OEmanufacturers’ technical customers’ warranties. matching quality. However, a considerable The biggest factor that information.’ number of franchised dealers needs to be in place to ensure STUART JAMES were happy to ‘reassure’ us that we that you comply and that you are must take any new car to their garage protecting your customers from any if any work needed doing and we wanted future warranty worries is to carefully keep to preserve our manufacturer’s guarantee. comprehensive and accurate records. Although automotive block exemption was While all this is an ongoing issue, garages are introduced in 2010, it didn’t come into full effect also facing further changes when it comes to until June 2013. That said, four years later, the their ability to fix cars. facts remain unclear in many people’s minds. Williams said: ‘What we’re trying to do is In line with this, the Independent Automotive make sure that the rights that we have in the Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) has relaunched independent aftermarket are protected. its Right2Choose campaign to help consumers ‘With the onslaught of connectivity in vehicles, understand what their rights are when it comes one of the things that comes to light is the OBD to selecting a garage. A secondary aim is to give port. Vehicle manufacturers would like to close
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW • Parts must be of OE-matching quality. They also need to be recorded correctly and you must keep to the manufacturer’s service schedule. • Ensure the customer receives an itemised invoice detailing all of the work carried out and parts supplied. • You don’t need to be VAT registered to comply with legislation. • Customers should always check carefully what they have agreed to as part of their warranty agreement before committing to any work, although a manufacturer can no longer enforce that work needs to be done within its own network. the OBD port for anything other than emissions testing. When the likes of block exemption were introduced, there was nothing like the technology there is today. ‘What vehicle manufacturers are trying to do is say that, if you want to access the car in the
‘What we’re trying to do, is to make sure that the rights that we have in the independent aftermarket are protected.’ WENDY WILLIAMS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE INDEPENDENT AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET FEDERATION
workshop, you use our servers, you use our tools and then the logical step is you buy our parts. ‘We think that’s not fair, because they would monitor what we do in the aftermarket. Clearly, we’re looking to ensure the OBD port is left open and that information is available independently.’ These potential changes to legislation are part of the reason that last month, leading organisations formed the AALG – the Automotive Aftermarket Liaison Group. This body will be working to ensure that garages are protected in the future, as more technologically advanced cars reach our roads and the equipment required to fix them develops just as fast. Stuart James, CEO of the IGA, commented: ‘One of the biggest issues affecting the
independent sector is the ability to access vehicle manufacturers’ technical information. ‘Standing united with other aftermarket associations will heighten the chances of a robust and time-efficient solution.’ Dean Lander, head of repair sector services at Thatcham Research, said earlier this month: ‘Gone are the days of accepting every job that comes into the workshop – the investments required to cover all bases are just not feasible. ‘Tough management decisions lie ahead for independent bodyshops, as they define what their businesses should focus on.’ It’s something echoed across the industry, with concerns from governing bodies and garages. Decisions made by politicians over the coming months will play a vital part in shaping the
future of workshops. ‘Independent garages need to invest in training and tools, so that they are geared up to be able to repair vehicles,’ advised Williams. ‘Gone are the days when we repair any car, whatever the make. ‘Going forward we will see workshops being forced to specialise, simply because of the cost of the information or the tools as they become more specialised. ‘Some garages absolutely get it, I think there are a lot of garages who are saying, ‘‘we’ll just focus on cars that are three, four or five years old’’. ‘But in five years’ time those cars are going to be eight, nine or 10 years old and you wonder about the viability of businesses that don’t gear up to fix cars from now. ‘What will their future be?’ WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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NEWS. | AWARDS |
| RESTORATIONS |
Bentley named top employer for young
Experts write the book on E-Types
BENTLEY Motors has been recognised as a top employer for young people at the School Leavers’ Awards. The awards followed feedback by apprentices from 100 UK organisations, including those on programmes at Bentley, completing surveys on skills development, career progression and training, and company culture. The Crewe-based manufacturer collected top honours for Job Satisfaction, Medium-Sized School-Leaver Intake, Best Advanced Apprenticeship and Top Employer – Automotive, plus commendations in the Higher Apprenticeship and Company Culture categories. This was enough for second overall in the national ranking of best employers for school leavers, and the highest in the automotive industry.
| GIVEAWAY |
Reusable seat covers up for grabs FEDERAL-MOGUL Motorparts has launched its third Garage Gear promotion of 2017. It gives Garage Gear participants the chance to claim Moog, Ferodo or Champion reusable seat covers. The campaign – open to all FederalMogul Motorparts distributors – runs from the beginning of July to the end of September. Participating distributors can choose which brand to promote to better suit their business objectives.
| ACCIDENT |
Mechanic writes off 911 on test drive A MECHANIC wrote off a Porsche 911 during a test drive. A CCTV video caught the £176,000 German sports car shooting round a corner, with the mechanic losing control and smashing into a saloon car travelling in the opposite direction. The crash in Aksay, Rostov Oblast, saw the two cars in a side-on collision that sent both of them spinning. The 911, which had only been in the garage for diagnostics tests, suffered such bad levels of damage to the rear left-hand sections that it was written off. Neither the mechanic nor the driver of the saloon car were injured.
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A WORKSHOP in Bridgnorth has used its experience with a 1961 Jaguar E-Type as the foundation for creating the ultimate restoration manual for the model. Mechanics and technicians at Classic Motor Cars recorded the process of restoring Chassis No 60 in great detail, with each one writing their own chapters in the 224-page manual, which includes 700 different photographs. Chassis No 60 was, as the number suggests, the 60th E-Type to be built by Jaguar. Made in 1961, it features the original flat floor design, which can only be found on the earliest examples. It’s powered by the classic 3.8-litre straight-six and is also one of the first righthand-drive roadsters. This particular E-Type belongs to Chris Anderson, who bought it at an auction in 2013 and hired CMC to restore it to its original factory condition. The process took 3,500 hours but was
Chris Anderson with his E-Type Jaguar certainly worth it, as the car has since won a selection of awards, most notably Best of Show at the 2015 RAC Midsummer Drive-In. David Barzilay, chairman of CMC and editor of the manual, said: ‘CMC wanted to provide the ultimate E-Type restoration manual and they decided that the best way to do it was to allow individual specialists to write their own chapters. We are delighted to have presented the manual at the first City Concours at the Honourable Artillery Company headquarters in the heart of the City of London, where Chassis No 60 was on display for two days.’
Concealed epilepsy led to a three-car pile-up Employee kept quiet about his condition despite being told to let DVLA know about it
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mechanic has admitted causing a three-car pile-up by neglecting to tell the DVLA he had epilepsy. Nathan Craig was charged with culpable and reckless conduct at Inverness Sheriff Court. However, the Stagecoach employee had kept the fact that he had epilepsy to himself for 18 months. According to The Press and Journal, 25-year-old Craig’s most recent seizure took place on June 23, 2016 in Inverness. It caused his vehicle to travel the wrong way around a roundabout and into oncoming traffic. Two other vehicles were narrowly missed before Craig went straight through a pedestrian crossing and hit a taxi, which in turn hit another car. The court was told that the fact nobody died was ‘fortunate’, although the taxi driver, Thomas Bryson, suffered minor head wounds
by TRISTAN SHALE-HESTER @tristan_shale and Craig injured his chest. Craig, of Balmacaan Road, Drumnadrochit, first experienced a seizure in February 2015 while he lived in Edinburgh. Michelle Molley, fiscal depute, told the court that Craig was given written advice to tell the DVLA what had happened, in addition to his GP telling him not to drive, both of which he ignored. In June 2015, Craig was told not to drive for a minimum of six months, with a review after three. He had another seizure on April 1, 2016, but again didn’t tell the DVLA, and continued to operate vehicles until the collision with the taxi in Old Perth Road on June 23, 2016. The court was told that Craig had been to 15 call-outs between then and May 11, 2016. He had since surrendered his licence. Following
the incident, police found that Craig had disobeyed earlier medical guidance telling him not to drive. Sentencing was deferred until June 30 for a background report, and Duncan Henderson, Craig’s lawyer, said: ‘He accepts he was foolish.’ A spokesperson for Stagecoach said: ‘Mr Craig’s actions were completely unacceptable and he is no longer employed by our company. The safety of our customers, employees and the public is always our absolute priority. ‘As soon as we received medical confirmation that Mr Craig was unfit to drive he was immediately barred from driving as part of his role as a mechanic. However, more than a year later, he subsequently misled the company that he was medically fit to drive. Since the incident in June 2016 we have put in place further checks to ensure our processes are robust.’
NEWS ROUND-UP. What’s been making the headlines at workshops around the United Kingdom?
CHESHIRE:
Army mechanic Dan Phillips is to represent the UK in this year’s Invictus Games. The 27-year-old from Warrington, who lost a leg after an accident, will be competing for swimming and athletics honours at September’s Toronto event for wounded, sick or injured forces personnel and veterans. The serving army craftsman said that being able to take part in competitive sports again had restored the confidence that he had lost.
| CROWN COURT |
Mechanic jailed for dangerous driving TEESSIDE:
A nine-bay workshop and MOT bay form part of a cuttingedge Porsche Centre that has been completed. Based near Stockton-on-Tees, it will complement centres in Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle, serving County Durham, North Yorkshire and the north-east of England. The eight-month redevelopment has also culminated in it offering a Porsche Direct Dialogue bay supporting quick diagnoses.
STAFFS:
An ex-tool hire centre could soon become a garage. The building in Station Road, Lichfield, was formerly used by HSS Hire and some of it is already being run as a garage. The company Mr Tyre Ltd has now lodged a change-of-use application with Lichfield District Council to convert the rest of the building into an MOT test station, service and repair centre, and tyre-fitting area. Mr Tyre Ltd already has premises further along the road.
BERKSHIRE:
H.R. Owen’s repair arm has been granted full structural aluminium accreditation by Rolls-Royce. Bodytechnics – a state-of-the-art bodyshop in Slough that carries out everything from minor paint jobs to full structural rebuilds for luxury vehicles – is now one of just eight businesses in Europe to have the accreditation. Staff travelled to Sweden and Germany to pass the strict examinations.
A MECHANIC has landed in prison after leading police on a high-speed chase in his father’s rickety car while driving it uninsured and without permission. Mohammed Shakeel, of Boynton Street, West Bowling, Bradford, had two friends with him in the 15-year-old Vauxhall Zafira and was driving to get food when police – alerted to the vehicle’s condition – tried to get him to stop, according to the Bradford Telegraph & Argus. Prosecutor Philip Adams told Bradford Crown Court that during the 10-minute chase through central Bradford on May 2 the 22-year-old, who admitted dangerous driving and driving without insurance, had put pedestrians’ lives at risk, driving at twice the speed limit – 60mph in a 30mph zone – the wrong way round roundabouts and on the wrong side of the road in his bid to evade police. All three jumped out of the car when it suddenly slowed down. In mitigation, barrister Giles Grant said Shakeel had no previous convictions and had recently been made redundant from his job as a trained motor mechanic. He told the court Shakeel knew he was uninsured and panicked when told to stop by police. Judge Jonathan Rose jailed Shakeel for six months, handed him a 21-month driving ban and said he must take an extensive retest before he could have his licence returned.
| LETHAL AIRBAGS |
Takata files for bankruptcy cover
WARKS:
An independent garage that specialises in Land Rover work has lost a battle with the manufacturer over the use of a website domain name. Land Rover Clinic Ltd in Coventry registered the address thelandyclinic. co.uk in 2014 but has been ordered by internet watchdog Nominet to hand it over to Jaguar Land Rover, whose trademarks include ‘Landy’, after it said there was a possibility people could assume the website and domain belonged to JLR.
AIRBAG maker Takata has filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan and the US, overwhelmed by lawsuits and recall costs over defective airbag inflators linked to the deaths of at least 16 people. The Japanese company confirmed that most of its assets would be bought by rival Key Safety Systems, based in Detroit, for about 1.6 billion US dollars (£1.2bn). Takata’s inflators can explode with too much force when they fill up an airbag, throwing out shrapnel. They are also responsible for at least 180 injuries. So far, 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide, affecting 42 million vehicles. WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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NEWS.
