Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: edsomega on 20 November 2010, 23:01:30
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I asked for some help locating someone who could do my cambelt in the South East - I am based near Gatwick. I got a few replies and suggestions and I also got a pm from someone called Darth Loo Knee. It said if I needed some help with my cambelt to give him a shout. I gave him a call and he said he would come and do my cambelt and cam cover gaskets. I admit I was pretty dubious - did I really want to spend money with someone I don't know who messages me from a forum? I was intrigued so I gave him a call and he quoted me a competitive price and only charged me fuel at cost to drive for three hours to get to me. Even taking this into account it was a VERY sensible price.
I thought that it had to be too good to be true, he asked me for a deposit if I wanted the work done as people had been messing him about and put him out of pocket. I was reluctant to give a deposit, and fired the same back to him - how did I know he was any good? After years as a sales manager in the motor trade I have seen some truly awful work, met some cowboys and got generally used to being taken for a ride and finding very few good people out there..... He suggested I came back onto the forum and posted a question to find out, so I did. I think I had nearly 30 positive responses, including one which said that in another life he had actually designed the Omega.
I duly took a chance, my cynicism somewhat alleviated by the positive feedback, but it did cross my mind that 'Darth' could have just had a lot of log-ins in different names, they were all such complimentary replies......
The deposit sent, we arranged for 'Darth' to come down a couple of weeks later to do the work. He arrived, slightly late, but had texted me to let me know he was stuck on the car park that is the M25. When he got to me he introduced himself as 'Daz' (and explained that Darth was just a name someone had given him on the forum) and started putting on his overalls - I asked him if he wanted to put my car in the garage so he could work on it there, slightly warmer for him I thought. He said he was quite happy to work outside as it wasn't raining.
I stopped outside to watch him work - I really hate it when people do this to me, but I can't help myself. He gave me a full running commentary of what he was doing - every tool came to hand, following a system that he had clearly devised after doing hundreds of these cambelts - it was something like watching an Omega cambelt martial arts workout. The bits came off and I thought 'My God, I hope he remember where all that goes!' I suggested he put a video of him doing one on Youtube - quite something to watch! I watched as he carefully put all the tiny bits coming off my pride and joy into a magnetic tin, taking great care in everything he did, explaining things and talking me through the good and bad points of the Omega and the weak points to watch for and what I should do to keep mine running as sweetly as possible. He took great care in sorting out the timing for the cambelt, pointing out to me that the timing had been very slightly out which could lead to slightly rough running and poorer mpg. I said that I thought it had been ok, but reserved judgement until I heard it running again.
He then moved onto the camcover gaskets, explaining that too much sealant would ruin the seal and when they next came to be changed would be a nightmare to get excess sealant off. He neatly wiped any minor excess off, leaving the engine bay neat and tidy. He pointed out at this point that one of the vacuum pipes was split at the end and that my 'vario-ram' wouldn't be working (any mistake in the terminology is mine not his!!) but repaired this free of charge for me by taking a section out and refitting it. The innards of my car went back together beautifully - I watched the big pile of tiny bits in the magnetic tray get smaller and smaller, thinking all the time, 'There's going to be something left over.... Surely he can't remember where it all goes!!'
I went back inside for 5 minutes to do us some bacon sarnies and coffee (allegedly it is known as 'Darth fuel') and when I came back in I couldn't believe how much had gone back together - I had obviously been halving his speed by chatting to him! He inhaled the bacon sandwich and coffee, still talking and working - impressive trick, I thought...... He got to the end and I thought - "I've got him!" There was a little piece of plastic left over. I pointed it out and he said "Its broken". I asked if it was important - apparently it secured a cable into place that looked to me that it didn't really need to be any further secured. He replied that if it was his car he would do it, so he would advise me to get a new one as nothing less than prefect would do. I also queried whether it was even worth doing anything with the vacuum tube he had repaired - he advised me to get a new vacuum tube as although the one he repaired for me worked the ram things perfectly well, it was not as it had been designed so should be replaced. I stood duly corrected, feeling like a bodge-it merchant.
