Norris Designs Rebuild - FAO Dogbreath etc

Kingy

Kingy

Kingy

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,400
Location
Leicester
Hi guys,

A guy at work bought a tuned Evo 6 a couple of weeks back and his engine is dead, bottom end issues or something... He mentioned taking it to Norris Designs and swapping his dead engine plus a couple of grand for a Evo 7 engine, and it rang alarm bells as I remember a thread on here regarding a shoddy rebuild where an indepandent assesment had brought up a list full of issues, including brass screws being used etc...

I can't find the thread, but I remember Dogbreath commenting on it not being a major suprise as they don't deserve their reputation? Can anyone find the thread / or find other cases pro or negative regarding Norris?
 
I've not heard anything bad about them personally. Simon lent me an ECU for my R34 GTR and I ended up keeping it for well over a year (long story), he never moaned about it or charged me a penny.
 
I've heard one bad thing about Norris Designs, and that was Simons cr@p driving at Castle Combe into that 106 (video link). :rolleyes:

But I don't know anything about their quality of engine builds, other than they seem to have quite a good reputation.
 
I've heard of a few questionable builds but nothing I can link to, I think their pricing is pretty hefty too.

RC Developments and EVO400 are worth a look.

Best bet is to consult the MLR
 
Im a member of the MLR (Mitsubishi Lancer register) and i have never heard bad reports about Norris Designs in the 2 years ive been a member
 
A friends had his S14 200SX rebuilt by N.D. after it spat out the big ends (SR20DET munching big ends, what a surprise :rolleyes:). He isn't the boy racer type at all (drives a Honda Jazz now!), but tends to go overboard on expenditure on everything he buys, and heard that N.D. were the dogs danglies so had the whole car shipped up on a low loader rather than giving it to someone local.

The repair estimate went up daily, especialy when he was advised to have forged pistons and competition head gasket fitted, despite having no intentions of running more than stock boost. The crank and a couple of con rods were also apparently knackered and had to be replaced with secondhand parts, but the old ones did not come back with the car as requested.

In the end he paid several thousand pounds (can't remember exact figure, but I was shocked) to get the engine rebuilt, and then had lots of problems with misfiring and cutting out after the car had been delievered so asked me to to take a look. Basicly the ignition module had been badly melted (e.g. just like a blow lamp had been on it) and then wrapped in loads of insulation tape to hide the damage. A new igntion module got it running ok, but during my inspection I found numerous bolts that were either missing or were loose, the charcoal cansister had been removed(without asking the owner) and the pipes and wiring just left dangling. Lots of pipes and wires not clipped back properly etc.

In short it had been literaly thrown back together. The owner lost confidence in the car after I had pointed out the mess they had made and traded it in for a 328i shortly afterwards. (Told him to demand they sort it but he never seems to make a fuss about these things).

OTOH I have read a lot of praise for their work. Perhaps they gave his car to the apprentice to have a play with. Nonetheless I was frankly appalled with the standard of workmanship he had paid a great deal of money for.

EDIT: They did do a nice shiny paint job on the cam cover though :rolleyes:
 
Dogbreath said:
A friends had his S14 200SX rebuilt by N.D. after it spat out the big ends (SR20DET munching big ends, what a surprise :rolleyes:). He isn't the boy racer type at all (drives a Honda Jazz now!), but tends to go overboard on expenditure on everything he buys, and heard that N.D. were the dogs danglies so had the whole car shipped up on a low loader rather than giving it to someone local.

The repair estimate went up daily, especialy when he was advised to have forged pistons and competition head gasket fitted, despite having no intentions of running more than stock boost. The crank and a couple of con rods were also apparently knackered and had to be replaced with secondhand parts, but the old ones did not come back with the car as requested.

In the end he paid several thousand pounds (can't remember exact figure, but I was shocked) to get the engine rebuilt, and then had lots of problems with misfiring and cutting out after the car had been delievered so asked me to to take a look. Basicly the ignition module had been badly melted (e.g. just like a blow lamp had been on it) and then wrapped in loads of insulation tape to hide the damage. A new igntion module got it running ok, but during my inspection I found numerous bolts that were either missing or were loose, the charcoal cansister had been removed(without asking the owner) and the pipes and wiring just left dangling. Lots of pipes and wires not clipped back properly etc.

In short it had been literaly thrown back together. The owner lost confidence in the car after I had pointed out the mess they had made and traded it in for a 328i shortly afterwards. (Told him to demand they sort it but he never seems to make a fuss about these things).

OTOH I have read a lot of praise for their work. Perhaps they gave his car to the apprentice to have a play with. Nonetheless I was frankly appalled with the standard of workmanship he had paid a great deal of money for.

EDIT: They did do a nice shiny paint job on the cam cover though :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That story is more than enough to put me off.
 
Tom|Nbk said:
That story is more than enough to put me off.
Click to expand...

To be fair it has to be balanced against a lot of apparently happy customers. Poo happens, and if my friend had kicked up a stink (as I surely would have) then I'd have hoped the faults would have been rectified. Still not impressed though.
 
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