Drivers poised for Brexit bump in motoring costs, research shows Survey carried out for Kwik Fit finds that 40 per cent of Britons expect servicing bills to go up when we leave European Union
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illions of British drivers are preparing to see costs soar when it comes to car buying and maintenance following the UK’s departure from the EU, new research shows. With Brexit negotiations having started, and as the nation speculates about what leaving the European Union will mean for the country, a study for servicing and repair company Kwik Fit has found that 57 per cent of UK motorists (21.5 million) expect Brexit to cause the price of new cars to increase. Meanwhile, 6.5 million drivers (17 per cent) predict that prices will increase significantly, whereas only three per cent believe Brexit will bring about lower prices. The study was conducted by ICM among a nationally representative sample of 2,043 British adults aged from 18. When it comes to prices of second-hand cars, 35 per cent of drivers expect to see a rise in the cost of buying a used vehicle as a result of Brexit, while five per cent predict that it will bring used
| THATCHAM |
by JOHN BOWMAN john@blackballmedia.co.uk prices down. Other motoring areas people are preparing to see a hike in are the cost of petrol (53 per cent), replacement parts (51 per cent), insurance (43 per cent) and servicing (40 per cent). While many have predicted a rise in people
Servicing costs are expected to go up
buying British-made vehicles, the research revealed that just 13 per cent of drivers (4.7 million) say that Brexit has made them more likely to buy a British-built car, while 71 per cent (27 million) say it has made no difference. For 1.2 million drivers, Brexit has actually made them less likely to buy a British-built car. Kwik Fit communications director Roger Griggs said: ‘The cost of motoring is understandably a major concern for people as the country prepares to leave the European Union, and this perhaps is one reason for May’s fall in new car sales. While Brexit may make people think twice about buying brand new, drivers must keep up with maintenance and ensure their car is safe to drive and running efficiently. ‘For anyone opting to buy a used car, we would urge them to ensure that the previous owners have not skimped on maintenance, as regular servicing will help retain the car’s value in the long term, as well as keeping running costs lower day to day.’
| APPOINTMENT |
Tough decisions ‘need to be made’ CHALLENGING decisions lie ahead for bodyshops thanks to modern vehicles, according to Thatcham Research. And independent bodyshops are being urged to specialise because of the wide range of equipment and skill sets needed to repair new vehicles. The experts in vehicle safety technology, security and crash repairs are partnering with Business Success Global to offer a bodyshop-specific programme centred on productivity, revenue, asset and activation. Thatcham’s head of repair sector services, Dean Lander, said: ‘Gone are the days of accepting every job that comes into the workshop – the investments required to cover all bases are just not feasible. Tough management decisions lie ahead for independent bodyshops, as they define what their business should focus on. ‘Taking these business-critical investment decisions from the most informed position possible is now vital.’ Plea to manufacturers, p12
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Jennings expands aftersales team with Ford-approved technician David JENNINGS Ford Direct has strengthened its aftersales team by appointing a new Ford-approved motor vehicle technician. David Thompson, pictured, is the latest recruit to join the service department at the Newcastle Road-based dealership in South Shields. As an approved Ford motor vehicle technician, the 28-year-old will be part of a 12-strong service team, where he will be responsible for carrying out services and MOTs to
customers’ vehicles, in addition to identifying and fixing any mechanical problems. Service manager Duncan Oliver said: ‘David’s appointment is as a result of an increase in service and MOT bookings at the dealership. He’s already proving to be an asset and welcome addition.’ Thompson said: ‘Jennings Motor Group has an excellent reputation and I am delighted to now be part of it.’
| DEAL |
Parts Alliance wins five-year products contract with AA THE Parts Alliance has won a five-year deal to supply key products to the AA. The UK and Ireland’s largest group of automotive parts distributors will provide the breakdown and recovery organisation’s national patrol force with batteries, vehicle parts and consumables for breakdowns. Sarah Millward, commercial director of road operations at the AA, said: ‘Both sides have been working diligently to ensure the varied and special requirements of Britain’s largest breakdown organisation can be met. ‘The Parts Alliance has shown it has the footprint and market-leading systems to support our needs, while also providing access to a wide-ranging supply of quality parts, which is critical in enabling us to maintain our service to our members.’ Mike Curry, national accounts sales director for The Parts Alliance, said: ‘The length of this contract with the AA is testament to our partnership to date and is a major business win for our group. ‘Our market-leading catalogue Allicat identifies the correct vehicle fitment required and has the lowest product returns rate within our industry, which helps reduce breakdown repair times.’ Parts Alliance chief executive Peter Sephton said: ‘We are delighted to be a business partner and supplier to the AA. As with all our customers, we want to go that extra mile to ensure we deliver the right level of support, quality parts, systems and innovation to meet their needs.’ The Parts Alliance and its supply partners provide service from 360 distribution sites.
Amy is named supreme star among Rising Stars JLR engineer stood out thanks to ambition to become leading expert in autonomous tech
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aguar Land Rover engineer Amy Rimmer has been named the overall winner of the Rising Stars category at the Autocar Great British Women in the Car Industry awards. She topped a final list of 100 Rising Stars from diverse backgrounds within the car industry, reflecting the wide scope of opportunity for careers in it. Categories included vehicle manufacturing, development, retail, marketing and design. Judges said Rimmer, an autonomous car engineer for JLR, stood out above all the others thanks to her ambition to become a leading expert in the autonomous vehicle field. Since starting with JLR in 2015, she has played an instrumental role in its autonomous projects. Before joining JLR, Rimmer studied at Cambridge, leaving with a PhD in vehicle dynamics. She also completed internships at the McLaren F1 Team and Volvo Trucks. She said: ‘I am thrilled to have
by ADAM WELLER @AdamNeverKnows
been named Autocar’s Rising Star. Working on autonomous vehicles has been a hugely rewarding dimension to my career as an engineer, so to be formally recognised by the Great British Women initiative is a great honour. I hope my story will motivate young women to pursue a career in automotive and to reap the rewards that the industry can offer. ‘It’s slightly surreal watching the car of the future unfold today, and being part of the team behind it never fails to inspire on a daily basis.’ Autocar editor Mark Tisshaw said: ‘Amy stood out to us as being a driving force behind one of the most significant automotive developments in a generation. Her dedication and talent has made a huge contribution to positioning these iconic brands at the forefront of autonomy.’
Amy Rimmer
AND THE WINNERS WERE... Vehicle Development Amy Rimmer, research engineer – autonomous vehicle control, Jaguar Land Rover Manufacturing Leah Bruce, diesel manufacturing strategy manager, Ford Retail/Sales Lucy Curtis, general manager, TrustFord Marketing Charlotte Twigg, services manager, North America, Audi Communications Laura King, senior manager of brand PR, Hyundai Apprentices/Interns Chloe Crutchlow, emissions measurement technologies support engineer, degree apprentice, Jaguar Land Rover Design Jo Lewis, senior colour and materials designer, McLaren Executive Nikki Rimmington, director of corporate finance and planning, Aston Martin Human Resources and Training Donna Chambers, group learning and development manager, IM Group
| RMI |
Free MOT Tester training on offer TO celebrate the opening of a new Academy of Automotive Skills in Runcorn, the Retail Motor Industry Federation is offering free MOT Tester training in July to its members. The RMI is opening its second academy in July to support MOT businesses in the north of England, so that MOT stations can access its MOT training programme.
Residents evacuated as oxyacetylene bottle catches fire at Kwik Fit centre RESIDENTS were evacuated and a cordon put up by police after a gas cylinder caught fire at a Kwik Fit centre. Nobody was injured in the incident at Guisborough, North Yorkshire, on June 12, which saw 10 homes evacuated, and the residents were allowed back into their properties a couple of hours after Cleveland Fire Brigade were called out. It was initially thought that more than one cylinder was alight, and according to Gazette
Live three appliances attended the scene in Morgan Drive, with one jet used to cool down the cylinder. It quoted sandwich van owner Mandy Jewel, who was nearby, as saying: ‘I was about to serve a customer when I heard half a dozen shots go off, which I thought were shots . . . I was shaking like a leaf.’ She said she was advised by Kwik Fit to shut down her petrol and gas immediately and close up and move her vehicle, as oxyacetylene cylinders under a van being
worked on had caught fire and there was a danger of them exploding. A Kwik Fit spokesman told Workshop Magazine: ‘We thank the emergency services for their very prompt response, and also thank our neighbours for their understanding of the situation. Although thankfully no-one was injured in this incident we are taking it very seriously. We are carrying out an investigation into its causes and the equipment has been taken away for specialist analysis.’ WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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NEWS.
Joy for Tockwith at Le Mans debut First appearance at famous 24-hour race sees team finish 10th in class – exactly what they’d hoped for
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ockwith Motorsports finished 10th in the LMP2 class in its first attempt at the Le Mans 24 Hours, having crossed the line 12th overall in a frantic, dramatic and gruelling edition of the French classic. The Yorkshire-based team, running a LigierGibson JS P217 in partnership with Gulf Oil International, became a fan favourite in the build-up to the 2017 event. But Tockwith went on to earn respect through a fierce blend of competitiveness and discipline that resulted in an almost completely trouble-free run in unusually hot temperatures, having started the race from 25th on the grid and 17th in class. The #34 Tockwith car driver team comprised ex-Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok, Nigel Moore and Le Mans rookie Phil Hanson, and
team principal Simon Moore was delighted and emotional when the race finished. ‘Everybody in the team is happy,’ he said. ‘We’ve got a great crew and we couldn’t have asked for any better. I always hoped we could achieve a top 10 in class, but anything can happen at Le Mans and I think we coped with most eventualities and fought our way through them.’ Chandhok, a veteran of five previous Le Mans starts, said: ‘I’m really pleased we got top 10 in class. It’s been a tough challenge for us. It’s the first Le Mans for a lot of the guys in this team and you can’t underestimate the team effort required for this race. The boys did a great job. A big thank-
you to all the mechanics and the engineers – they worked tirelessly.’ Hanson was equally delighted, having become the youngest LMP2 top 10 finisher at 17 years and 336 days. ‘The goal was to finish and we knew that was going to be tough enough, so to be classified in the top 10 is incredible,’ he said. Team captain Moore said: ‘It felt like it ran like a train. We were in the pits for the minimum amount of time, which is what you’ve got to do to do well. This is an absolutely mega achievement.’ The next round of the World Endurance Championship will be ‘The Six Hours of Nürburgring’ on July 16.
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10 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
506725-Special Products Refrigerants R1234yf Half Page Advert (Mar 2017) 02.indd 1
03/04/2017 07:04
SO... HAVE YOU VOTED IN WORKSHOP POWER YET? Who are the suppliers who go the extra mile for you? Who are the ones that let you down?
I
f you haven’t done so already, we would love you to take part in our Workshop Power Awards survey! We’re scrutinising the performance of the suppliers who work with the service and repair industry – and the companies who are most highly regarded can look forward to a glittering awards night at the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth later this year. Last year’s ceremony was a fantastic occasion – and if our trophy winners looked happy as they picked up their awards, they had good reason. We said that our aim was to make the Workshop Power Awards the largest and most talked-about event of its kind in our industry – and we’re well on the way to doing exactly that.
Give us your honest views – in confidence If you go to the URL at the bottom of this story, you’ll see questions about suppliers in categories ranging from motor factors large and small to garage cleaning product suppliers. All we ask is that you give us your honest views on the companies you use. It’s all done in complete confidence so feel free to give your opinions with no holds barred. Once we’ve received your answers, they’ll be fed into our Workshop super-computer (the brains behind the magazine) and we’ll then be able to pull together all the data we need from the anonymous opinions. By the end of the
process, we’ll have an accurate idea about the suppliers who are at the top of their game, those who are simply average, and those who are, well, not so hot and could do better. We’ll be sharing our findings to make sure your opinions are heard, so it’s highly likely that suppliers will make changes to the way they work with their customers based on the feedback they receive. So we’ll all benefit!