We started the car up and got rid of the air in the cooling system and I was surprised to hear and feel that it was running smoother. Nice work!
In conclusion, if you are fed with with shonky rip off merchants, you couldn't hope to meet someone more helpful, clearly with a HUGE amount of knowledge and ability when it comes to the Omega, and even a pleasant bloke to deal with and chat to. And this is coming from (and it pains me to say) a super cynical untrusting perfectionist who hates people going near his car. I've found a good'un and will be using Daz again - well played for being a decent bloke and actually doing what you say on the tin!
Thanks for the work, no longer fretting about my cambelt and leaking camcover gaskets and swear it is going better than ever, particularly up the top end of the rev range. All previous good references totally deserved!
All thanks to the OOF as well!
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Most people give him a couple of lines, he will be hell to live with now...... :D :D :D
I know Darth, he is one of life's genuinely nice and trustworthy people...... :y :y
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Bloody hell ... he must be paying lots more for recommendations now to get THAT many words !!!!!
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D
however, in all seriousness, no doubting that one of the best Omega mechanics around has worked his magic on your motor :y :y :y
"Good lad" is no where enough to describe him :y :y
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that would have done.
ive grown a beard reading that lot!
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He's bang on he worked on my car alot and never had any prob's with his work i'd defo recomend him
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I'm very fussy about who works on my car but he's worked on it ;) ;)
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A glowing reference indeed and obviously well deserved. :y :y
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Good God, they let the Mad Stokie down south... ...did he need a passport.
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I have read this again and decided that you were far to slow with the bacon butties....... ::) ::) ::)
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Now that is surely the best write up for a recomendation i have read on here ;D and if i was fool enough to run a v6 omega >:(
the turbo v6 estate put me off with its fuel costs)
think i would have no hesitation in actually sending Darth a pm!!! :y
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I was surprised you were so wary in the first place, he is a Moderator after all on this site.
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I asked for some help locating someone who could do my cambelt in the South East - I am based near Gatwick. I got a few replies and suggestions and I also got a pm from someone called Darth Loo Knee. It said if I needed some help with my cambelt to give him a shout. I gave him a call and he said he would come and do my cambelt and cam cover gaskets. I admit I was pretty dubious - did I really want to spend money with someone I don't know who messages me from a forum? I was intrigued so I gave him a call and he quoted me a competitive price and only charged me fuel at cost to drive for three hours to get to me. Even taking this into account it was a VERY sensible price.
I thought that it had to be too good to be true, he asked me for a deposit if I wanted the work done as people had been messing him about and put him out of pocket. I was reluctant to give a deposit, and fired the same back to him - how did I know he was any good? After years as a sales manager in the motor trade I have seen some truly awful work, met some cowboys and got generally used to being taken for a ride and finding very few good people out there..... He suggested I came back onto the forum and posted a question to find out, so I did. I think I had nearly 30 positive responses, including one which said that in another life he had actually designed the Omega.
I duly took a chance, my cynicism somewhat alleviated by the positive feedback, but it did cross my mind that 'Darth' could have just had a lot of log-ins in different names, they were all such complimentary replies......
The deposit sent, we arranged for 'Darth' to come down a couple of weeks later to do the work. He arrived, slightly late, but had texted me to let me know he was stuck on the car park that is the M25. When he got to me he introduced himself as 'Daz' (and explained that Darth was just a name someone had given him on the forum) and started putting on his overalls - I asked him if he wanted to put my car in the garage so he could work on it there, slightly warmer for him I thought. He said he was quite happy to work outside as it wasn't raining.
I stopped outside to watch him work - I really hate it when people do this to me, but I can't help myself. He gave me a full running commentary of what he was doing - every tool came to hand, following a system that he had clearly devised after doing hundreds of these cambelts - it was something like watching an Omega cambelt martial arts workout. The bits came off and I thought 'My God, I hope he remember where all that goes!' I suggested he put a video of him doing one on Youtube - quite something to watch! I watched as he carefully put all the tiny bits coming off my pride and joy into a magnetic tin, taking great care in everything he did, explaining things and talking me through the good and bad points of the Omega and the weak points to watch for and what I should do to keep mine running as sweetly as possible. He took great care in sorting out the timing for the cambelt, pointing out to me that the timing had been very slightly out which could lead to slightly rough running and poorer mpg. I said that I thought it had been ok, but reserved judgement until I heard it running again.
