A good example of our versatility and the range of work we offer our private clients can be seen in this interesting early Subaru Outback 2.5 manual, which recently visited us for an engine rebuild and LPG conversion.
In the family from new, the car had been parked in a barn on the family farm lying unused due to an engine issue. The owners were keen to get the car back into use as it had low mileage and, as everyone knows, Subarus are low key, super versatile and never really go out of fashion.
We took the engine out and sent it off to a Subaru specialist for inspection. They found some damage to the cylinder heads and refurbished the heads before rebuilding the engine. We had the transmission inspected by a former Prodrive Subaru engineer, as the 5-speed manual Subaru gearboxes are notorious for fragility. An issue was found with fifth gear, so we had a good gearbox stripped and checked before installing the rebuilt engine and replacement transmission with a new clutch.
The owner also enquired about fitting an LPG conversion to the car and we were happy to help with this. We called in a retired LPG engineer to manage the fitting and setup, and carried out the complete installation of the gas tank and additional components in-house, making bespoke brackets and mounts for the LPG system.
Our private clients are all passionate car enthusiasts who trust us to maintain investment collections of classic cars and prepare various classics for regularity rallies or other amateur motorsport events. The cars land with a brief of “just go through it and sort everything out”, we do exactly that and send the customers progress updates along the way.
This is a very satisfying way to work on older cars which have often been neglected by previous owners, as jobs often go on for longer than expected. Trying to stick to an initial estimate when one problem reveals several more issues is next to impossible. Having clients who trust us not to go overboard with the bill is a privilege: we are delighted to count all of our repeat customers in this group.