So, how do I take part? Go to workshoppower.co.uk to fill in the questionnaire online. Nominations close on August 24, 2017. We promise it won’t take long – and the opinions that you express could genuinely benefit all of us in the sector.
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NEWS. | AWARD |
| TRIUMPH |
Technician scoops top TrustFord title two years running
Tanya excels on course to shine as Spirit of Audi
Jacob Loveday A TECHNICIAN from Rotherham has won his second TrustFord award for excellence in two years. Jacob Loveday, 20, took home the Technician of the Year award at this year’s ceremony, having already won Apprentice of the Year in 2016. He started his apprenticeship at TrustFord Barnsley in 2013 on a Ford programme run by Skillnet, a leading automotive apprenticeship provider, and completed his course in 2016, going on to become a fully qualified technician. Loveday said: ‘The Skillnet apprenticeship courses are fantastic. They are very organised and I would recommend them to anyone thinking of getting into the automotive industry. My aim now is to work hard, keep going and hopefully progress up the ladder.’ Steve Lindley, manager at TrustFord Barnsley, said: ‘We are so proud of Jacob and all that he has achieved. He has exceeded all of our expectations. He is a dedicated and enthusiastic member of our team and we know he will reach great heights within TrustFord and within the industry.’ Lee Acton, chief executive of Skillnet, said: ‘We are delighted that once again one of Skillnet’s apprentices has been successful at the annual awards celebration. Our Skillnet courses are designed to expose apprentices to a wide variety of skills and resources, and the fact that Jacob has won two years running is testament not only to our outstanding courses but also to Jacob’s hard work and efforts through the years to get where he is today. We are exceptionally proud of him and all those who have worked with him.’
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AN APPRENTICE has won a Spirit of Audi Award after distinguishing herself on the firm’s Outward Bound Trust course. Tanya Pickering, who works at Stoke Audi Parts, went to the Lake District with around 50 other apprentices, where they had to perform a number of team-building activities, such as swimming in a lake, assembling a raft and navigating dark tunnels. All of these tasks linked back in some way to working at Audi. The 24-year-old excelled at all the activities, especially tying the ropes on the raft. Her peers elected her as team leader, giving her even more of an opportunity to impress the Audi UK representatives and the course instructors. Not only is Audi UK rewarding Pickering with the award, but it also sent her 10 large cakes to share with her co-workers. Delighted at winning the award, Pickering said: ‘I think there’s a massive impact with what you take back to work. It’s not just
Tanya Pickering has shown she really has the Spirit of Audi about doing your job but helping your team members with their work, doing more off your own back and having more confidence in being yourself.’ Jonny Connelly, training manager at Volkswagen Group, said: ‘Tanya was one of the shining stars of the Outward Bound course. She really impressed with how passionate, spirited and driven she was throughout the
week and Audi UK will be recognising Tanya with its Spirit of Audi Award.’ David Smyth, director of Swansway Motor Group, of which Stoke Audi is a subsidiary, said: ‘This is what makes running this business so rewarding – seeing a young person like Tanya blossom and to help them reach their potential. It’s great and I’m extremely proud of Tanya’s achievement.’
Manufacturers urged to act over rising repair bills Research centre highlights growing problem and warns of the consequences that will follow
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hatcham Research is urging vehicle manufacturers to work with the repair industry to stop the rapid increase in costs. The average vehicle repair bill has risen to £1,678 – a 32 per cent increase over the past three years – and there are now worries surrounding core repair challenges such as Adas (advanced driver assistance systems), new materials and a lack of skills. Peter Shaw, chief executive of Thatcham Research, highlighted the problem of rising repair costs as Adas technologies become more prominent in the industry. ‘The average repair bill has risen by 32 per cent over the last three years,’ said Shaw. ‘This has been driven by the repairability of parts
by TRISTAN SHALE-HESTER @tristan_shale
such as headlamps, increasing complexity of vehicle materials and technology, and the rising cost of spare parts, influenced to some extent by currency fluctuations. Vehicle manufacturers must bring these costs under control. ‘The cost for windscreen-mounted Adas calibration spans from £0 to £700 across car manufacturers and often across similar sensors and technology. This is unacceptable. Unless urgently addressed, these costs will challenge the current model of a no-claims bonus being unaffected by a windscreen repair or replacement.’ Another issue that Thatcham says needs addressing is
the different material specification in new cars. Thomas Hudd, operations manager at the Thatcham Repair Technology Centre, said: ‘The rising use of a mix of new materials in modern cars is leading to more intrusive repairs. This means that where we were once able to partially replace a panel, we now need to replace it in its entirety.’ These complex challenges mean UK bodyshops need high-calibre individuals who see the repair industry as a potential career path. Dean Lander, the head of repair sector services at Thatcham Research, said: ‘There is still much to be done to ensure that the right people choose a career in this industry. ‘Repairers need a new set of skills to meet the demands of the bodyshop of the future.’
| RESEARCH |
| REPAIRS |
Motorists ‘wasting £2bn on servicing’
£80,000 hi-tech outlay pays off
BRITISH motorists are missing out on a total of £2bn-worth of savings by servicing their cars before their MOT test is done, according to new research. Car maintenance and repair start-up MotorEasy analysed its database of 20,000 vehicles and said it found that 80 per cent of faults discovered during servicing would be flagged up during an MOT test. On average, an MOT takes about one hour. By having the MOT first, an hour of labour could be shaved off the servicing, which MotorEasy said amounted to an average UK rate of £77, making £2.2bn that could be saved if every driver had the MOT first and every car needed an hour’s work.
| AUTOMECHANIKA |
Top braking tips given by Pagid PAGID held its first ‘Proud To Fit Live’ sessions at Automechanika. Taking place across the course of two evenings at the Birmingham event, visitors received expert braking advice, tricks of the trade and support from the company. Charles Woodfield, head of customer training and lead technical braking at Euro Car Parts, demonstrated in-depth training for each of the garages, workshops and technicians that attended. Awards were also given to representatives of companies for various categories. Adam Michaels of Endyke Tyres, winner of the Special Recognition award, said: ‘Pagid and Euro Car Parts have really helped us get to where we are now as a business, and we wouldn’t be a success without their help.’
AN £80,000 investment in specialist technology is really paying off for the family-owned Swansway Accident Repair Centre in Crewe. The outlay last year made it Audi UK’s sole specialist repair centre for its R8 supercar. At the time, the R8 was the only Audi using the groundbreaking auto construction technology of CFRP – a super-lightweight carbon-fibre reinforced polymer now making its way into vehicles across the range. The new Audi A8 saloon has a rear panel made of CFRP, so the centre will once again swing into action as Audi’s specialist UK repairer. The centre’s Martin Smith is one of just five technicians in the world trained to use the latest technology to check the CFRP’s integrity. He said: ‘It’s a real thrill and means I get to work on amazing cars. It’s a really special job.’ Technician Martin Smith at Swansway Accident Repair Centre
JLR turns to virtual rock to help plug skills gap Mobile app plunges users into fictional world of Gorillaz with fast-track recruitment the prize
J
aguar Land Rover has hooked up with a virtual rock band to plug a skills gap via an app. The Gorillaz app uses mixed-reality technology to immerse its users in the fictional world of the British group. There’s now a JLR
‘Here we’ve found an engaging way to recruit a diverse talent pool.’
In the world of Gorillaz
recruitment area on the mobile app, where aspiring electronics and software engineers can test their skills to be considered for a job. First, there’s a task where the user has to assemble an I-Pace – Jaguar’s electric five-seater concept sports car. By learning about the vehicle’s performance, battery technology, space, charging and range, applicants will be more familiar with the benefits of electric vehicles. Users then have to complete a variety of codebreaking puzzles to challenge their curiosity, persistence, lateral thinking and problem-solving skills. Those who successfully complete the challenges will be fast-tracked through Jaguar Land Rover’s recruitment process, with the chance of being hired by the company. JLR aims to recruit 5,000 new employees in 2017, more than 1,000 of whom will be
electronics and software engineers. The app is a new way of finding candidates and addressing the skills gap in the industry. It comes after Noodle, the fictional lead guitarist of Gorillaz, became an ambassador for Jaguar’s Formula E racing team and Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) department. Alex Heslop, head of electrical engineering at Jaguar Land Rover, said: ‘As the automotive industry transforms over the next decade, fuelled by software innovation, we have to attract the best talent and that requires a radical rethink of how we recruit. Here we’ve found an engaging way to recruit a diverse talent pool in software systems, cyber systems, app development and graphics performance. It will be the first of its kind.’ Davor Krvavac, executive creative director of app developer B-Reel London, said: ‘This exciting collaboration between Gorillaz and JLR adds an alternative-reality game layer to a cutting-edge mixed-reality mobile experience combining AR, VR and 360.’ WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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NEWS.
Inside the Classic Works showroom in Coventry
JLR Classic Works ‘is hugely important heart and soul’ Purpose-built site is biggest of its type in the world and aims to ensure ‘glorious future’ for legendary models
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aguar Land Rover Classic Works is an allnew facility in Coventry offering a range of products and services designed to fuel the passion of owners and enthusiasts for classic Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. The opening of the world’s largest classic car sales, manufacturing and restoration facility of its kind, which was attended by JLR chief executive Ralf Speth and Special Operations managing director John Edwards, is an important milestone in the rapid development of the Jaguar Land Rover Classic brand, which was launched in March 2016. This is the first purpose-built site for Jaguar Land Rover Classic, which brings all sales, servicing and restoration operations under one roof. The brand’s global expansion continues later this summer with the launch of a new facility at Essen in Germany. Edwards said: ‘Classic Works is hugely important to Jaguar Land Rover. It’s much more than a building – it’s the heart and soul of Jaguar Land Rover Classic for our clients worldwide.
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‘Being able to support owners and enthusiasts of our two great brands with a full suite of services for classic vehicles is a fantastic opportunity.’ At 14,000 square metres, Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works is the largest facility of its type in the world, with a dedicated showroom space and 54 workshop bays for servicing and restoring all Jaguar and Land Rover models that have been out of production for a decade or more. The workshop is organised into dedicated strip-down, remanufacturing and assembly zones for the Land Rover Series I, Range Rover Classic and Jaguar E-Type Reborn
restoration programmes. It includes an engine shop, and houses the XKSS build line. Classic Works is also home to the Jaguar Land Rover Classic Collection of more than 500 vehicles – a living assembly of British motoring history – which is an invaluable reference for restorations. Vehicles in the collection are also available for lending to car clubs and museums, and for Jaguar Land Rover and its partners to showcase their heritage at events. To support the growth of the Classic business, Jaguar Land Rover has invested heavily in traditional manufacturing skills, with the number of skilled staff employed having doubled since it was formed. More than 80 specialists are now employed at Classic Works, many with decades of experience working solely on the models catered for at the new facility. By the end of 2017, this number is
“
Being able to support owners and enthusiasts is a fantastic opportunity. JOHN EDWARDS
The Classic Collection includes Jaguar E-Types and Land Rovers among the Reborn Legends , with Jaguar XJ220s also being serviced
expected to grow to more than 120 specialists. The close ties to the core JLR business mean the Classic operation can also take advantage of cutting-edge manufacturing technology, such as 3D scanning and computer-aided design, which allow the retooling and reintroduction of parts such as Jaguar E-Type and Range Rover Classic panels – parts that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive to remanufacture.
Jaguar Land Rover Classic director Tim Hannig said: ‘Our people, their knowledge and their skills are the heart of Jaguar Land Rover Classic. ‘There are more than 1.5 million classic Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles in existence worldwide, and we are investing in traditional manufacturing and restoration skills to ensure enthusiasts are able to give cars with a glorious past a glorious future.’ WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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NEWS.
Golden opportunity to shout out about how great you are Time is ticking away - don’t miss out on your chance to win at the inaugural Workshop Awards! You’ve got until Saturday, September 30 to submit your nominations for yourself, a colleague, supplier or customer, with the ceremony taking place at The Brewery, London, on Monday, December 11.
Why should you go in for the Workshop Awards?