He then moved onto the camcover gaskets, explaining that too much sealant would ruin the seal and when they next came to be changed would be a nightmare to get excess sealant off. He neatly wiped any minor excess off, leaving the engine bay neat and tidy. He pointed out at this point that one of the vacuum pipes was split at the end and that my 'vario-ram' wouldn't be working (any mistake in the terminology is mine not his!!) but repaired this free of charge for me by taking a section out and refitting it. The innards of my car went back together beautifully - I watched the big pile of tiny bits in the magnetic tray get smaller and smaller, thinking all the time, 'There's going to be something left over.... Surely he can't remember where it all goes!!'
I went back inside for 5 minutes to do us some bacon sarnies and coffee (allegedly it is known as 'Darth fuel') and when I came back in I couldn't believe how much had gone back together - I had obviously been halving his speed by chatting to him! He inhaled the bacon sandwich and coffee, still talking and working - impressive trick, I thought...... He got to the end and I thought - "I've got him!" There was a little piece of plastic left over. I pointed it out and he said "Its broken". I asked if it was important - apparently it secured a cable into place that looked to me that it didn't really need to be any further secured. He replied that if it was his car he would do it, so he would advise me to get a new one as nothing less than prefect would do. I also queried whether it was even worth doing anything with the vacuum tube he had repaired - he advised me to get a new vacuum tube as although the one he repaired for me worked the ram things perfectly well, it was not as it had been designed so should be replaced. I stood duly corrected, feeling like a bodge-it merchant.
We started the car up and got rid of the air in the cooling system and I was surprised to hear and feel that it was running smoother. Nice work!
In conclusion, if you are fed with with shonky rip off merchants, you couldn't hope to meet someone more helpful, clearly with a HUGE amount of knowledge and ability when it comes to the Omega, and even a pleasant bloke to deal with and chat to. And this is coming from (and it pains me to say) a super cynical untrusting perfectionist who hates people going near his car. I've found a good'un and will be using Daz again - well played for being a decent bloke and actually doing what you say on the tin!
Thanks for the work, no longer fretting about my cambelt and leaking camcover gaskets and swear it is going better
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Continued from above I tried a direct reply but you'd used up all the available characters bar one :o And I thought I was a paranoid sceptic :o :o. ;)
All in all Daz is a good egg :y
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I started to read this then realised who it was about lmao ;D
Well what can I say other thank you Ed and you have my number if you require my services again ;D ::) :D
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I did say he designed the v6" omega engine"in another life .We on this forum are happy he is with us. :y
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Bloody hell has he finally done one that's run after he's played with it.
Well done Pinky a first time for everything.
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Looks like i've picked the right guy to do my cambelt then :y .Be in touch soon Daz, got about 4K left .
Mark
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I think it's only fair and respectful that Daz posts a reply the same length as the original post...
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that is a glowing testament to a man that knows his omega!!! :y :y :)
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......and started putting on his overalls......
::) That`s odd, I`d heard hat he`s previously always liked to work whilst buck-naked! ;D
;) Well done, 'Daft Ada' :y
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I think it's only fair and respectful that Daz posts a reply the same length as the original post...
Unsure if he could add that many big and small letters together to make something resembling Engerlish....
-- ugly git does know the sharp end from the blunt end of a spanner though.
Apparently.... :P ;D
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Thats no way to speak about your own son Brucie. ::) :D ;D
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I started to read this then realised who it was about lmao ;D
Well what can I say other thank you Ed and you have my number if you require my services again ;D ::) :D
Where do you live then Mr Darth?
Fancy a trip to Kent?