W
ho would want to miss the most glamorous night of the year for workshop professionals? More importantly, it’s our opportunity to recognise the best and brightest people working in what is known for being a truly tough industry. The Workshop Awards are the gold standard for service and repair professionals and business owners alike. They give you a chance to demonstrate to your peers and customers exactly why you are the best at what you do! It doesn’t matter on which side of the fence you sit – if you work with your tools in a workshop or you’re a company that sells them, we want to recognise your talents. It’s the first year of the Workshop Awards and therefore definitely not to be missed. The setting for this glitzy awards ceremony is The Brewery in London – the same venue for
sister publication Car Dealer Magazine’s Used Car Awards – where you’ll also be treated to a cocktail reception, three-course meal and musical entertainment. We pull out all the stops to give you the credit you deserve too, with coverage of the event in our magazine plus video interviews as well. On these two pages we’ve highlighted some of the prestigious categories that you could be nominated for, but on the night we’ll be handing over our exclusive gongs to 20 winners! To be in the running, you’ll need to submit an entry for yourself or be nominated by a colleague, supplier or customer. It’s as simple as that. Then
you could be well on your way to attending the most exciting, dazzling and all-round-boozy night for garages. What’s not to like?
Snap-on puts its The illustrious accolade of being named Technician of the Year will be sponsored by garage equipment supplier Snap-on at the inaugural Workshop Awards. The award itself will be presented to the technician who has the best knowledge, reputation and skills when it comes to automotive repair. The inclusion of the trusted Snap-on name in the title will only add extra gravitas to the pride the winner will feel.
TO SPONSOR AN AWARD CALL THE WORKSHOP TEAM ON 023 9252 2434 16 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
Headline sponsor IGA urges all independent garages and workshops to enter
The Brewery will be a fabulous venue for the Workshop Awards Image taken at the Used Car Awards, 2016
weight behind top technician title If you know someone – whether they’re a colleague or a customer you think deserves to win this accolade – you can nominate them by visiting the Workshop Magazine website. Perhaps you yourself feel you aren’t getting the recognition
you deserve in the workplace. By entering for this award, you can finally demonstrate to your colleagues that you are the top dog at your garage. ‘Snap-on believes passionately in supporting and promoting the great work of individuals and businesses within our industry. The Workshop Awards, and in particular the Technician of the Year award, allows us to celebrate those individuals who are working hard and excelling in their field of expertise,’ said the company.
The Independent Garage Association (IGA) will be the headline sponsor of the Workshop Awards but it’s also chosen a number of titles that it will be putting its name to. There will be five regional champions for Independent Garage of the Year – in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England, Southern England and Wales. Then, one of these regional winners will be named the overall Independent Garage of the Year. Stuart James, director of the IGA, said: ‘A particular highlight for me is the fact that there’s going to be an Independent Garage of the Year for five different regions of the UK – and one overall. Independent garages have finally got a chance to showcase themselves and that’s great to see. We’re just so pleased to be doing this really. It’s long overdue. ‘So my message to independent garages – and all workshops, big and small – is get involved with the Workshop Magazine Awards, put yourself forward, and you could be lifting a trophy at the awards ceremony in London later this year. ‘These awards are going to be fantastic for our industry – we should all embrace them and get involved. The IGA is proud and pleased to be playing a central role.’ To be in with a chance of winning you’ll need to be nominated. You can either do this yourself or be put forward by someone. Our winners will have gone through rigorous testing, with a judging process involving analysis of their feedback websites and a mystery shopping round.
IGA director Stuart James
TO ENTER, FILL OUT THE FORM ON THE INSERT OR ONLINE AT bit.ly/WA-2017
(CASESENSITIVE)
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FEATURES.
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Magnificently
MORGAN It’s the last family-owned car manufacturer in Britain as well as one of the oldest surviving. Its name is synonymous with quality, style and tradition. How could we resist a tour of its Malvern factory, where each model is painstakingly and lovingly crafted? Words: Jack Evans Photography: Jonny Fleetwood
WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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FEATURES.
Aero cars use a bonded aluminium chassis, while Classic vehicles combine this with wood
The handmade frames are constructed from ash
N
estled within the Malvern Hills lies Morgan – one of the oldest-surviving car manufacturers in the UK. Established in 1909 by H F S Morgan with the creation of the original three-wheeler, it only moved to four wheels in 1936 – and things have stayed pretty much the same ever since. It’s now the last family-owned British motor manufacturer – and family values are still visible throughout the build process. With coach building at its heart, Morgan is a company that keeps traditional values at the forefront, using classic building techniques as well as ultra-modern processes. It’s this combination that has ensured Morgan’s popularity – and it now builds well in excess of 1,000 cars a year, with order books near
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constantly full. With three distinct ranges – 3 Wheeler, Classic and Aero – the Morgan list of cars is as varied as the processes that are used to create them. And with the vast majority of creation and manufacture taking place in-house, there’s a distinct sense of family to the entire operation. It feels worlds away from the robotcontrolled production methods that are used by modern manufacturers. We were let off the leash to discover the ins and outs of Morgan’s factory – as well as get the chance to meet some of the people who help create such iconic cars. The process starts with a chassis. It’s made from bonded aluminium, which creates a stiff foundation for the entire car. This first room sees the wiring loom fitted, along with the fuel
tank – you could even start the car here if you wanted to. These chassis are brought in from a company in Birmingham – a relatively short trip from Malvern. This process is used to create the ‘modern’ Morgan cars – classic versions use a combination of aluminium and ash. It may be an old-school material to use but it ensures incredible lightness, as well as making these cars surprisingly eco-friendly. Those classic models employ a chassis created from ash pieces that are pre-cut in a mill on site. The pieces are then glued and pre-assembled, after which they are hand-finished and treated for longevity. They can then be stitched together, creating the basis for cars such as the Plus 4 and Roadster. Morgan cars use a variety of engines from
Aero cars use an aluminium body
Solid oak presses are used to form the ash established manufacturers. The Plus 4, for instance, utilises a 2.0-litre engine from Ford while the larger Aero 8 uses a powerful BMWsourced 4.8-litre V8. These engines are an intricate part of the entire car – so it’s no wonder that Morgan chooses reliable, well-trusted powerplants for its vehicles. With each new section of the build process comes a new smell. The tin shop, for instance, smells – unsurprisingly – of metal, while the wood shop – our next stop – smells just like an old woodwork classroom, or a D&T room for younger readers. All Morgan cars rely upon some form of handworked wood element. Workers here use hand tools to get each piece spot on before it’s used in a vehicle, though some modern techniques such
Nic Butler has been at Morgan for 16 years as vacuum bonding are also used. Morgan has original wood plans dating back to the 1950s – and it can still make one that way today. Using ash means that each car is able to absorb bumps in the road, giving it a better ride than you’d expect. An amazing tool that’s used to create the classic model’s wheel arches is a jig made entirely from oak – and it’s been there so long that the vast majority of people working at Morgan don’t know when it was installed. The ash is left in there for around half a day, and is a classic version of the modern vacuum pressing method. Whereas many manufacturers use wood veneer, Morgan uses the real thing. Each interior dashboard piece can be tailored to a customer’s specification but it’s always all-wood rather than
just a plastic-coated trim piece. You can have it stained, leather-trimmed or just left bare – something we think looks just right. Ed Wilkes shows us through one of the key elements of the entire car-building process – applying the aluminium bodywork to a Plus 4’s ash frame. Many of the panels remain handbeaten or rolled, though the elegant front wings are superformed to ensure they remain perfect each and every time. It’s what gives each Morgan its iconic looks – and the handmade nature of the classically styled interior is what keeps owners so loyal to the brand. Even the bonnets are hand-hammered to ensure a perfect fit, while flat hammers are used to round off the edges around the sides of the frame. You can’t help but WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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FEATURES.
Metal panels are cut and formed by hand
It takes years to learn woodworking skills
Cars are hand-assembled before being thoroughly tested out on the roads surrounding the
Morgan sources its engines from Ford and BMW to ensure reliability and performance notice the incredible attention to detail in the process, with each panel given just as much care and attention as the last. Once the panelling, engine and electronics have all been installed, it’s time for paint. All of the cars are thoroughly inspected before being painted to ensure that every panel is free of imperfections or dents. There’s an almost endless choice of colours – and Morgan can even match a shade you like should it not have the code in-house. It has seen a variety of colour combinations come out of a workshop, including an acid-pink Plus 8 as well as more traditional British racing green hues. From there, the cars head down to the trimming area. At this point, the wings, doors and arches are left off to save them from potential damage. When they first enter this area, they are fitted with all of the customer’s pre-ordered
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leatherwork. This means the seats, carpets and leather trim are installed by hand, with the same attention to detail as we’d seen elsewhere. Again, the level of personalisation on offer is hard to get your head around. Seats can be trimmed in a variety of different leathers and can be embossed with the Morgan logo – or even a customer’s name, should they want it applied. Everything is stitched by hand, although some elements are aided by computers. Similar to the car’s use of modern engines with traditional building materials, each manufacturer process is a seamless blend of the new and old. Susan Thomas has seen the company change, with people coming and going – although many choose to stay. She chatted to us while still stitching away, barely taking her eyes off the material for a second. Throughout each workshop there’s been a distinctive variety in ages –
something it seems is important to the longevity of the Morgan brand. There aren’t any textbooks or lectures going on, just a hands-on, get-stuck-in handing-down of skills. The trim room is a hive of activity and it features an important process – creating and fixing the cloth roof. Each roof is made specifically for one vehicle and uses a metal framework that is also created in-house. There is – again – a range of fabric colours to choose from, but each one is tailor-made to the individual car, ensuring a watertight fit that will last for years. It’s worth remembering that this process isn’t done in glitzy, sealed units but traditional stone buildings that have been on site for years. But everything moves in a well-oiled fashion, with everyone knowing exactly what they’re doing during each part of the assembly line. From the trimming room the cars move on to
ED WILKES – TIN SHOP
I’ve been here eight years this August and move around to other areas of the process so I get around. I do some of the panelling for the classic cars, applying metal sheets to clad the car. On my birthday a couple of years ago I borrowed a Morgan for the weekend – but unfortunately the weather wasn’t on my side. I couldn’t put the top down the whole time! I like the traditional cars – the Plus 4 for instance – but I’m yet to have a go in the Aero cars, maybe for my next birthday perhaps! I stay working on the old-school cars – they’re less complicated than the newer ones. I’ve helped out with some of the components for the Aero cars, but the majority of my time is spent working on the Classic range.
NIC BUTLER – WOOD SHOP
factory in Malvern
Leather pieces are stitched by hand
There’s a place for everything at Morgan
the final finish. Here, they are given their final assembly, and this means the installation of seatbelts, lights and indicators. They also need to be checked for rattles and squeaks, as well as ensuring that all the dials work correctly. There’s only one way of doing this and that’s by giving them a thorough road test. Each car is taken for a drive in the surrounding area to make sure that it responds, handles and sounds just as it should, and it’s only when you experience the sweeping roads surrounding Malvern – as we did in a V6-powered Roadster – that you can see where Morgan’s handling benchmarks have been set. They suit long sweeping bends at modest speeds, and that’s exactly what you find in the Worcestershire countryside. Up next is pre-delivery inspection. As you’ll see from our photos, the room that houses this
process has been fitted with high-wattage lights designed to show up any imperfections that could be in the paintwork. Technicians here, such as Mark Cross, check cars to make sure that they are absolutely perfect when they’re handed over to the customer. If a blemish or scratch is found, it’s polished out and repaired. The utmost care is applied to the cars throughout the build but accidents do happen – and Morgan ensures that any car that leaves the factory doors does so without a single problem. The vehicle is then given a complete machinepolish before being handed over to be fully cleaned and valeted. An important modern process is photography. Every car that has been fully built is thoroughly photographed. Why is this? To ensure that the car arrives at the customer exactly as it should. It means that Morgan
I’ve been at Morgan for 16 years now and it’s changed quite a lot. I started off doing the details – the rear arches – and progressed into applying the bodywork. I’m currently working on a traditional 4/4 twoseater, and I fit the seat frames and spare wheel carriers among other things. We have to complete around 17 or 18 a week here in the build room, so we aim to have body and doors completed in around three weeks. I get to work on some of the sales side, too – I head to the shows to help build the stands for our cars. Unfortunately, we don’t get to drive the cars to them, though! We head up there for the press day then wait to break down the stand to bring it back home. I have trained to work on the 3 Wheelers but I haven’t ever really done them – I tend to stay on the classic models, and it’s that style I’d go for if I were to buy one myself. I think they’re more fun, whereas the Aero with its power steering basically drives itself. WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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FEATURES. SUSAN THOMAS – TRIM ROOM
I’ve worked here for 15 years now and a lot has changed. We’ve upped production a lot, and more cars are passing through here than before. When I first came here we were doing around eight cars a week, and now we’re doing roughly 15. I’ve always worked here in the trimming room, though I haven’t always used the same machine! This one is about 100 years old, though. We get a fair few young people through here. They tend to be here for around five years, then they take their skills elsewhere – though plenty of them stay for a while of course! It’s good to get plenty of apprentices through, as it means the skills are being transferred. I don’t look after the whole team here – I’m just told what to do and I sit here and get it done. That’s what I like, though. At my previous job I was a supervisor and I came in here and it was just such a relief. I’m not worried about the politics, I just get done what needs to be done. If I had to pick one car for me it would be either a Plus 8 or an Aero, and I’d go for a pink exterior with a black interior. We get a lot more bespoke requests like that, and when I first came here we didn’t do that. It’s quite good because our customers can have the Morgan badge embroidered on the headrests, which looks good. Some of the Chinese-market cars have had their initials in the headrests – I’m pretty sure our computerised machine could embroider anything you could think of on there.
Cars are carefully cleaned before handover
Each car is scrupulously checked under has a point of reference in case a vehicle arrives with damage. The brand’s vehicles are being sent to far-flung locations – the Middle East has recently developed a liking for its cars – and a few weeks spent in a shipping container aboard a ship can play havoc with a vehicle. Of course, there’s one three-wheeled addition that we haven’t mentioned just yet. The original three-wheeler was Morgan’s first car, with production starting shortly after the end of the First World War in 1918. It used a two-speed transmission and remained in production until the early 1930s. The modern 3 Wheeler certainly
has the looks and build of the original, with a V-Twin motor sitting proudly at the front of the vehicle and weighing in at just 525kg. However, these vehicles are created in a separate part of the factory and have their own dedicated production line. Because the build process is so far removed from that of the standard Morgan cars, it was decided that it needed its own area – and that’s exactly what it got. It’s proved immensely popular, and is selling in America as well as in Europe. Morgan has also got one eye on the future as well as maintaining traditional building
OUR TEST CAR
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With coach building at its heart, Morgan is a company that keeps traditional values at the forefront. 24 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
The test car we were given in which to make the journey back from Malvern to Gosport was a V6-powered Roadster. Its styling is classic Morgan, and the colour combination of our car you see here with a satin gold paint with black wheels looked spot on in our eyes. The inside was equally well specified, with heated seats a welcome relief in the cold weather of our shoot. There’s no denying that the Roadster is fast – acceleration is brutal, thanks to the engine’s 280bhp and 380Nm of torque, and it’ll hit 60mph in just 5.3 seconds, so there’s nothing old-school about the performance. Its exhaust makes a premium, all-sports car growl, and is the perfect accompaniment to the overall driving experience.
MARK CROSS – PDI
high-wattage lighting for any imperfections techniques. It’s developed the EV3 – an all-electric version of the 3-Wheeler. This uses a 20kWh lithium battery coupled to a 46W motor and can offer a range of 150 miles as well as a 0-60mph time of under nine seconds. In a similar way to Morgan’s adoption of more reliable and efficient petrol engines it’s also not shying away from trying an all-new powertrain. This car has yet to enter full production – but it’s likely to be immensely popular once it does. There’s something intoxicating about the Morgan factory. Similar to the classroom association we mentioned earlier, it conjures up
feelings of nostalgia. It also – in all honesty – makes you appreciate the effort and care that is put into every vehicle and makes you want to get behind the wheel of one of the cars. Thousands of people take a tour of the Morgan factory each year and it’s easy to see why. There are no shrouds, no frosted glass windows, everything is in plain sight and simple to understand. There’s one word to describe Morgan: honesty. If there’s something that car manufacturers could use a little more of – especially in this day and age – it’s honesty, and it’s a feature that Morgan has by the bucketload.
I’ve been here 16 years now. It’s changed a lot since I first started – we’re a lot busier and the quality has gone up, too. We’re getting a lot more professional – it used to be a bit of an old boys’ club! I started off in the paint shop, and I was brought in when we first launched the Plus 4 in 2001. I’m in charge of the prep shop, the paint shop and of course PDI now. This light PDI set-up has been here for around four years, and it makes a huge difference when checking over the cars. If we notice an imperfection on the car we have to do a smart repair or, if there’s a big dent, we’ll remove the offending panel and get it sorted – though that doesn’t happen very often. It happened more when people were a bit more relaxed, but people are far more professional now. They really look after you here. If you’ve got an anniversary you can borrow a car, which is great. I’d go for the Plus 4 – it’s a really good car. The strangest spec car I’ve seen go through these gates has to be a lime-green 3 Wheeler with a pink interior. It looked a bit like a sweet.
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CLUB.
CAN I HOLD ON TO A CUSTOMER’S CAR IF HE HASN’T PAID UP?
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ASK THE JUDGE: Ian Gardner, sales manager at automotive legal experts Lawgistics, explains why purchase orders have a valuable role to play.
an I hold a customer’s vehicle for nonpayment of a bill for service or repair? n The Judge delivers his verdict: Maybe, but as with all things legal, the answer is seldom black or white and garages should know their rights and obligations in this scenario. Before accepting a customer’s vehicle for repair, a garage should properly provide a copy of its terms and conditions to the customer setting out the basis upon which it is prepared to undertake the required works. Ideally, the garage should have the customer sign a purchase order or similar, setting out what is to be done and incorporating its terms and conditions. The terms and conditions should include, among other things, clauses stating that: a) the vehicle will not be released until costs have been paid in full; and b) if payment is not made, the garage is entitled to charge reasonable storage costs for the duration of its retention.
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If the customer is not given a copy of the terms and conditions before the garage agrees to repair the vehicle, then it is unlikely that such terms will apply. A lack of a signature is not necessarily fatal to the garage’s claim if it can prove that the customer was aware of the terms and conditions before agreeing to the work. In the absence of any formal agreement featuring such terms and conditions (or they were not otherwise agreed), the garage cannot rely on those terms. However, the garage may still rely on the law of ‘bailment’. A bailment arises when a garage voluntarily accepts possession of a vehicle, ie, when a customer brings his vehicle in for service or repair. English law does not require a contract between the garage and its customer for a bailment to arise. If the garage carries out repair works, which enhance or improve the vehicle, then the garage is entitled to retain possession of it until the customer has paid for the same. This entitlement is known as a ‘lien’. Once the customer has paid,
the lien is discharged and the garage must return the vehicle. If a customer fails or refuses to pay a legitimate bill and the garage is forced to retain the vehicle, then it may be able to charge storage for the duration. If its terms and conditions provide for storage and the customer has agreed to such terms, then it has a much better chance of recovering storage charges. Even if there are no terms and conditions, a valid ‘lien’ means that, in the absence of a legitimate dispute, the garage may be able to sell the car to recover the money owed, provided the garage has given an appropriate notice to the customer under the provisions of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977. (NB: Any excess proceeds of sale must be returned to the customer.) If the customer disputes such notice/claim then the garage may only sell the vehicle lawfully after obtaining a suitable court order, otherwise the garage may face a claim for damages arising from ‘conversion’.
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TO JOIN GO TO WORKSHOPCLUB.CO.UK OR CALL 023 9252 2434 AND 26 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
Location could be key to settling out of court
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n which location will my county court claim be held? n The Judge delivers his verdict: The answer to this lies in Rule 26A of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPRs). Insofar as claims for money are concerned (which they tend to be for our clients) the rule is simple: If the defendant is a sole trader, partner or a private individual, then the case should be automatically transferred to, and be heard at, the most local court to that defendant. However, if the defendant is a limited company (or plc), the claim will be automatically transferred to, and be heard at, the most local court to the claimant. This should be a significant factor in deciding whether to settle out of court or not. Having to travel to the other end of the country for a hearing for a relatively low amount in dispute may be more economically disruptive than agreeing to settle the claim beforehand. What is really important also is to state on the Directions (Allocation) Questionnaire where you want the case to be heard. You should name your local
county court on that form. This is because if your opponent does not complete their questionnaire properly or on time, it may still be heard at your local court even though it would have been moved had your opponent completed the questionnaire properly. There is also provision to ask the court to consider the case based only on what you have submitted in your defence and witness statement provided you give the court seven days’ notice. Clearly this should be as a last resort as judges often regard non-attendance as a heinous crime!
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n Got a problem? Something that’s
proving tricky to resolve? Send an email to TheJudge@lawgistics.co.uk and you may see your problem dealt with in a future issue of Workshop.
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As part of your membership, you will have a free telephone consultation with Lawgistics worth £100. You will also be signed up to Lawgistics’ basic membership package worth £95, have 25 per cent discount off Lawgistics products, get access to guidance notes and document templates and enjoy a discount off membership upgrades – £100 off the Small Business pack and £250 off the Professional membership pack – to better suit your needs.
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OUR PROJECT CAR.
A GREAT ATTITUDE AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL ARE KEY AT MACG RACING, REPORTS ADAM WELLER
Smells like team spirit! We couldn’t do it without them...
O
ver the last decade, GT racing has become an arms race among major sportscar manufacturers. Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, Lamborghini, Bentley and Aston Martin are just some of the major players, and while the scene is undoubtedly better for it, it has lost some accessibility as a result. Barring rare exceptions, the days of independent teams and small manufacturers taking on Le Mans or the Spa 24 Hours with their own car have passed. Even in national series, a majority of the grid consists of cars from major manufacturers, which makes projects like the MacG Racing Taranis even more of a joy. The Taranis can be found challenging at the sharp end of the Britcar Endurance Championship, which plays host to everything from production-based saloons to full-on factory GTE and GT3-spec cars. MacG Racing has competed in Britcar since 2011, having spent time in lower disciplines of the sport prior to that. Initially, the team competed with an Ultima GTR, which they spent several seasons evolving in a bid to take the
The MacG team members are exceptional, says Jonny MacGregor
28 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
fight to the factory-built machines. However, it quickly became clear that the car’s limit had been reached, and reliability would become a common setback for the team as they attempted to find extra performance. The team, led by principal Richard MacGregor, decided to return to the drawing board for 2016, laying the foundations for ‘Project Taranis’ during the latter stages of the previous season. It was decided early on that the bodywork and suspension from their highly-tuned Ultima would remain, but everything else would be new. Jonny MacGregor, the team’s technical director and lead driver, detailed the time put into the project: ‘The design work took around four
months, and then it took roughly three months to get the chassis manufactured. Building the car up took another four months, but that was mostly evenings and weekends because we’re all volunteers at the team. It was about 300 hours to build the car once the chassis was in place. ‘The team and I had a very strong attention to detail when we were building the car. I think that really helped make sure there were no issues when he hit the track. ‘The team spirit is absolutely superb – they’re exceptional, and we certainly couldn’t do what we do without them.’ With a team of just eight people working on the car, the MacG outfit are definitely under-
TECHNICAL TERMS GTE: The GT racing category championed by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, organisers of the famous Le Mans 24HR and World Endurance Championship.
manned compared to the vast racing divisions at Porsche or Ferrari. However, the Taranis is now at a level where it can successfully and reliably take on factory GT machinery in Britcar. Packing a 550bhp Chevrolet LS7-powered punch, it is a brutish racing car. There are very few driving aids present, but according to MacGregor, it isn’t a difficult driving experience. He said: ‘It is quite a raw car – there is no power steering or ABS, so it certainly takes a bit of an effort to drive, but it’s very rewarding. Although it is quite physical, it’s pretty easy to drive. You get a lot of feedback through the car, and in reality it’s monumentally fast.’ Finding drivers who are willing to pay for seat time is an important part of keeping teams like MacG on track; as such, making the car easier to handle for those drivers was a critical part of the development phase. ‘We really focused on usability with the development of Taranis over the Ultima,’ said
MacGregor. ‘We’ve done things like lightening the steering, and we’ve also added traction control which makes it a bit more forgiving. Because we understand the car so well, we are able to tune it to make it more drivable if that’s what the customer requires. ‘Obviously, we work with drivers to make things as easy as possible because that helps them get the best possible result.’ The driving experience is aided by a welldeveloped aerodynamic package which, like so much of the car, is created in-house at MacG Racing. Overall, MacGregor estimates that 90 per cent of the car is custom-built by MacG or built to their specifications, with five to 10 parts remaining from their Ultima. While it would be impossible to produce the performance achieved without considerable expense, the cost of building Taranis is
GT3: Developed as a budget alternative in the mid-2000s, GT3 cars are now practically equal to GTEs in terms of performance and specification, and are produced by some of the world’s top manufacturers.
substantially lower than the £400,000+ that would be needed to purchase a brand new GT3 car. ‘In terms of cost, it depends how you factor in the development time before we actually started the Taranis project, as we learnt a lot with the Ultima. Realistically, you would be looking at less than 50 per cent of the cost of a GT3 factory car, again depending on how you factor in the labour and development time.’ At the time of writing, the Taranis has competed in four races so far this season. It has finished on every occasion, and has scored three class podiums in spite of competition from Ferrari and Aston Martin GT3 machinery, the incredibly well developed Mosler MT900R, as well as a GTE-spec Ferrari. Hopefully, the MacG outfit can be a trendsetter, encouraging more independent outfits to produce their own unique take on a GT racing car.