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I am glad the apprentice is still applying the quality level he was taught! ;D
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I am glad the apprentice is still applying the quality level he was taught! ;D
I am honoured to be your Apprentice, My Master x x
:-* ;D
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I started to read this then realised who it was about lmao ;D
Well what can I say other thank you Ed and you have my number if you require my services again ;D ::) :D
Where do you live then Mr Darth?
Fancy a trip to Kent?
I live in a Galaxy far far away ;D
I have sent you a PM mate, give me a ring and we can see what we can do :y
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I started to read this then realised who it was about lmao ;D
Well what can I say other thank you Ed and you have my number if you require my services again ;D ::) :D
Where do you live then Mr Darth?
Fancy a trip to Kent?
I live in a Galaxy far far away ;D
I have sent you a PM mate, give me a ring and we can see what we can do :y
Explains a lot. ;D ;D
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The Galaxy is known to its inhabitants as "The Massive", the so called language spoken (or grunted) by these creatures is known as "Stokie", which is completely incomprehensible to humans. :y
:D :D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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The Galaxy is known to its inhabitants as "The Massive", the so called language spoken (or grunted) by these creatures is known as "Stokie", which is completely incomprehensible to humans. :y
:D :D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Silicon based life-forms?
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I've said this already but it's thanks to Daz's inquiring nature and eagle eye he found that my recently fitted replacement 3.0ltr engine was a 2.5 ltr and although it's opened a big can of legal worms I am truly grateful.Also I would like as every one else who uses Daz's services big him up to the maximum. :y :y
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.....
that my recently fitted replacement 3.0ltr engine was a 2.5 ltr and although it's opened a big can of legal worms.....
tell us more! :-? :-? ;)
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I'ts a long story and to a point I guess I've been a bit to trusting and got taken in by a company who have a web site that says all the right
things but in reality they're no where as good as they claim to be.The car has been back too them twice for an oil leak which has still not been fixed and that's how Daz got to take a look at it and discovered their"mistake"He also found the n/s exhaust manifold gasket was leaking badly which means not only have I got oil fumes getting into the car I could'nt smell the exhaust gases as well (the cars of the road now)and although they have offered me a replacement 3.0ltr I think I've seen the future and rejected the engine and the auto box under the sale of goods act.They have had the initial notice of recovery proceedings but have not responded.So it's now going to the county court which will take up to 6 months to be heard.If you get a minute take a look at their site and see what I mean, they are SVS Cardiff. :( :y
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I looked at the website when you told me and I thought it looked pretty good (although I am no expert obviously) but to fit a 2.5 engine when you bought and paid for a 3.0 is rather naughty to say the least :-?
What do they say, "The higher the monkey climbs, the more it shows its arse!"
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As I said to you on that day you found it Daz I would'nt have known any better until may be the next cambelt change when it would have been to late to claim against them.So many thanks again. :y :y
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As I said to you on that day you found it Daz I would'nt have known any better until may be the next cambelt change when it would have been to late to claim against them.So many thanks again. :y :y
No problem mate honestly I just hope you get it all sorted out though :y
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how did you know Daz, was it the short plenum, or something more technical ?
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how did you know Daz, was it the short plenum, or something more technical ?
I removed the Plenum & Inlet Manifold to do the Leaking Cam Covers.. but saw the 2.5 stamped on the heads, and I was sure that Nitro told me he had paid for a 3.0 so I asked him again.. I then looked under the car to see what the block had on it :y
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Just a thought,would anyone know wether the auto boxes are stamped or cast with their spec i.e AR25/AR35 just so I know wether the 2.5 has the correct transmission (or not as I suspect) >:( :y
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Just a thought,would anyone know wether the auto boxes are stamped or cast with their spec i.e AR25/AR35 just so I know wether the 2.5 has the correct transmission (or not as I suspect) >:( :y
Hmm that is a little more difficult, say a gearbox started its life as a AR25 someone could have it reconditioned or changed to an AR35 as the carcasses are the same... :-?
But to do your car, to change the engine and gearbox it would be easier to fit engine and gearbox together... now my guess is with it being a 2.5 engine they would have had an engine and gearbox already then fitted them. But I suppose they could have used your gearbox but just would not trust them being honest after not filling me with confidence >:(