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PRODUCTS.
Draper Tools hydraulic spring compressor How much: £2,244 (inc VAT) Where from: drapertools.com This hydraulic spring compressor is built completely from steel. It clamps and compresses with ease, allowing for suspension units to be safely dismantled. There’s also a full safety cage to protect the user, and the powerful hydraulic pump provides an absolutely independent operation.
4-PAGE SPECIAL
New for you Laser Tools combined bit and socket driver How much: £5.50 (inc VAT) Where from: lasertools.co.uk The Laser Tools combined bit and socket driver saves you time in your work. It’s compatible with any 0.25-inch bit or 0.375-inch socket and is magnetic and easy to use, as well as being good-looking with its black phosphate finish.
30 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
Draper Tools magnetic spark plug socket How much: £21.43 (inc VAT) Where from: drapertools.com This Draper Tools magnetic spark plug socket is designed for the safe retrieval of deep-set spark plugs. The 12-point, bi-hex socket has been forged from chrome vanadium steel before being hardened, tempered and chrome-plated. It’s suitable for using on brands of car such as Citroen, Peugeot, Renault and Mini.
Laser Tools alloy wheel nut sockets How much: £72.84 (inc VAT) Where from: lasertools.co.uk Laser Tools’ set of three extra-long alloy wheel nut sockets are made of chrome molybdenum and measure 150mm in length, with a diameter of 13mm. The sizes included are 17mm, 19mm and 21mm. Each socket has a colour-coded nylon sleeve to make identification easier.
Laser Tools Audi camshaft spacer and pin set How much: £50.90 (inc VAT) Where from: lasertools.co.uk The Laser Tools camshaft spacer and pin set is suitable for use with the 2008 Audi A4 and 2009 Audi Q5. It’s compatible with the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol TFSi direct-injection engine.
Draper Tools body panel repair stand How much: £65.98 (inc VAT) Where from: drapertools.com The Draper Tools body panel repair stand is made of a lightweight and strong steel frame, meaning it’s durable but also highly portable. It features foam covers and balanced non-skid feet plus two locking chains, and has a maximum weight load of 220kg, meaning it’s suitable for use in any professional workshop. WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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PRODUCTS.
Draper Tools four-tonne and 10-tonne hydraulic body repair kit
Draper Tools Mercedes-Benz 17mm wheel nut socket
How much: £143.94 promotional price, £151.18 list price (both inc VAT) Where from: drapertools.com
How much: £14.34 (inc VAT) Where from: drapertools.com
Draper Tools’ four-tonne and 10-tonne hydraulic repair kits feature four extension bars, a serrated cap and a hydraulic spreading wedge. They also have a 60mm rubber head, flat serrated base, ram toe, plunger toe, cleft head, V Base, double-end male snap connector and a 330mm-long hydraulic push ram.
This 17mm wheel nut socket from Draper Tools is compatible with the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W204) and E-Class (W211, W212 and W207). It’s made of solid chrome molybdenum steel and can be powered by a half-inch square-drive impact wrench or ratchet. Its thinwalled design and nylon sleeve protect the wheel during use, making this an essential item.
Draper Tools secondgeneration wheel bearing kit How much: £538.80 promotional price, £718.80 list price (both inc VAT) Where from: drapertools.com
32 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
Draper Tools’ second-generation wheel bearing kit is useful for work on marques such as Ford, Land Rover, Mazda, Volkswagen and Volvo. If a conventional bearing is used, the force applied causes stress and deterioration. This new kit solves that, though, by correctly distributing the pressing forces while simultaneously letting the suspension leg remain in situ during fitting.
Clarke heavy-duty garages How much: £346.80, £358.80 & £514.80 (all inc VAT) Where from: machinemart.co.uk Clarke’s range of heavy-duty garages is ideal for easily protecting cars against harsh weather. They are made of a highly durable, triple-layered, waterproof fabric, which has been fully UV-treated and tightened to protect against sun, rain and wind. The structure is made up of powder-coated steel frames and can be assembled on a variety of surfaces. The garages come in a selection of sizes, the largest of which is 24ft (L) x 12ft (W) x 8ft (H).
Clarke CIR220 cordless impact wrench How much: £119.98 (inc VAT) Where from: machinemart.co.uk The Clarke CIR220 is a 24V cordless impact wrench that wraps up plenty of power in a compact and lightweight device. It has a maximum torque delivery of 220Nm at a speed of 2,000rpm, and is comfortable to use with its ergonomically shaped handle. It comes with two batteries, which can be fully charged within one hour, as well as four sockets and a carry case.
Laser Tools Vauxhall engine-timing chain tool kit How much: £159.41 (inc VAT) Where from: lasertools.co.uk This engine-timing chain tool kit is compatible with Vauxhall’s 2014 2.0-litre CDTi engine, found in examples of the Cascada, Insignia and Zafira. It can be used to remove and replace the timing chain inside the cylinder head. WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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PRODUCTS. TEST 32
Torque wrenches ANDREW EVANS gets a handle on what it takes to be the best torque wrench in the workshop. It certainly makes for gripping reading!
A
lthough a modern, busy workshop may rely more on rapid-fire pneumatic tools for dealing with fasteners, the humble torque wrench is still a vital piece of equipment. They exist to ensure that fixings are tightened exactly the right amount, delivering a pre-set amount of force to a nut or bolt so that it’s secure but not over-tight. It’s more important than it seems. Depending on what you’re fastening in place, you might need something impossibly tight or little more than finger-tight. An inappropriately fastened nut could turn a small job into a very expensive one. It’s why every manufacturer workshop handbook has torque ratings for every fastener. A good torque wrench is a boon, so we’ve tried different shapes and sizes to make sure we haven’t got a screw loose...
Sealey AK624B Micrometer Torque Wrench
Draper Expert Torque Wrench 58140
How much: £83.94 (inc VAT) Where from: sealey.co.uk
How much: £159.95 (inc VAT) Where from: drapertools.com
The Sealey wrench, like the smaller Draper, is pretty much exactly what you’d have in mind if you thought of a torque wrench. It’s a simple, traditional tool, with the usual knurled locking-nut and rotating collar on the handle to set the torque, with an etched grading scale (easy to read with this tool’s white-on-black colouring) at the collar’s lip that relays the torque setting. It’s the perfect bit of kit if you don’t need or want anything fancy but, as we’ve seen from other tools here, it’s not the definitive device even if it is the most common.
The larger Draper has a few advantages. The irritating nut usually found on torque wrenches to lock the setting adjuster is replaced with a hidden fastener similar to a wingnut. We can see this catching and tearing a few latex gloves, but it’s an easier item to use and requires little grip strength. The adjuster itself is a small collar at the base that’s much nicer to use compared with the usual form and has a nice, positive action that clicks with each turn. The scale is replaced with an internal sliding mechanism with a display window, which is considerably easier to read, and it’s easy to hear and feel when the torque limit has been reached.
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HOW WE TESTED THEM All the wrenches we’ve chosen are certified to cover broadly the same range of torques, so we’ve primarily examined how easy they are to operate. We looked at the torque setting adjustment and scale display, along with how they behave when they reach the prescribed limit on wheel nuts torqued to the middle of their range.
34 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
Kennedy FXL200 Torque Wrench
Sykes-Pickavant 80134500 Motorq Wrench
Draper Dynamic Torque Wrench
How much: £89.28 (inc VAT) Where from: cromwell.co.uk
How much: £378 (inc VAT) Where from: sykes-pickavant.com
How much: £35.20 (inc VAT) Where from: drapertools.com
The Kennedy is a brilliant piece of kit. The chunky triangular form is a lot easier to get on with than the norm and gives the impression of a substantial piece of kit. The adjusting mechanism is beautifully simple too – slide the collar down, wind it to adjust the torque setting and slide it back up into place. The torque can be seen through windows on the sides, with separate scales for Nm and lb/ft, depending on preference. The click on reaching the torque limit is the most positive of any tool here, and can be easily heard and felt through the handle.
This tool is a complete reinvention of the torque wrench from top to bottom. Even the head is doublesided, with a sliding drive mechanism. Perhaps the best single change is to the adjusting mechanism. Pull on the black knob on the base and a handle slides out. This then pivots at a right angle and you can wind the torque on or off with one finger. Slide it back in and it locks again. However, it’s how the tool behaves at the set torque limit that you’ll find most obvious, as the whole thing visibly pivots around a join in the middle. You won’t need to rely on hearing or feeling for a click ever again!
With the Draper Dynamic wrench you know exactly what you’re going to get. It’s the standard type of torque wrench that’s been used for years – you unfasten the lock nut at the base, wind the handle until the neck reaches the desired torque and lock it back in place again. It’s simple to operate, if a little fiddly and time-consuming, and the Draper does have a mild advantage over normal wrenches with the white text on black being much easier to read at a glance – much like a car’s speedometer.
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PRODUCTS. TEST 33
Inspection lights ANDREW EVANS looks at some shining examples of workplace illumination to see which are the brightest of them all.
T
he nature of cars means a lot of dark and dingy corners. What might have looked on a design engineer’s CAD software as an excellent way to package something soon turns into a nightmare for those having to repeatedly take it apart and put it back together. Whether it’s under the bonnet, buried in a footwell or simply underneath the car itself, there are a lot of dark areas of a car where it’s difficult to get your eyes on without your own shadow getting in the way and making it worse. A good inspection light is a must then. The right light can make the difference between a frustrating job and a simple one merely by letting you see what you’re doing. We’ve looked at a selection of cordless units to shine a light on which is the best.
HOW WE TESTED THEM A good inspection light should be able to fit where you want it to and stay there so that you don’t need an extra pair of hands. Size and features such as angled heads, hooks and magnets to keep a light in place by itself are important. Of course, we’ve also broken out the light meter to see just how bright the lights are at typical working distances.
Sealey LED3601G
Edison PL9230
Ring RIL3600HP
How much: £57.54 (inc VAT) Where from: sealey.co.uk
How much: £60.32 (inc VAT) Where from: cromwell.co.uk
How much: £27.99 (inc VAT) Where from: ringautomotive.com
The smaller of the Sealey units is our favourite of the two. The incredibly compact dimensions are a boon, as there’s almost nowhere this light can’t fit, but that’s only really the start of it. Despite the size, it packs in a hook and magnet – albeit just one magnet, in the base of the unit – so it should be easy to secure almost anywhere it can fit. It charges from a regular USB Micro-B plug, so wherever you can charge your phone you can charge this light. The efficient COB LEDs give a warm light that’s not among the brightest here, but it should be enough for most jobs. It has the same novel angling system as the larger Sealey unit too.
The Edison light is a fairly basic unit. It’s a little on the large side, which means it’s only really of use on larger-scale inspections – such as surveying the underside of a vehicle – or where you have a lot of room to work. It’s pretty robust though, with a tough outer casing, so you don’t have to worry much about dropping it. It’s the brightest of all the lights here, thanks to an array of 30 LEDs, and the output is quite tightly focused. It uses inductive charging, which means there are no ports or sockets to clog up, but it does require the rather bulky charging dock.
When we tested the Ring lamp last year we were impressed at the twist and flex mechanism on the base used to give two degrees of freedom for positioning the head. It’s still a clever system, and with the metal hook rather than plastic of the others, gives a sense of quality about it. Magnets in the base and back give a good scope for attachment, and the light comes with either a plug or a 12-volt cigarette lighter adapter, which makes it good for long hours in a footwell. The Ring light also employs a small torch on one end, which is useful if space is at a premium.
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Draper Inspection Light
Sealey LED3602G
Makita DML801
How much: £52.19 (inc VAT) Where from: drapertools.com
How much: £61.74 (inc VAT) Where from: sealey.co.uk
How much: £30.00 (inc VAT) Where from: makitatools.com
This light has a very broad spread of talents that mark it out as our favourite here. The main light unit itself is the third brightest and uses quite a nice, warm colour temperature. A second mode gives a tightly focused torch beam – useful if you only have enough space to point the end in. The third function is an ultraviolet torch, which makes the Draper rather versatile – the UV will make leaks in cooling systems obvious as the refrigerants fluoresce. A couple of hooks allow the light to hang either way up too, and magnets on the base and rear mean that you can probably fix this light anywhere you want.
The neatest feature on this light is an interesting positioning system that allows almost total freedom to shine the light at any angle relative to the handle. It’s achieved with a ball-shaped metal pivot that’s incredibly easy to use – although we’d advise keeping something to hand to clean it off as it could be a bit of a dirt trap. Even without that, it’s an excellent light that uses SMD LEDs to good effect and is the second brightest light here. Add in the hooks and magnets in the base and back, the extra-low output and torch modes plus the simple USB charging set-up and you’ve got a great all-rounder.
It’s not the brightest of the lights here but the Makita has a few nice touches. The battery powering it, for example, is the same 14.4-volt lithium-ion unit that Makita uses in all of its tools. This gives it the advantage over every other product here in that once it’s out of charge you don’t need to set it aside until it’s recharged – just stick a new battery in and keep going. Not that it will run out of charge often, as it will last for most of a working day in constant use. The hinged head is simple to use too, but ultimately at 40cm long it’s just too big to fit into every place you’ll need.
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FOCUS ON
EDYNAMIX
VIDEO: NOT JUST A GIMMICK BUT A COMPLETE GAME-CHANGER EDYNAMIX
T: 0845 413 0000 W: EDYNAMIX.COM
VIDEO is more than purely a gimmick for garages these days. Using the latest technologies, workshops can better inform their customers while also protecting their businesses against false claims. In garages, the capabilities of video to reassure and upsell to customers is expanding exponentially. When it comes to identifying and highlighting safetyrelated concerns to ensure a duty of care, video is quickly becoming an expected standard by consumers. Workshops who aren’t using video will suffer consumer deflection when compared with those that are. Interestingly, those who are unwittingly distributing low-value video will also suffer the same fate, because the modern-day consumer has an appetite for high-quality, informative video that enables them to better understand work that is needed on their vehicle. It’s well-known that customers often disbelieve the amount of work that their car may need. By using good-quality video to clearly explain what the issues are and demonstrate them to a customer, garages’
chances of upselling both red and amber work is far increased. There are other benefits to using video on your website, as Iain Nickalls at eDynamix says: ‘The value of work authorised online is 12 per cent higher when accompanied by a video.’ By using videos to explain services on their websites, garages are far more likely to convince customers to commit at that point. That’s because video provides the customer with the confidence and evidence required to make an informed buying decision in a non-pressurised environment.
VIDEO1st, from eDynamix, allows the workshops to sell more work, improve parts sales, build relationships and increase customer satisfaction easily, efficiently and effectively by engaging customers through the use of video technology. Nick Horton, the managing director of ProfitBox, which is eDynamix’s business training partner, said: ‘VIDEO1st provides the consumer with the confidence that concerns identified as part of an electronic vehicle health check are real. Not only does the consumer respond positively, the average transaction value increases. It’s quite simply a game-changer.’
PUTTING VIDEO1ST Why your business needs VIDEO1st: n Utilise the latest interactive technology to walk the customer around the vehicle during a health check or as a result of a sales inquiry. n Instant communication with your customer through email, SMS and interactive comments. n Engage, motivate and convert customers by giving them the wow factor. n Create dealership and brand awareness.
38 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
n Track data on views and time spent watching content. How VIDEO1st works: n The application allows the technician or service advisor to add multiple videos and photographs, documents and links to online information that the customer may find useful when making their purchasing decision. n The customer can comment or send queries via an
interactive comments section, allowing staff to respond quickly and efficiently. n A branded gallery template is utilised to ensure a high degree of professionalism. n VIDEO1st can be viewed on any internet-enabled mobile device. n VIDEO1st can be uploaded via a device with a built-in video camera so there may be no need to purchase additional devices.
eDynamix WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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OUR FLEET.
Ford Thunderbird The work-based directive was easy enough: move the T-bird elsewhere. If only the solution was as simple...
R
emember where we left off? Everything was going so well and I’d worked out that there was a starting procedure for the Thunderbird. It’s got a swinging steering wheel so that large Americans can get in and out easily, it’s an automatic, it’s got a foot brake, and more switches and electrical features than a car of this age should possibly have. To start the car, the steering wheel needs to be locked in position and your foot has to be on the brake – enough for it to register but not too much, as there are no discs on the front – then turn the key. This was enough to get the engine turning but not enough to fire it up. With the bonnet back up and air filter off, everything seemed to work but the fuel wasn’t making its way from the huge petrol tank in the rear to the engine in the front. Thanks to a temporary fuel tank made from a Buxton bottle (other bottled water brands are available) directly feeding to the fuel pump with a bastardised piece of pipe from elsewhere on the engine, things were more promising – and it was clear that there was an issue here. After a few attempts at firing up and a bit of Easy Start in the carb, it wasn’t long before the 6.4-litre V8 fired into life – my first realisation that I owned a fully fledged American muscle car with some serious muscle and an unmistakable roar to match. However, while the petrol was going speedily in, it was leaking from the petrol pump and carburettor just as quickly. As the engine was firing away, it was clear it would be short-lived. My second realisation was that I’d bought a car I couldn’t afford to run to the shops and back at 16mpg. But at least I knew it sort of worked. While all of this was going on, there was a second issue to resolve – getting into the boot. Not a particularly difficult thing, but
The T-bird refused to shift and opening the boot lid, below, was a rust-filled revelation some persistence with the WD-40 meant that before long I was in – although I immediately wished that I wasn’t. Although the boot lid itself was substantial, the floor wasn’t much more than some crusty rust. The good news was my new door cards to replace the rotten ones were in there. Next, an easy job for me was getting the rear drum brakes back on the car – or at least that’s what I thought. Once in place, the car became impossible to move. In a desperate attempt to shift the T-bird out of the work car park to a more suitable area – before being chastised by the site manager – we spent three hours and five cans of different flammable liquids trying to move it. Every time it would fire up but I couldn’t get it moving and my worst fear was that there was an issue with the gearbox. However, with the rear drums off again, the Thunderbird rolled unbelievably easily for its weight. Now that we knew it would move, we tried to fire it up once more, but the fuel pump had completely given up the ghost. So, with the Buxton bottle directly feeding the carburettor instead, it started immediately! But you can’t hold a water bottle over the carb with the bonnet closed – instead, with the bonnet up and partner-in-crime Sean sat on the wing, I attempted to manoeuvre it into position with limited visibility and no brakes. I made it, so I guess this is a positive story really, but I’m sure my next update will be filled with just as many problems as resolutions.
Model: 1966 Ford Thunderbird ‘Flair Bird’ Owned by: Rebecca Chaplin Engine: 6.4-litre V8 390 Bought for: £4,250 Mileage: 24,043 Money spent this month: £120 Highlight of the month: Hearing that lovely V8 roar into life – albeit temporarily.
OUR WHEELS... WE LOVE CARS AT WORKSHOP AND HERE’S THE PROOF. WE’VE WRITTEN ABOUT THEM AND EVERYTHING... 40 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
FORD FIESTA XR2
VW TYPE 3 FASTBACK
NISSAN ELGRAND
FORD THUNDERBIRD
by James Baggott Chief executive, @CarDealerEd
by Rebecca Chaplin Head of content, @believebecca
by Andy Entwistle Blackball Media MD, @CarDealerAndy
by Rebecca Chaplin Head of content, @believebecca
The XR2 has gone to Matt’s for some love and attention. And considering I’ve just seen one for sale for £27k, that might be a good investment.
Fuelling is still the biggest issue. It’s going to be another big project to remove the fuel injectors – fingers crossed they only need cleaning.
Having swapped the stock alloys for used 18-inch alloys, it became obvious new rubber was needed. Thanks PJ at Fox Garage for sorting.
The T-bird has moved about 100m for the first time since I’ve owned it. If I want to enjoy it this summer I’ll really have to get a move on!
Peugeot 205 GTi Although it’s a car that looks the business, it’s long been in need of some mechanical attention. Time to get the wallet out...
O
n the outside, J39 JMR looks showroom fresh, mostly thanks to an extensive refurbishment that saw her stripped down to her birthday suit and given 100 hours of lovingly-applied paint in the workshop. However, that same care and attention was never lavished on the engine – resulting in a car with supermodel looks, but tramp internals. It was really quite apparent it needed an overhaul when a round-Britain trip resulted in a return to Peugeot on the back of an AA truck. Sadly, even the experts at Peugeot gave up on fixing the 205 GTi’s dodgy running and idling issues before it was returned to me in much the same state as it left. After that it languished in the work lock-up slowly gathering dust until I finally decided to do something about it. What with Peugeot 205 GTi values rising faster than the London skyline, I thought spending a few quid on it would be a wise investment. So, a call to Matt Kendall over at our trusted local independent workshop, White’s Motors, in Southsea, was made. Matt popped over and picked the Peugeot up – which itself wasn’t without its problems. A new battery was supplied by our friends from Yuasa to help get it started – the old one was completely shot. What’s more, the uprated cell would help it start as it’s often left for long periods without moving. Matt got it going and kangarooed back to Portsmouth. The 205 had developed a terrible surge on over-run, while the idle would hunt up and down in traffic. In fact, I was glad Matt was driving it back, not me, as he looked like a first-day-on-L-plates learner. Over the next couple of months I received sporadic updates from Matt as he attempted to tackle the rough running Frenchie. As I wasn’t in a particular hurry to get it back – because, let’s face it, I wasn’t exactly racking up the mileage – I told Matt to take as much time as he needed. The Peugeot’s now back after a considerable amount of fettling and is running better than ever. After the new battery was fitted, Matt tackled the idling – on the way back to Portsmouth it was hovering around the 2,000rpm mark, but now sits at a steady 1,000rpm. A connector had come off the throttle position
SUBARU LEGACY GT-B
James’s 205 GTi is running well... now his XR2 is in need of some attention too sensor, apparently. It was also getting rather hot, which was sorted by replacing the radiator fan switch and sorting a leak on the thermostat cover. On start-up it had developed a nasty rattle, which was cured by retightening the cambelt. The distributor had issues too, which were resolved by sending it away for refurbishment, likewise the air flow meter. ‘The problem with the 205 now is that parts are hard to come by,’ Matt explained. ‘I sourced a lot from the other 205s I have handily lying around the workshop – you’ll be pleased to hear I picked the best bits for yours.’ It’s good to have a friend like Matt… With the running issues resolved there were a few minor things to sort ahead of its MOT. Matt described them as ‘mostly typical French electrical gremlins’. ‘I fixed the horn, it worked for the MOT, then stopped working again,’ said Matt. ‘We’ll have to tackle that next time!’ The absence of a horn hasn’t diminished my love for it returning, though. I’ve been driving
BMW 330D TOURING
MG METRO TURBO
it everywhere. I say everywhere, what I mean is mostly to Costa and the shops, but it’s better than it being wrapped up again in the garage gathering dust. It’s running superbly – so much so, I now notice every rattle in the cabin… Oh, and the fact the interior light falls out of its housing after every bump in the road. I might tackle that myself, but then we all know how that goes (see bike problems a few issues ago). Matt’s taken the XR2 away now for similar treatment. Apparently, that was close to overheating on the way to Portsmouth while also leaking fuel, so the chances are that could be pricey too. The 205 bill came in at £628.93. Ouch.
Model: Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 Owned by: James Baggott Engine: 1.9-litre Bought for: £1,200 Mileage: 130,601 Money spent this month: £628.93 Highlight of the month: Finally getting it back and running properly again.
NISSAN 200SX
PEUGEOT 205 GTi
by Jon Reay Multimedia manager, @JonReay
by Jack Evans News editor, @jackrober
by Christian Tilbury Staff writer, @Christilbury1
by Darren Cassey Staff writer, @DCassey
by James Baggott Chief executive, @CarDealerEd
With a new timing belt, tensioner, pulleys and water pump delivered, Jon is trying to work up the motivation to tackle the job.
The oil levels are good, it holds a steady temperature and the engine sounds sweet. As I’ve said before, it just needs to be driven more!
The Metro’s failed its MOT and blown its head gasket, but the welder’s been fired up and the head’s having a light skim.
It’s been quiet as MOT time approaches. I’m fairly optimistic about its chances – just praying my bank balance isn’t hit too hard!
The 205 is back and working brilliantly once more. Matt’s been hard at work at it for months and you can read all about it above. WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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OUR KEV.
OUR MAN ON THE INSIDE SPILLS THE BEANS ON THE GARAGE BUSINESS...
Suddenly, there was a sign that my problem was over... O kay, confession time. It’s a well-known fact that a mechanic’s car is like a decorator’s house or a gardener’s garden. The last thing we feel like doing after a hard day at the office is what we do for a living, and, as a result, things that need doing tend to get put off. I found this out the hard way the other day. Like all good mechanics, my own daily driver is a heap of rubbish. I have a few nice cars in my private collection, including an off-road Land Rover and a couple of very shiny classics, but the daily clunker is, at present, a shabby old Ford Focus estate that I took on when a customer left it with us to scrap after the cambelt snapped, and I trained one of our apprentices by rebuilding the engine with him – a mutually beneficial experience that also paid for him to have a couple of nights out. The Focus is, by no means, a well maintained car. I check the oil, coolant and tyre pressures fairly frequently and I keep intending to give it a service, but apart from that, I tend to ignore it. And therein lies the problem… On a rare night out with my good lady wife just a few days back, we were making our way back through the country lanes to our rural retreat when, all of a sudden, we hit a pothole and the car started to vibrate, eventually shuddering to a halt at the side of a deserted road, at least three miles from anywhere. And, despite advising all of my colleagues and customers to carry a basic toolkit with them at all times, the best I could muster was an adjustable spanner and a pair of pliers, both of which – randomly – were in the pocket of a pair of overalls I’d left in the boot, where I should really have kept some more useful bits instead. Other than that, I had the torch on my iPhone, with about 12 per cent battery left. Needless to say, herself was not impressed. But car mechanics are nothing if not resourceful, and after a cursory inspection with the torch I discovered that the main battery to earth bolt had worked itself free, and looking at the remaining (slightly sheared) thread, it was a 16mm diameter. Which, of course, was terrific, as every other bolt on the car had a 6mm thread. If I’d had my toolbox, there would have been two ways around the problem. The first would have been to find an appropriate bolt, the second to get out my 12v soldering iron and solder the earth strap to the mounting point. Alas, I didn’t even have gaffer tape, just an ailing torch and an extremely grumpy good lady. Cue my most resourceful moment yet. Looking around,
the only thing anywhere near us was a road sign, advising anyone looking for our village to turn right in 150 yards. The sign was held to its pole with jubilee-style clamps, which in turn were held in place by chubby 16mm threaded bolts. All of a sudden, our situation was no longer ‘Game Over’. By now, my phone had died so not only did I no longer have a torch, but also no means of calling the breakdown service. Please don’t share this information with my wife, even now… I was, however, back in business. Using superhuman reserves of strength, my cheap and nasty adjustable spanner held out just enough for me to worry one of the bolts free from the back of the road sign, and using my pliers to bridge various connections, I was able to locate the correct earth point in the pitch black by getting the car to generate its own little sparks of light. Not something I’d recommend, but as someone who once changed a gearbox in a motorway service station car park with nothing but a cheap, promotional socket set I’d bought from the petrol counter, there was no way I was being defeated by something so trivial. The pliers were handy, too, for scraping the surface rust off a bolt that had spent many a year hanging in the great outdoors. I don’t think anyone was more astonished than I was, to be honest, when I got the bolt to take to the remainder of the leftover thread and the car fired instantly into life. At this point, I felt heroic, despite the grumblings of my long-suffering better half, who was already struggling with the after-effects of an entire bottle of Pinot. If I’d assisted another motorist with such a creative bodge, I’d have been quite proud of myself. But I’m a mechanic, and I should know better. What I really should have done is travelled with a basic selection of tools in my car. Then we’d never have been stranded in the first place, and I wouldn’t live in a village with a lopsided road sign.
WHO IS OUR KEV? If we told you, we’d have to kill you... What we can say is he’s been around for longer than he cares to remember and has a fund of stories to tell...
42 | WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
”
We were making our way back through the country lanes to our rural retreat when, all of a sudden, we hit a pothole.
SUPPLIERS GUIDE.
IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A WORKSHOP SUPPLIER, YOU CAN FIND THE DETAILS OF SELECTED COMPANIES HERE
Welcome to your essential guide to leading suppliers
WORKSHOP Magazine is proud to publish the contact details of some of the key suppliers of products and services to the automotive repair industry – from components and parts providers to companies specialising in garage equipment, web design, online solutions and even legal advice for when a transaction goes sour.
Our guide to the industry’s must-have partners follows on from the success of a similar resource in our sister publication, Car Dealer Magazine. This automotive repair, service and maintenance industry version will become just as indispensable. Keep an eye on this space each month as we include more and more leading suppliers.
Diagnostic Equipment
Aftersales Software
Approved Schemes
eDynamix
RAC Approved Dealer Network
Garage Equipment
Garage Equipment
Garage Equipment
Butts of Bawtry
GEMCO
Pro-Align
Garage Equipment
Garage Management Software
Legal & Compliance
Straightset
Dragon2000
Lawgistics
Parts Suppliers
Parts Suppliers
Trade Bodies
Blue Print
Febi Bilstein
IGA
W: edynamix.com T: 0845 413 0000 E: enquiries@edynamix.com Info: eDynamix offers web-based applications providing a connected and simple-to-use platform in which dealers can manage a customer throughout the service lifecycle, including service plans, electronic vehicle health check, repair and finance plans, proactive follow-up, online bookings, MOT cleanse, VIDEO1st, aftersales surveys, and automated confirmations and reminders.
W: buttsequipment.com T: 01302 710868 E: info@buttsequipment.com Info: Butts of Bawtry is literally a ONE STOP SHOP for the garage or workshop. Offering a comprehensive range of Quality Garage Equipment from leading manufacturers, backed up by our team of trained and certified service and repair engineers. From a trolley jack to a complete workshop installation, Butts have the answer.
W: straightset.co.uk T: 01909 480055 E: paul.bates@straightset.co.uk Info: Straightset is the UK’s leading independent garage equipment company, providing best-in-class design, supply, installation and service of car and commercial workshops for nearly 30 years. We carry a vast range of quality equipment carefully sourced from top manufacturers within the EU and US and offer one of the most comprehensive aftersales services in the market.
W: blue-print.co.uk T: 01622 833007 E: adl-blueprint.bpic@bilsteingroup.com Info: As part of the Bilstein Group, Blue Print supplies OEmatching quality vehicle components, with strong Asian and American coverage. With more than 23,000 different parts in its range, from braking and clutch components to filtration, Blue Print covers a huge portion of the vehicle parc. Want to get it right first time? Think Blue Print.
Approved Dealer
W: rac.co.uk/getapproved T: 0330 159 1111 E: dealernetwork@rac.co.uk Info: Being authorised to use the RAC name as a badge of quality creates strong consumer confidence and increases profitability. As an RAC Approved Dealer, you have access to one of the UK’s most respected motoring brands. There’s a range of RAC-backed products and services at your disposal, as well as a customer reach of more than 8 million RAC members to promote your dealership.
W: gemco.co.uk T: 01604 828500 E: sales@gemco.co.uk Info: GEMCO is the UK market leader and your one-stop shop for the supply, delivery, installation, training, calibration and maintenance of garage equipment. With the largest comprehensive range of equipment brands available for both car and commercial vehicle workshops, GEMCO provides top-quality garage equipment products and services to car and commercial vehicle workshops.
W: dragon2000.co.uk T: 01327 222 333 E: sales@dragon2000.co.uk Info: Dragon2000 supplies garages and car dealers with a multiaward winning Dealer Management System, time and efficiency monitoring and integrated websites for online service bookings. Includes free APPraise mobile app for all users – for sending personalised VHC images & videos to customers’ phones to help increase upsold work and customer trust.
W: febi.com T: 01977 691100 E: enquiries@febiuk.co.uk Info: As part of the Bilstein Group, Febi Bilstein supplies a range of more than 25,000 different articles for all popular European vehicle models. From steering and suspension to rubber, metal and electrical, Febi Bilstein provides OE-matching quality components with first-time fitment and long service life. For quality, choose Febi Bilstein.
Nebula Systems
W: nebulasystems.com T: 01280 816333 E: sales@nebulasystems.com Info: Nebula Systems specialises in the development of advanced technologies for the automotive and future mobility industries. We make vehicle data and systems more accessible so that a vehicle’s health, status and utilisation can be monitored, analysed, diagnosed and maintained, faster and more effectively, anytime and anywhere.
W: pro-align.co.uk T: 01327 323007 E: enquiries@pro-align.co.uk Info: Dedicated wheel alignment specialists, supplying, supporting and servicing the world-leading Hunter brand nationwide: Hunter aligners – Fast, accurate, reliable, unlocking business opportunities, delivering major income stream and rapid ROI Road Force balancer – A new service very few workshops deliver Tyre changers – Easy service perfection
W: lawgistics.co.uk T: 01480 445500 E: sales@lawgistics.co.uk Info: The motor trade’s leading legal firm, giving help and advice to our members and the industry in general. Passionate about fairness under the law. Our legal team are there to protect your interests. Not anti consumer, just pro trader. Don't miss our advice, which is published every month in Workshop Magazine. See pages 26 and 27 of this issue for The Judge’s contribution to this month’s issue.
W: IndependentGarageAssociation.co.uk T: 0845 305 4230 E: enquiries@rmif.co.uk Info: The Independent Garage Association is the largest and most prominent representative body in the independent garage sector. We are the voice of the industry in matters arising in UK and EU Government, and we help independent garages to thrive in all aspects of their business by offering advice, information and services.
TO HAVE YOUR DETAILS INCLUDED HERE CALL 023 9252 2434 AND ASK FOR WORKSHOP SUPPLIERS GUIDE LISTINGS WorkShopMagazine.co.uk
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Best Software of the Year
Service
Sales
Parts
CRM
Choose the award-winning Dealer Management System with over 22 years’ experience, complete with a FREE Vehicle Health Check video app to help increase customer trust and upsold work.
sales@dragon2000.co.uk dragon2000.co.uk 01327 222 333